Dealing With Pronunciation and Intonation in A Communicative Context

NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS
SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY
FACULTY OF ENGLISH STUDIES
ELT Methods and Practices (6th Semester)

PEER TEACHING SESSION: DEALING WITH PRONUNCIATION AND
INTONATION IN A COMMUNICATIVE CONTEXT
Professor: Dr. Kia Karavas
Tutor: Dr. Mary Drossou
Peer Teachers:
Efthymia Frangou (220335)
Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra (99362)
Amir Izadi (98385)
Peer Teaching Session: Wednesday, 16 March 2005
Projects Paper Submission: Tuesday, 05 April 2005
1.1 Introduction - Main Principles

English has undoubtedly been an international language for nearly three
centuries. In a world of linguistic diversity, where over 6.800 languages are
spoken, only a few manage to escape their national borders and become
world languages. Although Chinese has always had the largest number of
native speakers, and whilst Arabic, German, Japanese, Russian, Iberian and
Indian languages were confined to their linguistic habitats and their colonies
and/or protectorates (if any), English and French were battling for the
supremacy of the so-called global language, basing their case upon their
colonial, commercial, diplomatic and technological advances. As you should
have already speculated, English was the victor of this battle, with the result of
being spoken or understood by five times the number of its actual native
speakers 1 .
English, being so widespread and so extensively utilised in our everyday lives,
has come to be not merely a lingua franca amongst and between people using
different languages (thus assuming the role of Greek in the Hellenistic era, or
that of Greek and Latin during the Byzantine times and the Mediaeval period),
but also a powerful source of influence 2 . A reasonable question might be Why
English? The answer to this question would be that, due to historical, geopolitical, socio-cultural and economic reasons, the Anglo-American civilisation
has actually contributed a great deal to the world culture. Precisely because
the Anglo-American civilisation not only has the financial and the
technological merits, but also the socio-political power to disseminate its
accomplishments, the rest of the world has become a passive recipient of those
cultural items (songs, films, serials, advertisements, devices etc) and, since
they contain words, people want to learn what they mean.
English has a history of assimilating and of being established: It emerged after
the Anglo-Saxon invasion (449 AD), overcoming the Celtic influences
(displacing Welsh) and the ecclesiastical language (Latin), and surviving the
Norse raids and invasions (787-1042), even the Norman Conquest (1066-1215) 3 .
English, however, goes far beyond the practical influence its cultural items
1
. English has approximately 400 million native speakers (while Chinese is spoken by 900 million
people). Interestingly enough, however, English is used as a second/foreign language, or is
recognised by more than 2 billion people (http://newcanadianteachers.oise.utoronto.ca/facts.php).
2
. Many bureaus, commissions etc. try to limit the influence of English in their national languages
(Anglicisation), by translating the English terms into their languages. However, the one body that
stands out from its peers, is the French Academy (Acadmie Franaise), that not only translates
foreign terms into French, but also imposes the use of the terms it coins (le bon usage), often
controversially regulating the French language by imposing fines for the use of the English words.
More information may be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_policy_in_France. An
interesting example is presented at http://forums.yellowworld.org/archive/index.php/t-8303.html.
3
. The dates have been taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/.
Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

ELT Methods and Practices, 6th Semester
have: precisely because most technological advancements occur, at any rate,

in the Anglophone countries, English becomes the medium through which
those devices or advancements are named. Not only that but, due to the
communication and exchange of thoughts and ideas by people from different
cultures all around the globe, and the quest for a lingua franca, English benefits
again.
Finally, computers and the Internet have inadvertently had their share of
promoting the English language: since computers were actually devised in the
United States, and since most domains and servers are located in Anglophone
countries, or even because of intelligibility and popularity issues, English is the
language used the most over the Internet (80 % of the websites are in
English 4 ). During the famous pre-judicial hearings for Microsofts trial on
monopoly and anti-competitive conduct, Scott McNealy (Suns Chairman and
CEO) sardonically testified to the Senate Judicial Committee in March 1998,
laughing: The only thing Id rather own more than Windows is the English
language, because I could charge you with two hundred and forty-nine dollars
for the right to speak it. Then, I could charge everyone to use it and charge
more when I added new letters like N and T 5 .
A reasonable question might be What does all that have to do with
pronunciation and intonation? Once again, the answer is opaque and implicit.
English pronunciation is known for being notoriously disproportionate to its
spelling. Although English pronunciation is not really unattainable, the fact
that it is incompatible to its written counterpart makes it knotty for nonnative speakers to achieve it. Precisely because we are dealing with a foreign
language (to either some or all the speakers), we have some issues that lie
beyond the scope of meaning and comprehension: Pronunciation and
intonation are really a question of power and self-confidence, and a means or a
medium of establishing relationships.
Based on our long experience as learners of English, we are all undoubtedly
aware that, perhaps, the one thing that has continuously held us back from
actually conversing or even chatting in English is our lack of confidence about
our pronunciation. Some learners of English may be very good at writing in
English, but - when the time of speaking comes - they immediately switch to
their mother tongue (especially in English classes). While there is little doubt
about the teachers appreciation of the importance of pronunciation, there is
even less doubt about the learners own demand for effective pronunciation
teaching, something almost all learners deem as a priority for guided learning.
On the one hand, good pronunciation gives an essential confidence to the
4
5
. Percentage taken from http://home.utm.utoronto.ca/~nakagawa/Full%20Text%20Essay.doc.

. Information taken from http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/17679/17679.html.
Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi
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III

learners, allowing them to confidently interact with native speakers - a very

essential ingredient for all aspects of linguistic development. On the other
hand, poor pronunciation can mask otherwise good language skills,
condemning the learners to less than their deserved social, academic and
labour advancements (Pennington, 1996).
Whether we have the case of two (or more) people, from different countries,
for whom English is not their first language (e.g. A Dane and a Greek), or the
case of a native speaker and a non-native speaker (e.g. An Irish and a Cypriot),
we come to realise that, underlying communication, there is a wider issue: the
issue of power, confidence and poise expressed via linguistic means. A person
who is able to handle English (or any other language used in communication)
well is actually implicitly instilling respect to the other interlocutors, being
more confident about his or her language abilities, thus being less prone to
mistakes or misconceptions, both of which hinder communication and reduce
our confidence.
Sometimes, poor pronunciation is enough to ruin other well-developed skills,
thus degrading learners of English to, even, an unjust extent, in that it does
not correctly correspond to their linguistic reality 6 . Conversely, excellent
pronunciation sometimes makes up for the lack of other skills, such as poor
vocabulary. This happens in that way because, like the personal encounter we
have with another human being, the first thing we see about them is their face
or (in the case of language) their pronunciation: If we see an ugly person (or a
person who has poor pronunciation) we are most likely to be negatively
positioned towards them, while if we see a beautiful person (or a person with
excellent pronunciation) we will, in all probability, be attracted to them.
However, we should always keep in mind that it is elusive and, perhaps,
offensive to expect students to speak English with a native pronunciation, or
to impose on them a specific pronunciation, for three main reasons:
For better or worse, good pronunciation is much more than saying a series of
sounds together: there is also the involvement of the facial set of a particular
language. By facial set, we mean the arrangement of the facial muscles, as
developed primarily for the articulation of the mother tongue of an individual
by the time they reach adulthood (that is, they attain physical maturity). In
order to adapt those muscles to approximate that of English, not only genuine
effort on behalf of the learner is required, but also awareness of what the
learner must do in order to achieve this, both of which are considered very
difficult tasks. We could argue that pronouncing a foreign language is, first
6
. This also happens frequently with spelling: Sometimes, when we read a paper with a large number
of spelling mistakes, we are instinctively negatively predisposed, to a point that, although it may
contain useful and interesting ideas, it is eventually given a low grade or a negative opinion.
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and foremost, to demonstrate an ability to switch to a different persona, one in

