1.

Importance

When considering one of the hardest and most complex parts of the English Language,
pronunciation, it is no wonder that many students have difficulties and become frustrated when trying to learn correct pronunciation. Before focusing on the importance of pronouncing properly, let us think about why many of our students come to. Some students want to learn the language so that they can communicate effectively and efficiently in English-speaking countries they travel to. Other students, acknowledge the fact that English will open the doors to better job opportunities, or simply do well in high-school or college. In all of these situations, what the students primarily need are that of a conventional, working approach to the language; in other words, the simple presentation of material which will allow the student to speak and be understood. But the question still rises: Why is pronunciation so important? It is crucial that we understand that the mispronunciation of a single letter may cause the entire sentence to be misinterpreted, like in the following situation. Picture one your students inviting his/her boyfriend/girlfriend to have a delicious meal at BOOGER KING; or getting an Im brushing my TEAT; Ill be out in a minute, Pete! for an answer. BOOGER - BURGER TEAT - TEETH

Sometimes it could be laughable or funny, but some others it could get the speaker into big trouble. That is the reason why, for the improvement of the students pronunciation a set of guidelines is presented next, the same which will be of great help for the teacher and the students themselves. These guidelines have been carefully chosen not to confuse the students with phonetic jargon, but rather facilitate the acquisition with practical hints that will allow them to optimize the use of the language as naturally as possible.

PRONUNCIATION GUIDELINES
English alphabet
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z

Difficult or easily confused consonants

V (top teeth/ bottom lip) B
(both lips)

bubble very bad / unbelievable. cat / cost / cut census / city dad / diamond

C (makes two sounds) k (a, o, u) s (e, i) D (tongue on top teeth/under palate) G (makes two sounds) like j in English like g in Spanish (a, o, u) T (makes two sounds) at the beginning of a word (t) in the middle of a word (d) in English

gym / general gap / goose / gum

time city / getting

Consonants combinations
PH TH = (like the f in Spanish) telephone / phrase / phase

= (makes two sounds) - stick the tongue out to make these sound more air less air think / teeth / thanks that / this / thigh drive / drink / drill try / tree / train shine / shoes Christmas / Christian music / president

DR TR SH

= dzr = chr (reading literally in Spanish) =

CHR = kr Vowel (s) Vowel= like z in English

Vowel Combinations
OU = au u: found / pound / bound but, wound, through, etc. sheet / sheep / leave but, read, head, bread, good / look / cook / could food / tooth / too

EE/EA= like i in Spanish ee OO = U (made with the throat) like u in Spanish

Mixed Combinations
V= vowel C= consonant 1. C+V+C+(E) The vowel before the ultimate consonant is modified by the vowel E after the ultimate consonant, and it is pronounced exactly like in the English alphabet. The E becomes silent. Ex: made / cute / persecute a e i o u 2. = = = = = Sound ei i ai ou iu

V+C V+C+C The vowel makes a different sound when used in these combinations. The sounds these combinations make are more like those in Spanish, but not exactly the same for the sounds produced have no exact equivalents in Spanish. V+C: V+C+C: ma + d - mad bu+ tt - butt in / it / mad / bit / sad / mad / Bridget abduct / butt / md btt not, meid not, biut

Silent Letters Shush The following letters can be silent in the pronunciation of some words: a, b, c, d, e, g, h, k, l, n, p, s, t, w. In most cases. Whether or not a letter is silent depends on its relationship to the letters that surround it and the position of the letters in the word. Here are some examples, with rules where it is possible to give them. a is a usually silent in-ically a the end of a word: practically, basically, specially, physically, radically b is silent in the combination mb at the end of a word: comb, climb, lamb, bomb, numb, limb, thumb, dumb, crumb, tomb; and in the word plumber. b is also silent in bt at the end of a word: debt, doubt; and in the word subtle c is silent in the combination sc before the letters i, e, and y at the beginning of a word: scene, scenery, scent, science, scientist, scissors, scythe. c is usually silent in the combination sc in the middle of a word: descend, discipline, fascinating, miscellaneous, (but not, for example in conscience, conscious, luscious, fascism.) c is also silent in scle at the end of a word: muscle, corpuscle d is usually silent in these words: handkerchief, handsome, Wednesday e is usually silent at the end of a word (but not, for example, in maybe). Notice that when it follows a single consonant in a word consisting of one syllable, as in bite or smile (or in a stressed syllable at the end of a word, as decide), the final e often changes the sound of the vowel before the consonant. e can also be silent in the middle of some words: every, evening, vegetable, camera g is islent in gn at the beginning or end of a word: gnome, gnaw, gnash, gnat, gnarled; sing, design, resign, assign, campaing, foreign, deign, reign; and in the word champagne g is also silent in gm at the end of a word: diaphragm, paradigm, phlegm. gh both g and h are usually silent in the combination gh in the middle or at the end of a word: night, light, might, fight, high, sigh, caught, taught, brought, bought, thought, thorough, although, dough, straight, weigh, eight, height, neighbor, throughout,(but not, for example, in laugh, enough, cough, rough, tough) h is silent in rh at the beginning of a word: rhyme, rhythm, rhinoceros, rheumatism, rhetoric h is also silent in gh at the beginning of a word: ghost, ghetto, ghastly h is silent an these words, too: exhibition, exhausted, heir, honest, honor, hour, herb, oh, scheme, school, scholarship. k is silent in kn at the beginning of a word: knee, knife, know, knowledge, knit, knock, knot l is usually silent in the combinations: alf, alk, olk, ould, and alm at the en of a word: half, calf, behalf; walk, talk, chalk, stalk; yolk, folk,; should, could, would, calm, palm. l is also silent in these words: salmon, Lincoln.

