How to Improve

Your English Pronunciation

Tu Pei
Beijing Foreign Studies University
 Five
Questions
1 What is good English pronunciation?
2 Why is good pronunciation so important?
What impede or enhance the acquisition of a
3
reasonable pronunciation?

4 What are the priorities for Chinese learners?

What are the tips on good English
5
pronunciation?
1 What is good English pronunciation?

A lofty goal
sound like native speakers

A modest, realistic goal

to develop a clear, understandable pronunciation
with appropriate intonation and stress
2 Why is good pronunciation so important?

Intelligibility
is the most sensible goal.
Intelligibility
is being understood by a listener in a given
situation

Poor, unintelligible speech will make your attempts

at conversing frustrating and unpleasant both for
yourself and for your listeners.
3 What impede or enhance the acquisition of
a reasonable pronunciation?

1. The learner’s native language

2. The learner’s age
3. The learner’s exposure
4. The learner’s innate phonetic ability
5. The learner’s attitude and motivation.
6. The learner’s speech habit.
4 What are the priorities for Chinese learners?

Priority aspects for Chinese learners

weak forms
stress
rhythm
intonation
5 What are the tips on good English pronunciation?

5.1
Be aware of the major differences
between Chinese and English
pronunciations
5.2—5.8
Be aware of the special features of
English that are most difficult for the
Chinese learners
5 What are the tips on good English pronunciation?

5.1 Chinese is a tone language while English is

a highly stressed language.

Apart from the vowel qualities and consonant

qualities, stresses play a very important role in
conveying the meaning of a sentence in English.
Example:
The girl gave the money to her father.
5 What are the tips on good English pronunciation?

5.2 Word Stress

Example:
coming letter beautiful
report myself forget
remember explosion modernization
5 What are the tips on good English pronunciation?

5.3 Sentence stress

In a normal English sentence certain

words are stressed and certain words are
unstressed.
Normally stressed are content words.
Normally unstressed are form words.
Examples:
1. Janet has gone to the Baker’s.
2. I saw your brother yesterday.
3. Would you like a glass of beer?
4. I must be going. My wife’s waiting
for me at the corner of the street.
 Rhythm

Stress gives a natural

rhythm to spoken English.
 Rhythm
The rhythm of spoken English is
determined by the occurrence of
stressed syllables. Stressed syllables
occur at more or less equal intervals
in English. The other syllables in a
sentence are reduced or blended to
accommodate the regular beat of the
stressed syllables.
1.As a general rule English
tries to avoid having
stresses too close
together.

2. English stresses tend to

recur at regular intervals.
5 What are the tips on good English pronunciation?

5.4 Stress patterns

Example:
1. Sing a song.

2. I’d love to.

3. I’ve heard of it.

4. I want to know.

5. She asked me to go.

6. I think it will be fine.
5 What are the tips on good English pronunciation?

5.5 Stress timed language

Example:
Go home
Going home
Going back home
Going straight back home
5 What are the tips on good English pronunciation?

5.6 Weak forms

Example:
A cup of tea John’s at home.
A glass of water I can speak English.
A block of flats I’d like some potatoes.
The book that I want I’ve been to France.
Bread and butter We were leaving the house.
 Weak Forms

The weak form or forms of a word are

used only in unstressed positions.

The weak forms of the words are of

much more frequent occurrence than
their strong forms.
 The average foreigner uses far
too many strong forms; it is
impossible to speak English fluently
unless the phenomenon of weak
forms is properly understood and
their use acquired, preferably from
the earliest stage.
5 What are the tips on good English pronunciation?

5.7 Intonation
Function 1: It indicates grammatical meaning, in
much the same way as punctuation does in the written
language.
1. He lives in London. 3. He lives in London. Where?
2. He lives in London. 4. He lives in London. Where?
Function 2: It can also indicate the speaker’s
attitude.
1. Really?
2. What’s your name?
5 What are the tips on good English pronunciation?

5.8 Four basic tune movements

Fall
Rise
Fall-rise
Rise-fall
Example:
1.His name is Peter. (a straightforward statement)
2.His name is Peter. (a polite question)
3.His name is Peter. (I don’t believe you.)
4.His name is Peter. (to convey certainty)
 Speech-flow

Stress,rhythm and intonation

should really be considered as a
whole, for they are very closely
connected elements of a single
aspect of the language that we
might call Speech-flow.
 Speech-flow
Broadly speaking, a
reasonably correct speech-
flow is more important for
intelligibility than correct
sounds.
 My last but best tip

Practice, practice and practice

Practice 1:
Rain
The rain is raining all around,
It falls in field and tree.
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.
--Robert Louis Stevenson
 My last but best tip

Practice, practice and practice

Practice 2: Bed in Summer
In winter I get up at night,
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see,
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet,
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?
--Robert Louis Stevenson
 My last but best tip

Practice, practice and practice

Practice 2: Bed in Summer
In winter I get up at night,
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see,
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet,
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?
--Robert Louis Stevenson
Practice 3:

Learning a foreign language was one of the most

difficult yet most rewarding experiences of my life.
Although at times, learning a language was
frustrating, it was well worth the effect.

My experience with a foreign language began in

junior middle school, when I took my first English
class. I had a kind and patient teacher who often
praised all of the students. Because of this positive
method, I eagerly answered all the questions I could,
never worrying much about making mistakes. I was
at the top of my class for two years.
 Review

1 What is good English pronunciation?

2 Why is good pronunciation so important?
What impede or enhance the acquisition of a
3
reasonable pronunciation?

4 What are the priorities for Chinese learners?

What are the tips on good English
5
pronunciation?
Thank you!