PHONETICS AND PRONUNCIATION TEACHING:

A GUIDE FOR THE CLASSROOM 1

PARTICIPANT’S MATERIAL

DIRECCIÓN DE EVALUACIÓN, ASUNTOS DEL PROFESORADO Y

ORIENTACIÓN EDUCATIVA
SUBDIRECCIÓN DE FORMACIÓN Y ASUNTOS DEL PROFESORADO
DEPARTAMENTO DE ACTUALIZACIÓN DOCENTE

ENERO 2020

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 JUNIO 20

ALEXEI VLADIMIR LÓPEZ ENRÍQUEZ

Maestro en Letras Modernas
Letras Inglesas (UNAM)

DISEÑO DEL CURSO

Lic. Dolores Pérez Morales

COORDINADOR

www.cbachilleres.edu.mx
1a. Edición.
Prol. Rancho Vista Hermosa No. 105
Col. Los Girasoles
Alcaldía Coyoacán
Ciudad de México. C. P. 04920

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Index

Pages

PRESENTATION…………………..…………………………………………...…... 4

INTRODUCTION ……………..…………..………………………………………... 5

I. GENERALS……..……………….………….……………………………… 6

II. PURPOSE………………………………………………………………… 7

III. CONTENTS.……………………………………………………………..... 8

IV. DOCUMENTS AND RESOURCES ….……………………………………….. 9

V. FINAL PRODUCT ………………..………………………….…………… 10

VI. CRITERIA FOR ACCREDITATION…………..…………………………….. 11

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VII. WORKS CITED……………………………………………………………
VIII. DOCUMENTS……….………………...…………………………...…….. 13

IX. APPENDIX……………………………………………………………….. 71

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Presentation

High School Education (senior) --known in Mexico as EMS-- is committed to training integral citizens,
with the ability to learn how to learn in the path of life and be a contribution to the development of
society. As a result, EMS offers a new integral education for life, revaluing the teaching staff and
recognizing their right to update, through training and educational programs for teachers, as part
of a process aimed at continuous improvement, with the purpose of increasing the level of
education.

In this sense, Colegio de Bachilleres recognizes the professional capacity and disciplinary strengths
available to its teaching staff, which must be strengthened through permanent training, updating
and training programs. To make the activities of the school more efficient, we must take teaching
and learning as fundamental aspects for systematic educational progress.

This implies evaluating, managing, supporting the development and training of each teacher and
integrating professional communities of teachers, within the schools and in the school system as a
whole.

The courses and workshops offered by the institution provide tools and methodological strategies
for the consolidation of the teaching practice in the classroom. For this reason, it offers the
possibility to build peer learning, as well as to approach different specialists in the different fields
of the knowledge, who --through analysis, reflection and research--contribute to the
accompaniment of school practices with the firm conviction that the experience, work and,
commitment of teachers are the most valuable resource of Colegio de Bachilleres.

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Introduction

One of the skills to develop when studying English is one’s oral expression, which is one of the
abilities that we must really pay attention to because we are not native speakers. Foreigners coming
from English speaking countries have an accent of their own and a very specific way to pronounce.
Despite this fact, a student can become proficient in this area by studying phonetics –which is the
study of the sounds that a speaker produces. All of this information can help you “decipher” the
actual pronunciation of a word.

Getting to know, reviewing or starting to master English phonetics means acquiring the tools to
continue our active learning and the possibility to form students from this perspective.

The purpose of “Phonetics and Pronunciation Teaching: a Guide for the Classroom 1” is to provide
teachers with a panoramic view of the features of the segments that make up the phonetic system,
as well as a reflection on what pronunciation is and how useful it is in a classroom.

In the first session, the description of speech is to be discussed: the main features of pronunciation
(the physiology of pronunciation and the articulation of phonemes) together with phonemic
transcription are topics to be dealt with in some detail. Finally, a brief review of phonetics and
phonology is going to lead to a revalorization of teaching pronunciation.