which the learner takes the facial set of that language
(www.onestopenglish.com).
Another, perhaps, equally important factor that impedes our esperance of the
learners using a native or native-like pronunciation is the problem emanating
from any efforts of selecting the standardised variety of a particular accent or,
if you will, pronunciation norm. Prototypically, native English is divided into
American and British English, with slightly different flavour in Australia,
Canada, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. Whose
pronunciation are we to teach? Which of those accents and pronunciations is
best for teaching and learning? These questions have yet to be definitively
answered. Yet, even if we - in our own wisdom or foolishness - decide I will
adopt xxx English pronunciation, be that xxx one of the above regional
varieties, we are confronted with an apparently insurmountable task:
When selecting, for example, American, Australian, British or Canadian
pronunciation, we will only realise that various regional or local dialectical
differences exist, even within those national flavours. Often, the diversity is
enormous (UK) or less significant (USA). However, in seeking the standard, we
will must recognise that the so-called standardised RP for British English and
the so-called standardized GenAm for American English are neither the most
representative, nor the most widely spoken accents: For example, RP is spoken
by something between 3 - 5 % of England, only in a particular region (The
Thames estuary), only by particular individuals (belonging to the higher socioeconomic strata of England) and is fostered by the BBC and some public (i.e.
private) schools in Britain. On the other hand, GenAm is representative of the
middle class, and it also tied to a particular geographical region, the Central
section of the continental United States. Any speaker of lower or higher
economic strata or any speaker that comes from the Northern, Eastern,
Southern and Western perimeter (Coastal or Border States) will exhibit a
recognisably regional accent (Pennington, 1996).
The third and emerging factor that stands in our way is even more complex,
sometimes even diffusing our very own definition of native accent.
Traditionally, we defined native varieties of English as being spoken as an L1 by
people from Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland (ire), Malta, New
Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Any other variety was not
native, and any other culture was not English 7 . However, with the extensive
colonisation and the perdurable institutionalisation of English in some
countries, either by choice or by imposition, new varieties of English have
7
. However, even within those cultures, the English civilisation is not always predominant (e.g. Ireland,
Malta, Scotland and Wales) or it is transmuted.
2005

developed in some African and Asian countries 8 during the 20th century. They
are called NVE (New Varieties of English) or, more quaintly, New Englishes.
English is widely used as an official language and as the language of education,
but also as a means of wider communication by people who are native
speakers of some other language. Via this process, what for many years was
employed for external (non-intimate) purposes is now either partly or in
parallel used for internal (intimate) purposes, as well. Those localised or
nativised varieties of English differ from OVE (Old Varieties of English) and
from each other in terms of lexis, semantics, syntax, phonology and
pragmatics English has to function in what may be called un-English
contexts, covering a very wide territory, and is used in a variety of domains social, cultural, educational, media-related, administrative and literary
(Pennington, 1996).
Having all the above in mind, and aiming at equipping the students with not
only the skills of reading and writing in English, but also with the skills of
speaking and listening to English, in a way that it allows them to productively
and genuinely interact with other speakers of the language, native or not, we
must attempt to imbue them with the technical and pragmatic know-how of
how to speak, in a manner that does neither hinders communication, nor
breaks it down.
. These countries include Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Philippines and Singapore.
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1.2 Pronunciation and Intonation in Language Teaching

The issue of pronunciation and intonation in Foreign Language Teaching has
not always been focused upon equally by all Methods and Approaches
employed for that purpose. Garnering information from the web, we have
compiled the following table, illustrating the various approaches on the issue
of pronunciation and intonation in Foreign Language Didactics:
Approach/Method
Historical
period
GrammarTranslation Method
1840 1940
Cognitive Approach
1940 1950
Audiolingual Method
1950 1970
Natural Approach
1960 1970
Silent Way
1960 1970
Total Physical Response (TPR)
1960 1970
Suggestopaedia
1960 1980
Direct Method
1970 1980
Communicative Approach
1980 present
Views on pronunciation and intonation

Little or no focus is given on pronunciation.
Intonation is not really an issue for
discussion.
Because of the absence of explicit rules, a
cognitive approach to pronunciation and
intonation is really not possible. Fluency Vs
Accuracy, either the former or the latter.
Nativelike and perfect pronunciation is
expected from the learners, with the aid of
minimal pairs. Intonation is also important.
There is focus on pronunciation and, to a
lesser extend, intonation.
Students are encouraged to correct their
pronunciation errors, aided by the teachers
gesticulations. Pronunciation and intonation
are important.
Students are expected to speak using near
native pronunciation and intonation.
Pronunciation improves and becomes
accurate in due time. Sometimes,
exaggerated rhythm and intonation are used
to fit in with the music.
Accuracy in pronunciation and intonation is
expected from the students.
The terminus is no longer for students to
attain a native or nativelike pronunciation,
but to be able to function in an intelligible
way that serves communication. Intonation
is taught indirectly, as part of the broader
context.
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1.3 Basic Points to keep in mind - Organisation

