how to … natural

help low level learners with pronunciation English

teacher development
by Scott Thornbury

worksheet for stage 1

worksheet A

I want four T-shirts. I won forty shirts. I want fourteen shirts. I won four T-shirts.

I won fourteen shirts. I want forty shirts. I won forty shorts. I want fourteen shorts.

I won fourteen shorts. I want forty shorts. I went for T-shirts. I want four teachers.

worksheet B

I want four T-shirts. I won forty shirts. I want fourteen shirts. I won four T-shirts.

I won fourteen shirts. I want forty shirts. I won forty shorts. I want fourteen shorts.

I won fourteen shorts. I want forty shorts. I went for T-shirts. I want four teachers.

Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2006 how to … help low level learners with pronunciation worksheet for stage 1
how to… natural
help low level learners with pronunciation English
teacher development
by Scott Thornbury

worksheet for stage 2

1 Can you decipher these terms?

1 /vaU@l f@UnI;mz/
2 /kQns@n@nt f@UnI;mz/
3 /Int@neIS@n/
4 /rID@m/
5 /w3;d stres/
6 /sent@ns stres/
7 /saUndz In k@nekt@d spI;tS/
8 /saUnd - spelIN/

2 Match the above terms with their definition below:

A giving prominence to a particular syllable in a word
B the meaningful use of changes in pitch
C the relationship between the spoken and written forms of words
D the effect on individual sounds of the process of speech production
E meaningful sounds that are produced by obstructing the air flow in
some way
F the occurrence of prominent words or syllables at regular intervals
G giving prominence to a particular word in a sentence
H meaningful sounds that are produced by shaping the unobstructed air
flow with the tongue and lips

Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2006 how to … help low level learners with pronunciation worksheet for stage 2
how to… natural
help low level learners with pronunciation English
teacher development
by Scott Thornbury

worksheet for stage 3

Here are some typical classroom activities for working on pronunciation.

What area of pronunciation teaching does each one target?
1 Listen to these words and put them into three groups:
Ooo oOo ooO
Now, ask your classmate questions about the words:
What’s a mechanic?
~ A mechanic is a person who repairs cars.
Tapescript:
mechanic accountant engineer carpenter
architect employee professor technician
editor assistant journalist reporter

2 Read these pairs of sentences. Do they rhyme?

a I don’t like fish and I don’t like meat.
But a bowl of salad is really great.
b I’d like to invite you to my place for tea.
Just ring on the bell and I’ll throw down the key.
c In summer she swims and in winter she skis.
And she wins every race whenever she tries.
d I’m going to the shops – what do we need?
A pound of butter and a loaf of bread.
Now, listen to the recording and check.

3 Listen to the sentences and count the words in each sentence.

(Contractions, such as don’t, count as one word).
Tapescript:
a I have to do my homework tonight.
b What would you like to eat?
c They’ve been married for four years.
d I think it’s going to rain.

4 Listen to these words. Tick the one that you hear:

a bear pear
b bark park
c cab cap
d bin pin
e stable staple
Now, practise saying the words.

Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2006 how to … help low level learners with pronunciation worksheet for stage 3
 worksheet for stage 3 continued

5 Read these sentences and choose the best response:

1 Hello. What’s your name?
a Jack. What’s YOUR name?
b Jack. What’s your NAME?
2 What do you do?
a I’m a student. What do you DO?
b I’m a student. What do YOU do?
3 Is this your first time in London?
a No, I’ve been to LONDON before.
b No, I’ve been to London BEFORE.
Now, listen to the recording and check your answers.

6 Listen to these sentences and then practise saying them:

a Jan has a black hand bag.
b Dave made a cake at Jane’s place.
c Can Dad carry the back pack?
d The train was late so we ate at eight.

7 Say ‘Hi!’ for each of these situations:

a You meet your classmate at the beginning of the lesson. You saw each
other yesterday.
b You meet a good friend in the street, who you haven’t seen for six months.
c You are shopping and you want to attract the attention of the shop
assistant.
d You meet a friend who borrowed one of your favourite CDs, and then
lost it.
e By chance, you meet a colleague from work at the cinema at the
weekend.

8 Listen to the chant and repeat each line.

A funny thing happened.
What happened?
A funny thing happened to Lee.
It’s funny how funny things happen.
The same thing happened to me.
An awful thing happened.
What happened?
An awful thing happened to Kim.
It’s awful how awful things happen.
The same thing happened to Jim.
Now, in pairs, take turns reading each line.
Make new verses using these words:
scary … Mac … Jack
creepy … Jan … Ann
crazy … Bill … Jill

Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2006 how to … help low level learners with pronunciation worksheet for stage 3
how to… natural
help low level learners with pronunciation English
teacher development
by Scott Thornbury

worksheet for stage 4

1 Here are some syllabus items that are commonly taught to beginners and
elementary learners. Can you predict any difficulties with pronunciation
that learners might encounter with each of them?
1 present continuous statements,
e.g. Rafael is playing tennis.
2 present simple questions,
e.g. Where does she live? What do you do?
3 clothing vocabulary,
e.g. shirt, shorts, suit, shoes, jacket, coat, scarf, etc.
4 ordinal numbers,
i.e. first, second, third, fourth, etc.
5 regular past tense verbs,
e.g. walked, finished, started, lived, etc.
6 polite requests with Can you…?,
e.g. Can you turn the music down, please?

2 Suggest strategies or techniques that the teacher could adopt in order

to deal with these difficulties. (Look back at worksheet for stage 3
for ideas).

Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2006 how to … help low level learners with pronunciation worksheet for stage 4