Helping ESL Students Master American English Pronunciation

The purpose of the guide is to alert ESL and English tutors to the importance of
improving pronunciation of ESL students and assist them in helping ESL students master
American pronunciation by providing an insight into the problems adult learners face
learning English pronunciation. It will also offer some of the techniques to deal with the
problems. It is intended for tutors and ESL instructors with little or no specialized
training in teaching pronunciation to ESL students.
The following is a summarization of the personal experience of teaching and the review
of the current state of teaching Pronunciation to Adult ESL students.
First, we need to clarify the term 'pronunciation'. The term is sometimes understood as
referring only to the 'correct' pronunciation of individual sounds and words in isolation
(so-called segmentals). However, in the words of one ESL instructor -Pronouncing
separate words in a sentence correctly leads to poor pronunciation! In this guide
'pronunciation will be used in a more comprehensive way, to include prosody, or
functional intelligibility, comprising the following interacting phonological aspects (socalled suprasegmentals): the stress patterns of phrases, the interaction of sounds
between ending, and beginnings of words, and the resulting pronunciation, rhythm, and
intonation of these phrases.
I Know English Why Nobody Understands Me?
As most experienced ESL teachers are aware, pronunciation is the area of language
learning most resistant to change or improvement. By the time ESL students begin our
program, they have probably already developed speech habits which have fossilized and
become progressively harder to unlearn or change without serious and concerted effort.
This problem is often compounded by the students' own lack of awareness of their
communication and pronunciation problems. They may well acknowledge in a general
way that they have trouble being understood, but they do not know what their specific
problems are and have no idea how to improve their comprehensibility. While some may
focus on their inability to differentiate /l/ from /r/, /p/ from/b/, or /i/ from /i:/, it is in fact
much more likely that their overall patterns of intonation, rhythm, and stress are the real
culprits in their communication difficulties. These suprasegmental problems affect not
only their own speaking skills, but also affect their comprehension of native speakers.
Practically all ESL students, even those who have taught English in their countries,
initially have significant difficulty understanding American English and making
themselves understood because they have not acquired the English pronunciation pattern
adequately. Such students may be stigmatized due to discriminatory attitudes towards
accents among segments of the general public, which can lead to frustration with personal

success, dropping out of college, and in some cases, even termination of further efforts to
succeed in the American society on the whole.
Just to give an example, here is a quote from an adult student sharing his
frustration:"Whenever I speak to a person in America, they keep asking me
"What? What?" I have to repeat my sentence again and again. Finally they
say "Ah-ha!" and then say my sentence, using exactly my words! It is very
humiliating. I know my words and grammar are good, but nobody
understands me, just because of my pronunciation
The Goal is Communication
As such, pronunciation could be detrimental for the ESL students success in the
American society and may condemn the student to a less desired social, academic and
work advancement. A number of our students, even having completed the ESL program,
realize that they fail on the communication level and come back to school looking for
additional help with pronunciation.
According the study of American undergraduate reaction to the communication skills of
foreign teaching assistants (Hinofotis and Baily, 1980), the fault which impairs the
communication process in ESL learners most severely is pronunciation, rather than
vocabulary or grammar. The arguments presented in the study make pronunciation
instruction all the more important in improving the communicative competence of ESL
learners.
The current focus on communicative approaches to ESL instruction and the concern for
building communication skills in an increasingly diverse workplace are renewing interest
in the role that pronunciation plays in adult ESL students' overall communicative
competence. As a result, pronunciation is emerging from its often-marginalized place in
adult ESL instruction (Kuo, 1999).
The Historical Perspective
From the historical perspective pronunciation instruction tends to be linked to the
instructional method being used (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin, 1996). In the
grammar-translation method of the past, pronunciation was almost irrelevant and
therefore seldom taught. In the audio-lingual method, which some ESL instructors still
adhere to, learners spent hours in class or in the language lab listening to and repeating
sounds and sound combinations that serve to distinguish words from one another (later
those became known as segmentals). Segmentals are the basic inventory of distinctive
sounds and the way that they combine to form a spoken language. Pronunciation
instruction has often concentrated on the mastery of those segmentals through
discrimination and production of target sounds via drills consisting of minimal pairs.
This method of teaching pronunciation, although having its own merits, has proved to be
rather ineffective with adult learners (ibid).

The most relevant features of pronunciationstress, rhythm, adjustments/reductions,

logical stress, and intonationplay a greater role in English communication than the
individual sounds themselves (Wong, 1993). Therefore, teaching speech from the
perspective of suprasegmentals seems indispensable for the purpose of achieving real
communication. Learning pronunciation should not be limited to finding primary stress
and comparing individual vowel and consonant sounds in a given word, as has often been
the case with pronunciation learning in the past. Focusing on individual vowel and
consonant sounds is only the first step in learning to speak and understand English.
With the emergence of more holistic, communicative methods and approaches to ESL
instruction, pronunciation is addressed within the context of real communication. The
suprasegmentals transcend the level of individual sound production. They extend across
segmentals and are usually produced unconsciously by native speakers and thus are often
overlooked when teaching ESL. Since suprasegmental elements provide crucial context
and support (they determine meaning) for segmental production, they are assuming a
more prominent place in pronunciation instruction.
Although in recent years new materials have been developed that emphasize prosodic
factors, and despite the fact that some instructors are aware of the need for
suprasegmental instruction (Breitkreutz, et al., 2001), many aspects of current
pronunciation instruction, to a large extent, derive from speech pathology, with a strong
focus on segmentals.
Thus, this approach to teaching pronunciation is especially inappropriate in a mixed
language class, where the range in need for segmental work is considerable. ESL students
will have different requirements, depending on their first languages. Prosodic factors, on
the other hand, are likely to have greater importance for a diverse group of students. All
ESL learners, without exception, will benefit to the highest degree from an appropriate
study of American English stress, rhythm, adjustments/reductions, logical stress, and
intonation.
Furthermore, research suggests that pronunciation instruction involving these
suprasegmentals is also more likely to transfer to spontaneously produced speech than
instruction focused on segmentals (Derwing, Munro, & Wiebe, 1998; Elliott, 1997).
There are various contributing factors besides the native language, such as age,
educational background, experiences with pronunciation instruction, aptitude and
motivation, general English proficiency level, etc., that can influence the learning and
teaching of pronunciation skills (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin, 1996; Gillette,
1994; Graham, 1994; Pennington, 1994). The pronunciation of any one learner might be
affected by a combination of these factors. The key is to be aware of their existence so
that they may be considered in creating realistic and effective pronunciation goals and
development plans for the learners.
Teaching pronunciation should include all of the above-mentioned considerations,
factors, and components and not just sounds and presentation skills. Limited

pronunciation skills can undermine learners' self-confidence, restrict social interactions,

negatively influence estimations of a speaker's credibility and abilities, and limit our
students chances for success on the whole (also see Morley, 1998).