Precisely because English is used as a common ground by people whose native
languages are dissimilar, each linguistic context has to be dealt with
separately. Teaching pronunciation and intonation must focus on other issues
when taught in France, Germany, Spain, Greece or the Slavic countries. In our
paradigm, we are to focus on the Greek context, by splitting our efforts in a
dual way: we will both attempt to teach pronunciation and intonation in a
general, comprehensive way - aiming at a well-understood outcome - , but we
shall also concentrate upon the known difficulties Greek speakers present in
articulating English, namely alveo-palatal fricatives ( and ), alveo-palatal
affricates (t and d), and aspirated consonants, all of which are absent in
standardised modern Greek. In teaching pronunciation and intonation in
general, we should focus on the variety of vocalic occurrences and, via
minimal pairs/sets, we are to examine how they are usually produced, since a
method that can adequately account for virtually every occurrence of vowels
is really arduous and, perhaps, pointless.
To begin with, we must keep in mind that nothing can actually be learnt unless
the recipients are motivated: we should try to make learning fun or, if that is
not possible, an interesting activity. By dividing the class into groups of 3-5
persons, we in fact guarantee that they will not get bored being in pairs or by
themselves, and that they will actually be encouraged to exchange their
thoughts and communicate their ideas on pronunciation in English. Even if
they use their mother tongue to converse between them, they will inevitably
have to produce the English sounds. There is another theory that advocates
that its best for students to physically be within a group: that is, even if an
activity or task is not for a group, but it is to be carried out individually, the
physical arrangement of the class in groups will predispose the students with a
co-operative or, even, competitive spirit.
However, the class will not be solely a consortium of groups: the whole class
will be exposed to authentic or authentic-like acoustic or audiovisual material,
with the emphasis being placed upon the problematic areas of articulation for
Greek native speakers. After having repeatedly listened to the sounds under
investigation, the students will, in all probability, be familiarised with them,
since they will have to actually produce them, not necessarily in a native-like
way, but in a way that does not hinder communication and does not present
an obstacle in conversation (Pennington, 1996). The actual focus is not on
producing native-like pronunciation, but on the sounds that, if produced
incorrectly, might create an intercourse problem, or even risk communication
breakdown (e.g. bitch Vs beach).
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The more we are exposed to the authentic 9 or authentic-like 10 material, the

better our pronunciation will become. The absence of some sounds in standard
Modern Greek does not automatically mean that Greek speakers are physically
incapable of producing them11 , simply that they must guide their articulatory
organs towards producing those specific sounds. However, we should always
have in mind that some of the students, for various reasons, may not actually
produce (or want to produce) the sounds in a native way. This could be, to an
extend, acceptable, but some focus should be given to, e.g. the aspirated
sounds [kh, ph, th], since, if produced in an un-aspirated way, they may be
perceived by some or all (native or non-native) speakers as g, b, d, thus
threatening the conversational viability.
To help clarify any doubts about pronunciation, we will also work with
minimal pairs and sets, thus exposing the possible pronunciations of a set of
phonemes and aiding the students from a cognitive point of view. Because
many dictionaries use IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) symbols, or a
pronunciation key, we will also distribute a handout that, through examples,
will explain those symbols. However, since we are dealing with a nonepistemological audience, we must have no requirements for the students to
actually learn those symbols: the handout will be there for their own
reference. With the perplexed and, sometimes, inexplicable phonetic symbols
involved, we must not rely solely on the handout: we are to distribute or
provide access to multimedia materials that will readily be used to produce the
established pronunciation(s) for any unknown word, or known word with
unknown or uncertain spelling/pronunciation. This actually helps students to
be vigilant about improving their pronunciational skills.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that, when learning a new
language, we are initially learning words in context (although, a few years ago,
words were actually learnt in isolation), but instinctively try, for better or
worse, to keep their pronunciation intact, as if they were in isolation. However,
when we are in an intermediate or advanced level, we actually synthesise
9
. By authentic material, we mean any material that is extracted from actual real-life situations, e.g. a
news bulletin, a train announcement, or a conversation. What distinguishes authentic materials from
non-authentic materials is that the former are not created with language teaching/learning in mind,
while the latter are put into practice having language teaching/learning in mind. Precisely because
non-authentic materials are pre-defined and pre-determined, they give away their stilted and
unnatural colouration.
10
. When dealing with elementary and early intermediate stages, it would perhaps be more useful to
actually use authentic-like materials, that is materials that have been extracted from authentic
situations, but have been subtractively processed, thus retaining the situation and context, but are
stripped off difficult words or have a slower delivery rate.
11
. It is mistakenly believed that the Japanese are, by anatomy, incapable of producing the sound l
and produce an r instead, even when borrowing foreign words (milk => miruku). However, it seems
that it is behaviour that is to be blamed, not anatomy, since - in the absence of the sound in their
language, they cannot actually distinguish between l and r.
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language in a way that words are no longer left in isolation, but are
phonetically affected or altered by the neighbouring words. We must also
expose students to material that actually deals with how the adjacent lexical
items affect the pronunciation of some words [e.g. the case of the linking r in
UK English (Maddonar of the Rocks), the t sound in US English (Would you like
something?), or the contrast between the f/v sounds in of the topic (v sound)
and off the topic (f sound)].
Often, and this needs extra care, both on behalf of the teacher, but also on
behalf of the learner, there is a radical difference between what people think
they say and what people are actually saying (http://metz.une.edu.au). The
main source for this discrepancy in phonetic reality is primarily the
orthography, but the nature of phonetics is also to blame. Take for example
the word awfully: both in British and American English it is phonetically
realised in two syllables, although it is written in a way that we should actually
expect three syllables. Other examples are also available (e.g. British
pronunciation for opera, police, support etc). Both teachers and learners
must be vigilant about these occurrences and guide their teaching/learning
towards clarifying those cases.
Intonation, perhaps the most hairy part of the whole process, can only be
learnt via exposure to authentic material or, at any rate, audible material. We
must never have the illusion that the students can actually learn intonation
using only materials in black and white. A parallel to that would be trying to
teach the notes of a gamut or a score, or even the tempo only based on the
solfge. The most intricate and, at the same time, intriguing thing about
intonation is that it varies dramatically depending on the context, the
situation, the relationship between the interlocutors etc. Placing our efforts
within a context also plays an important role, especially in terms of
understanding why we intone a word or a set of words in a particular manner.
Another point that needs to be understood, in order to grasp the extra
difficulty English presents, in terms of intonation, is the fact that English is
considered a stressed language, while many other languages (including Greek
and Romance languages) are considered syllabic. While in English
pronunciation and intonation focuses on specific stressed words, quickly
gliding over the other, non-stressed words, in other languages each syllable
receives equal or nearly-equal importance (http://esl.about.com). In English,
stressed words are usually content words (nouns, principal verbs, adjectives
and adverbs), while non-stressed words are usually function words
(determiners, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions and pronouns).
However, there are times where invert the rules, stressing function words and
depriving stress of content words, particularly when we want to place
emphasis on a particular semantic and/or pragmatic aspect of our utterance.
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If we are, for example, acquainted with a boy named Peter, whom we know to
be a very nice person, and we are then informed by someone that Peter
robbed a bank, we will inevitably ask in wonder Peter?. But if the same
Peter is known to be disabled, we will say Peter? in a somehow playful
manner, knowing that he cannot actually move on his own, far less rob a bank.
Similarly, if we are playing hide and seek with the very same Peter (provided
of course that he is not physically challenged), we will say something like
Peter? by extensively prolonging both vowels, thus actually inviting him to
appear. And of course, a very different Peter! will be rendered if we are
Peters father and we shout at him in anger! Intonation is inextricably linked
with context, extra-linguistic information etc.
In any case and at any rate, we must come out of the closet, lifting the
psychological and social barriers that make it difficult for us to practise
English effectively, and be no longer surprised by the suggestion to practise
English speaking. The question is not whether to teach pronunciation, but how
to teach it. Students must come to their senses and escape their wishful
thinking that pronunciation is a stagnant topic, like History, which can be
learnt merely by listening to the teacher, while intonation is something that
should not really concern them (http://metz.une.edu.au). Both teachers and
students must actually produce English, work upon our pronunciation through trial and error, exposure to authentic material etc - and, after having
achieved all that, feel more confident about our pronunciation, which in
retrospect will actually help us boost up our language abilities, thus actually
leading us towards employing English correctly and more often (which, by the
way, can be pronounced both as ftn and as fn!).
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2. Handout on teaching pronunciation and intonation:

