Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT:
TEACHING PRONUNCIATION

GENERAL INFORMATION:

This assignment has to fulfil the following conditions:

- Length: between 4 and 6 pages (without including cover, index or appendices –if
there are any-).
- Type of font: Arial or Times New Roman.
- Size: 11.
- Line height: 1.5.
- Alignment: Justified.

The assignment has to be done in this Word document and has to fulfil the rules of
presentation and edition, as for quotes and bibliographical references which are
detailed in the Study Guide.

Also, it has to be submitted following the procedure specified in the Study Guide.
Sending it to the tutor’s e-mail is not permitted.

In addition to this, it is very important to read the assessment criteria, which can be
found in the Study Guide.

The assignment mark is 80% of the final mark, and the participation in the activities
performed during the tutorials constitutes the remaining 20%.

1
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

OPTION A.

Take two distinct problems of transfer between Spanish and English (Spanish
speakers with English as the target language) which you consider to be
obstacles to efficient communication. The problems can either be segmental or
suprasegmental.

FIRSTLY, explain, as accurately as you can, the causes of the problems in

phonetic or phonological terms.

SECONDLY, illustrate and explain how you could solve these problems within
the normal framework of a language course - the level, age and type of student
presumably being determined by the type of problem you have chosen.
Nevertheless, you should consider the problems in terms of the three ’E’
variables, and also with reference to Brinton’s five variables, mentioned in
Section 9.

2
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

Name and surname(s): Rebecca Fitzell

Login: ESFPMLAEILE1823552
Master edition: 2014 - 2015
Date: 23rd February 2015

3
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

Index

Page

1. Introduction 5

2. Brinton’s five variables 5

3. Problem 1 - /b/ and /v/ 7

4. Problem 2 - /s/, /z/ and /ェ z/ 7

5. Exposure, Exercise, Explanation - /b/ and /v/ 8

6. Exposure, Exercise, Explanation - /s/, /z/ and /ェ z/ 9

7. Conclusion 10

8. Bibliography 11

9. Appendices 12

4
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

1. Introduction

When learning a language, communication is of the utmost importance. Learners wish to not
only communicate with native English-speakers, but also with non-native speakers as it is the
Lingua Franca of today with many universities and careers offering opportunities in English.
Nowadays there is a general stigma around pronunciation and it is said that the
prototype we should be learning is either British Received Pronunciation (RP) or General
American English (GA). Obviously, it is very difficult to organise every English learner or
speaker into one of these groups because of many factors, including their location, whether or
not they have access to speakers with RP or GA and their linguistic and educational
backgrounds. In reality, a very little percentage of people speak, for example, RP and it is said to
be not based on the area from where people are from, but from the social class which they are
part of.
Typically, students would like to dedicate their time improving their speaking
competence but in order to do this, they must begin with the basic expertise in correct
pronunciation. Bad pronunciation can cause misunderstandings and uncomfortable situations. It
can also hinder a student’s learning process as he / she may not feel confident when speaking. I
believe it is important to encourage correct pronunciation on a daily basis, integrate it with
various skills and to start this at an early age, as to avoid future problems.

2. Brinton’s five variables (1995)

Learner variables: In this assignment, I will consider the pronunciation proficiency of adults
learners. They are all Spanish speakers, aged between eighteen and twenty-five, attending
university and are preparing for their Cambridge B1 exam which they hope to take in July of
this year. They attend our private school twice a week for ninety minutes, which I believe is not
sufficient, but due to timetable restrictions of both the students and the school, it is impossible to
increase contact hours.

Setting variables: All the students have their own English book named ‘Objective PET’,
published by Cambridge University Press. This book deals with the preparation required to take
the Cambridge B1 exam. It has a high content of a mix of the four skills covered over thirty
short units, with one Pronunciation section in each unit. The students are living in Jaén and have
very limited opportunities to speak English outside the classroom unless they are in contact with

5
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

English-speaking Erasmus students at the local university or native English-speaking teachers or

language assistants.