Help Is on the Way

ESL students need to receive such instruction and tutoring so that they have a clear sense
where their problems lie. This means that ESL instructors and tutors need the knowledge
and skills to provide pronunciation assistance and instruction that will be effective. They
ought to be able to recognize the specific difficulty that a certain language background
imposes on the individuals perception and production of the English sounds or
intonation.
As matters stand, pronunciation is one of the most difficult parts of a language for our
ESL students to master and one of the least favorite topics for teachers to address in the
classroom. Nevertheless, with correct approach, pronunciation can play an important role
in supporting our students overall communicative power.
This guide will help our tutors and adjunct faculty in identifying those problems and
providing them with tools to solve them, thus empowering our students for their success
at school, at work, and in American society on the whole.
All students need help, but the question is how to help them better. Perfect pronunciation
is hard to achieve, but it is important to concentrate on the key aspects that will make or
break communication.

Building Blocks of Pronunciation

Sounds are important, and tutors are well advised to help the student with the specific
problem sounds that his or her native language makes it difficult to pronounce.
However, most often, it is not the individual sounds that impede the communication.
Yes, there are many examples when only one mispronounced sound may lead to a
misunderstanding. (Fried rice vs. flied lice, etc.)
Positional length of vowels and consonants is another important aspect as well (final
position versus the position followed by a voiced or a voiceless consonant).
For example, He liked the price. vs. He liked the prize.
The stress pattern within a word may also lead to a misunderstanding. (A cup of tea
instead of a cappuccino) Some languages are not stress-based, and as such every
syllable has to be pronounced clearly.
Some problems can be avoided if the stress pattern is properly observed in compound
nouns (`Russian professor or `Russian pro`fessor)
For more see: http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/word-stress.htm
However, we will concentrate here on the less taught aspect of pronunciation - sentence
rhythm and intonation.

The Keystone of Communication

Many learners try to separate words instead of running them together. The result is that
their speech is jerky and they are not easy to understand, and they have hard time
understanding spoken language.
For better communication, instead of accusing Americans of unclear speech due to
swallowing words, our students need to learn how the words are run together in
English. It is necessary to overcome the misconception that separating words will make
the speech clearer. Even if we pronounce individual words clearly, it may be difficult to
achieve correct communication. Unless, of course, we are slowing down on purpose to
carry the message across.
The most important aspect is the communicative or meaning- based approach. We need
to help our students learn to listen and speak for meaning. The key here is stress,
intonation and rhythm in connected speech.

Our students need to concentrate on what is the most important for communication creating intelligible messages and not perfect sounds. (Accents may even be quite nice.)
They have to concentrate on improving their fluency, rhythm, and intonation.
The rules of English speech can be clearly defined in terms of what is necessary to
understand spoken English and be understood better.
There are certain rules of stress and connecting words in a sentence in English, which are
different in other languages. There are rules of intonation in English that are peculiar to
this language.
We need to teach the information structure of speech and emphasize on what information
is important and is unpredictable to the listener. This is what constitutes a learnercentered approach (and not just thoughtless drills of sounds), real life situations and
meaningful phrase that make sense and will help the student in their lives. What are the
examples of miscommunication from the students experience? What really happened?
In order to better analyze the root causes of those miscommunication instances, we need
to understand what comprises the specifics of American pronunciation.
In this short guide, however, we will not deal with the phonemic peculiarities and
distinctions of English sound system, but will rather concentrate on the less taught
suprasegmental aspects of American pronunciation - phrasal and sentence rhythm,
chunking, and intonation in phrases and sentences.

Out of Tune
Speaking English is akin to singing when everything is right, it is pleasant to the ear, but
sometimes the words may be right, but it doesnt sound right - the rhythm is OFF and the
tune is all wrong. Many people like to teach pronunciation using songs and jazz chants.
This is a valid approach. However, teaching thinking adults using songs is only good for
practice and should be preceded by building a solid foundation of the rules that govern
American pronunciation.
Pronunciation patterns are different across languages. Even small differences can be
important. Speaking one language with the intonation pattern appropriate to another can
give rise to entirely unintentional effects. Thus, speaking English with Russian intonation
sounds unfriendly, rude, or threatening to the native speaker of English; speaking Russian
with an English intonation sounds affected or hypocritical to the native speaker of
Russian. (Comrie, 1984).
The Main Characteristic of American Pronunciation Weak Words Attached to
the Strong Ones
Unlike it is in many other languages, N OT every word in English sentence is stressed. In
fact, only less than a half of the words are pronounced clearly, while the rest are
pronounced in their weak form ( /kn/ instead of /kn/, /`n / for AND /nd/, etc). The

general rule is that only so-called content words that that carry content or meaning
get stress in the sentence, while the so called function words that serve as
grammatical links are not stressed and are pronounced together with the preceding
stressed one.
The following (content) words are usually stressed in the sentence: nouns, principal
verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. The words that are not stressed are: articles, determiners,
particles, helping and linking verbs, modal verbs in affirmative sentences, prepositions,
conjunctions, and pronouns.
This, of course, does not take into account the so called logical stress in a
sentence, or the focus of a sentence, when practically any word can and has to be
stressed or emphasized for the sake of making a point.
In the beginning of a conversation or in an opening sentence it is the last content
word that is the focus of the sentence and has the main stress.
This morning I saw an accident.

The Emphasis on Unpredictable

After a conversation begins, the focus changes, and the logical stress can fall on any
word in a sentence, including even function words. The focus will be on the word that
is unpredictable for the listener.

I didnt see him speeding.

I didnt see him speeding.
I didnt see him speeding.
I didnt see him speeding.
I didnt see him speeding.
Each language deals with expressing these emotional ranges and contextual importance in
different ways. Some languages, such as French and other Romance languages, stress the end
of a sentence, and then use word order to indicate an important change. Other languages, such
as Chinese, have a pitch change that indicates different vocabulary words, and then superimpose
further pitch change to express a different meaning or emotion. Many other languages use only

syntactic devices for contrastive emphasis, for example, moving the emphasized phrase
to the beginning of the sentence.

Instead of
o I want a car for my birthday. (as opposed to a bike)
you would have to say something like:
o A car I want for my birthday.
o It's a car that I want for my birthday.
7

Listeners who speak that type of language will not necessarily interpret extra pitch and
volume as marking emphasis.
However, the syntactic structure of the English language (unlike some other languages) is
set and has a fairly strictly fixed word order. It is not an option to rearrange the words when we
want to make a point about something. Stress and intonation is the way in American English to
convey a range of meanings, emotions or situations, all within the confines of standard grammar
and fixed word order.
This fully agrees with the communicative approach to teaching pronunciation to ESL
students. The focus changes because the speaker wants to call attention to the new
information.

