Seminars on Language Development and Intercultural Teaching
May 11, 2007
“I know your head aches; I know you're tired; I know your nerves are as raw as meat in a butcher's window. But think what you're trying to accomplish. Think what you're dealing with. The majesty and grandeur of the English language, it's the greatest possession we have. The noblest thoughts that ever flowed through the hearts of men are contained in its extraordinary, imaginative, and musical mixtures of sounds. And that's what you've set yourself out to conquer Eliza. And conquer it you will.” ~ Professor Henry Higgins
“All right, Eliza, say it again.”
“The rine in spine sties minely in the pline.”
“The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.”
“Didn't ah sy that?”
“No, Eliza, you didn't "sy" that, you didn't even "say" that. Now every night before you get into bed, where you used to say your prayers, I want you to say "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" fifty times. You'll get much further with the Lord if you learn not to offend His ears.”
~ Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza in My Fair Lady
Content
1. Introductions and Overview
2. Warm-up: English is tough stuff from The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité
- Listen to the poem at Stateside Sounds
3. Self-assess problematic areas for Estonian speakers of English
4. Resources available for pronunciation practice
- Speech accent archives
- University of Iowa Phonetics Page
- British Council Interactive Phonetics Chart
5. Working with minimal pairs
- Pronunciation Journey
- Bingo
6. Intonation and linking activities
References
British Council. (n.d.). Pronunciation chart.
Briton, D. A., Celce-Murcia, M., and Goodwin, J. (1996). Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge: CUP.
Dueik, F., & Ahmad, R. (April, 2007). Motivating classroom activities for teaching pronunciation.
Workshop presented at the 2007 IATEFL convention in Aberdeen, Scotland.
English Pronunciation Test: English is Tough.
Hancock, M. (1995). Pronunciation Games. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
George Mason University. (n.d.) Speech accent archives.
Goodwin, J. (2001). Teaching Pronunciation. In Celce-Murcia, M. (ed), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, pp. 117-133. London: Heinle & Heinle.
University of Iowa. (2007). Phonetics: The sound of spoken language.
