PronPack 4: Pronunciation Poems

What are pronunciation poems?
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.

What are the benefits of doing these poems?
The poems can benefit learners by making specific features of English pronunciation very noticeable to them because they occur so frequently in a short sample of language. They also provide concentrated practice in producing the target feature through the chant. A further benefit is that they tend to be very memorable – the chant or lyric will often ‘play-on-repeat’ in the student’s head afterwards, providing extra silent practice.

What aspects of pronunciation are covered?
The poems in the greater part of the book focus on individual sounds. Later in the book there are poems focussing on consonant clusters, grammatical –ed and –s endings and weak forms. However, the poems all have a further focus which is equally if not more important: they provide intensive exemplification and practice of connected speech.