Rhythmic Group - the American Beat

Lets see how it all works and analyze the sentence: My friend can skate and ski.
Here we have three stressed content words two nouns and a verb - and three
unstressed ones, where My is a possessive pronoun; can is a modal verb in an
affirmative sentence, and and is a conjunction.
We get

My `friend can `skate and `ski.

Lets pronounce the stressed words only FRIEND-SKATE-SKI

What happens to the unstressed words?
Unlike it is true for the grammatical structure of the language, where prepositions
precede a noun, or a link verb precedes and goes with the subject complement, etc.,
in spoken English, the unstressed words have a tendency to be pronounced together
with the preceding stressed word.
It is very important: In connected speech, the unstressed words are
pronounced together with the preceding stressed one. There is a caveat: if an
unstressed word begins a sentence, it is pronounced together with the first stressed
word that follows it.
The stressed words together with the attached unstressed words comprise the socalled rhythmic groups (separated by metrical breaks).
The stressed word forms the center of the rhythmic group.
These rhythmic groups form the rhythm of a sentence. That is they have a tendency
to be pronounced after equal periods of time, creating the typical English sentence
beat.

In the sentence My friend can skate and ski, there will be three rhythmic groups.

M y`friend can `skate and

/ma`frenkn/

/`skeitn/

`ski.
/ski/

The first rhythmic group will comprise three words my friend can. The stressed
word and the two unstressed ones, (the one behind it and the one in front are
pronounced as one word (with the unstressed syllables having the reduced form -

see the rules of word stress and pronunciation of unstressed syllables 1 as well as
pronunciation of weak forms of function words 2 )

The second rhythmic group comprises two words skate and, where the unstressed
and is attached to the preceding stressed one skate and pronounced as one word
with it /`skeitn/.
The third rhythmic group consists of only one word ski as there are no unstressed
words to be pronounced together with it.

M y friend can skate and ski.

So we have three rhythmic groups, one consisting of three syllables, one of two
syllables, and one that includes just one syllable (or word in this case). However,
irrespective of the number of syllables in each rhythmic group, those rhythmic
groups will follow one another after more or less equal periods of time, preserving
the original rhythm. Thus the words (or parts of words) between the stressed
syllables are going to be shortened (or weakened) to fit the rhythmic pattern of
spoken English.
For our purpose, we will start with the last group, which consists of only one onesyllable word /ski/, and pronounce it, paying attention to how long it takes to
pronounce it.
Then we will add the second rhythmic group from the end, consisting of two
syllables (words in this case) /skeitn/, making sure it takes as much time as the
other one-syllable group /ski/ and pronounce them together. We are going to get
/skeitnski/.
1

*The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a word is characteristic of the

English language and creates the contrast and characteristic rhythm. In some other
languages (Spanish and French, for example), most syllables receive equal stress.
(English conversAtion versus Spanish cOnvErsAtiOn, for example) In English, in
many words of two or more syllables, the unstressed vowel sounds are reduced to
neutral sound shwa // or /i/, as in up or sit.
2

**Function words have a stressed form (when they are pronounced separately or
emphasized in a sentence) and one or more unstressed or weak forms, also called
reduced forms (e.g. and has, on a rare occasion the stressed form of /nd/ , as
in John AND Mary, meaning both of them, but more commonly they have the
unstressed forms of / nd/, /n/, or even / n/ as in stopn shop/ or rockn roll , or
/hv/ vs. /hev/ /hv/, /v/, or /v/, depending on the level of reduction.
Many speakers of syllabic languages don't understand why we swallow a number of
words in a sentence. In syllabic languages each syllable and word has equal
importance, and therefore equal time is needed. English however, spends more time
on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important ones.

10

Then we add the third rhythmic group from the end, consisting of three syllables
(words in this case) /mfrenkn /, again making sure that it fits the beat of
/skeitnski/.
We are going to get M y friend can= skate and= ski
/mfrenknskeitnski/, which should preserve the rhythm of
FRIEND-SKATE-SKI.
We could add other words to this simple sentence, like very well, which will not
change the beat in any way. We are going to get

M y friend can= skate and= ski=very=well /mfrenknskeitenskiveriwel/.

The above example demonstrates in action the rule of the sentence rhythm in
English.
Also see:
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/sentence-stress.htm
http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa110997.htm
http://www.americansenglish.com/

11

Longer Sentences and Thought Groups

That was an example of a simple sentence. Longer sentences, with more complex
ideas, can be divided into so-called thought groups (prosodic units, intonation units,
declination units, or syntagms, which are the actual phonetic spurts or chunks of speech,
and which may exist as a hierarchy of levels) with their own focus.
For example, the sentence Every morning, before breakfast, my wife and I take a
hike on a trail, which is right outside my house. is impossible to pronounce without
segmentation.
Although it is quite possible in other languages, it is out of the question to try to
pronounce such a long sentence without pauses.
The following questions are often asked by ESL students: Why do we need pauses?
and How do we know where to make a pause?
First of all, due to the specific characteristics of the English spoken language,
characterized by placing considerably more emphasis (and thus using up more air)
on stressed and focus words than it is done in other languages, we can not help
making a pause because we need to inhale (Not unlike what happens in singing).

Breathing, both inhalation and exhalation, only seems to occur at these boundaries
between thought groups.
In addition, due to the relatively strict word order in English (S-V-O), while anything
that comes before the subject in the beginning of a sentence in written English is
usually separated by comma, in spoken English it is separated by a pause. Note that

prosodic units do not need to correspond to grammatical units, although both may reflect
how the brain processes speech.
How do we know that a pause merely signifies the end of a thought group or a
sentence? While in some languages it is not always clear, spoken English does not
usually and should not allow us any room for an error. In a sentence, the pitch that we

use before the pause tells you where the speaker is at the moment, where he is going, and
if he is finished or not.
American Intonation
This brings us to the question of the intonation within a thought group. How do we
pronounce the main stressed word (or the focus) of the sentence or the thought
group? Does our voice go up or down? How does it happen?
When do we use this or that intonation and what are those characteristics that along
with the rhythm of American English will help our students achieve a breakthrough in
communicating in English?
Intonation makes our speech meaningful and makes it possible to communicate
more effectively. When and how our voice rises and falls may indicate different

12

meanings for the same utterance. In addition to the specific rhythm of American
English, American intonation has a distinct melody, quite different from other
languages.
The complete system of intonation patterns in English is quite complex. However for
the purpose of helping ESL students master the American English pronunciation, we
will limit ourselves to the two basic intonation patterns which comprise the
foundation of the American spoken language, the Falling Tone and the Rising Tone.
Although most of the current pronunciation textbooks correctly identify these two
main types of pitches, they fail to provide the unique characteristics of those pitches
specific to the English language. Thus ESL students, who are familiar with the falling
and rising pitches in their own languages, inadvertently transfer the characteristics of
the pitches in their languages to the American English. The substitution often results
in a misunderstanding or miscommunication.

