Practical Phonology for English Language Teachers
By the end of the course, participants will have:
- developed/revised their knowledge of essential
phonological principles with reference to teaching English - improved their own pronunciation of sounds, stress placement and connected speech.
- acquired a range of practical pronunciation activities for classroom use.
- developed their confidence in teaching pronunciation in class
Duration: 24 hours (8 x 3-hour sessions)
Location: Online Via Zoom
Who can take this course?
Course Outline
The course is divided into 8 sessions:
This session starts with a discussion as to why the IPA is important for teaching. This is followed by an introduction to/a review of the phonemic chart focusing on vowels and consonants for teaching purposes. It also provides a variety of practical activities for teachers, and they will evaluate their effectiveness for the classroom.
This session starts with a brief overview, examining what word stress means exactly in contrast to unstress. This is followed by the rules of word and sentence stress with a brief reference to weak forms for teaching purposes. It also provides a variety of practical activities for teachers, and they will evaluate their effectiveness for the classroom.
This session starts with a brief overview of the definition of intonation and why we should teach it. This is followed by an overview of tonic syllables and tone units, and the connection between grammar and intonation for teaching purposes.
It also provides a variety of practical activities for teachers, and they will evaluate their effectiveness for the classroom.
This session starts with a brief overview of the definition of connected speech and why we should teach it. This is followed by an overview of the uses of assimilation, elision, juncture and contractions for teaching purposes.
It also provides a variety of practical activities for teachers, and they will evaluate their effectiveness for the classroom
This session starts by revisiting the IPA and its relevance to teaching. This session will focus on articulatory phonetics, how sounds are made, essential information for teachers and learners. Problems with the pronunciation of certain sounds will be discussed in terms of how they are formed by the shape and movement of the mouth to raise learners’ awareness of the differences between phonemes in their first language and those used in English. It also provides a variety of practical activities for teachers, and they will evaluate their effectiveness for the classroom. At the end of every session, we will ask teachers to share their favourite pronunciation activities relating to sounds with each other.
This session starts by revisiting the rules of stress and reduction. We will also look more closely at the effects of derivative stress, strengthening/fortition, weakening and rhythm, and its relevance to teaching. It also provides a variety of practical activities for teachers, and they will evaluate their effectiveness for the classroom. At the end of every session, we will ask teachers to share their favourite pronunciation activities relating to stress and rhythm with each other.
This session starts by revisiting essential intonation patterns for teaching purposes, followed by a closer examination of importance of rhythm in careful and rapid colloquial speech.
with a brief overview of the definition of intonation and why we should teach it. We will also examine pitch, functional and grammatical intonation in further detail.
It also provides a variety of practical activities for teachers, and they will evaluate their effectiveness for the classroom.
At the end of every session, we will ask teachers to share their favourite pronunciation activities relating to intonation/rhythm with each other.
This session starts by revisiting types of connected speech and its relevance to the classroom. We will also examine in further detail insertion and metathesis.
It also provides a variety of practical activities for teachers, and they will evaluate their effectiveness for the classroom.
At the end of every session, we will ask teachers to share their favourite pronunciation activities relating to intonation with each other.
Benefits of taking the course
Many teachers are often intimidated by phonology, assuming that it’s complicated and theoretical The overall aim of this course is reassure teachers that this doesn’t have to be the case. By the end of the course, teachers will be provided with a toolkit of practical ideas to use in their classrooms.