In the second session, teaching pronunciation is the centre of discussion and starting point: the
reasons to teach pronunciation as well as some problems and approaches in pronunciation teaching
along with some techniques and activities to be used in the classroom are worked with.

The focus of attention of the third session is vowels. This means that what is known as ‘pure vowel
sounds’ as well as ‘diphthongs’ are topics to be analyzed in this session so that possible problems
(related to Spanish as a mother tongue) can be sorted out.

Session 4 is going to deal with consonants and their characteristics. The main purpose of the session
is to do some remedial work on the articulation of the sounds that are not produced naturally in
Spanish. Besides, the participants are to be introduced to the TED talks strategy and are going to
start work with their final products.

The last session represents an opportunity to get feedback on final products so that the end result
is a product that fulfills the requirements specified the very first session.

One of the most relevant resources is the EDMODO platform, which is going to be used in order to
share information as well as to show the participants their progress and it is precisely where the
manual will be available for the participants.

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I. Generals

Phonetics and Pronunciation teaching: A Guide for the Classroom 1

Modality: in person

Length and number of sessions and hours: 25 hours distributed in five 5-hour sessions.

Dates: 13 to the 17 January 2020

Schedule: 9:00 a 14:00 hrs

Recipients: English teachers

Requisites of participation: 100% of attendance; proactive participation; purposeful and

participative attitude; deliverance of products on time.

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II. Purpose:

Develop the abilities of oral expression through patterns of speech from English to improve the
pronunciation

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III. Contents

1. The Description of speech

1.1 The main features of pronunciation

1.2 Physiology of pronunciation
1.3 Articulation of phonemes
1.4 Phonemic transcription
1.5 Phonetics and Phonology

2. Teaching Pronunciation

2.1 Reasons to teach pronunciation

2.2 Problems and approaches in pronunciation teaching
2.3 Techniques and activities

3. Vowels

3.1 Pure vowel sounds

3.2 Diphthongs
3.3 Awareness of vowel sounds

4. Consonants

4.1 Characteristics of the consonant sounds

4.2 Awareness of consonant sounds
4.3 TED talks
4.4 Preparation of final product

5. Final products / Feedback

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IV. Documents and resources

Content Documents Resources

(Formats, instruments, videos, presentations,
etc.)
1.1 -1.5 Phonetics and Video “Learn phonetics – International phonetic
pronunciation teaching: Alphabet:
a guide for the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzsQkjX4fD8
classroom Manual
2.1- 2.3 Phonetics and
pronunciation teaching:
a guide for the
classroom Manual
3.1- 3.3 Phonetics and Video “HOW TO PRONOUNCE the 20 Vowel
pronunciation teaching: Sounds of British English”:
a guide for the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_xxzG72v7Q
classroom Manual

4.1- 4.4 Phonetics and Video “Zombies en la escuela”:

pronunciation teaching:
a guide for the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6zBmBUOMhY
classroom Manual
Feedback

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V. Final Product

1. Final oral presentation (TED talk lasting 4-7 minutes):

a) about a lesson in which a remedial strategy is

implemented or
b) how a pronunciation mistake affected, affects or has
affected the meaning of somebody’s speech, and how to
deal with it.
2. This presentation must include a script (1-3 pages, double spaced) and a power point
presentation that complements the talk (4-7 slides).

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VI. Criteria for Accreditation

To pass the course the participant must:

Attend to 100% of the sessions (two tardies will equal an absence). A tardy is:

When a participant arrives after the beginning of the workshop (15 minutes).
When he / she exceeds the time assigned to lunch break (20 minutes)
When he / she leaves before the session finishes (20 minutes before).

Participate actively in all the sessions.

Collaborative work and construction work DURING the sessions
Hand in the learning evidences on time (partial and final).1
Follow the criteria established for the final product.

