Have been reading a bit of Jennifer Jenkins work on "English as Lingua Franca" (ELF) of late. Basically, this focuses on English as an International Language (EIL) - communication between a nonnative speaker (NNS) and another NNS. For this kind of communication the focus needs to be on intelligibility - these speakers don't need to have nativeness as a goal...
In an ESL context, however, it is easy to see how nativeness would be a goal for an English language learner (ELL)... most of their communication will be with native speakers (NS).
Which leads me to my teaching situation... here in Taiwan...
I did a quick class survey with my junior high learners regarding their pronunciation. Nearly all of them said they wanted to sound like NS (except for some of the boys who simply didn't care). Now, living in Taiwan, they are never going to achieve that NS standard as their own pronunciation is going to continuously be influenced by the Chinese-influenced pronunciation they hear around them on a daily basis and in the English classroom. Promoting NS-like pronunciation could in fact lead to disillusionment amongst the learners.
Therefore, what are your ideas on pronunciation?
How do you approach it with your groups of learners?
I'd like to hear from you...
Cheers
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Natural Speech - Working on Suprasegmental Features
Well, I finally got around to doing this lesson with my grade 8 advanced class (been very busy with school drama performances).
Just to summarize, the objective for this class was to get the learners to focus on:
I decided to use the Annoying Orange series of videos to highlight such aspects of the language. See the video below. I also extend my sincerest thanks to Gagfilms and daneboe.
In preparation for watching the video, as a class we discussed the focal points of the lesson and I got the learners to tell me why they thought such features were important. They commented:
The next step in the lesson was to watch the actual video for the first time. After watching I asked them some general comprehension questions to ensure they understood the content.
Next I provided groups with the the dialogue from the video. This dialogue had been cut up into chunks. Learners were put into groups of 3.
Order the Dialogue
We then listened for a 2nd time and the students were required to put the conversation into the correct order as well as complete some simple cloze based on contractions. Most groups managed this quite easily. Having them focus on contractions with the cloze was a useful way of highlighting how linking works in speech.
Next, I had the learners select 5 sentences or sections of speech that they believed they would have difficulty saying. I had them think about how such utterances would be naturally pronounced.
We then listened for a third time and learners checked the pronunciation and focul features of the highlighted text. They also made an attempt at writing how the speech sounded (e.g. How'v ya ben? = How have you been?)
Finally, in their groups, 2 learners assumed a role and performed the conversation to the best of their ability. It was the 3rd learner's job to act as a checker of the highlighted features.
To sum up, I had the learners complete a simple feedback sheet on the task.
Feedback Sheet
A vast majority of learners stated they enjoyed the activity, despite the fact that many learners indicated that listening for such features was difficult for them. Nearly all learners indicated that it was important for them to improve their pronunciation.
Some comments on the activity included:
The idea of using Annoying Orange came directly from the students - I'd heard them talking a lot about it recently.
In addition, I was aware that several of them had pronunciation improvement as a major goal.
Youtube is a great resource for finding interesting subject 'authentic' subject matter and if used judiciously can really provide a fun and meaningful activity. In addition, it is imperative that we, as language teachers, are aware of our learners' inherent motivations for language learning so we are able to meet their needs.
Cheers!
Just to summarize, the objective for this class was to get the learners to focus on:
- linking
- word stress
- rhythm
- intonation
I decided to use the Annoying Orange series of videos to highlight such aspects of the language. See the video below. I also extend my sincerest thanks to Gagfilms and daneboe.
In preparation for watching the video, as a class we discussed the focal points of the lesson and I got the learners to tell me why they thought such features were important. They commented:
- "My English doesn't sound natural... If I link words I can sound better."
- "Can help me sound more like foreigner"
- "Can help other people understand me better"
The next step in the lesson was to watch the actual video for the first time. After watching I asked them some general comprehension questions to ensure they understood the content.
Next I provided groups with the the dialogue from the video. This dialogue had been cut up into chunks. Learners were put into groups of 3.
Order the Dialogue
We then listened for a 2nd time and the students were required to put the conversation into the correct order as well as complete some simple cloze based on contractions. Most groups managed this quite easily. Having them focus on contractions with the cloze was a useful way of highlighting how linking works in speech.
Next, I had the learners select 5 sentences or sections of speech that they believed they would have difficulty saying. I had them think about how such utterances would be naturally pronounced.
We then listened for a third time and learners checked the pronunciation and focul features of the highlighted text. They also made an attempt at writing how the speech sounded (e.g. How'v ya ben? = How have you been?)
Finally, in their groups, 2 learners assumed a role and performed the conversation to the best of their ability. It was the 3rd learner's job to act as a checker of the highlighted features.
To sum up, I had the learners complete a simple feedback sheet on the task.
Feedback Sheet
A vast majority of learners stated they enjoyed the activity, despite the fact that many learners indicated that listening for such features was difficult for them. Nearly all learners indicated that it was important for them to improve their pronunciation.
Some comments on the activity included:
- "It was fun! I love it!"
- "It is fun, but really hard for me."
- "When I'm hearing the real talking from foreigners, it wasn't easy for me. They sometimes talk really fast."
- "This activity not only improves my English but makes me happy."
The idea of using Annoying Orange came directly from the students - I'd heard them talking a lot about it recently.
In addition, I was aware that several of them had pronunciation improvement as a major goal.
Youtube is a great resource for finding interesting subject 'authentic' subject matter and if used judiciously can really provide a fun and meaningful activity. In addition, it is imperative that we, as language teachers, are aware of our learners' inherent motivations for language learning so we are able to meet their needs.
Cheers!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Pronunciation Teaching
Have been thinking a lot about pronunciation teaching of late (probably due to the fact that I'm currently studying it as part of my Master's course).
In my experience, most of the pronunciation teaching I've done has been fairly incidental - i.e. coping with issues as they arise. And while I believe this is fine for dealing with most of the segmental issues that arise in student speech (e.g. /I/ - /i:/ confusion), it has never successfully dealt with those suprasegmental issues such as tone, stress, rhythm, intonation...
As such, I've decided to embark on some active teaching of these language features and see if active instruction can have much of an effect. I doubt I'll see much improvement in the near future, but judging the students' attitudes to the teaching could be an effective indicator.
Curt Reese's presentation from the Boston 2010 TESOL convention gave some good ideas to start with and I appreciate him posting his presentation slides on the website (see links). As such, I've decided to use the "Annoying Orange" (see youtube) as a source of material. I'll let everyone know how it goes and will post materials l8er.
In my experience, most of the pronunciation teaching I've done has been fairly incidental - i.e. coping with issues as they arise. And while I believe this is fine for dealing with most of the segmental issues that arise in student speech (e.g. /I/ - /i:/ confusion), it has never successfully dealt with those suprasegmental issues such as tone, stress, rhythm, intonation...
As such, I've decided to embark on some active teaching of these language features and see if active instruction can have much of an effect. I doubt I'll see much improvement in the near future, but judging the students' attitudes to the teaching could be an effective indicator.
Curt Reese's presentation from the Boston 2010 TESOL convention gave some good ideas to start with and I appreciate him posting his presentation slides on the website (see links). As such, I've decided to use the "Annoying Orange" (see youtube) as a source of material. I'll let everyone know how it goes and will post materials l8er.
Recent Conventions
There is a wealth of information out there on the web...
Just recently, both TESOL 2010 and IATEFL 2010 took place and there is some stellar stuff posted on their respective sites (see my links).
Just recently, both TESOL 2010 and IATEFL 2010 took place and there is some stellar stuff posted on their respective sites (see my links).
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