Job Discussion Forums

[cormac]

There is something that is really starting to bug me, and I'm at a bit of a loss how to fix it on the class level (rather than individually). Its the way that some students are mispronouncing the end of words. Like they're saying cat-a, dog-a, clothes-a, etc. Its really weird, since I've found classmates that have been together for 7 years through high school into university, and one mispronounces, whilst the other doesn't.

Generally speaking, my university students have decent english (for their level), but the combination of this problem, and mixing up his/her/he/she really guts their speaking ability... especially for my english majors.

I'd do an internet search but I dont know what topic this falls under.

Thanks for any info. (and yes, if I was a fully qualified teacher, I'd probably already know how to fix it... but I'm not, and I don't know how to fix it.)

[xjgirl]

pronunciation cormac

i get a class from time to time that do it too
i just drilled everyone on certain words from time to time focusing on not adding an a, seemed to work
but sure once you stop teaching them, they'll be right back at it
so i'd just forget about it.

keep em happy, don't bother ur self too much with actually teaching anything

[cormac]

[randyj]

All of us have noticed this serious problem. It occurs when students fully release stop consonants, /p, t, k/ and /b, d, g/, in final position. Especially in North American English, these are often not released in final position. In other words, the process of articulation is not completed. For example, in the word "cat" the final sound is produced with the tip of the tongue remaining in place on the alveolar ridge. I am quoting from the Bible of pronunciation instruction, "Teaching Pronunciation" by Celce-Murcia, Brinton, and Goodwin.

[chinanoodles]

I mention the number of syllables in a specific word if they are adding the -a at the end. After a week or two of doing that and pretending I don't understand what they are saying when they add the -a sound they usually come around.

Most also do this in Chinese.

[Randolf]

[sistercream]

Agree that the lack of final consonants in Chinese is a major hurdle to overcome in this - we're asking them to overcome not only a life-long habit, but also a mindset that students don't even realise they have.
Rather like trying to teach some native English-speakers the difference between the sounds represented by the pinyin x and sh, or q and ch!
I like the idea of counting syllables. I've also found it helpful to have students listen to recordings of themselves saying the offending words alongside a recording of a native English speaker saying them - it seems to help their concentration if students don't have the visual cues.

[sainthood]

Drill drill drill....

As Chinanoodles said, 2 weeks of pretending you don't understand, and they'll come around.

[cormac]

Thanks. I appreciate the advice. I'll start reading up further on this, and incorporating them into all my lessons.

[the_otter]

Teach them Cockney and they can let the glottal stop into their lives. Tha' migh' solve your 't' difficul'ies.

Someone on another board suggested using tongue twisters. You could make up one out of problem words and use it for drills.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

We native speakers never say 'I like cars' ---> /ai/ /laik/ ka:rz/

We actually say ---> /ai/ /lai/ /ka:rz/


Before I teach a class:


Teacher: It is a red one.

Student: It-a is-a a red-a one


After I teach a class:


Teacher: It is a red one.

Student: It is a red one.

How do I do it:


I write it out this way for them to see:


/I/ /tI/ /ze/ /re/ /dwen/

Then, once they can say it, I show them again and underline parts.

It is a red one.

And once they get comfortable with endings merging into the next word, they tend to get it.

Here is another one:

Dogs are really nice. (ssss like a snake)

Dog zar really naisssss. (try it!)

[MisterButtkins]

I haven't had this problem but I only teach at the university level. I'm having trouble getting my kids to pronounce the vowel sound in 'hit' correctly. They say it the same as 'heat'. Also, 'mitt' and 'meat', 'fit' and 'feet' etc. all sound the same. I tried drilling it for 20-30 minutes the other day to no avail.

And of course there's the nigh-impossible 'usually'...

[chinanoodles]

[mat chen]

This is called an error in language transfer. They are using their knowledge of Chinese pronunciation and applying Chinese pronunciation rules to English. You will see this even in young children who have never had any English interaction with anyone. Chinese words end mostly in vowels where as ENglish ends mostly in consenants or stops.
How to deal with it is easy. You devide the class into two. Have have the class say the Chinese pronunciation. For instance if they are saying goodah instead of good you have half the students say goodah. Then you tell the other half they are English speakers and have them say good. Sometimes you will have trouble because the ones who are supposed to be saying the proper pronunciation will also use the Chinese pronunciation. I just put them with the ones saying the Chinese pronunciation goodah. I then have each half of the class say the different pronunciations. You might also try and record their voices on a tape recorder so they can see the difference.
The problem is also coming from Chinese English teachers who don't hear the difference. This is the problem with the Lee Yang Crazy English approach to teaching English or chorusing. If the teacher does not have correct pronunciation then the students mimic the error.
So you got a job in China.

[sistercream]