Manchester in summer is not always something to write home about, but this summer was different. Norwich Institute of Language Education (NILE) offered their first ever pronunciation teaching course, and I was the tutor and course designer. It took place as part of NILE’s summer programme at their Manchester site.
ELT materials writing is a creative process, and the prospect of creating something from nothing on an empty white page can be quite daunting. But the materials writer has to do just that, and moreover, do it within very tight constraints. For instance, if you are writing a narrative for ELT purposes, it must not only be engaging as a narrative, but it must also be useful as a learning tool.
What are accents? How do they vary from place to place? How do they vary over time? What is the connection of accent to social class? What kinds of accent variation are there? What are the implications for language teaching? These are some of the questions we will be looking at in this guest lecture at NILE Manchester.
Pronunciation poems are rhymes, chants, limericks, raps and song lyrics all written specifically to contain multiple examples of the target pronunciation features. The activities usually begin with an exercise completing or correcting the text and culminate in practising saying or chanting the text out loud.
Pronunciation pairworks are information-gap communication activities for students to do in pairs or small groups. Success in each activity depends upon the students accuracy in producing and understanding the target pronunciation feature.
Pronunciation puzzles are challenging game-like activities which students can do on their own, although they are fun to do in pairs or small groups. They include such puzzle types as mazes, sudoku, word searches and crosswords.
Pronunciation workouts are extended drills focusing on specific areas of English pronunciation. Think of them like the scales and other exercises which pianists use to improve their fingering technique. Or like a fitness workout which a gymnast might use to tone the muscles. But in the case of pronunciation, it’s the vocal articulators which are getting trained – the tongue, lips, jaw and vocal cords.
On the TESOL Spain website (click here), you can now see videos of various speakers from the 2016 conference in Vitoria, conducted by Gerard McLaughlin.
Most teachers of English will have come across a sound chart at some point, but few realise how arbitrary they are. I do not mean 'arbitrary' in the negative sense of 'with no good reason', but rather in the sense that there are choices that the designer has had to make. At every stage in the creation of a chart, the author will have made decisions which could equally well have been otherwise.