Falling Tone
Characteristics
What is so special about the characteristics of the Falling tone in American English?
It may seem quite obvious to the native speaker, but the ESL student needs to know
that the falling tone in English is characterized by considerably higher intensity
and that it starts a little higher than the preceding part of the utterance and falls to
the bottom of ones voice, significantly lower than in other languages. (Compare
the intonation of how we say Yes or No in Spanish, French, Japanese, or Russian,
for example.) What will the inadequate intonation communicate to the American
listener? For sure, it will be something different from the intended goal.

Spanish Si /`/

English Yes /\ /

For the purpose of visual reference, the following tonogram system is used for
representation of stress, rhythm, and intonation of American pronunciation:
This is the top

and this is the bottom of ones voice spectrum.

Stressed syllable
Unstressed syllable
Falling tone
Rising tone | Short pause ||
Long
pause
If the falling tone does not take place in the last word of a thought group or a
sentence, then the unstressed words following the focus word are attached to the
main stressed word and are pronounced together with that focus word as one word
at the bottom of ones voice.
___________________

I can do it `latertoday.

\...||

13

Falling Tone uses

ESL student needs to know that falling intonation is used in the following cases:
1.

Categorical statements
___________

I am a `doctor.

\ . ||

_________
I dont `know.

\ ||

Imagine what those phrases would mean if pronounced without the required
intensity and pitch.
Is it surprising that many non-native speakers do not sound very convincing when
they talk about their qualifications applying for a job?

2.
Wh-questions (Information questions beginning with such question
words as when, why, where, who, etc.)
___________
Where do you `live?

\||

___________

What is your `phonenumber?

\.. ||

It is important to remember that in many other languages this type of question

employs a rising tone. That is exactly what ESL students often do transferring their
language habit to English. Would the same question communicate a different
meaning in English with a rising tone? However to an ESL student using a falling tone
in this type of question may seem uncommon and impolite.

3.

Commands
________

\||
Dont gothere! \ . || (The last two words are pronounced as one word, with
Do it now!

the falling tone occurring on the word go and the

word there pronounced at the bottom of ones voice)

14

4.

The end of a longer (containing more than one thought group)

affirmative sentence

For example,

_________________

From 5 to 6 in the morning we `meditate.

--_ . | \

..

||

------------------------

5.

The last element of enumeration

_______________________

-_. | | \ . ||
---------------------------

Usually I have cereal, juice, and coffeeforbreakfast.

(The last three words are pronounced as one word, with the falling tone occurring on
the word coffee and following two words in their weak form are pronounced at the
bottom of ones voice)
6.

The first part and, sometimes, the second part of tag (disjunctive)
questions (when it is a rhetorical question and the speaker expects
the listener to agree)
______________

You understand me, dontyou?

7.

\ . | \ . ||

The second part of alternative questions

_______________

Should I call you today or tomorrow?

--

\ | . ||

15

Rising Tone
Rising intonation is present in all languages, however it is not enough to tell our
students just to use the rising tone in certain situations and hope they will do it right.
Just recall how people say yes or no in Spanish, French or Russian, for example.
Then try to use the same pitch in English. You will immediately notice a major
difference. Yes, it would be possible to use those pitches in English, but then they
would carry a completely different meaning.
Yes?

Si?

Characteristics of the Rising tone

What are the characteristics of the most common rising tone in American English
that differentiate it from most other languages?
Unlike it happens in many other languages, the rising tone that is used most often in
neutral (unaffected) situations does not start at the top of ones voice and it does not
go sharply up. Rather, it starts from the level slightly below the middle of
ones voice spectrum (or the preceding syllables or words) and goes up very
little in a gentle (temperate) manner.
It could be represented as following:
However, if the rising tone does not fall on the last syllable of a thought group, but
has one or more unstressed syllables (or words) after it, the stressed (focus) syllable
is pronounced slightly below the middle ones voice (or the preceding syllables or
words) and the rising pitch is achieved through pronouncing the attached unstressed
syllables (or words in the reduced, unstressed form) at a slightly higher pitch.
__________
Is he a student?

_ . ||
_________

Rising Tone Uses

1.

Yes-No questions.
___________

Do you speak English?

_ . ||
__________

Is she home?
2.

||

Elements of enumeration (except the last one)

I had cereal, coffee, and a banana for breakfast.

16

________________________

_ . . |_ . |\

.....

______________________
3.

Incomplete parts of sentences (thought groups)

Every day, my friends and I take ESL classes at Tri-C.

_________________________________________________

| \||

4.
The second part of Tag Questions (When the speaker is not sure of the
answer he or she will get.)
___________________

\ ..| _ . ||

You also speak Hungarian, dont you?

-------------------------5.

The first part of the alternative question (offering a choice)

___________

Would you like tea or coffee?

6.

Polite Requests

Have a seat!
__________

-- \ |. ||

Come in.
________

||

||

It is very important to draw the attention of ESL students to this use of the rising
tone, as in many languages the rising tone does not play a role in polite request. A
polite request may be achieved through the addition of the word please or
something similar.
However in English, failure to use the rising tone with the imperative will result in
sounding rude or pushy.
7.

Greetings and expressions of gratitude

Good morning! Thank you!

___________________

Good bye!
_____

-_ ||
_ ||
||
--------------------------In many languages these expressions are pronounced with a falling tone. However in
English, using it in this instance may sound impolite or indifferent.

17

How to Practice
As it has been mentioned before, the intonation system of American English is much
more complex than the two pitches already discussed and covers the whole spectrum
of human feelings and emotions. However, mastering those basic American falling
and rising tones will equip our students with the solid foundation on which they can
build later.
It is essential to practice the use of the falling and rising tone as well as the rhythm
and chunking (dividing longer sentences into thought groups) at every opportunity
when a student is reading any text or activity in the textbook making sure that he or
she is always aware of the communicative aspect of anything he or she reads or
says.
Thus, reading aloud can be used by the ESL tutor as an important tool to practice
pronunciation skills on every occasion.
At the initial stage of helping the student to master American English pronunciation,
it is a good idea to review the above guidelines with the student and then for
practice ask the student to divide longer sentences into thought groups, mark the
stressed syllables in the sentences, define rhythmic groups (stressed words together
with attached unstressed ones), and indicate the rising or the falling tone for the
focus of each thought group in the sentence.
If the student is not familiar with tonograms, it is a good idea to introduce the
student to the visual representation of the intonation. Many students find them very
helpful.
One of the best ways of practicing American pronunciation is to ask a student to say
any sentence or a poem in their native language applying all the rules of American
pronunciation (including the sounds, word and sentence rhythm, and the intonation).
They will not have to think about the grammar or the vocabulary of the sentence or
the poem, but only concentrate on one thing - pretend as best they can how an
American would say it in their language. It would help if the student has heard an
American speak their native language with a heavy American accent.

