Speaking & Listening - Unit 3 - Group Project

Pronunciation Analysis Activity

Context. The following activity has been designed for use in a beginner-level adult ESL class. Although the content and design of this activity is derived from observations of a single speaker, this project will extrapolate the group’s observations to a classroom setting. It is assumed that the speaker in the example is a member of this class, and that the other learners also experience similar struggles in pronunciation. In the context of an entire lesson, this activity would occur early on in a session, after preliminary greetings and discussions have transpired.

Focus. This activity will focus on assisting learners in developing their awareness of and ability to recognize and pronounce long vowels. It is assumed that the class has already discussed this topic in previous lessons, and that this activity is to reinforce and practice specific skills.

Objective The objective of this activity is guide learners in understanding and practicing both long and short vowel segmentals. By the end of this activity, learners will be able to pronounce five short and five long vowel sounds, and will also be able to identify these segmentals aurally.

Analysis Please see Appendix A for discussion points from the group analysis of the speech video clip. It should be noted that, while the speaker makes several pronunciation errors common to Korean ESL learners (Language Differences, 2017), this activity focuses on long-vowel sounds. It is important to remember that such inferences, although common, should not take precedence over observations of individual learners; in this case, a repeated error was observed, and a corrective activity was created.

Rationale The learner in this sample, whose L1 is Korean, appeared to struggle with her use of short and long vowels; according to Bauman (2006), this is a common error that Korean ESL learners encounter. In one instance, she uses the long vowel /a:/ instead of the short vowel /e/ as seen with her pronunciation of “special”; the word /speʃəl/ becomes /spa:ʃəl/ in her speech. In addition to this, the student uses the wrong long vowel when saying the word “reading”. Instead of using the long vowel /e:/, she uses the long vowel /a:/, which results in /re:diŋ/ becoming /ra:diŋ/. Taking these mistakes into account, it is likely that this learner is not yet comfortable with differentiating between short and long vowels. The goal of reviewing short and long vowels is to help learners distinguish between short and long vowels, and to understand how to correctly use them when speaking.

Activity Description Materials Whiteboard and markers Index cards of varying colours (gray, green, violet, opal, and blue). Provides supports for visual learners. Pens or pencils Phase 1: Activate & Set-Up (5 Minutes) The instructor will begin the activity by asking learners to recall the five long-vowel segmentals covered in a previous session. The instructor will write each segmental on the board, and will treat each segmental as a heading. The instructor will then have learners brainstorm several words that use each segmental, and will write responses on the board. During this discussion, the instructor will use statement and question corrective feedback to correct any words that do not include the desired segmentals, and to correct any mispronunciations so that learners understand why a specific word may or may not be correct. The instructor will then distribute five index cards of varying colours to each learner (Gray, Green, Violet, Opal, and Blue). These colours were chosen specifically because each of them contains a single long vowel. For example the word gray contains a long /a/ so the long /a/ would therefore be written on the gray index card. Learners are to fold the index cards in half, creating “tents,” and are to write out the symbols for each long vowel on their respective cards. For example, learners would write ā on the gray card, ē on the green card, etc. Phase 2: Apply & Practice (10 Minutes) The instructor will have the class stand up, and will provide learners with instructions for the next activity. The instructor will say one of the long vowels, and in response, learners will hold up the corresponding card. Together, the class will repeat the vowel sound. Once the instructor is satisfied that learners can identify the vowel sounds, they will say individual words that feature long vowels, and will have students hold up the accompanying card, and then repeat the word. Lastly, the instructor will write words with long vowels on the board, but will not say them (i.e. gate, bean, pine, road, duel). Learners will hold up their cards. Individual learners will be asked to say the words. The instructor can provide feedback by pointing to the correct long vowel sound on the board if students mispronounce a word. Phase 3: Related Activities These are ideas for related activities to complete the lesson. These ideas will not be discussed in depth in this section. Repeat activity with short and long vowels Vowel Bingo Game Using 5 different coloured highlighters to identify long vowel sounds in a text.

Corrective Feedback Two methods of corrective feedback were used. The first method, statement and question, focuses on simply identifying pronunciation errors (Harmer, 2001). The second method, using visual aids, such as posters or index cards, is described by Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin (2008). This method highlights pronunciation errors and provides learners with cues to help self-correct. This strategy is helpful to visual learners, and is effective in helping learners to correct errors without making a “big deal” of them.

Appendix A: Group Discussion Notes

/θ/- pronounced as /d/ (several instances throughout speech clip)

This learner struggles with using short and long vowels. Examples at 0:28 and 4:16.

0:28 reading becomes /ray-ding/ -  /e:/ (long vowel) becomes /a:/

1:05 stresses “Pee-Ple” when saying “people”

2:27 “popular” pronounced “pop-oo-ler”; possible difficulties in pronouncing /y/ in conjunction     with /ᶷ/

3:26 “helpful” pronounced “helpul” or “helpbul”; /b/ used for /f/.

4:16 special becomes /spey-shal/ -  /e/ (short vowel) becomes /a:/

4:53 final /t/ in “important” isn’t released, making the word sound like “importan”.

References

Bauman, Nathan R. (2006). A Catalogue of Errors Made by Korean Learners of English.

Retrieved from: https://onlinepedagogy.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/a-catalogue-of-errors-

           made-by-korean-learners-of-english/

Harmer, J. (2006). Chapter 13: Teaching Pronunciation. In Harmer, J. (Ed.). The practice of

English language teaching (pp.34-51). Essex, England: Longman.

Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J. M. (2008). Teaching pronunciation: A

reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, (pp. 349-359). New

York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Language Differences. (2017). Retrieved from http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/

Wilson, P. (2014). Reading Activities: Mastering Vowel Sounds. Retrieved from:

https://www.readinghorizons.com/blog/mastering-vowel-sounds