Useful Terminology:
Homograph: When two or more words are alike to the eye (spelt the
same), but different to the ear (e.g. an object BUT I object). Also,
beyond the scope of pronunciation, a homonym: [e.g. a bow of a boat and a
bow of an arrow, the bank (of a river) and the bank (financial
institution)].
Homophone: When two or more words are alike to the ear
(pronounced the same), but different to the eye (e.g. here and hear,
where and were).
Intonation: The manner of utterance, especially the high or low,
stressed or unstressed pitch in our voice. Unlike in Greek, intonation
is very important in English.
IPA: The International Phonetic Alphabet, designed to represent all
sounds of all human languages with one unique symbol. Established
in 1886, in Paris, it is used as a basis by many English dictionaries.
Latest revision: 1996.
Minimal pair/set: A pair/set of words, of the same language, that
differ by a single phoneme (sound) in the same position, thus
producing a different meaning (e.g. bother, father, pother, rather).
Pronunciation: The actual realisation of a lexical item in oral
discourse. Particular pronunciations create particular accents.
Spelling: The orthographic representation of a lexical item. Certain
words are spelt (spelled) differently by Americans and differently by
the British (e.g. jewellery Vs jewelry, enquire Vs inquire colour Vs
color, synthesise Vs synthesize, grey Vs gray, defence Vs defense).
Background Information:
9
English pronunciation: notoriously disproportionate to its
spelling.
Difficult to attain and make out just by looking at words.
9
We all have the experience of being insecure or embarrassed
about our pronunciation.
We must establish confidence to the students (through practice).
9
Poor pronunciation ruins other well-developed skills, while
excellent pronunciation makes up for lack of other skills.
Handling English pronunciation well invests us with self-confidence,
and instils respect to the other interlocutors.
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9
Different linguistic backgrounds face different pronunciational
problems.
Focus upon the Greek context and the known difficulties:
Aspirated consonants: k (court/king/queen), p (palace)
and t (tyrant).
Non-aspirated k, p, t may be perceived as g, b, d by
other speakers of English (native or not), thus
hindering intercourse and risking communication
breakdown.
Alveo-palatal fricatives [ as in ship and as in measure]
Alveo-palatal affricates [(t as in chamber and d as in
manger)]
Their substitution by s/z or the (non-existent in
English) ts/tz results in an annoying and unpleasant
form of English (cf. how some foreigners speak Greek).
ALL OF THESE SOUNDS ARE ABSENT IN STANDARD MODERN GREEK

9
In previous years, teachers aimed at a native-like pronunciation.
Modern approaches on Language teaching/learning show us that
perfect pronunciation should not be our main goal.
We aim at an intelligible and comprehensible pronunciation. Nativelike pronunciation is always desirable, of course.
9
Nothing can actually be learnt unless the students are motivated
and understand the big Why we teach pronunciation. When dealing
with pronunciation and intonation, we are not after meaning as such.
Exposure to authentic or authentic-like material, group work,
audiovisual and multimedia material. Sensitisation to the
communicative impact pronunciation and intonation have.
9
Because of the fact that English is so widely spread, there exist
words that may be pronounced in more than one ways (e.g. often,
communicative, pronunciation, potato etc).
Even if we adopt only one pronunciation in our teaching, we inform
students of this diversity.
9
Last, but not least: intonation CANNOT be possibly taught in black
and white. Inextricably linked with context, feelings, situations etc.
We provide students with background information and explain its
importance.
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Structuralist Vs Communicative/Functional Approach:

STRUCTURALIST APPROACH
COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH
Pronunciation, like everything else,

is taught outside context, in
isolation.
Heavy use of non-authentic material,
mainly visual (not so much acoustic)
and use of unnatural dialogues.
Pronunciation, like other parts of the

language, is taught within a given or
created context.
Careful use of authentic or
authentic-like materials, visual and
acoustic, multimedia/ audiovisual
materials.
Pair/Group work, motivational and
fun. Interaction and communication
are of paramount importance.
Exposure to multiple pronunciations,
letting the children to develop their
own. No native-like requirements.
Individual work, lack of motivation

and impetus for learning. Minimal
interaction between students.
Exposure to a single pronunciation
(British in Europe). The children are
expected to perform like native
speakers.
No attention given to the
communicative values of intonation.
We emphasise on the communicative

value of intonation.
Being aware of that fact that pronunciation was dropped out because of
the way it was taught to students, resulting in a stilted form of language,
we try to make it more interesting. In no case do we employ only one
method; rather we combine practices from both approaches.
Precisely because most dictionaries use the IPA 12 symbols to express the
phonetic values of the words (or rather, an IPA subset applicable to the
English language), we should also equip advanced students and teachers
with such a handout, aiming at facilitating them towards improving their
pronunciation. However, intermediate and advanced students could also
benefit from a pronunciation key.
12
. As mentioned above, IPA stands for International Phonetic Alphabet.
2005
XIV

ELEMENTARY LEVEL ACTIVITIES

1.
Please match the words that have the same sound.

1. ant
2. be
3. cell
4. here
5. high
6. hour
7. sale
8. plain
9. see
10. son
a. hear
b. hi
c. plane
d. our
e. sun
f. aunt
g. sell
h. sea
i. bee
j. sail
ANSWERS: 1 - f, 2 - I, 3 - g, 4 - a, 5 - b, 6 - d, 7 - j, 8 - c, 9 - h, 10 - e
Teachers Notes: This exercise is most fitting for young learners. It aims at
making the students aware of the homophonic phenomenon, enabling them to
understand that a certain sequence of sounds may be spelt in various ways.
By working in pairs, the students will see the words in question and decide
upon which words sound the same (even if they are spelt in a different way).
2. Listen to the story and select the word you listen to fill in the
gaps. Remember that some words are unknown!

. !
DEsert
deSERT
OBject
OBject
obJECT
PREsent
PREsent
preSENT
REcord
reCORD
use (s)
use (z)
The children were lost in the desert. They found a strange round object, with which
they played for a while. After two hours, some men came on camels and took the
children to present them to the Sultan. The Sultan was very kind and offered them
a delicious desert with chocolate cream and strawberries. One of the children took
off his pocket the little strange object and gave it to the Sultan as a present, but
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asked for a sword in return, although he didnt know its use. The Sultan didnt
object and the guards showed the child how to use the sword. After the children
left, the Sultan tried to find out what the object did, and it turned out to be a magic
record that could record voices, unlike the ones we have at present.
2. Now, listen to the sentences and say what the missing word
you think is.
,
.
Remember: (N) = Noun, (V) = Verb. Good luck!
DEsert (N)
deSERT (N) OBject (N)
preSENT (V) REcord (N)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
obJECT (V)
reCORD (V) use (s) (N)
PREsent (N)
use (z) (V)
Its too hot today. Its like we are in the desert.