18

More Ways for Teaching to Hear and Use American Stress and
Rhythm

A good exercise to demonstrate the variety of meaning through intonation

changes is to take a single sentence, try stressing each word in turn, and see the
totally different meanings that come out.
Start practicing with material where the stress is especially clear: nursery rhymes,
song lyrics, Shakespearian blank verse, books by Dr. Seuss.
o a ROSE by ANy OTHer NAME would SMELL as SWEET
Deliberately try to get the stress wrong and listen to the results:
o A rose BY aNY oTHER name WOULD smell AS sweet
Hum words rather than speaking them. The pitch you hum with will tend to
correspond to the level of stress: highest pitch=primary stress, medium
pitch=secondary stress, lowest pitch=unstressed.
Speak the words through a kazoo, emphasizing the pitch contours and the
loudness differences between the syllables. (Pretend you're the teacher in Charlie
Brown TV shows.)
Exaggerate the intonation contour of a phrase. Give extra strong emphasis to a
word and listen for which syllable gets most of the extra loudness and pitch.
Explore the low pitch of the student. Use the surprised-disbelief or threatening
intonation contour and listen for which syllable has the lowest pitch.
Do listen for pitch as a useful cue for stress, but don't automatically assume that
the syllable with the highest pitch is also the most strongly stressed. Remember
that there are several other reasons why a syllable might have high pitch (e.g., it's
the last syllable in a phrase that has rising question intonation or "list" intonation).
Tap once as you say the word. If you're a native speaker of the language, when
you tap will tend to coincide with the primary stress. For the less inhibited, bang
on the table instead of tapping.

19

Some Basic Rules to Enforce

While reading, students may also make mistakes in pronouncing certain sounds or
have problems linking words in a sentence. It is a good idea to be able to explain to
the students those rules governing articulation of those sounds or the changes that
occur due to the position of the sound.
Here are some of the most common and simple (but NOT easily corrected) mistakes
in pronunciation made by ESL students:

1. S (es) endings in verbs and nouns (plurals and possessives)

1) Pronounced as /s/ after voiceless consonants
stop-stops

student-students take-takes

2) Pronounced as /z/ after voiced consonants and vowels

plan-plans

play-plays

teacher-teachers

baby-babies

3) Pronounced as /iz/ after sibilants and fricatives (whistling and

hissing sounds s ,z, ch, sh, x, etc.)
Push-pushes

miss-misses

touch-touches

2. ED endings in verbs
1) Pronounced as /t/ not /et/ after voiceless consonants
stop-stopped
2) Pronounced as /d/ not /t/ after voiced consonants and vowels
plan-planned, play-played
3) Pronounced as /id/ not /et/ after t and d.
Start-started land-landed
Also see:
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/-ed.htm

20

3. Voiced consonants in the final position are always voiced

/bg/ not /bk/ for bag, /bend/ not /bent/ for bend, /grb/ not /grp/ for grab,
/reiz/ not /reis/ for raise, etc.
It is surprising how significantly the students perception and the ability to
understand spoken English will improve if the student is aware and adheres to the
above rules.
Some other very important rules that will help ESL students improve even
better:
1.
There is no palatalization (consonant softening before front vowels
(E, I, Y)
In some languages consonants are pronounced in their soft version when they are
followed by a front vowel sound.
/pet/not /pet/ for pet, /bi:t/ not /bi:t/ for beat, /ni:d/ not /ni:d/ for need, etc.
2.

Positional length of vowels/consonants

When we contrast two similar words, one ending with a voiced consonant (d, z, g, v, b)
and the other with an unvoiced consonant (t, s, k, f, p), you will hear the difference in the
preceding vowel, specifically in the length or duration of that vowel.
Compare: sea-seed-seat
3.

Linking words together

In a dictionary, words are given in isolation.

In natural speech, however, words are connected into sound groups, which
causes certain sounds to change.
Some of the more important for ESL students are the following transformations:
/t/+/y/
/d/+/y/

Wouldnt you like to do it?

Whatdid you say?

Armed with this understanding of the basic principles governing American

pronunciation, the ESL tutor also has a special role to play in helping ESL students

master American English pronunciation, a role that can be described as pronunciation

coach. Rather than just correcting the learner's mistakes, the tutor will be able to supply
information, give models from time to time, offer cues, suggestions and constructive

21

feedback about performance, set high standards, provide a wide variety of practice
opportunities, and overall support and encourage the student.

22

References and Bibliography

Anderson-Hsieh, J. 1994 "Interpreting Visual Feedback on Suprasegmentals in Computer
Assisted Pronunciation Instruction", CALICO Journal, 11, 4 1994
Avery, P. and S. Ehrlich. 1992. Teaching American English Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Bell, A. G. 1916. From the book "The Mechanisms of Speech."
Bronstein, A. 1960. The Pronunciation of American English. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D., & Goodwin, J. 1996. Teaching Pronunciation: Reference for
teachers of English to speakers of other languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Comacho, J. 1995. Compton Community College general education associate of arts/certification,
bilingual immersion program for the California State University System. Los Angeles: Compton
Community College. (ED 385 321)
Comacho, J. Florida State Board of Community Colleges. 1996. English as a Second Language
program review report. Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State Board of Community Colleges. (ED 400
906)
Cronin, J. 1996. Pointers on Teaching English Stress Patterns. The Language Teacher, 19, 6, pp.
1617.
Gerardi, S. 1996. The Effects of English as a Second Language on College Academic Outcomes.
Brooklyn, New York: New York City Technical College. (ED 398 946)
Gilbert, J. 1990. Pronunciation: What should we be teaching? (ERIC Document Reproduction
Service No. ED 320 443)
Gillette, G. 1994. On Speaking Terms: Practical guide to pronunciation for ABLE/ESL teachers.
Euclid, OH: Northeast ABLE Resource Center. (EDRS No. ED 393 323)
Graham, J. 1994. Four strategies to improve the speech of adult learners. TESOL Journal, 3 (3),
26-28.
Hinofotis, F. and K. Baily. 1980. American undergraduate reaction to the communication skills of
foreign teaching assistants. On TESOL 80: Building Bridges: Research and Practice in TESL.
Alexandria, VA.
Ignash, J. M. 1995. Encouraging ESL students persistence: The influence of policy on curricular
design. Community College Review, 23(3), 17-34.

