Lesson Planning Tips & Ideas

Key points –

• We know the rules of pronunciation – we learned them “unconsciously.”  Our job is to help our students learn “consciously.”

• We are not asking students to lose their accents, as that should be a celebrated part of their identity.

• When students speak imperfect English, they are sharing their language with us. Respect the person and the  “mistakes.”

• Students may need help with the mechanics of English – watch yourself in the mirror to see the specific movements your mouth, tongue, air flow, etc.  When you say “ban” what happens to your lips? When you say “van” what happens to your teeth?  Explicitly teach these movements to your students.

• Tell students to slow down. SLOWLY articulate words and sentences to produce sounds. Example, Rrrrr-eellll-ei…really.

• One of your main goals is to help your student build confidence.

• If your student is making frequent & repeated errors, “eschool” instead of “school,”  You might want to introduce a neurological interruption. For example, for the native Spanish speaker saying the word school, tilt your head backwards and “think e”, tilt your head down and say school.

• English is not pronounced the way it’s spelled out!  It may be helpful to use a tool such as the International Phonetic Alphabet/ IPA to guide students through the various sounds of American English.  This website offers excellent pronunciation examples for all the sounds – https://americanipachart.com/

• Word ending are challenging for many English Language Learners.  Attached is a chart explaining rules for various endings, including an explanation of voiced and voiceless consonants. 

• American English word and sentence stress is very different from other languages. We stress content words to convey meaning. Content words (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and main verbs) are usually stressed. (Example below from  www.ellii.com)

• • The kids are at the park.
  • Do you have any brothers or sisters?
  • Why aren’t you doing your homework?
  • He bought a red car for his daughter.

Recommended Websites/Videos

Elemental English – www.elementalenglish.com

Connected Speech and Linking – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAHUTKm_1n0&list=PLytLOCUcYQj_ODAC4ixpqCc5qhwzSEwph

Stress and Rhythm – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbcEiFTmkQo

Rhythm Practice: Stress & De-Stress – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtTLEAA0Sbc

Rachel’s English – www.rachelsenglish.com

American pronunciation of the 100 most common words in English – https://rachelsenglish.com/100-most-common-words-in-english-2/

Ed endings – https://rachelsenglish.com/pronounce-ed-verb-endings/

Reduction (I’m gonna) – https://rachelsenglish.com/im-gonna-reduction-2/

Accent’s Way with Hadar – https://hadarshemesh.com/

10 Pronunciation mistakes Spanish speakers make – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwk24w8Qsy8&t=266s

Special thanks to Nancy Hults Rubin for facilitating this workshop and sharing her expertise and experiences in teaching pronunciation for over 15 years!

A minimal pair is two words that vary by only a single sound, usually meaning sounds that may confuse English learners, like the /f/ and /v/ in fan and van, or the /e/ and /ɪ/ in desk and disk.

You can find a list of common minimal pairs on the English Club website. Tutors can also borrow books such as Pronunciation Pairs or Focus on Pronunciation from our LVMC lending library.

Watch this YouTube video for a sample minimal pair activity that you can try with your student.

This Pronunciation with Emma Video provides a clear and easy to follow explanation of stress and intonation in the English language (British English).