UCL Summer Course in English Phonetics, 2007

Teaching Pronunciation: How can teachers help learners improve their English speech? Dr Jane Setter University of Reading Joint Co-ordinator, IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group j.e.setter@reading.ac.uk

Main points: Keep consonants clear Work on consonant clusters Work on problem vowel qualities Make vowels in stressed syllables stand out more than those in unstressed syllables Make sure the nucleus is placed appropriately Too many falling tones can make you sound impolite (i.e., falling tones are fine if used appropriately) Incorporate pronunciation work into all aspects of language teaching and learning LEARN TO LISTEN to patterns of English

Bibliography This is a selection of publications specifically concerning English pronunciation teaching. Others are available. Some items are for students and some for teachers. For students (some are pronunciation practice and some more generally about phonetics) Bradford, Barbara. 1988. Intonation in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Brazil, David. 1994. Pronunciation for Advanced Learners of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Collins, Beverley & Mees, Inger. 2003. Practical Phonetics and Phonology: A Resource Book for Students. London & New York: Routledge. Gilbert, Judy. 2005. Clear Speech: Pronunciation and Listening Comprehension in North American English. 3rd Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hancock, Mark. 2003. English Pronunciation in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hancock, Mark. 1995. Pronunciation Games. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hewings, Martin. 2007. English Pronunciation in Use (Advanced). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hewings, Martin. 2004. Pronunciation Practice Activities. Cambridge: Cambridge
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University Press. Hewings, Martin. 1993. Pronunciation Tasks: A Course for Pre-Intermediate Learners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Jordan, Marianne. 2004. Phonetics for Learners of English Pronunciation. 2nd Edition. Malahide, Co Dublin: Celtic Publications. Kenworthy, Joanne. 2000. The Pronunciation of English: A Workbook. London: Arnold. Kreidler, Charles W. 2004. The Pronunciation of English: A Course Book in Phonology. 2nd Edition. Oxford and New York: Blackwell. Lecumberri, M. Luisa Garcia & Maidment, John A. 2000. English Transcription Course. London: Arnold. Marks, Jonathan. 2007. English Pronunciation in Use (Elementary). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. OConnor, J. D. & Arnold, Gordon F. 1973. Intonation of Colloquial English. London: Longman. OConnor, J. D. & Fletcher, Clare. 1989. Sounds English: a pronunciation practice book. London: Longman. Roach, Peter J. 2000. English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course. 3rd Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Roach, Peter, Hartman, James and Setter, Jane. (Eds.) 2006. Daniel Jones English Pronouncing Dictionary. 17th Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wells, John C. 2006. English Intonation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

For teachers Brazil, David, Coulthard, Malcolm & Johns, Catherine. 1980. Discourse Intonation and Language Teaching. Harlow: Longman. Celce-Murcia, Marianne, Brinton, Donna M. & Goodwin, Janet M. 1996. Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chun, Dorothy M. 2002. Discourse Intonation in L2: From Theory and Research to Practice. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Cruttenden, Alan (Ed.). 2001. Gimsons Pronunciation of English. 6th Edition. London: Arnold. Dalton, Cristiane & Seidlhofer, Barbara. 1994. Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jenkins, Jennifer. 2000. The Phonology of English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kelly, Gerald. 2000. How to Teach Pronunciation. London: Longman. Kenworthy, Joanne. 1987. Teaching English Pronunciation. London: Longman. Levis, John M. 2001. Teaching Focus for Conversational Use. ELT Journal. 55/1, 4754. McCarthy, Michael. 1991. Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tench, Paul. 1990. The Roles of Intonation in English Discourse. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Thompson, Susan. 1995. Teaching Intonation on Questions. ELT Journal. 49/3, 235Revised 30Jul2007 Jane Setter Page 2

243. Walker, R. 2001. Pronunciation priorities, the Lingua Franca Core, and monolingual groups. Speak Out! 18: 4-9. Wennerstrom, Ann. 2001. The Music of Everyday Speech: Prosody and Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Underhill, Adrian. 2005. Sound Foundations. 2nd Edition. Oxford: Macmillan. and of course Speak Out! The newsletter of the IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group.

Websites Here are some websites you might find useful: http://hctv.humnet.ucla.edu/departments/linguistics/VowelsandConsonants/vowels/c ontents.html this rather long address leads to Peter Ladefogeds pages related to his book Vowels and Consonants (see above). If you follow the first link it leads you to a clickable IPA chart (see Appendix 1). http://wtt.org.uk Web Transcription Tool, an online phonemic transcription programme which gives you feedback if your transcriptions have errors. http://www.cf.ac.uk/encap/staff/tench/tswords.html Transcribing English Words by Paul Tench of Cardiff University. http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/ Professor John Wells homepage is full of interesting things, from papers on RP and lecture handouts to downloadable fonts and his own blog. http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/resource/index.html the resources page at UCLs Department of Phonetic and Linguistics. Go here to find links to TONI and PLATO. http://www.phonmap.com/ leads to an easy to use, freely downloadable programme which allows you to insert phonetic symbols into your documents. Others will also need this programme to be able to read softcopy. http://www.speechinaction.com Richard Cauldwells site for his Streaming Speech materials. http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/ the University of Iowas Sounds of Languages page. http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/lang/phonology.htm Andrew Moores introduction to English phonology, which is part of his excellent site of resources for British teachers. Well worth a visit.

Want to get involved with the International English pronunciation teaching community? For more information on how to join IATEFL and the Pronunciation Special Interest Group, see: http://www.iatefl.org .

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