23

Jordan, J. 1992. Helping ESOL students to improve their pronunciation. London: Adult Literacy and
Basic Skills Unit. (EDRS No. ED 359 837)
Kenworthy, J. 1987 Teaching English Pronunciation. (Longman Handbooks for Language
Teachers), Longman Publishing
Kimmel, I., & Davis, J. R. 1996. Moving to the Center: Students' Strategies for College Survival.
Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 12(2), 71-79.
Kuo, E. W. 1999, Winter. English as a second language in the community college curriculum. New
Directions for Community Colleges, 108, 69-80.
Kurzet, R. 1997, Winter. Quality versus quantity in the delivery of developmental programs for ESL
students. New Directions for Community Colleges, 100, 53-62.
Morley, J. 1991. Pronunciation component in teaching English to speakers of other languages.
TESOL Quarterly, 25 (3), 481-520.
Morley, J. 1998. Trippingly on the tongue: Putting serious speech/pronunciation instruction back in
the TESOL equation. ESL Magazine, January/February, 20-23.
Morley, J. 1999. From the article "Trends in Speech/Pronunciation Instructional Theory and
Practice" TESOL Matters, August/September 1999.
Misick, J., & Santa Rita, E. 1996. Student development approach to tutoring ESL students. Bronx,
New York: Bronx Community College. (ED 393 525)
Pennington, M. 1994. Recent research in L2 phonology: Implications for practice. In J. Morley,
(Ed.) Pronunciation pedagogy and theory. New views, new directions. pp. 92-108. Alexandria, VA:
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. (EDRS No. ED 388 061)
Shoemaker, C. L. 1996. Results of survey of community college ESL programs. Paper presented
at the Annual Conference of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, Phoenix, AZ. (ED 397
882)
Schuyler, G. (Ed.). 1999. Trends in community college curriculum. New Directions for Community
Colleges, 108. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wong, R. 1987. Teaching Pronunciation. Prentice Hall, 1987
Wong, R . 1987. Pronunciation myths and facts. English Teaching Forum, 31, 4, pp. 4546.
Yule, G. and P. Hoffman and J. Damico. 1987. Paying attention to pronunciation: The role of selfmonitoring in perception. TESOL Quarterly, 21, 4, pp. 765768.

24

Practice Sheet
Mark the stressed words, rhythmic and thought groups, as well as the intonation in
the following sentences: Then, practice reading the sentences aloud. It would help to
make tonograms.
Here are the steps to follow:
Determine whether the sentence consists of one or more parts (separated by a
pause, or syntagmas) and pronounce them separately at first and then together,
following these steps for each:
Find the centers of the rhythmic groups (or content words in most cases) and time
the beat, only saying the stressed words.
Define the rhythmic groups, which will include the center of each group with the
attached unstressed words.
After that, determine where logical stress (or the nucleus) is and whether it is going
o be pronounced with the rising or falling tone. Then pronounce the nucleus alone.
After t that, add the so-called tail, or the words that follow the nucleus and
pronounce them together with the nucleus as one word with the tail pronounced as
the unstressed syllables of the longer word (either at the bottom of ones voice, in
the case of the falling tone, or a slight rise, in the case of the rising tone).
After that, pronounce all the rhythmic groups together, starting from the last one
and adding one before it, keeping the beat of the sentence ( that is making sure that
the rhythmic groups follow each other after equal periods of time, irrespective of the
number of syllables it comprises).
After that, if the sentence consists of more than one part, pronounce the whole
sentence.
The symbols for making tonograms are the following:
This is the top

and the bottom

Stressed syllable

| Short pause

of ones voice spectrum.

Unstressed syllable

Falling tone

Rising tone

|| Long pause

Example: Every day, my friends and I take ESL classes at Tri-C.

_________________________________________________

25

| \||
Practice Sentences

Ecstasy is an extremely dangerous drug.

Jack bought a new car last Friday.

Would you like to come over and tall about it?

They are looking forward to your visiting them next January.

They have had to work hard these last few months on their challenging experiment.

We should have visited some more castles while we were traveling through the back
roads of France.

As you might have expected, he has just thought of a new approach to the problem.

26

APPENDIX

On-line Resources
For practice:
With language specific pronunciation difficulties see:
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/phono.html

Common Mistakes in English by Language Background

Arabic

Chinese

Croatian

Dutch

Farsi

French

German

Greek

Hungarian

Italian

Japanese

Korean

Portuguese

Russian

Spanish

Swedish

Taiwanese

Turkish

Thai

All languages

English Phoneme Chart

27

http://www.speechcom.com/training/american.htm
ACCENT TUTOR ONLINE

AMERICAN ENGLISH SPEECH

LANGUAGE DIRECTORY
Click on the particular language to find the American English consonant and vowel
sounds that are difficult for speakers of that language.
LANGUAGE BASED DIRECTORY--to identify those sounds which are difficult -

Arabic Chinese Dutch Farsi Finnish French German Greek Gujurati Hawaiian Hebrew
Hindi Hungarian Indonesian Italian Japanese Khmer Korean Lao Polish Portuguese
Russian Serbo-Croatian Spanish Swedish Tagalog Thai Turkish Urdu Vietnamese USSouthern
CONSONANT SOUNDS
WORD ENDINGS
SYLLABLES and STRESS

VOWEL SOUNDS
INTONATION

http://www.soundsofenglish.org/pronunciation/index.htm

English Pronunciation

about ** links ** handouts ** pronunciation ** activities & exercises **

tips for teachers ** home
Here you can learn about English Pronunciation. This section of the site is
divided into several sections. Please click on the one you are interested
in.

How to pronounce specific sounds in English.

English word stress.
English sentence stress and intonation.
Pronunciation exercises and activities.

http://www.english.hb.pl/articles/pronunciation/

28

http://eleaston.com/pronunciation/ A very good site for pronunciation and listening in

general, covering the following areas:
Consonant and vowel sounds with relevant exercises;
Reduction;
Stress patterns;
Stories with a pronunciation focus.

Authentic American Pronunciation

Consonant Sounds
... are produced by completely or partially stopping the breath.
... can be voiceless (VL) or voiced (VD) .
... often come in sound pairs.
lips
bottom
together
lip teeth

tongue
- teeth

VL VD VL VD VL VD
stop

p b

fricative

tongue on
toothridge

VL VD

f v

s z

back of throat
tongue
on soft
palate

VL VD VL VD

t d

affricate
nasal

hard
palate

VL

k g

liquid

n
l

glide

r
y

Word Final -ed = /t, d, Id/

Word Final s = /s, z, Iz/
Words with Silent Letters
Homophones

A Vowel Sound

... is an OPEN sound, ie. it is produced by not blocking the breath with
the lips, teeth, or tongue.
... is always voiced (VD), ie. the vocal cords vibrate. The word "vowel" came
into English from the Latin vocalis meaning "voice."

... can form a syllable by itself: hell-o, aw-ful

29

front
high

central

seat

do

/iy/

/uw/
book

sit /I/
mid

back

say /ey/

//
up //
schwa

no
/ow/

//

ball

met //
low

cat //

//
my

now

/ay/

/aw/

stop
/a/
1-Syllable Words

1-Syllable Words + r

Reduction

+ me

Patterns

+ you

The vowel in an unstressed syllable

becomes
schwa //, /I/, or disappears
completely.

