Professional Documents
Culture Documents
hear the difference in your voice between the podcast intro and the actual video.” The audio
of the video, so that’s interesting. So we can listen to that as well.
Anyway, today we’re going to talk about how to teach pronunciation.
So, of course, this episode is for you if you are an English teacher and you want to find out
more about my pronunciation teaching framework. I have developed a framework that
consists of 8 P’s. So, for each stage I actually found a legit word that starts with a P. And this
is no coincidence because we, speech teachers, like the P sound. Especially in funny tongue-
twisters like, Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. And I truly hope that you are
practicing this with me right now. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Okay, get distracted so easily. Let’s, let’s move on. Let’s move on with what I have to tell
you. Um, so it’s definitely for you if you’re an English teacher, but if you’re an English learner,
this podcast episode is definitely for you because you want to know the steps as you’re
learning pronunciation, as you’re looking to improve your accent in English. Like, you need to
know what are the steps that you need to take. Or if you study with a teacher or you, you’re
a self-learner and you want to know what are the steps that you need to follow when you’re
learning a new sound. So you can definitely apply that, uh, onto yourself when you are
learning alone.
So, definitely stick around cause they think you’re going to get a lot of value from this. Also, I
have a free download for you, uh, on this episode. It’s basically my pronunciation teaching
framework, where I go through all the eight PS and I talk about each and every one of them. I
give you a few examples, I share with you my tips and strategies, and it’s completely free.
So, if you’re an English teacher or a learner, you are invited to download this freebie and
work with it, and check off every step along the way, um, as you are working towards
improving your pronunciation and your accent. So, I’ll put the link to this free PDF download
in the show notes. And after you download it, then send me a DM on Instagram –
@hadar.accentsway and tell me what you think if you find this helpful, or not.
Let’s move the conversation over there because, unfortunately, you can’t answer me on this
podcast platform that you’re listening to right now. Okay, let’s have a listen.
Hey there. It’s Hadar, and this is The Accent’s Way.
Thank you for joining me. And today we’re going to talk about how to teach American
pronunciation. This video is for you if you are an English teacher looking to improve the way
you teach pronunciation, and you’d like to use my framework that has been working for me
for over 10 years.
But this video is also for you if you’re an English learner looking to improve your
pronunciation, and you need to know what are the steps that you need to take in order to
improve your clarity and confidence in English.
So let’s get started. Let’s begin with the fact that pronunciation is an essential component of
learning a new language. First, because it increases the intelligibility of the speaker. So the
speaker is clear, and actually all the knowledge of English is conveyed in a way that people
can understand.
Second, it really improves and increases the confidence of the speaker. The speaker feels
better and more empowered when speaking, but also when listening to native speakers.
Because when you understand pronunciation, or the pronunciation of the language, you
understand the native speakers better.
Another reason is that when students are able to achieve something that seems
unattainable. Like mastering pronunciation or sounding really, really clear in English, it makes
them feel competent and capable and that will keep motivating them on their way to
achieving their goals.
Now while a lot of teachers want and know that they should incorporate pronunciation more
in their teaching and their classes, they fail to do so.
One of the reasons is that pronunciation is kind of vague and more challenging to teach.
Because on one hand you have to teach them how to recognize those sounds and to even
hear them, and at the same time, how to apply them properly.
And then, once they apply the sounds you have to give them precise feedback and to be able
to recognize their mistakes. And that’s when you, as a teacher, may doubt yourself in your
ability to actually give concise and concrete feedback.
Also, you have time constraints. You have the materials that you need to teach, you have the
curriculum and you don’t know how to incorporate that in your day-to-day teaching because
you have to go through certain materials and there is not enough time for everything.
So, let’s begin with the teaching pronunciation framework that I’ve developed of the 8 P’s
that has served me well in the 10 years that I’ve been teaching the American accent.
The first P is Perception.
You have to teach them how to recognize the sound before you start teaching them how to
make the sound. You want to make sure that they see that there is a difference between
what they hear and what they perceive. Because while they may hear the actual sound, they
may categorize it as another sound, a sound that does exist in their native tongue.
So for example, when trying to teach, let’s say, a French speaker. In French, there is no
difference between the two ‘i’ sounds like in American English or in English. For example, the
tense ‘i’ as in ‘sheep’ and the relaxed ‘ɪ’ if as in ship. There is only one ‘i’.
