Struggling to teach your students the 41 phonemic symbols in a quick and
easy way? I used to, but not any more. In this blog, and part of my phonetics project, I aim to give you some pointers
on how to teach any group of students the phonemic script. There are three
different methods to chose from.
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Great to show the positions of your mouth.
Photo by andy-walker |
Method 1
During the summer I teach in London and the Academic Director has produced a great pronunciation and
vocabulary workbook. In each class we concentrate on four different symbols. I
used to start the class by drawing the symbols on the board and eliciting
whether any of the students knew them. After drilling the sounds a few times, students would then attempt to write the correct spelling of certain words from the phonemic
script.
For example, after drilling the sounds of /i:/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/, and /u:/ students
would then have to write the word under the phonemic script (plus a few more examples):
1)
/bi:k/ 2) /bɪn/ 3)
/bʊk/ 4) /blu:/
(beak) (bin) (book) (blue)
The next class would be based around four new symbols, including a
quick recap of the previous symbols. So in about ten classes you can teach all
the symbols. I liked this method because there was logical progression, the students
could keep a record of how the symbols sound and it gives you a chance to recap
and review.
Method 2
This was my own idea and I
tried it out with a couple of classes last year. The focus was on minimal
pairs. I systematically went
through the chart and focussed on two symbols (normally quite similar) per
class. I used this minimal pairs website and found
four or five words with each sound and typed them on the board. Before telling students the sound they had to separate
the words into two groups.
For example, I might write the following words on the
board randomly.
see,
she, knee, eat, tree
fit, ship,
lit, chip, bin
Students then had to separate the words into the
correct group under the sounds of /i:/ and /ɪ/. I would then write the symbols of each sound and they would record them in
their notebooks. I also gave them a phonemic chart so they could write a word under each symbol.
The kids did enjoy this method, but it went down like a ton of bricks
with the adults. It was too long-winded, a bit dull, and
because the words were not in context they didn’t really provide students with
a good way of remembering them. This could be a great activity once the students
already know the sounds and symbols as a type of recap, or a quick game.
Method 3
This is by far my favourite method. One of the tutors on my DELTA taught
us this during the course and everyone loved it. If you’re
reading Mike Carter then thanks a lot.
This can be done over two or three classes.
In the first class concentrate on the monothongs (the singular vowel
sounds) and write them on the board like so (there's a word document at the end of the post):
1___________________________
/i:/
_____________________
2___________________________
/ɪ/ _____________________
3___________________________
/ʊ/
_____________________
4___________________________
/u:/
_____________________
5___________________________ /e/ _____________________
6___________________________ /ə/ _____________________
7___________________________ /ɜ:/ _____________________
8___________________________ /ɔ:/ _____________________
9___________________________ /æ/ _____________________
10 _________________________ /ʌ/ _____________________
11__________________________ /ɑ:/ _____________________
12 __________________________ /ɒ/ _____________________
Then jumble up two words with each sound, like this:
after ship fit apple pen hot good shore floor at bird shop father
knee under should two when water word blue butter about see
The key, and funny, part of this method is that each
sound has an action. I’m not going to give away Mike’s actions, so you’ll have
to make up your own ones. But just to give you an idea, the symbol /i:/ goes
well when you act as if you are pulling string horizontally from each side of your
mouth.
Once you have your own actions, this is a good order of
doing the activity.
1)
Show the action and mouth movements to the students (without making the sound).
2) Get them to copy
the action, paying particular attention to their mouths. Make sure they have
the correct shape.
3)
Students listen
as you do the action and make the sound 3 times.
4)
Students copy
the action and make the sound.
5)
Do some
individual drilling.
6) Ask students
which two words have the sound and write them up next to the symbol. Students
copy the words.
7)
Repeat for the
next symbol.
8)
Don’t forget to
recap all the sounds and symbols each time (repetition is key)
The reason you get them to watch first is to highlight the importance of their mouth shape. You can normally spot the ones that are struggling and help.
A lot of the consonants are similar to the alphabet so
students can normally figure out which words go with the sounds. However, there
are a few consonants sounds that need to be taught.
A good way is to use the following table:
p
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b
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t
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d
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ʧ
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ʤ
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k
|
g
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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f
|
v
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θ
|
ð
|
s
|
z
|
ʃ
|
ʒ
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
m
|
n
|
ŋ
|
h
|
l
|
r
|
w
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j
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Get the students to match these words to the symbols,
but only to those which are similar to the alphabet.
dog Germany cat ghost fry
violet
snake television
moon nose light
rabbit
worm yes ball
table
house
three
zoo shoe
fishing pen chicken
then
They should find it easy and get something like this:
p
|
b
|
t
|
d
|
ʧ
|
ʤ
|
k
|
g
|
pen
|
ball
|
table
|
dog
|
|
|
cat
|
ghost
|
f
|
v
|
θ
|
ð
|
s
|
z
|
ʃ
|
ʒ
|
fry
|
violet
|
|
|
snake
|
zoo
|
|
|
m
|
n
|
ŋ
|
h
|
l
|
r
|
w
|
j
|
moon
|
nose
|
|
house
|
light
|
rabbit
|
worm
|
yes
|
Then you have to teach them the difference between the
following sounds. The difference is that one is voiced and the other is
unvoiced.
Unvoiced Voiced
ʧ - chicken ʤ- Germany
θ – three ð – then
ʃ - shoe ʒ - television
They normally get the nasally ŋ sound in fishing.
Then you’re done.
These aren’t too tricky either. A quick way of
teaching them is to cut each of the diphthong symbols in two and then do a
dictation activity where they have to put the symbols together.
So cut up each of these symbols
ɪə ʊə eə eɪ ɔɪ aɪ əʊ aʊ
and then give each pair a set and dictate each symbol. I normally dictate the sounds in the order above so they notice how the diphthongs end.
That’s it. Thanks Mike. Easy as pie and you can do the
whole lot in two or three lessons. I prefer whacking out the monothongs in a class,
then doing the consonants in another class, and then doing the diphthongs. I
usually do it the second or third week of a course once I get to know the
students.
The benefits of this method are that by giving the
monothongs actions it’s funny and more memorable. Also students learn the
symbols quickly so you can start using them in class. The key is that they have a copy of the phonemic chart
and write down a word for each symbol.
In the next couple of blogs I’m going to give you some
ideas on how to do activities in class and keep the sounds and symbols fresh in their minds, and
yours. Hope that helps. Here is a word document of the phonemic script which may
come in useful. Have fun!
Labels: different ways to teach students pronunciation, how to teach phonemics, minimal pairs, The Phonetic Project, ways to teach your students phonemics