My little sister does not know the use of hands free.
Mary lives in London at present.
Yesterday, we all saw a strange object in the sky.
I always have desert after lunch.
I asked my mother to give me her brush, and she didnt object.
She gave me a present for my birthday.
My mother bought a VCR to record her favourite movies.
My grandfather bought me a record yesterday.
Mary didnt know how to use a mobile phone.
Teachers Notes: This exercise may be used for all ages. We use bilingual
instructions in order to facilitate the students towards achieving our triple
aim: To enable students to understand that a single orthographic word may
be pronounced in more than one manner (homographs) and (beyond the scope
of pronunciation and phonetics), that such lexemes may both be nouns and
verbs, and that they may have a related meaning (use) or an entirely different
one (object). It is an individual task: In the first case, the students will be
sensitised by listening to the short story and selecting the appropriate words.
In the second case, the students, having had the previous acoustic experience,
will provide the appropriate words by themselves.
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3A. Select the words you listen to fill in the blanks (a word is used
twice):
cheap
choke
jeep
joke
see
she
ship
show
sip
so
Mary wanted to so us that see can tell a funny choke, and started telling us
a story about a sip and a jeep. Honestly, I didnt understand anything: not
only it wasnt a choke, but it was also show meaningless. But, she seemed
happy telling the joke with the ship and the cheap.
3B. I. Select the words you listen to fill in the blanks (ELEMENTARY)
II. Select the words you listen to fill in the blanks and then
select the correct word that should be placed there (PRE-INTERMEDIATE)
I
choke
jeep
sip
see
so
II
choke
cheap
jeep
joke
see
she
ship
show
sip
so
It was a funny choke. [JOKE]

See was very beautiful on her wedding gown. [SHE]
Mary wanted to so us her new ring. [SHOW]
Last summer, we took the ship to Zante. [SHIP]
You must buy this dress, its very jeep. [CHEAP]
Teachers Notes: This exercise may be used for all ages. It is quite
straightforward, asking students to discern between audibly distinct sounds
within words, even if they may be (and probably are) unaware of their
meaning. It is an individual task: In the first case, the students will be
sensitised by listening to the short story and selecting the appropriate words.
The second part is divided in two sub-parts: Elementary students will carry
on exactly the same thing they did in the first part, while Pre-Intermediate
students, having had the previous acoustic experience, will first select the
words they listened, and then the correct words, in terms of meaning.
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INTERMEDIATE LEVEL ACTIVITIES
1. The following is a transcription of an actual conversation

between two non-native students practising their English. Listen to
it carefully, the first time selecting words from below to fill in the
gaps with what you heard, and the second time filling them in with
the words you guess they should have used.
blew
deer
four
four
lock
luke
read
suck
think
thinks
this
ware
won
wood
yell
Chris: Hello Mike. Whats the matter?

Mike: Hey Chris. Oh deer. Im going out with Maria tonight and I have
nothing to ware. [DEAR/WEAR]
Chris: What about your blew trousers? They lock nice. [BLUE/LOOK]
Mike: That old think? They make me luke like a suck of potatoes.
[THING/LOOK/SACK]
Chris: Yell, why dont you borrow something mine? [WELL]
Mike: Could I, really?
Chris: Yes, wood you like to? [WOULD]
Mike: Of course Id like to. Especially the read pants you have. [RED]
Chris: I can bring them four you tomorrow. [FOR]
Mike: But still, I dont feel comfortable borrowing your thinks. [THINGS]
Chris: Dont mention it, what are friends four? Ill borrow something
yours won of this days if it makes you feel any better. [FOR/ONE/THESE]
Teachers Notes: This exercise has a dual aim: On the one hand, we ask
students to match pronunciation with spelling (regardless of meaning), and
on the other hand, we ask them to match pronunciation and spelling with
meaning. The dialogue is to be read in the form of a Role-Play: The first
time, we assess the students alertness of pronunciation patterns, while the
second time we evaluate their vocabulary, in terms of pronunciation. The
students are supposed to work on their own.
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2. You will be given an envelope, containing one of the words

below. Team up in groups of three, open the envelope, read the word
it contains, and try to guess as many words as you can that sound
exactly the same, but have a different initial sound. You have 3
minutes. Good Luck!
boat, fool, make, dear, sock

ANSWERS:
BOAT, COAT, COTE, DOTE, GOAT, MOAT, MOTE, NOTE, OAT, ROTE, TOTE, VOTE, WROTE
13
COOL, FUEL, JEWEL, MEWL, MULE, POOL, RULE, TOOL, YULE NOT KEWL
BAKE, CAKE, FAKE, HAKE, JAKE, LAKE, RAKE, SAKE, SHAKE, TAKE, WAKE
BEER, BIER, CERE, CHEER, DEER, FEAR, FERE, GEAR, HEAR, HERE, JEER, LEAR, LEER, MERE, NEAR,
PEER, PIER, REAR, SEAR, SEER, SERE, SHEAR, SHEER, SPEER, TEAR, TIER, VEER, WEIR, YEAR
COCK, DOCK, FLOCK, HOCK, JOCK, KNOCK, LOCH, LOCK, MOCK, NOCK, POCK, ROCK, SHOCK, YAK
Teachers Notes: This exercise aims at combining fun, heuristics and

linguistic knowledge: The class will be divided groups of three, and each
group will be given an envelope containing a piece of paper with a word
written on it. Based on their lexical knowledge and the spelling of the
words, the students will hopefully come up with as many words as possible
(provided, of course, that they are meaningful), that may also have a
different spelling (e.g. KNIGHT, MIGHT, RITE etc). It is interesting that
in English, to a far greater extent than Greek, minimal pairs and sets are
quite numerous, precisely because we are dealing with a consonant-based
language.
13
. *kewl, which is NOT a proper lexical item, is often used in online chatting, instant messaging and
online gaming over the Internet in the place of the proper lexical item cool.
2005
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ADVANCED LEVEL ACTIVITIES

