E-05.12 Do Pronunciation Pages To Discriminate Among Individual Vowel & Consonant Sounds

English in Everyday Life: Pronunciation Supplement

From Instructor’s Manual, WorkLife English: Competency-Based Listening/Speaking, Book 2 

12 pp

Who It’s For: Teachers, Helpers, & (High-Beginning) Students of American English Wanting More Practice in Auditory Discrimination & Production of Speech Sounds 

Why It’s Useful: Key to accurate listening is the ability to differentiate (possibly similar) Vowel & Consonant Sounds in words. Conversely, polishing an accent might involve  bettering one’s articulation of (perhaps difficult) specific sounds in context. Here are items to hear accurately that can also be used for Pronunciation practice.   

What You’ll Do: 

[1] To view onscreen or print out, download the one or two pages corresponding to Chapter 2, 4, 5, 8, and/or 9 of WorkLife English: A Competency-Based Listening/Speaking Book 2: English in Everyday Life.   

[2]  Follow Instructions on the first page of the E-05.12 Download.  If an activity involves paired “Information-Gap” interaction, Student A reads aloud given or chosen words or sentences; Student B shows comprehension by reacting as directed. Note that these Segments provide immediate feedback on (in)comprehensibility of speech.

[3]  If a Listening Exercise involves “Minimal Pairs” (two words with one sound contrast),  model its principle by reading aloud one word in each pair and having listeners identify which one it is.  Encourage learners to continue using the material in this way on their own—with several different partners.

[4] For “Sound Discrimination” sections, you can refer to “Items to Be Read Aloud” in the 3-page attachment to E-05.12. At another time, you can read aloud words that were not pronounced before: listeners mark previously incorrect items as the right answers this time. 

[5] Of course, any or all of the eight Worksheets for Extra Pronunciation Practice can be duplicated and/or viewed (onscreen) as many times as necessary or helpful. They can elicit identical or different responses each time.