Reduced Forms
+ to
+ of
+ have

can
donno
Unstressed Vowel
+R
Contractions
Pronoun + Verb

I ... you
he ... she ... it
we ...you ... they

30

Stress Patterns
Homographs

3-Syllable Words

Acronyms

3-Syllable Words

Compound Nouns
Unstressed Suffixes
Phrasal Verbs

ch ... dzh
sh ... zh
can ... can't

2-Syllable Words
Nouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions

Sentence Stress
Verbs

QUIZZES
/a, /
/a, /

/, /
/a, , /
//
/I, iy/

Homophones
Homophones /ow/
R Words Crossword
Reduction
Consonant Sound Pair // -/

Can-Can't
with written sentences

Consonant Sound Pair//-//

Can - Can't
without written sentences

Consonant Sound Pair //-//

Emperor's New Clothes

Conditionals

Article "THE"

GH Words

Article "THE"

31

Words Final -ED

Words with Silent Letters #1
Words with Silent Letters #2

Non-Audio
Homophones
Word Final -S
Consonant Sound Pair //-//

Consonant Sounds
Vowel Sounds
Teaching Pronunciation
The Alphabet
Article "a(n)"
Article "the"
Article "the" in Country Names
Calendar
Conditional
Contractions
Dessert, desert, to desert
Education Vocabulary
Forms of Address
Greetings & Responses
Homophones
Interested/Interesting
Irregular Verbs
Leave a Phone Message
Lie-Lay
Linking

Make-Do
Months of the Year
Numbers
Quizzes
Readings
Reduction
Say-Tell
Songs
Spelling
The 50 U.S. States
Stress Patterns
Irregular Verbs
Verbs: Location of Adverbs
Word Final -ED basic pattern
Words Final -ED irregular
Word Final -S
Words with Silent Letters

http://international.ouc.bc.ca/pronunciation/

An extremely valuable resource for learning and practising proper pronunciation: vowels,
consonants, and minimal pairs.
A great variety of exercises for all levels having a very good pedagogical approach as it
leads the student step by step: how to produce sounds, examples as well as offering a
great deal of exercises.

32

Unit One: TH, as in THINK, BATHROOM, and TEETH.

Watch this QuickTime movie on the word 'Thought' to see how to correctly make
the 'TH' sound (894k).
Minimal Pairs (178k) In this exercise, you will hear pairs of words that are the
same except for one sound. In this case, TH is being compared to other similar
sounds. Listen and compare.
Try this Dictation to practice the differences between TH and other sounds.
Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3 audio , as well as the PDF
version.
Here's a video of Brian explaining the differences between the voiceless and
voiced TH. (7.8mb)
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native
speaker (microphone required).
Practice these tongue twisters to improve your TH (microphone required).

Unit Two: TH, as in THOSE, MOTHER and SOOTHE.

Watch this QuickTime movie on the word 'Thy' to see how to correctly make the
'TH' sound (725k).
Minimal Pairs (219k) In this exercise, you will hear pairs of words that are the
same except for one sound. In this case, TH is being compared to other similar
sounds. Listen and compare.
Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3, as well as the PDF
version.
Try this Dictation to practice the differences between TH and other sounds.
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native
speaker (microphone required).
Practice these 5 tongue twisters to improve your TH (microphone required).

Unit Three: L and R, as in COLLECT, CORRECT, LAMB, and RAM.

Minimal Pairs (228k) In this exercise, you will hear pairs of words that are the
same except for one sound. In this case, l and r are being compared to each other.
Listen and compare.
Try this Dictation to practice the differences between L and R.
Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3, as well as the PDF
version.
Here's a video of the differences between L and R (5.6mb).
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native
speaker (microphone required).
Practice these 10 tongue twisters to improve your L and R (microphone
required).

Unit FOUR :i and I, as in SEEN and SIN.

33

Minimal Pairs (228k) In this exercise, you will hear pairs of words that are the
same except for one sound. In this case, i and I are being compared to each other.
Listen and compare. .
Try this Dictation to practice the differences between i and I.
Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3, as well as the PDF
version.
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native
speaker (microphone required).
Practice these 10 tongue twisters to improve your i and I (microphone required).

Unit FIVE: s, sh, and ch.

Minimal Pairs In this exercise, you will hear pairs of words that are the same
except for one sound. In this case, S, CH, and SH are being compared to each
other. Listen and compare.
Try this Dictation to practice the differences between i and I.
Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3, as well as the PDF
version.
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native
speaker (microphone required).
Practice these 10 tongue twisters to improve these sounds(microphone required).

Unit SIX: V and W, as in Vine and Wine

Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3, as well as the PDF
version.
Minimal Pairs (114k) In this exercise, you will hear pairs of words that are the
same except for one sound. In this case, V and W are being compared to each
other. Listen and compare.
Try this Dictation to practice the differences between v and w. (42k)
Are you having trouble saying WOOL, WOOD, and WOLVES? Watch this
video.
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native
speaker (microphone required).
Practice these 10 tongue twisters to improve these sounds(microphone required).

Unit SEVEN

Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3, as well as the PDF
version.
Here's a video of Brian explaining how to make the sound that you can find in
words like Zsa-Zsa and OCCASION.

34

Minimal pair exercise for words like LEGION and REGION.

Try this dictation to distinguish the two sounds.
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native
speaker (microphone required).

UNIT EIGHT: E and A, as in BET and BAT

Minimal Pairs In this exercise, you will hear pairs of words such as BET and
BAT.
Try this Dictation to practice the differences between the two sounds.
Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3, as well as the PDF
version.
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native
speaker (microphone required).

UNIT NINE

Minimal Pairs In this exercise, you will hear pairs of words which either contain
the schwa or not.
Try this Dictation to practice your listening and spelling.
Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3, as well as the PDF
version.
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native
speaker (microphone required).

UNIT TEN

Minimal Pairs In this exercise, you will hear pairs of words such as ROAR and
ROWER.
Try this Dictation to practice your listening and spelling.
Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3, as well as the PDF
version.
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native
speaker (microphone required).

UNIT ELEVEN
Minimal Pairs (114k) In this exercise, you will listen and compare the sounds P and F.
Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3, as well as the PDF version.
Try this Dictation to practice the differences between P and F.

35

Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native speaker
(microphone required).
UNIT TWELVE
Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3 audio , as well as the PDF
version.
Minimal Pairs (114k) In this exercise, you will listen and compare the differences in the
words bought, bat, but, bet.
Try this Dictation to practice your listening and spelling.
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native speaker
(microphone required).
UNIT THIRTEEN
Here is the complete lesson from our workbook in MP3 audio , as well as the PDF
version.
Minimal Pairs (114k) In this exercise, you will listen and compare the difference in
sounds like in whether and weather.
Listen, practice, and record your voice to have a conversation with a native speaker
(microphone required).
Try this Dictation to practice your listening and spelling.

