Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ryst Helmut]

Hey guys...I'm doing some research on pronunciation drills/activities in integrated skills ESL texts and ESL books that focus on pronunciation.

I'm curious, what is most important to you, as a TESOLer?

If you respond to this, I would GREATLY appreciate it! You can answer right here, or PM me your answers. If you do reply, please let me know the level/age of your students (or which do you think is most important for X age/level group).




Please let me know the top 10-12 pronunciation points (don't rank them, just 'check' off)that you believe should be included in ESL/EFL textbooks. If you feel that something else ought to be included, please feel free to add your input!

Thank you.


1. Audio with book _________
2. Pictures___________
3. Use of tools/TPR (suggested use with lesson) ___________
4. Sound discrimination___________
5. Phonetic Alphabet (charts/lists) ___________
6. Consonants ___________
7. Vowels___________
8. Clusters ___________
9. Minimal pairs___________
10. Past tense___________
11. Final –s___________
12. Stress___________
13. Intonation___________
14. Rhythm___________
15. Slow vs. connected speech (blends/linking/silent letters/reduction) ___________
16. Overt emphasis on segmentals _____________
17. Overt emphasis on suprasegmentals ___________

Other:__________________________________________________________________

[pecan]

I teach Middle School.

Authenic Speech is one area that I noticed you were missing. It contains relaxed pronunciation, reductions, contractions, substitutions, mergers, etc. For example:

him>'im
them>'em
her>'er
has to>'hasta
have to>'hafta
want to>'wanna
going to>'gonna

d+y=j did you>didja could you>couldja
d+y= ch bet you>betcha

Moreover, bridging is a large area that you might want to include. Between two words ending and beginning with vowel sounds, you can have either a "w" or a "y" inserted to bridge the sounds. Example:

do it>dowit
be in>beyin
be out>beyout

Though there are spaces between words does, it does not necessarily mean that there should be full-stops. Typically, native speakers will merge sounds together, substitute, etc. to make speaking more relaxed and comfortable.

Later,
Nut

[JennyJJ]

I agree with pecan - though I feel those points are/were covered under item 15. And then: 12, 13, and 14 - stress, intonation, and rhythm - as they are interconnected.

I also like the term "authentic" as most local EFL television and many tapes that students see/use have quite unusual speech on them (heavy overacting!) - that they will rarely hear in real life.

Side comment: was tutoring a young lady recently - who heard the voices on a TOEFL tape (produced in Korea) and she looked startled and asked me why they were talking "funny" - good for her for picking up how oddly sounding so much of the local production is!

[canuckistan]

[Ryst Helmut]

[jazblanc77]

It really irks me every time I hear the American pronunciation of "badminton" as "badmi'n", among others!

[JennyJJ]

[ajuma]

15, 13, 12, 14, 10 in that order. 7 and 6 if you have time (especially those that are problems for selected foreign language groups: "f", "th" "l" "r" for Korean students for example. )

But!!!!! If you're teaching low-level students, the order is reversed. Students need to make themselves understood before saying things like "didja".

One thing you DIDN'T include was L1 interference. If students are aware of it, it DOES help correct errors. �� is right but ���� is wrong. Bus is right...bus-uh is wrong!

[Wisco Kid]

I just wanted to also point out stressing the pronunciation of sounds that don't exist or are easily confused among the students native language.

For Koreans these would be:

J and Z
S and SH
B and P
P and F
T and D
R and L
V
as well as syllables that end with S, SH, D, T, P, CH, J and F

there's probably more that I'm missing

[JennyJJ]

Good comments! I think Ajuma is on the right track. Wiscom too.

L1 interference is a real problem for all FL students. Lots of problems for Koreans though ?(I'm not sure if they should be called L1 interference or not . . .) are really just the result of forcing English into the Korean grammar rules - thus "bus" becomes "bu-suh" directly translated would have become "but" There are similar issues between any two languages - unless they share a similar grammar.

Regarding reductions: Though I don't think they should be overdone - or overemphasized - if I recall correctly there is some literature that says that if you don't say it - you won't understand it when you hear it - thus a link between speaking behavior (pronunciation) and listening comprehension. So, students - at the very least - need to be made aware of reductions fairly early in the process. One does often see the lights go on - as students come to realize why they don't understand native speakers on TV in movies or even in person - and its relationship to reductions/linking etc. In fact we don't really TALK fast - we use a variety of tools to speed things up, that consume less time in their production. That goes back to stress and rhythm etc etc.

Back to the "word war" - did you ever wonder what British speakers did with all the "R's" they lost from car = "cah" or bar = "bah"? They saved them up and turned India into "Indier" and China into "Chiner" - watch BBC and you'll know what I mean!

Language is fun.

[Ryst Helmut]

thanks guys....I was getting a bit irked that this was a board dedicated to ESL/EFL instructors and only but a few commented.

Alas, some of my concerns have been alleviated. I have also learned a valuable lesson.

As for Korean-specific problems, that is out of this article's scope, as the texts I am working on are specifically for heterogeneous groups.

Ajuma,

You are correct. I did not include problems with L1 interference, per se, as mentioned before, the scope of the books are for heterogeneous, and listing problems that can be associated with certain problems almost never makes it in books. However, a few do say something like, "If your 'rice' sounds more like 'lice' then you are ....Some of the older pronunciation books (circa 1980's) do have languages on the side of the pages listing those that are associated with being deficient in a particular phoneme.

Also, pronunciation based texts innately work on L1 interference, at least, the books that I have used and have access to. If you wanted something for the teacher, checking number 3 would aid in the students realisation that they are voicing when not needed, for example. This would allow students to see their L1's intereference.....

Or so my 2 cents go.

Thanks again gang!

!shoosh

der Ryst

[Zyzyfer]

[Eunoia]