1.
How would you say the word Peter in the following situations?
a.
You have a friend named Peter, who is a very nice boy.
Someone tells you that Peter robbed a bank. (Peter?)
b.
Peter, however, is disabled, and cannot move on his own.
(Peter?)
c.
You are playing hide and seek with Peter (provided that
he is not physically challenged) and you try to find him. (Peter?)
d.
You are Peters father and you shout at him with anger
(Peter!)
Teachers Notes: This exercise aims at making the students aware of the
intonation patterns in the English Language. We have limited the number of
examples in four, but any speaker of the language may indeed come up with
many others. It is truly amazing how a single word (in our case, a proper
name) may be rendered in four, or even more, different ways, conveying a
different meaning. The students will read listen to the various contextual
descriptions we provide and - in pairs - will try to exemplify their reactions
orally.
2.
How would you utter I want to go in the following situations?
a. You are discussing with a friend about going to the theatre. Your
friend asks you if you actually want to go there, responding
positively. (Yes, I want to go).
b. Having stated your wish, your friend seems to be unwilling to
attend the performance, but you are eager to do so. (But I want to
go).
c. You are asked by a third party Who is the one interested in
going to the theatre? (I want to go).
d. Even though your friend doesnt want to go, you still need a lift
to go there {and your friend has a vehicle}. (I want to go, please).
e. After talking it over, your friend is still determined not to go.
However, you too are adamant and getting aggravated (I want to go).
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Teachers Notes: This exercise aims at making students aware of the

intonation patterns existent as internal sentence mechanisms in the English
Language, to a greater extent than the previous exercise. By providing the
desirable context, we can virtually provoke any number of linguistic responses,
all of which are different in terms of intonation. Exactly because we have an
entire sentence, not just a single word, we can clearly see the patterns, and
how the stress falls and rises. The students will read and listen to the various
contextual descriptions we provide and - in pairs - will try to exemplify their
reactions orally.
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3. Peer Teaching Evaluation

We all believe that the Peer Teaching was a valuable experience, because it
gave us a first insight of professional teaching in English, especially for 20+
students. Although Amir has had some limited experience of teaching English
to young children, for Alexander and Efthymia that was the first time they
actually taught in class! All three of us worked closely together to prepare the
theoretical part of our session and, after discussing it, we decided that
Efthymia would take the elementary level activities, Amir would be
responsible for the intermediate level exercises and Alexander would be in
charge of the advanced level tasks. After compiling and finalising the handout,
we practised its delivery the day before the presentation, assigning roles to
each of us.
DIVISION OF LABOUR
We tried to work both jointly and separately. Alexander looked for
information both from books and websites, Amir looked for information from
websites only, while Efthymia looked for information only from books. As a
group, we met with Mrs. Kamperi on 24/02 (09:00 - 10:00), then with Dr.
Drossou on 01/03 (13:00 - 14:00) and both with Mrs Kamperi and Dr. Drossou
on 07/03 (13:00-14:00). Between those sessions and after the last one, we
arranged other meetings where, as a group, we closely co-operated with each
other to compile the material and exchange ideas on the exercises. Alexander
typed and word-processed the material, while Amir photocopied the handouts.
THE PLAN - WHAT WENT ACCORDINGLY TO IT
To begin with, Efthymia would start the process by distributing the 45 xeroxed
handouts we prepared for the class. We actually photocopied 50 class
handouts, four of which we kept for our records and one of which we gave to
Dr. Karavas. Along with those 50 class handouts, we photocopied 5 teachers
handouts: we kept one for our records, gave one to Dr. Karavas and used the
other three during the session (each peer teacher used one).
Immediately after we assumed from the previous peer teaching session on
vocabulary, Amir wrote on the board Fluency Vs Accuracy, an important
point which he developed later on. Alexander, on the other hand, wrote
Pronunciation Vs Spelling, another important point which he, too,
developed later.
Alexander was to introduce the peer teachers, Efthymia was to say a few
things about the organisation and the layout of the handout (two parts,
theoretical and practical), and then Alexander would handle points 1, 4 and 8
(in the order they appear in the handout), Amir would develop points 5, 6 and
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7, and Efthymia would say a few things on points 2 and 3. Later on, Alexander
would mention the two predominant approaches in language teaching/
learning (namely: Structuralist and Communicative/Functional) and remind
the audience of the reasons that resulted in abolishing the teaching of
pronunciation in the past, and Efthymia would say that in the handout we
decided to include an updated IPA chart and a pronunciation key.
From that point on, each peer teacher would start by explaining the exercises
for the level he or she undertook. Efthymia was responsible for the Elementary
level exercises, Amir compiled the Intermediate level exercises and Alexander
was in charge of the Advanced level exercises.
Efthymia explained the elementary level exercises to our colleagues, providing
them with some of the examples.
When Amir carried on to the Intermediate level, all three peer teachers roleplayed the dialogues [the first time Amir (Mike) and Efthymia (Chris) and the
second time Alexander (Mike) and Efthymia (Chris)]. Following, Amir went on
by introducing the PETER exercise, setting the context and asking the students
to provide him with answers.
After Amir finished, Alexander took over, with the aid of Efthymia. Alexander
gave the instructions for the exercise and Efthymia distributed the 20
envelopes we prepared. The envelopes were decorated with two ladybird
stickers each. During the time the envelopes were being distributed, Alexander
showed the class the picture of a ladybird (ladybug), asked the students if they
knew how it is called in English and then told them a little joke: How do you
call a male ladybird? The joke was said to break the ice.
After the envelopes were distributed and a few clarifications were given,
Alexander waited for 3-5 minutes. After the passing of time, Alexander
received many answers from the class, which he wrote on the board. When the
exercise was completed, Alexander moved on to the second exercise, on
intonation. He verbally set the context and sometimes paraphrased it, and
received a number of responses.
After we finished, and because time was pressuring us, Alexander told the
students that we were thankful for them being there and referred to the
bibliography mentioned in the handout, informing the students that all cited
books could be found at the Library of the Department.
ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA
In the post-session meeting, it was decided that the ENVELOPES exercise was
not very difficult and, therefore, would have to fall under the Intermediate
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level exercises. In exchange, the PETER exercise would be part of the Advanced
level exercises. It was also decided that in Exercise 2B (Elementary level), the
students will actually say the words themselves, instead of simply hearing
them and writing them down.
WHAT WENT WRONG / ACCORDING TO THE PLAN
In the actual presentation of the peer teaching, most of what we had planned
beforehand was carried out as planned. However, we did have some problems
working as a group (in terms of turn-taking) and, at some point, Amir lost his
words Things like that happen and, sometime in the future, they will be
pleasant memories to go back to and laugh at ourselves :-) Perhaps this is
because we paid more attention in preparing the handout than we did in
rehearsing its presentation. Another thing we had not anticipated was the
time limit: because there were two peer teaching sessions in one academic
session, and because the 5-minute break we had became a 20-minute break, we
were a bit short of time.
WHAT WE WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY
If we had the chance to do it one more time, one better time, we would try to
be more linked together, physically be closer between us and to the students
(in terms of emotional and spatial proximity), while some of us would have
been more prepared for the session. In the ENVELOPES exercise, we would
distribute the envelopes only AFTER the instructions were given.
RESPONSE FROM THE AUDIENCE / FEELINGS DURING THE SESSION
In general, we - initially, at least - felt somehow tensed and insecure. However,
as the session progressed, we started gaining more confidence. The response
we received from the audience, at least for Alexander and Amir, was adequate
to satisfactory. In the PETER exercise, Amir tried to involve the audience and
received some answers; more people could have participated. Alexanders
ENVELOPE activity was the exercise that activated many of our fellow
students, and the response there was above average. In the final exercise for
the advanced level, Alexander confesses that he received more answers than
he actually expected.
EVALUATION FROM OUR PEERS (QUESTIONNAIRES)
The feedback we received from our colleagues was valuable, although out of
the approximately 50 persons in the class, we received only 25 questionnaires.
This is due to two reasons: on the one hand, because it was the first day of peer
teaching sessions, some of the students forgot to photocopy the questionnaire
from the Information Booklet, or they did not bring enough xeroxed
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questionnaires, thus consuming them for the first peer teaching session. On
the other hand, unlike the previous session, where Mrs. Kamperi distributed
some xeroxed questionnaires for evaluating the Peer Teaching session on
Vocabulary, unfortunately, we were not patronised in the same way.
At any rate, Dr. Karavas and we agreed that we would collect the
questionnaires, process them, and hand them over to her at our post-teaching
session on Friday, 18th of March 2005. We did process them and, after
extracting percentages and summarising the comments of our fellow students,
we present the results here:
On Question 1, concerning whether our session was successful in transmitting
new knowledge on the subject of pronunciation:
40 % graded the session with grade 3,
48 % graded the session with grade 4 and
12 % graded the session with grade 5.
On Question 2, regarding whether or not the teaching aim was well served:
40 % responded Yes about the way the lesson was organised,
60 % responded To a certain extent about the way the lesson was organised,
68 % responded Yes about the choice of the teaching material,
32 % responded To a certain extent about the choice of the teaching material,
32 % responded Yes about the way the material was used in class and
68 % responded To a certain extent about the way the material was used in
class.
On Question 3, regarding the handout used for our session:
60 % responded Yes about it being well-organised,
40 % responded To a certain extent about it being well-organised,
84 % responded Yes about it containing useful material,
16 % responded To a certain extent about it containing useful material,
40 % responded Yes about it being adequately used during the teaching
process and
60 % responded To a certain extent about it being adequately used during the
teaching process.
On Question 6, regarding our communication skills as teachers, we received
the following grades:
Alexander: 16 % voted 3 (medium), 48 % voted 4 (good) and 36 % voted 5
(excellent).
Amir: 12 % voted 2 (fair), 56 % voted 3 (medium) and 32 % voted 4 (good).
Efthymia: 44 % voted 3 (medium), 52 % voted 4 (good) and 4 % voted 5
(excellent).
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On Question 4, regarding the strong points of the lesson, we received the

