SHAREN FAYE E. LAO – 21-1083-853 DR.

LUZVIMINDA ABDUL

MA- ENGLISH GF ENG 200: Modern Techniques in Teaching English

Activity 7 Speaking

Answer the following:

1. What are examples of pronunciation games in teaching Phonics which in turn is necessary in
teaching Pronunciation to learners? What is Visual Phonics?

Some examples of pronunciation games which are necessary in teaching Phonics are:

 Sounds brainstorming board race – In this game students try to write as many words with the sound
they have been given on the board as quickly as possible. This tests their vocabulary of words having
the sound asked from them.
 Minimal pairs stations- in this game students show which of the two words they think they have heard
by racing to touch one of the things that the teacher decided to represent that thing. This game tests
their ability to recognize sounds correctly.
 Silently mouthing- in this game students try to identify the word or sentences that the teacher is
mouthing silently. This is good for awareness of mouth position for English sounds.
 Tongue twisters race- this is a classic game used in testing students’ pronunciation ability.
Visual Phonics is a system of 46 cues and written symbols, representing the 45 agreed upon
phonemes of the English language. The 46th symbol represents the silent /e/. These hand cues are related to
consonant sounds, vowel sounds, digraphs, dipthongs, and r-controlled vowels represented by the 26 letters of
the English language. Each hand cue is associated in some way with the actual production of each particular
sound. The kinesthetic motion of the cue is literally related to what is happening in the mouth when forming the
sound. “For example, flicking the index finger off of the thumb emulates the release of the tongue from the
alveolar ridge when producing /t/-- the sound represented by the letter t.” The written symbol itself is a
represented drawing of the motion of the hand cue.

2. Accordingly, knowing the difference between content and function words can help in understanding
and in developing pronunciation skills. Give examples of Content words? How about Function words?

Content Words:

 Nouns (fox, dog, Mother, Teacher, etc.)

 Adjectives (sly, brown, lazy, pretty, industrious, etc.)
 Adverb (gracefully, merrily, efficiently, etc.)
 Main Verb (jump, dance, sing, sleep, etc.)

Function Words:
 Determiners
o Articles (the, a, an
o Demonstratives (that, this, those, these)
o Possessive pronouns (my, your, their, our, ours, etc.)
o Quantifiers (some, both, most, many, a few, etc.)
 Preposition (over, under, between, beside, etc.)
 Conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
 Pronouns (he, she, them, they, her, him, etc.)
  Auxiliary Verbs (be, is , am, are, was, were, does, etc.)
 Modals (may, might, can, could, will, would, etc.)
 Qualifiers (very, really, quite, somewhat, rather, etc.)
 Question words (how, where, what, when, who, etc.)

3. What is cross referencing minimal pairs? Give examples of these minimal pairs. How is it achieved
or implemented?

Cross referencing minimal pairs are two similar-sounding words that differ with one sound. Examples of
these are the following:

Vowel sounds:

 Minimal Pair /ɪ/ and /i:/ sit seat

 Minimal Pair /e/ and /ɪ/ desk disk
 Minimal Pair /e/ and /eɪ/ wet wait
 Minimal Pair /æ/ and /ʌ/ bat but
 Minimal Pair /əʊ/ and /ɔ:/ so saw
 Minimal Pair /ɒ/ and /əʊ/ not note
 Minimal Pair /æ/ and /e/ bad bed
 Minimal Pair /ɑ:/ and /ɜ:/ fast first
 Minimal Pair /æ/ and /ɑ:/ had hard
 Minimal Pair /ɒ/ and /ɔ:/ cot caught
 Minimal Pair /əʊ/ and /aʊ/ know now

Consonant sounds:

 Minimal Pair /b/ and /v/ berry very

 Minimal Pair /b/ and /p/ buy pie
 Minimal Pair /n/ and /ŋ/ thin thing
 Minimal Pair /l/ and /r/ alive arrive
 Minimal Pair /ʧ/ and /t/ catch cat
 Minimal Pair /s/ and /ʃ/ sea she
 Minimal Pair /f/ and /v/ fan van
 Minimal Pair /f/ and /h/ fat hat
 Minimal Pair /f/ and /θ/ free three
 Minimal Pair /s/ and /θ/ sink think
 Minimal Pair /ð/ and /z/ with whizz
 Minimal Pair /ʤ/ and /z/ page pays
 Minimal Pair /d/ and /ʤ/ bad badge
 Minimal Pair /f/ and /p/ coffee copy
 Minimal Pair /kw/ and /k/ quick kick
 Minimal Pair /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ cheap jeep
 Minimal Pair /tʃ/ and /ʃ/ chair share
 Minimal Pair /d/ and /ð/ day they
 Minimal Pair /t/ and /θ/ tree three

Minimal pairs are done or achieved by changing one sound in a pair of words, and if it’s done to
a set of words, this is called minimal sets.
4. Explain the significance of teaching word stress pattern, intonation and the use of Register and
Function in teaching pronunciation?

