1. Teaching Pronunciation
Techniques, Tools, and Technology
Heidi Laidemitt, Beth Sipler, Luke Slisz
Chapter 10 Chapter 9

2. Tools
• Tools appeal to a variety of senses
• Address individual differences in learning styles
• Are a source of fun in the classroom
(Celce-Murica)
We are going to cover some ideas from book (and more!)
with new materials.
• First: A Lesson incorporating Poetry/Song, Jazz Chant
movements, and Gadgets and Props
• Second: Ideas for Games
• Third: Jokes, Riddles, Parodies, Cartoons

3. Songs and Poetry
• chunks of language
• concrete images, repetition of lyrics
• easy to involve movement
• clever word play (like the title of this song for today!)
• word stress focus (stress patterns, prominence)
• Cloze task friendly
• Like conversational speech: linking (pronounce as thought
groups), final consonant loss, intonation, rhythmic stressed/
unstressed patterns
• draw attention to spelling and pronunciation, especially if
they use rhyme schemes
• Other Good sources not shown: nursery rhymes, jump rope
rhymes, 80s/90s hip-hop (Run DMC), sports cheers
Now on to the Bare Necessities:

4. Second Stanza: Stress and Pauses
Wherever I wander / wherever I roam /
I couldn't be fonder / of my big home /
The bees are buzzin' in the tree
To make some honey just for me /
When you / look under / the rocks / and plants /
And take a glance / at the fancy ants /
Then may/be / try a few /

5. Third Stanza
Now when you pick a pawpaw
Or a prickly pear
And you prick a raw paw
Well next time beware
Don't pick the prickly pear by the paw
When you pick a pear
Try to use the claw
But you don't need to use the claw
When you pick a pear of the big pawpaw
Have I given you a clue?
Golly, thanks Baloo!

6. Jobberwocky Idea - Lewis Carroll
• Have students assign stress to a poem of nonsensical
words!
• Practice pronunciation and language awareness
o What real words sound similar?
o What real words rhyme?
http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html

7. Pronunciation Games
• Competitive Team Games: Minimal-Pair Recognition Game (two
teams, two colors. One color to represent 1st word spoken, 2nd
color to represent second word spoken)
• Various kinds of Board Games -
o Values Topics (Klippel 1984) fluency activity designed for groups of up to They may
land on topic or free question squares. Practice conversational moves too!
o Discussion Gambit Cards - one set contans phrases, or gambits, that are used when
participating in a discussion. (Appendix 22)
o Hancock (1995) - mazes, jigsaws, crosswords.
o Dominoes game: “Rhythm dominoes” - goal is to match 2 phrases with the same
rhythmic pattern. One for phonemes, too: Vowels dominoes.

8. Jokes, Riddles, Parodies
• Connected Speech Jokes
o Hakunna Matta: “Yeah. It's our motto! / What's a motto? / Nothing. What's
a-motto with you?”
• Teach intonation of jokes through matching and making
pauses. (perhaps practice reading and have students put in pauses or correct
punctuation)
o What key is "Exploring The Cave With No Flashlight" written in?
o C sharp or B flat.
• Exploring Song Parodies: http://parodyman.com/lyrics.htm
• Misheard Lyrics: http://kissthisguy.com/funny.php
o "Shake it like a polarbear ninja"
o "Steak and a knife, steak and a knife"
o "There's a bathroom on the right"
--> Write your own!
--> Match misheard lyrics with actual! Or compare similarities.

9. Comics
• Segmental Features - Minimal pair contrasts, Puns are very
common.
• Suprasegmental features like linking, intonation, sentence
prominence, conversation representation, mishearing, etc.
- My particular favorite (backside of handout)
Family Circus
Let's identify pronunciation play in these comics. What's going
on?

10. Tools Summary
• Poetry/Song, Jazz Chant, which can include segmental
and suprasegmental pronunciation! And movement.
• Humor and invented words for play
• Gadgets and Props to support visualizing sounds and
invoking other senses.
• Games for competition in class and to promote phonemic
recognition as well as fluency.
• Jokes, Riddles, Parodies, Cartoons - for language
awareness; may focus on segmental and suprasegmental
features.