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Each designer or instructor will determine the type and number of partial products that will ask the
participants to hand in. The Subdirección de Formación y Asuntos del Profesorado will take into consideration
just the final product (s).

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VII. Works cited

Kelly, Gerald. (2001). How to Teach Pronunciation. Ed. Jeremy Harmer. London, Pearson Education
Limited.
Hancock, Mark. (2003). English Pronunciation in Use. London, Cambridge University Press.

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VIII. DOCUMENTS

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 SESSION 1

CONTENTS

Introduction to the course

Activate your prior knowledge

1. The Description of speech

1.1 The main features of pronunciation
1.2 Physiology of pronunciation
1.3 Articulation of phonemes
1.4 Phonemic transcription

Welcome to the workshop (30/300)

ACTIVATE YOUR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE (20/270)

In groups. Discuss the following questions, and then share with the class.

1. What is pronunciation? What are its main features?

2. What is a phoneme? Mention the basic categories

3. What are “Suprasegmental features”? What is phonemic transcription?

4. What is pronunciation teaching? How can one do it?

Introduction to the course. Speak about the generals of the workshop (30/250).

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 ACTIVITIES

1. Class discussion. Look at the following paragraph. What do you think we can do in order to sort
out these problems? (15/220)

*Taken from: Kelly, G. (2001). How to Teach Pronunciation. Ed. Jeremy Harmer. London, Pearson Education Limited (p. 8)

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2. In teams (4 members) (25/ 205).

A) Read the following concepts, work out a definition (however preliminary) of each one of
them.

Consonants Unvoiced Stress Voiced

Long Intonation Vowels Word stress

Sentence stress Phonemes Suprasegmental features Diphthongs

Short Single vowels

B) Find the two “big” key words (concepts, categories) in which the features of pronunciation
can be divided. Place them in the correct location (think in terms of hierarchy) in the synoptic
table that is on page 17, then organize the rest of elements into it.

3. Collaborative work. The class is to be divided into 2. Each half will work with one of the “big”
concepts that make up the features of pronunciation. Once you have shared your ideas name a
spokesman that is going to present the chart to the whole group (15/180).

4. The spokesperson of each group explains the chart (10/ 165).

1.1 FEATURES OF PRONUNCIATION

According to Gerald Kelly:

“In order to study how something works it is often useful to break it down into its constituent
parts.” The following synoptic table shows a breakdown of the main features of
pronunciation.

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 _______
________

________

________
_______
________ _______
_______
Features of

pronunciation _______

___________ ________

________ ________

________

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5. In pairs. Read the fragment which deals with the Physiology of pronunciation, comment on it
and fill in the blanks on the diagram that follows (15/155).

1.2 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF PRONUNCIATION

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 1._____________
2._____________
3._____________
4._____________
5._____________
6._____________
7._____________
8._____________
9._____________
10.____________
11.____________
12.____________
13.____________
a___________
b___________
c___________
d___________

*Taken from: Kelly, G. (2001). How to Teach Pronunciation. Ed. Jeremy Harmer. London, Pearson Education Limited (p 4).

Back Larynx Upper lip

Centre Lower teeth Front

Glottis Blade Uvula

Tip Nasal cavity Soft palate

Pharynx Alveolar ridge Hard palate

Tongue Lower lip

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 BREAK (30/140).

6. Class work. Read the fragment which deals with the articulation of phonemes (vowels) (page
20), look at the diagram that summarizes the information about them, then comment on it and
fill in the blanks on the description that follows (15/110).

1.3 THE ARTICULATION OF PHONEMES

Vowels

The following diagram summarizes the differences between vowel sounds (the position of the
tongue is a useful reference).

*Taken from: Kelly, G. (2001). How to Teach Pronunciation. Ed. Jeremy Harmer. London, Pearson Education Limited (p 5).

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 The diagram is a representation of the “vowel space” in the centre of the mouth where vowel
sounds are articulated.