Methodological and institutional variables: When addressing their previous knowledge of

English, all have achieved a good command of English grammar, reading and writing
throughout their schooling in ESO and Bachillerato, but when we arrive to their capabilities in
listening and speaking, they flounder.
I began teaching these learners in September 2014 and when I started the class, I
conducted a Needs Analysis Questionnaire, which I find a highly useful when getting to know
my students. All of the students, of whom there are twenty-two spread across two groups,
highlighted that they wanted to improve their pronunciation and placed it as one of the most
important issues that they had, along with speaking. This leads us to think that pronunciation
and speaking obviously go hand-in-hand. They also believed that because of the traditional
Grammar-Translation method of the 19th-20th century, they did not get enough error correction
with their pronunciation while at primary and secondary school. The preferred a communicative
approach in class which we have given them.
Also, another factor worth noting is that they preferred coming to a private ‘academy’
and selecting a class with a native English-speaking teacher because they felt they could
assimilate pronunciation more efficiently. Having said that, should they have chosen a class
with a non-native English-speaker, I believe that their progress would not have been much
different as all teachers are qualified, have great experience and a fantastic command of English
pronunciation. When we consider these two types of teachers, as highlighted by Jenkins (1998:
122), the crucial difference between a non-native speaker of English and a native speaker as
regards segmentals, which I will discuss in this assignment, is that the non-native may deviate
from native models in precisely those sounds that are considered to be ‘core’ sounds of English,
and therefore essential to approximate closely because they figure in all native varieties.

Linguistic variables: The main linguistic variables which I wish to discuss in detail are
highlighted in part 3 and 4 of this assignment. We must also consider that the students addressed
in this essay all come from Jaén and the small towns and villages surrounding it. Jaén province
has a reputation of having an unusual way of speaking its native Spanish, with habits such as
not pronouncing the correct amount of syllables for example, “¿Qué ha pasado?” is pronounced
as “¿Qué ha pasao?”, pronouncing an extra syllable for the regular past form -ed ending, or

6
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

having problems including the inability to distinguish vowels correctly, for example: A/E and
E/I.
The above are some general errors which my students make during pronunciation but in
this assignment I will focus on two distinct problems which have appeared on numerous
occasions during my five years of teaching in a private school. These two problems, the
difference between /b/ and /v/, and the correct use of /s/, /z/ and /ェz/ in plurals and third person
forms, are at a segmental level. First, it is important to highlight that these problems are
segmental because they deal with the practise of the pronunciation of particular individual
sounds. First, I will highlight the problems in phonetic terms and then I will propose a possible
solution by considering the three ‘E’ variables.

3. Problem 1 - /b/ and /v/

In my classes, problems have arisen with learners’ confusion of the sounds and spellings of the
minimal pairs of consonants, the bilabial /b/ and the labiodental /v/. The problem has been that
the learners can rarely pronounce the words correctly as they find it difficult to make a link
between the sound and the actual letter is represents. In Spanish the sounds are quite similar and
there actually is a sound in Spanish phonetics which is a combination of these two confusing
sounds. The labiodental sound of /v/ is more difficult because it does not exist in Spanish. With
younger students, the problem arose in spelling the Spanish word for grape, “uva”. Half of the
students thought it was spelt with “b” and the others with “v”. This type of confusion between
two sounds and spellings in their own language can transfer to their English learning and in
many situations, like with my adult students, they did not recognise a difference and found it
quite difficult to complete some activities to practise this.

4. Problem 2 - /s/, /z/ and /ェz/

When we add “-s”, “-es” and “-’s” to a word, it is for one of four purposes:
 to create a plural noun, for example, one dog, two dogs.
 to conjugate a verb into the third person, for example, I play, you play, he / she
plays.
 for contractions, for example, she’s tall (she is tall) or she’s got a sister (she has
got a sister).

7
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

 for possessives, for example, my father’s car, my parents’ cars.