Stress patterns, intonation, and the use of register and function are important because they assist in
communicating additional meaning to an utterance. It helps to strengthen a specific meaning, attitude, or
emotion in an utterance. A speaker can use intonation and stress to inform the audience that a particular part
of what the speaker is saying is important or worth attending to whereas the use of register and function lets
the audience know if the speech is formal or informal.

5. Tongue twisters are one of the activities in teaching pronunciation, give examples of these based on
the grade level you are handling at present.

a. Peter Piper
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers? If
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper
picked?
b. Woodchuck
How much wood would the woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would
chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a
woodchuck could chuck wood.
c. Seashells
She sells seashells on the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells
shells on the seashore, I’m sure she sells seashore sells.
d. Can you can a can?
Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
e. Two witches, two watches
If two witches would watch two watches, which witch would watch which watch?

6. Identify at least five different creative teaching strategies to develop the oral and speaking skills of
your learners.

a. Model syntactic structure.

Your students may not use complete oral syntax in informal speech, but encourage them to do
so when they’re in the classroom. When a student uses fragmented syntax, you should model complete syntax
back to them. This builds oral language skills and gives students practice in a skill necessary for mastering
written language.

b. Remind students to speak loudly and articulate clearly.

Ask students to feel the muscles used for speech while they’re talking and monitor their volume
and articulation. Remind them that clear and loud-enough speech is essential for holding the attention of the
group and communicating their information and opinions effectively.

c. Have students summarize heard information.

Encourage students to verbally summarize or otherwise discuss the information they hear. This
should begin in kindergarten and continue with increasingly difficult questions as students grow older. Teach
students to ask for clarification when they don’t understand something, and emphasize that they can ask you
directly or query fellow students.

d. Model and guide sentence construction.

 Some students have trouble getting started with the wording of a sentence. Saying the
beginning word or phrase for the student can help the student structure their response. Give students time for
thinking and formulating an oral or written response. Students’ explicit experience in both producing their own
oral language and processing others’ language will help facilitate their comprehension of reading material.

e. Explain the subtleties of tone.

Your students have probably experienced playground arguments related to tone;

misunderstandings are common when students are using loud outdoor voices. Remind your students how tone
of voice—which includes pitch, volume, speed, and rhythm—can change the meaning of what a speaker says.
Often, it’s not what they say, it’s how they say it that can lead to misunderstanding of motives and attitudes.
Ask your students to be mindful of tone when they’re trying to get a message across, and adjust their volume
and pitch accordingly.

7. Here are some activities that can be employed in the classroom that would motivate your learners to
engage in communication and develop oral skills. How are they implemented?

 Picture talk / picture study – this is implemented by having students describe or talk about a
picture given or assigned to them or a picture they’ve chosen

 Directed and situational dialogue – this is done by assigning situations or giving scenarios to
students and allowing them to assume a role and act and talk as the person assigned to them.

 Brainstorming activity- this is done by presenting a problem or issue in which students

organized in groups brainstorm all possible ideas which could solve the problem. Discussion of
these ideas takes place after the brainstorming session ends.

 Buzz group discussion- this is a method in which small groups of 2-3 participants discuss a
specific question or issue in order to come up with many ideas in a short time . Since the small
groups produce buzzing sound while discussing, this method is known as buzz group.

 Talk show- In this method, the teacher and students participate in an imaginary television
program. The teacher or another student hosts the program in which one or other students are
invited as guest speakers who are an expert in a specific area.

Sources:

https://www.tefl.net/elt/ideas/pronunciation/top-fun-pronunciation-games/

https://www.thoughtco.com/function-word-grammar- 1690876#:~:text=Content%20Words%20vs

https://allesl.com/minimal-pairs-list-examples/

https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/minimal-pairs.htm

https://optimus.hku.hk/content/presentation-feature-intonation-and-stress-key-points

https://www.thoughtco.com/intonation-and-stress-in-english-1212070

https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-teach-pronunciation-1210483
https://m.busyteacher.org/4050-top-10-tongue-twisters-true-teachers-treasure.html

https://blog.brookespublishing.com/11-ways-to-improve-your-students-oral-language-skills/

https://srtaspanish.com/2018/10/14/picture-talk-101/

https://www.thoughtco.com/english-dialogues-for-learners-1210119

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259620375_The_Talk_Show_Method_in_the_ESL_classroom

https://dms.nasc.org.np/sites/default/files/documents/Buzz%20Group%20Method%20(PPP).pdf

https://www.mindtools.com/brainstm.html