n is silent in the combination mn at the end of a word: autumn, column, damn, condemn, hymn, solemn. p is silent in the combination ps at the beginning of a word: psychology, psychiatrist, psychotic, psychic, psychopath, psalm, pseudonym. p is also silent in pn at the beginning of a word: pneumatic, pneumonia p is silent in these words, too: cupboard, raspberry, receipt, corps, coup. s is silent in these words: aisle, corps, island, debris, bourgeois, Illinois, Arkansas. t is silent in words ending in sten and stle: listen, fasten, moisten, hasten, glisten; castle, whistle, wrestle, thistle. t is also silent in some words ending in et that are borrowed from French: ballet, beret, bouquet, buffet, cabaret, chalet, crochet, filet, gourmet, ricochet, sorbet. t is also silent in these words: often, soften, Christmas, mortgage, debut, rapport, depot. w is silent in wr at the beginning of a word: write, wrong, wrist, wrap, wrinkle, wreck, wreath, wrench, wrestle, wring. w is also silent in the combination who at the beginning of many words: who, whole, whose, whom, wholly (but not, for example, in whopper or whoopee.) w is also silent in these words: answer, two, sword

Practical Techniques

What should we do before? Evaluating current skills, and setting a realistic goal: Our first step as teachers should be to evaluate the students pronunciation skills and decide on a practical and realistic goal for the entire class. In many cases the students pronunciation skills may not depend on their level. We need to recognize whether the students need to learn the basics of pronunciations, or whether they are a bit more advanced and only need some fine-tuning. How? Having the students talk Having the students read a short paragraph What should we do after evaluating our students? Teach the Ss the pronunciation guidelines depending on the evaluation and the goal we have set for them. Aplyying the techniques: Repetition Its not enough to read something well only once. A student will not truly get comfortable with pronouncing all the words in a certain paragraph until he reads or four times applying the guidelines he has learned. Also, it is one thing to say one word correctly out of context of a paragraph. Tongue twisters can be successfully used to have the Ss practice pronunciation. Reading aloud It takes a lot of time and effort to train our tongue to speak a different language. Even if a student recognizes and knows how to pronounce a word correctly, he still may have difficulties at the moment of saying the word. (It is one thing to imagine yourself saying the word in your head, and a very different thing to actually say it aloud) One way to sharpen this connection between mind and mouth is to read aloud. This not only helps to reinforce certain pronunciations rules or guidelines that the students have been learning, but also helps developed a students fluency and comfort with speaking. Imitation The students are lucky to have all of us as a living example of good pronunciation. However, most students do not take advantage of this opportunity to listen and make the necessary changes to their own pronunciation. We should tell students to try to imitate us softly as we also pick up more commonly used phrases or slang. The teachers could use some out-loud reading to have the students imitate him. Correcting the teachers mistakes Sometimes the teacher could make mistakes on purpose at the moment of speaking, so that the students correct him. (Its recommended that the student who most correct the teacher receive a prize) Dictation

In this way the teacher in charge of the class can put more emphasis on what he or she wants his or her students to improve through writing. For example if the student has a problem with the pronunciation of the combination th, then the teacher might read out loud something that makes the student practice this specific sound. With this technique the Ss not only practice their pronunciation, but also reinforce his or her ability to write faster and more accurately. Conclusion NO PAIN NO GAIN Perfection is just a matter of time, patience and practice.