So, it is very likely that a French speaker won’t immediately recognize that there is a
difference between ‘sheep’ and how he or she may be pronouncing it as ‘ship’. And you want
to say it clearly or show them examples till they hear that there is a difference.
i – ɪ. Or the difference between ‘sheep’ and ‘ship’. And it’s not ‘sheep’ and ‘sheep’, right? So
when you do that slowly and you first, you’re not asking them to make any sounds just to
hear the difference, you’re developing their perception. Which is the first and more
fundamental stage of teaching pronunciation, because if they can’t hear it, they can’t make
it.
Even if they can imitate the sound, but they still don’t hear it on a regular basis, it won’t be
effective. They won’t be able to implement it in their day-to-day speech. There’ll be able to
imitate your clearly, but they won’t be able to transform the way they pronounce the sound.
So you really have to focus on perception before starting anything else.
The 2nd P is Pronunciation.
This is a place where you teach them exactly what they need to do physically inside their
mouth to make the sound. But it doesn’t end there. Because when I teach pronunciation, I
first start with the basics: your jaw is open, the tongue is forward, the lips pull to the sides,
and the back of the tongue is high, the front of the tongue is low.
But for most students, that’s just not going to mean anything to them. They’d be like, uh,
okay, let me try to do this thing with my mouth. And the thing that they around the lips, but
they don’t really. So just telling them what they need to do is not enough.
It’s a great starting point and you have to understand what the mouth is doing and to
communicate that clearly, but you need to understand that that’s not going to cut it for most
students. So you might want to use some imageries or ways for them to measure their
progress.
For example, I tell my students to use a mirror to see that they actually round their lips when
they pronounce the sound. Or I may tell them, imagine like you have a hot potato in your
mouth, and that immediately gets them to open the mouth. And they don’t need to focus so
much on the position of the jaw and the tongue because that imagery just completely help
them get to that position without being too physical.
So start with the physical aspects of pronouncing the sounds, but give them other ways to
understand how to pronounce and make a certain sound that will work for them.
The next P is Predict.
Predict the pitfalls of your students by knowing what your student is likely to do, you are able
Even if you’re uncertain with the exact feedback should be, you kinda try different things.
One of the things that I do, if I don’t know what to say exactly, I try to imitate the sound and
to make it myself. And then I tried to understand what my mouth is doing. And from there
what they need to do in order to pronounce the right sound.
And this was one of the ways that I discover what feedback to actually give. Either way,
you’ve got to give them something to work with, so don’t be vague, and don’t say general
comments like, “it’s not good enough” or “it doesn’t sound right”.
Because it will just overwhelm them and make them feel discouraged, and when they feel
discouraged, you lose them. They won’t be motivated, and then they won’t want to continue
on doing this work. So you’ve got to give them hope.
The next P is Practice.
Of course, practice makes better. Better – because perfection is overrated, and we want to
communicate that to our students. That whenever they practice this sound, it does not need
to be perfect, especially when they’re first starting out. They got to test it and try it and see
how it works for them, and then train the tongue to do different things as they’re practicing
because practice makes better.
So, first of all, you’ve got to communicate why it’s so important to practice. Because if they
want to use the sound spontaneously, they have to develop the muscle memory, and it only
happens with practice.
Also, if the way they pronounce the sound is not great yet, practice will solve it. It’ll help
them understand what they’re doing right, what they’re doing wrong, and gradually move
into the place or the placement of the target sound.
Also, you want to develop realistic expectations. If your students work 14- hour days and you
ask them to practice for one hour every single day, it’s just not going to happen. And then
they’ll feel like they’re always behind, like they’re not doing what they need to do. They’ll
feel overwhelmed and then they’ll quit.
If your students feel overwhelmed, they’ll quit, that’s just how it works. So you want to make
sure that they’re constantly feeling capable. One of the things that I do is I just create really
short recordings and practices for my students to work with, and then I tell them, “even if you
have 10 minutes a day, then just go into the drive and listen to those recordings, and work
with the recordings, and do the work.
They’ll feel accomplished because they’ve done something. It will help them improve
because they practice, and, also, it’s possible. They’ll come back to it the next day because
they know it’s not a big deal to do that. So set realistic expectations and understand your