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Distinguishing the sounds of American English is very important to the ESOL student. Upon arrival, English will sound like noise to the learner. To the American, the foreign accent will sound like static on the radio. The speaker's message will be overwhelmed by the accent. Consequently, the ESOL teacher will want to reduce the "static" and allow the message to come through.
Some students will mentally "hear" the differences in sounds and successfully produce them. Other students may "hear" the differences but will not be able to produce them. Overall it is important that the student recognize the sounds when these sounds come along. How many of your students have been "angry" instead of hungry? Do you remember the student who wrote, "I am hat," instead of "I am hot."
Successful pronunciation is important to avoid embarrassing situations for the non-native speaker of English. Suppose the student said, "Your sauce is sickening," instead of "your sauce is thickening?" The American facial reaction could frighten and intimidate the student. Changing one minor sound redefines the meaning of such expression and as a result, miscommunication occurs. Your goal for the student is for him/her to communicate clearly.
Pronunciation lessons should be given once or twice a week. Usually a blatant or recurring error will prompt the teacher to take care of the problem. A way to do this is to provide minimal pairs (i. e. pairs of words that differ by just one sound) activities.
| /J/ |
|
/Y/ |
| Jew |
|
you |
| juice |
|
use |
| jet |
|
yet |
| jarred |
|
yard |
| joke |
|
yoke |
| jail |
|
Yale |
| jams |
|
yams |
| July |
|
you lie |
| juiceless |
|
useless |
| /sh/ |
|
/ch/ |
| sheep |
|
cheap |
| ship |
|
chip |
| shatter |
|
chatter |
| mush |
|
much |
| mashing |
|
matching |
| washer |
|
watcher |
| shoe |
|
chew |
| cash |
|
catch |
| wished |
|
witch |
| crushed |
|
crutches |
| sheet |
|
cheat |
| /n/ |
|
/ng/ |
| sin |
|
sing |
| thin |
|
thing |
| win |
|
wing |
| son |
|
sung |
| bun |
|
bung |
| ban |
|
bang |
The following is a list of common pronunciation errors ESOL instructors will encounter. Once the errors have been identified, instructors should refer to the text English Pronunciation for International Students.
- Past tense sounds of the “ed” ending:
- /t/ as in washed
- /d/ as in played
- /ed/ as in wanted or needed
- The final “s” or “es” of plural nouns, third person singular verbs, and noun possessives:
- /s/ as in books
- /z/ as in comes
- /iz/ as in classes
- /s/ as in Pat's car or /z/ as in Bob's house
- The /v/ and /b/ contrast (specifically among Spanish speakers):
- very becomes berry
- vest becomes best
- vote becomes boat
- The English /l. and /r/ contrast is difficult for Spanish, French and Asian speakers. In Spanish the /r/ is trilled, in French it is guttural, Asian speakers confuse /l/ with /r/.
- late becomes rate
- load becomes road
- flight becomes fright
- read becomes r-r-read
- The /s/ and /sh/ contrast:
- sip becomes ship
- see becomes she
- Sue becomes shoe
- The /sh/ and /ch/ contrast
- shoe becomes chew
- ship becomes chip
- share becomes chair
- The voiced and voiceless /th/ sounds contrasted with /t/ or /d/:
- they becomes day
- three becomes tree
- thin becomes tin
- “thank you” becomes “tank you”
- The aspirated /h/ as the beginning sound in words. Speakers of French do not pronounce the /h/ sound in their language and will encounter problems with its sound.
- hat becomes at
- hate becomes ate
- her becomes er
- hello becomes ello
- The final sound of /m/ is often pronounced as /n/ because total lip closure does not occur. Quite common in Spanish speakers.
- Some becomes sun
- Tim becomes tin
- swim becomes swing
- Vowel contrast of long [e] and short [I] are often confused:
- eat becomes it
- seat becomes sit
- feel becomes fill
- beat becomes bit
- The short vowel sound of [a] is a problem in all languages. Students tend to pronounce the short [a] sound as [ahh].
- hat becomes hot
- cat becomes cot
- map becomes mop
- Contractions are a problem for all ESOL students. Despite their knowing the meaning of the contracted word, the final consonant sound is often omitted.
- can't becomes can
- he's right becomes he right
- I'll go becomes I go
Source: Excerpted from Palm Beach County Public School District. (1990). Adult ESL curriculum guide.
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