following answers: the handout, the bibliography, the activities (especially the
envelope game), the opportunities for listening, the participation of the
audience, our organisation, the material we used, the vivid presentation and
the communicative ability of some peer teachers, the information on
intonation, while a certain individual wrote Alexander!!!.
On Question 5, regarding the weak points of the lesson, we received the
following answers: it was lengthy and a bit boring, it wasnt organised, some
peer teachers had a lack of language, the handout was complicated, there was
a lot of theory and speaking, there were many activities, there was not much
theory, some of the exercises were not explained, there was not equal
participation, the activities were not helpful, some peer teachers were reading
the handout, there was lack of imagination on behalf of some peer teachers,
language production was not promoted, a student was discontent by the
roman enumeration we had on the handout, while a certain individual thought
that Alexander was taking over.
From Question 7, which asked students to briefly state what they gained from
the lesson, we only received two or three answers. Although we did not jot
them down, we distinctly remember that a (most likely female, judging from
the handwriting) student gained the confidence that s/he can do better! As to
that, we believe that there is always room for improvement and, since at some
parts of our session, we were not entirely giving out our full potential, we
should keep this remark in mind, and try to minimise our lapses and omissions
in the future.
Finally, on Question 8, where the students could make comments about the
session, we got the following responses: it was not too well organised, we
should have fewer activities, we should have louder voices, it was a good
effort, we should equally divide time and not present all activities, we could
have developed the theory more, while one of the students commented: Less
stress/Heads up! That was indeed true. Some, if not all of us, were a bit
stressed and, therefore, kept our heads in a lowered position.
Our overall impression is that most of the students judged us fairly. However,
three of them were not being entirely honest, or entirely consistent, since two
of them graded all three peer teachers with the same grade, while one student
commented (for the negative points) that there was much theory, but then on
the remarks, s/he suggested that there should have been more theory!
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INDIVIDUAL COMMENTS
We consider prudent to also include some individual comments from the peer
teachers about the session.
Alexander: I believe that it was a valuable experience, since it was the first
time I actually taught in class. I feel that I gave my full potential there,
trying as much as I could to explain my points in plain words and get the
students involved. I even tried to make a joke with the question on how we
should address a male ladybird, but it seems that some of the students did
not appreciate the joke, while some of them got it too late!
The contact with the audience was quite satisfactory I may say, but I
do believe that my fellow peer teachers could have tried to explain things in
a better way. What I should have done to improve my presentation was to be
even closer to the students (in terms of spatial proximity).
As for our audience, I must confess that they were much better than
what I actually expected! With the exception of one of them that thought
that I was taking over and graded me with a lower grade than my two
fellow peer teachers, I must say that our audience judged me fairly and
justly. I would also like to say a big THANK YOU to the student who
wrote that I was the strong point of the session!
Amir: As far as I am concerned, during the theory part of our peer teaching,
many things went wrong: I was too nervous and the important part was
that I didnt expect to be nervous at all. Some student claimed that I wasnt
prepared enough, but I strongly deny that remark, because I practiced the
whole lecture plenty of times. I thought that having the experience of
teaching (to young learners) would be effective and crucial as far as anxiety
and agony is concerned.
In my opinion, the reason for my bad presentation is that I
underestimated the whole process. Things normalized and went almost
according to the plan during the practical session, with the students helping
with their participation (with the exception of a small percentage). I should
less underestimate the whole process and I should try to be more
comfortable. I should be closer to the students (both literally and
metaphorically) and I should ask more for the students participation. I
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would also doubt less if my classmates would cooperate and I shouldnt be