(______), (______) and (______) refer to the distance between the tongue and the roof of
the mouth

(______), (______) and (______) their corresponding “vertical”

The position of each phoneme represents the height of the tongue and the part of the
tongue which is (however relatively raised).

7. Teamwork. Read the fragment, which deals with the articulation of phonemes (consonants),
then try to advance a definition of each feature -which is contained in the charts that follow. If
possible, give an example of each (15/105).

CONSONANT
S

*Taken from: Kelly, G. (2001). How to Teach Pronunciation. Ed. Jeremy Harmer. London, Pearson Education Limited (p 5).

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MANNER OF ARTICULATION

Plosive

Affricate

Fricative

Nasal

lateral

approximate

PLACE OF ARTICULATION

Bilabial

Labio-dental

Dental

alveolar

Palato-alveolar

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

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8. Team work. Read the definitions, which deal with the concepts problematized in the previous
activity. After doing this, they match the feature with its correct concept (10/90).

A complete closure is made somewhere in the vocal tract and the soft palate is also raised. Air pressure
increases behind the closure and is released ‘explosively’, e.g. /p/ and /b/

A partial closure is made by the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. Air is able to flow around the
sides of the tongue, e.g. /l/

Using closing movement of both lips, e.g. /p/ and /m/

The blade of the tongue is used just behind the alveolar ridge, e.g /t / and /d /

The gap between the vocal cords is used to make audible friction, e.g. /h/

A complete closure is made somewhere in the mouth, and the soft palate is raised. Air pressure increases
behind the closure, and is then released more slowly than in plosives, e.g. /t / and /d /.

The tongue tip is used either between the teeth or close to the upper teeth, e.g. / / and / /

When two vocal organs come close enough together for the movement of air between them to be heard, e.g.
/f/ and /v/

Vocal organs come near to each other, but not so close as to cause audible friction, e.g. /h/

The back of the tongue is used against the soft palate, e.g. /k/ and / /.

The front of the tongue is raised close to the palate, e.g /j/

A closure is made by the lips, or by the tongue against the palate, the soft palate is lowered, and air escapes
through the nose, e.g. /m/ and /n/

The blade of the tongue is used close to the alveolar ridge, e.g. /t/ and /s/

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 1.4 PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION

ACTIVITIES

9. Class work. (20/80)

Watch the following video, then answer the question that follow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzsQkjX4fD8

Discuss:
What do you think of the explanation given in the video?
What uses can you find for IPA?

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10. In Pairs. (10/60):Discuss the following questions, then share with the whole group.

1. What do you understand by phonemic transcription?

2. What do you need to do it?
3. What uses can you find for it?

11. In teams. (15/50).

Read the following paragraph and try to complete it by discussing in teams what the possible
answers are. Then share your ideas and fill in the blanks

When writing in English, we use ______ vowel and ______ consonant letters. When
speaking English, we typically use ______ different vowel sounds (including ______
diphthongs), and ______ consonant sounds.
In some languages (like Spanish), there is essentially a __________ relationship
between ________ and ________, and there will be (with the occasional exception) the
same number of ______ used in language as there are ________ in the alphabet.

12. In teams. (15/35)

Read the following question; propose different answers for it. Then share your ideas with the
whole class. Link your answers with specific situations from your classes

What problems arise from these characteristics of English pronunciation?

13. Class work. (10/20).

Read the following piece of advice. Reflect, comment and keep it in mind to use it as a guiding
principle to design your final product

*Taken from: Kelly, G. (2001). How to Teach Pronunciation. Ed. Jeremy Harmer. London, Pearson Education Limited (p 8).

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14. Class work. (5/10).
Look at the diagram shown below and try to describe the conventions for phonemic
transcription; explain the ones you know and add more in case it is possible for you to do so.

15. Now, compare your ideas with the actual chart, which is on the appendix on page 72 (5/5).

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