TEACHING TIPS Teach /iy/ before teaching the distinction between /iy/ and //.

Ensuring that students can make the tense vowel in this pair and successfully incorporate the semi-vowel will in itself increase intelligibility. Use hand gestures. Emphasize the length of /iy/ by stretching an elastic band while modelling or practicing. Accompany // with a small quick clapping motion to emphasize that it is shorter in duration than /iy/.

TEACHING TIPS Emphasize the length of /iy/ by using practice sentences and dialogues in which the sound occurs in a single syllable content word that is also the focus of the sentence.
Taxi driver: Where to? Did you say Bond Street? Carlos: No, I said Green Street. Taxi driver: Green Street? Isnt it Green Road? Carlos: Green Road is in Kitchener. I live on Green Street in Waterloo.

Teaching Vowels
/iy/ & //

After teaching the sounds separately, introduce minimal pairs and minimal pair sentences. CHOOSING EXEMPLARS
Choose exemplars and example sentences in which the /iy/ or // sound occurs either in single syllable content words or in the stressed syllable of a multisyllable word. The vowel in an unstressed syllable or single syllable function word is almost always reduced to schwa //. Avoid using exemplars that feature /iy/ or // in this position. Words that can be pronounced differently according to whether they are nouns or verbs are well avoided during initial practice. The vowel produced before /r/ is neither /iy/ nor // but rather a midway sound. It is best not to include words with this pattern as practice exemplars. The /iy/ sound at the end of a word will be pronounced /i/ when followed by a consonant and /iy/ when followed by a vowel or /y/. These words are not ideal exemplars due to this variability. Poor Choices academic athletic conflict electrical frontier happy he his hurricane in it record reality theory tulip

TIP SHEET

Modelling the Tense/Lax Distinction Exaggerate the pronunciation of /iy/ by really spreading your lips while modelling. Ask students to smile while saying the sound and to notice the tension in their facial muscles. Keep lips relaxed and not too spread when modelling //. Have students concentrate on relaxing their facial muscles and noticing that their tongue lowers slightly.

Mastering this pair of vowels can prove challenging for ESL students but offers the opportunity to significantly increase their intelligibility.

EXEMPLARS
key feet piece week /iy/ reveal believe people machine sit thin milk quick // visit vanilla minute window

Positional Variation
The tense/lax distinction is lost when vowels precede /r/. Neither /iy/ nor // appear before /r/ but rather a sound which is between the two occurs. When the tense vowel occurs in an unstressed syllable at the end of a multisyllable word, as in happy or city, it is most often produced as the pure vowel /i/ without the following semi-vowel /y/. However, if the next word begins with a vowel, the words are linked by the semivowel. When the next word begins with the /y/ sound, this is linked in the same way as a double identical consonant, i.e., the sound is pronounced as a single lengthRelative Vowel Length /iy/ is usually longer than //; however, the environment in which the sounds are produced will have an impact: vowels are longer before a voiced consonant than before an unvoiced consonant vowels are reduced in function words and lengthened in content words The sum of these variations could, for example, result in the length of the // in bid being longer than the /iy/ in he in particular sentences.

CHALLENGES

Sound Formation
The sounds /iy/ and // are both unrounded high front vowels. While making the /iy/ sound, the front part of the tongue lowers in the mouth. While making the // sound, the back part of the tongue lowers. The tongue is slightly higher in the mouth and further forward when producing /iy/ and the tongue moves while the sound is being made. The symbol for /iy/ has two parts because it is composed of a pure vowel /i/ that is followed by the semi-vowel /y/. /iy/ and // are a tense/lax pair. /iy/ is tense; // is lax. Both vowels are high front vowels but the facial muscles are more tense and the lips are more spread when producing the /iy/ sound than they are when producing the // sound.

Vowel distinctions typically cause problems for students. Students whose first language has only the pure vowel /i/ will often pronounce /iy/ as /i/ which sounds to native English speakers like //. The tense/lax distinction is almost always troublesome for learners. Students often produce both /iy/ and // as a sound somewhere between the two. This can cause confusion for the native listener who will likely hear slip instead of sleep or hit instead of heat. Students from Language Groups without the tense/lax distinction between vowels usually experience problems with /iy/ and //. These students will tend to use a sound in between the two for both /iy/ and //: Arabic Farsi Greek French Italian Spanish Portuguese Polish Chinese Japanese Korean

Deborah Gasteiger (2010) Adapted from Peter Avery & Susan Ehrlichs Teaching American English Pronunciation (Oxford UP, 1992)