so negative in believing the opposite.
It was a very valuable experience, because it showed my
vulnerability. It showed that I am not always comfortable (as I thought I
was) while speaking in front of the crowd. Hopefully, this experience will
be a reason for more successful tasks in the future. Finally, about my
evaluation, to be honest I was surprised! Maybe, it was because I was better
in the activities part and always the last impression stays in mind. I would
evaluate myself with 2, while I had an average of around 3.
Efthymia: In our peer teaching session, we all three worked together to
prepare the theory part of our peer teaching. I believe that the thing that
went wrong in our peer teaching session was that we paid too much
attention on creating the whole handout than presenting it. We didnt
rehearse our presentation a lot, before we actually performed it in the
classroom.
Apart from that, we were supposed, when presenting our work in
front of our fellow students, to interact with each other: we didnt do that,
but I dont find it so tragic. Thankfully, we made our presentation quite
satisfyingly, although Amir was so stressed to a point that he lost his words
(it happens). Personally, I believe that we should have been practising our
presentation more before entering the classroom, in order to be more
organized and perhaps Amir wouldnt have lost his words.
My classmates were exactly as I expected it: most of them were silent,
watching us as if we were aliens, or we were talking in Chinese and others
were playing tic-tac-toe on the desk or talking to the person next to them.
The only time they seemed to participate was when Alexander did an
exercise with several envelopes, when the only thing they had to do was to
find simple minimal pairs.
The thing is, I realized that I am going to be a teacher, so I should
feel more confident and relaxed while Im teaching, in order to help my
students understand, although, I felt a little stressed at the beginning. Also,
there was some negative energy that held me back, but then I thought that I
shouldnt care, Im just doing my job.
It was a very valuable experience, because I had the opportunity to
teach for the first time in front of 50 students, and I was motivated to
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search on pronunciation and intonation and create activities for the learners
to help them. I believe I was born to teach, particularly children not adults.
I also became more experienced on pronunciation and I saw that it is very
important for young learners to know how to pronounce carefully.
I did it quite good I think, and the only thing I heard and thought it
as true was that I should motivate the students to participate more in the
classroom. But I couldnt do that because my peers were passive recipients,
they looked at me liker they didnt understand what I was saying and then
I asked if they wanted me to explain anything, again they were staring at
me. So what?
We, collectively, would like to thank Dr. Drossou and Mrs. Kamperi for
carefully guiding us through the Peer Teaching process, Dr. Karavas for
providing us with valuable feedback and our colleagues, for bearing with
us, as well as for supporting us!
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4. Selected sources - Bibliography

A variety of books and Internet websites is available to anyone interested in
the topic of pronunciation and intonation, ranging from rudimentary
pronunciation theory and simple exercises to in-depth analysis and elaborate
activities. For the compilation of the material in hand, the following books
were used:
Bowen, J. Donald (1978), Patterns of ENGLISH Pronunciation
(Newbury House Publishers, Inc. / Rowley, Massachusetts).
Brazil, David (1997), The communicative value of intonation in English
(Cambridge University Press).
Bronstein, Arthur J. (1960), The Pronunciation of AMERICAN ENGLISH
(Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. New York).
Cruttenden, Alan (ed.) (2001), Gimsons Pronunciation of English
(Arnold, London).
Crystal, David (1999), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English
Language (Cambridge University Press).
Graddol, David (2000), The Future of English? (The English
Company/The British Council).
Haycraft, Brita (1975), The Teaching of Pronunciation: a classroom
guide (Longman).
Hooke, Robert and Rowell, Judith (1982), A Handbook of English
Pronunciation (Edward Arnold, London)
MacCarthy, Peter (1972), Talking of Speaking: Papers in Applied
Phonetics (Oxford University Press).
Pennington, Martha C. (1996), Phonology in English Language
Teaching: An International Approach (Longman).
Poole, Stuart C. (1999), An Introduction to Linguistics (Palgrave).
Roach, Peter (2003), English Phonetics and Phonology: A practical
course (Cambridge University Press).
Thompson, Lionel (1978), Learning to Pronounce English (Evans
Brothers Limited).
Yule, George (1996), The study of language (Cambridge University
Press).
Furthermore, we used information from the following websites, regarding
information about the teaching methods and approaches on pronunciation
and intonation, as well as other information:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/english/pdf/future.pdf
http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/ALMMethods.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_policy_in_France
2005
XXX

http://esl.about.com/cs/pronunciation/ht/ht_prononce.htm
http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa110997.htm
http://forums.yellowworld.org/archive/index.php/t-8303.html
http://home.utm.utoronto.ca/~nakagawa/Full%20Text%20Essay.doc
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Otlowski-Pronunciation.html
http://metz.une.edu.au/~hfraser/docs/HFLanguageMatters.pdf
http://newcanadianteachers.oise.utoronto.ca/facts.php
http://w3.gazi.edu.tr/web/gboran/eltmethodstogether.doc
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/
http://www.melta.org.my/ET/1989/main2.html
http://www.onestopenglish.com/News/Magazine/Archive/
Audio.htm
pronunciation.htm
silentway.htm
suggesta.htm
totalphysical.htm
whatgrammar.htm
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/17679/17679.html
In order to find IPA charts, homographs and homophones lists, we googled

the corresponding keywords. The homophones list we used may be found at
www.abcteach.com/abclists/homophones.htm. The list of homographs we
used is available at www.opundo.com/homographs.htm. For IPA charts, please
notice that the latest revision of took place in 1996, not in 1993. The IPA chart
we used comes from http://web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/ipa/charts/
IPAChart96.pdf. The pronunciation key we used comes from The Cambridge
International Dictionary of English (2001), Cambridge University Press. For the
minimal sets and pairs of Exercise 2 for the Intermediate Level, we used the
CD-ROM version of the Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus
(Version 2.5, 2000).
This paper was typed under Microsoft Word 2002 Service Pack 3, using
Gentium, MgChanceryBeauty, MgOptima UC Pol, SK AdamPolUni_W,
SKMilitaryBlack, Sylfaen and Tahoma. It was converted into a PDF
Document using Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0
2005
XXXI

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NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS

ELT Methods and Practices (6th Semester)

1.1 Introduction - Main Principles

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

have: precisely because most technological advancements occur, at any rate,

. Percentage taken from http://home.utm.utoronto.ca/~nakagawa/Full%20Text%20Essay.doc.

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

learners, allowing them to confidently interact with native speakers - a very

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

and foremost, to demonstrate an ability to switch to a different persona, one in

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

1.2 Pronunciation and Intonation in Language Teaching

Total Physical Response (TPR)

Views on pronunciation and intonation

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

1.3 Basic Points to keep in mind - Organisation

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

The more we are exposed to the authentic 9 or authentic-like 10 material, the

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

2. Handout on teaching pronunciation and intonation:

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

ALL OF THESE SOUNDS ARE ABSENT IN STANDARD MODERN GREEK

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

Structuralist Vs Communicative/Functional Approach:

Pronunciation, like everything else,

Pronunciation, like other parts of the

Individual work, lack of motivation

We emphasise on the communicative

. As mentioned above, IPA stands for International Phonetic Alphabet.

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

ELEMENTARY LEVEL ACTIVITIES

Please match the words that have the same sound.

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

deSERT (N) OBject (N)

preSENT (V) REcord (N)

reCORD (V) use (s) (N)

Its too hot today. Its like we are in the desert.

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

It was a funny choke. [JOKE]

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL ACTIVITIES

1. The following is a transcription of an actual conversation

Chris: Hello Mike. Whats the matter?

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi

Dealing with Pronunciation and Intonation in a Communicative Context

2. You will be given an envelope, containing one of the words

boat, fool, make, dear, sock

Teachers Notes: This exercise aims at combining fun, heuristics and

Efthymia Frangou, Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra, Amir Izadi