Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lichtarbeiter]

I'm sure that everyone here at least slows way down when they're speaking to their students so that they can be understood better.

But what I'm curious about is the degree to which other teachers change their pronunciation in their classrooms so as to increase your chances of being understood.

I've noticed that the other western teacher at my school (who's been teaching for 8 years) is a lot more likely to pronounce an English word unnaturally in order for it to more closely correspond with the sounds of its orthography. Meanwhile, I try to stick to the most natural pronunciation so as to teach the students what to really expect to hear when they're in an English-speaking country.

For example: the word "button." Most speakers of North American English such as myself pronounce the word like [but.n] with an unreleased [t] and a syllabic [n]. So that's the way I would pronounce it if I'm reading a word list to my class. This is one of few sounds in English I've found that really seem to amuse the students, and they all try to give off-beat imitations of it. One girl even had the nerve to tell me that it's not pronounced like that, because it doesn't account for the two "t"s or the "o" in the spelling - of course I ignored her because I know she's simply ignorant to the fact that orthography and phonology don't always go hand in hand. I'm simply teaching them the pronunciation that they'll hear if they go to Canada or the US.

But the other western teacher seems to take a different approach, and pronounces it as "bu.tun" where the [t] is almost aspirated and the second syllable has a distinctive vowel sound in it. He's from Canada like me, and I know he doesn't say it like that in normal conversation.

So I'm just curious to here different perspectives on this. Do you try to use your most natural pronunciation when you're teaching, to ensure they're learning the real deal? Or do you change your pronunciation in a way to try to maximize clarity and communication efficiency?

Thoughts?

[cubanlord]

for me, it depends on the level of the students. Also, unless the class is an advanced class, I don't use reduced forms. They need to learn to crawl before they can walk. At least that's my opinion.

[losing_touch]

I often change my pronunciation to be understood. It depends on the level of the students. I also do it with co-workers and my director to a lesser extent. I have had battles with myself about this. The fact of the matter is that the level of my students is too low to target pronunciation.

While focusing on the suprasegmental aspects of spoken English is very important, it would take all of my time to explain the nuances of word stress, syllabic consonants, and scores of other topics. I do make an effort with my highest level students.

With the co-teachers that can understand IPA, I have had several discussions about such matters. Explaining vowel reduction to an elementary school student with an L1 background in a syllable-timed language is futile.

[Tjames426]

erhm...

I want my students to speak the best and clearest English pronunciation as possible.

So, I make sure they do not speak like most "Americans" who butcher the language by leaving out syllables, vowels and consonants.

Now, I make sure my more advanced students understand the differences, but I make sure to tell them that only the "uneducated and lazy" talk like that.

[losing_touch]

[Thiuda]

[harlowethrombey]

Most teaching programs that I'm aware of have you go through a public speaking course specifically to teach speaking without dipping into your dialect. This is so all students can understand you clearly. And those are native-speaking students.

Teaching ESL makes this doubly important.

I'm a southerner and I absolutely try to avoid using my 'natural pronunciation'. It's not twangy, but the long vowels, dropped 't's and 'eds' and fast pace would leave even advanced students lost.

There's a flow and cadence to speaking to non-native speakers that it seems everyone who teaches ESL develops. So, yes, we need to use 'proper' pronunciation when teaching.

'Aunt' has a 'u' in it, so it's not 'ant' when we're teaching. etc.

[bogey666]

i have vocational highschoolers.. ergo very low level.

I drastically slow down my speech (I'm naturally a rather fast talker) and I over annunciate almost everything. at times I even step into what would be more of a British prounounciation, because it more closely corresponds to the ortography.

I also did this in Venezuela where I had various levels, including very advanced, but of course in those classes, I tended to to speak more "naturally".

I also point out differences in American and English pronounciations when it's drastic (e.g. twenty) and even on things like "banana".

[greedy_bones]

[ArizonaBill]

[ekul]

I change a fair few words in order to be understood because like it or not these kids have been learning American English most of their life.

I try to enunciate the best standard of English I can while still being understood. For example Computer becomes Compuda and if i said it naturally it would be Compu'ah and Button becomes Buden. Some words I can't bear to sound American for, like Saturday, I hate hearing Saderday, it's not sad it's happy!

For some reason even teachers cannot understand me when I say Sunday, because for some reason it sounds to them like soondae, Korean pigs blood thingies.

Also there are certain words that with my accent I just cannot say in a way the kids can understand well. The way I say Half comes out more like harf, which isn't a big deal but there is just no l sound and I feel bad.

Live and let live though, there is an amazing Poem by a Yorkshire writer Tony Harrison called them 'Them and [uz] which challenges the traditional assumption that RP (Received Pronunciation or Queens English) is culturally and socially superior to regional dialects. It's amazing how a few lines of poetry can capture a whole culture and argument.

I have an East Midland English accent.

[bassexpander]

I slow down for my ELL's. I speak more clearly than I do in 1-on-1 conversations with native speakers. When into a word like "button", I will try to point out different ways of speaking it, or say it both ways. This isn't always possible while speaking in class, but I try when I notice/remember/feel it's important to point out.

If I have a higher-level class, I adjust my speech patterns accordingly.

When scaffolding, I tend to speak far more slowly/clearly.

[bogey666]

[Sector7G]

Trying to explain English grammar rules and pronunciations to those whose first language is other than English has often caused me to step back and wonder about how rules evolved. It has also caused me to wonder if I have been pronouncing words correctly myself.

For instance, how do you pronounce the word sorry? My parents are from Cleveland,Ohio, but moved many years ago to Florida, where I was born. So my accent is a mixture of northeast/midwest and southern. I pronounce sorry like sawr-ee, but when I tried to explain it, I thought maybe I was wrong, and it should be more like it is spelled-sor-ee. But I looked it up, and both pronunciations seem to be acceptable.

On a side note, I always get a kick out of when people mispronounce the word pronunciation, saying pro-noun-ciation, or even worse, pro-noun-sation. Sounds like a word coming out of Dubya's mouth.

[harlowethrombey]

The basic rule of thumb for pronunciation for a word like 'aunt' is 'if there is no context, can the listener still discern what the correct word is?'

Yes, i myself never pronounce the 'u' in 'aunt' for natural speech, but I dont want my students to think I'm talking about an insect --> so I give it a little british twist.

THis is like when you tell your students to open to page 30. Is it 'thirty' or 'thirteen'? You better really emphasize the 'y' or the 'een' sound.

I'm not trying to suggest you're an awful person if you dont believe the same way I do, but all public speaking seems to emphasis the same points--> slower speech, more pauses for understanding, a 'big mouth' pronunciation (like overpronunciation) and using intonation to differentiate between similar-sounding words.

IMO it's just extra important to do those things when teaching ESL because the listeners already have a handicap. (ditto for speaking in giving a speech to native Ohioans. . . )