[ELTWeekly Volume 7, Issue 19 | November 2, 2015 | ISSN 0975-3036]
Perfect pronunciation – every ESL student’s goal and no one’s achievement.
It is rare for any ESL student to have perfect pronunciation, and some would say it’s actually wrong to expect it of them. But no matter your view on that issue, the fact remains that most ESL students need practice with pronunciation. Just like knowledge of vocabulary is essential for comprehension, successful pronunciation is essential for communication. If you want to work on pronunciation with your students but are unsure where to start, here’s a simple plan for developing your own pronunciation lesson based on a short reading passage. It’s a great way to incorporate pronunciation practice into a reading class or when students are doing research. Just follow these seven steps for a complete and effective pronunciation activity for any level student.
1. Determine Which Specific Pronunciation Skill You Want to Focus On
If you are teaching beginners, you will have tons of specific English sounds you can work on to help your students improve. If you are teaching higher level students, their pronunciation will be at a generally higher level. So focus on the sounds you hear misspoken in your class frequently. This means you should be on the listen for pronunciation mistakes being made by multiple members of your class.