Here's a poem being read to illustrate the crazy spelling of English and how it relates to
the pronunciation. It's read in a standard Canadian-English accent.

For additional practice with sounds, stress, rhythm and intonation

see:http://www.trainyouraccent.com/index.htm

The main focus is on conversations, compact listening lessons, following the structure of:

General listening quizzes for low, mid and high levels covering a wide range of topics;

Listening quizzes for academic or specific purposes (mid and high level);

Long conversations (mid and high level);

Short listening quizzes for all levels, including minimal pairs as well as homophones.

36

General Listening Quizzes

Study Self-Study Guide: View Listening Activities by Topic
Easy

Medium

Difficult

Answering Machine
A Day at School
Apartments for Rent
Business Communications
College Life
Daily Schedule
DVD Movie Rentals
A Fun Day
Getting Around Tokyo
Happy Birthday!
Heavenly Pies Restaurant
Family Activities
Family Relationships
Hotel Reservations
Immigration and Customs
Lost in the Crowd
Nice to Meet You
Phone Message
Reading Time
Rental Shop (Version B)
Shopping for the Day
Sightseeing in Town
Snack Time
Spending Money
Telephone Recording
Tell me about yourself
Train Tickets
Travel Arrangements
Travel on Sky Airlines
Where are you from?

A Student Credit Card

Adsense: Making Money
A Doctor's Appointment
A Story to Remember
American Slang
Camping Under the Stars
Christmas is Coming!
Dinner Time
Emergency Call
First Date
English Language Center
Good Old Blues
Haven't We Met Before?
Holiday Traditions
Japanese Public Bath
Just a Haircut, Please!
Meeting Singles
Party Time!
Personal Security
Picnic Preparations
Pizza Delivery
Radio Advertising
Saturday's Chores
Show Times
So, what's the matter?
Taped Library Tour
Taxi Ride (Medium)
Traffic Ticket
Utah Travel Ad
Vacation Plans
Weekly Activities
What a Busy Day!

A Free Cell Phone!

Lawsuit Financing
A Battle Against Cancer
ABCs of Money Matters
A Healthy Lifestyle
Back to School Supplies
Car Repairs
Dating Woes
Driving Road Test
Enjoying the Zoo
First Mountain Bank
Friday Night Mishaps
Friendly Dental Care
Home Repairs
Hotel Check-In
Housing Complaints
It's a Home Run!
Movie Review
Personal Problems
Professional Babysitting
Radio Commercial
Refinancing Mortgage Loans
Rental Shop (Version A)
School Report
Store Returns
Street Market
Summer Camp
Taxi Ride (Difficult)
Telemarketing
The Ideal Woman
Trivia Game Show
Where's the movie theater?

Listening Quizzes for Academic Purposes

[ Prepare for TOEFL/TOEIC tests with these lectures, interviews, and conversations ]

Medium

Difficult

Very Difficult

Business Meeting
ESL Program Meeting

Airport Announcement
Battle at the Front

A Greener World
A Rare Solar Eclipse

37

First Day of Class

Internet Access
Saving the Earth
The Four Seasons
Tour of Kyoto, Japan
World of Computers

Dream Team X
Exotic Animal Kingdom
Friday's Weather Forecast
I Love Trees
Space Radio Theater
The Christmas Gift

A Visitor from Space

Learning Languages
Our Aging Society
The Japanese Economy
Traffic Report
Travel Log

20-Minute ESL Vocabulary Lessons

[ Click HERE to build your vocabulary and pronunciation of key vocabulary ]

Medium

Medium

Medium

Beauty Salons
Best Dating Ideas!
Car Rental
Renting Apartments
Restaurant Guide

Education: Online Degrees

Train Travel
Dating and Marriage
Dental Care
Supermarket

Hotel Reservations
Movies and DVD Rentals
Airplane Travel
>>>>>>>>> MORE

Language Learning and Life Tips

[ Listen HERE to language and life-skills tips with audio and discussion questions ]

Medium

Medium

Medium

Student Health Insurance

Web Conferencing
Finding Friends on the
Internet
Airplane Travel

Student Credit Cards

Accent Reduction
Online University Degrees
Renting Apartments

Free Email Accounts

Voice and Text Chat
Online Movie Rentals
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Long Conversations with RealVideo

[ Watch and learn with these interviews and conversations ]

Easy

Medium

Difficult

My Family Roots

A Great Car Deal

Bamboo Artifacts
Lecture on Culture Shock
Student Living

Guidelines for Investing

News Report
A Rare Solar Eclipse
Gardening Secrets

Medium
Interview with Steve Ryan

More Short Listening Quizzes

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http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/index.htm
- A very useful site!
The site provides important information with
examples on the followings:

Word stress;

Linking words;

Sentence stress;
How to pronounce -ed.

English Pronunciation

pronunciation (noun): the way in which we

pronounce a word. pronounce (verb): to make
the sound of a word.

Pronunciation Power
A pronunciation training program on
CD-rom for Beginner to Advanced
levels. Teaches the 52 sounds of
English. Recommended by
EnglishClub.com.

Welcome to English Club English Pronunciation for ESL

Linking in English
learners. If your questions about pronunciation are not answered
Linking is important in English. When
here, try asking at the Help Desk.

English is not Phonetic

Always remember that English is not "phonetic".
That means that we do not always say a word the
same way that we spell it. Listen.
Word Stress in English
with Quiz

we say a sentence, we join or "link"

many of the words. Learn about linking
here.
How to Pronounce "-ed"
How do we pronounce the -ed in words
like worked, played, divided? Learn to
pronounce -ed here.

The secret key to English pronunciation! Many

languages don't use word stress but English does, and How to Pronounce "the"
How do we know when to say " the" or
so must you! More about word stress in English.
" thee"?
Sentence Stress in English
English Tongue-Twisters
Like word stress, sentence stress is a fundamental
Tongue-twisters are phrases that "twist
part of the English language. Your English
pronunciation will improve immediately if you start your tongue". These English tonguetwisters are very difficult to say, even
using sentence stress! Learn more about sentence
for native English speakers! Try some
stress in English.
English tongue-twisters!
Homophones
Pronunciation Workshop
Homophones are words that have exactly the same
English pronunciation tips, additional
sound (pronunciation) but different meanings and
pronunciation exercises and an English
(usually) spelling. For example: hour/our or
pronunciation glossary for users of the
to/too/two.
Pronunciation Power program.
English Phonetic Spelling
When speaking on the telephone, it is sometimes
useful to spell a word using English Phonetic
Spelling.

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