The “-s”, “-es” and “-’s” have three different pronunciations, respectively:
 /s/
 /z/
 /ェz/
As Kenworthy (1987) points out, learners will tend to add /s/ for noun plurals, even where /z/ is
required, so ‘pens’ will sound like ‘pence’. Both of these sounds are alveolar, thus students
make a similar sound for them. Like with the previous problem, we should take ‘Exposure,
Exercise and Explanation’ into consideration when attempting to rectify this issue.

5. Exposure, Exercise & Explanation: /b/ and /v/

There are many ways that this problem can be addressed, practised and improved. First, let us
think about Dalton and Seidlhofer’s (1994) “Exposure, Exercise and Explanation”. In Exposure,
the students will do some communicative activities, so they will be exposed to the target
language and pronunciation. Then, in Exercise, they will identify the sounds we want to stress
on paying attention to and practise these sounds. Finally, with explanation, they will become
more aware of the real pronunciation they are expected to produce by the teacher explaining
how to pronounce these words. Of course, there are different forms of doing these Three E’s and
the can follow a different order.
First, to expose the students to the pronunciation, tongue twisters could be used. These
are a fun, communicative way of exposing the learners to the target pronunciation. An example
of a tongue twister could be: “Betty bought the violet, velvet vest which she loved the best.”
The students read the tongue twister and read it several times with a partner. Then the teacher
could ask the students what they think the target pronunciation is which they need to practise.
After this, the teacher can explain the pronunciation rules with diagrams (Appendix 5.1
and 5.2) as highlighted by Baker (1977). By doing this, we make pronunciation visible, as
Underhill (1998) said that even as one becomes slightly more sensitive to the inner muscular
movements, so one is more able to observe them visually in another speaker.
Also, as highlighted by Kenworthy (1987), the basic thing to remember about these
sounds is that it is important to draw attention to the fact that for the /b/ sound, the lips should

8
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

start out very tightly closed and then this closure is quickly released. For /v/ the lower lip should
touch the upper teeth and should produce a more buzzing sound.
Then, students can brainstorm vocabulary which they already know with the target
sounds of /b/ and /v/. To further exercise these sounds, students could work in pairs and use the
vocabulary from the brainstorming activity to make their own personal tongue twisters which
they can practise and exchange with different pairs of students. This is quite a useful activity
which I have used many times. Students genuinely remember their own tongue twisters and feel
a sense of achievement after completing one. It is also very funny as students find it very
comical.
A further activity to help students would be a listening activity with two lists of similar
words with the /b/ sound and with the /v/ sound. Students have two opportunities to listen to the
audio and they must choose the alternative option which they hear in the listening. You can find
an example list of these words in Appendix 5.3.

6. Exposure, Exercise & Explanation: /s/, /z/ and /ェz/

First, we can expose the dilemma by presenting a sentence on the board:

“Sally loves cakes and watches soap operas on Tuesdays.”
Students can work in pairs reading the sentence and finding any different sounds which they
may come across with regards to the letter “-s”, “-es” or “-’s”. Usually, they will only find one,
namely /ェz/ because it causes an extra syllable. They will find the difference between /s/ and
/z/ very difficult to find. At first, they may not even agree with the teacher that these are
particular plural sounds.
Then, the teacher can explain the different sounds by drilling the pronunciation of these
words. Again, like the previous process, Baker’s (1977) diagrams (Appendix 6.1 and 6.2) can
help the students with their pronunciation.
After this has been completed, exercises must be carried out to practise the
pronunciation. An activity for doing this may be giving the students a list of words and a table
with three columns: /s/, /z/ and /ェz/ (Appendix 6.3). Students must work in pairs, pronounce
the words together and put the words into their correct column, according to their sound. This is
a more communicative task as the students work together and debate the correct sound they
should use. They also usually find this quite funny. After, they can listen to the teacher to check
their answers.

9
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

Two further activities which may be completed is one which I have taken from the New
English File: Pre-Intermediate series by Oxenden, Latham-Koenig & Seligson (2001). In the
first activity (Appendix 6.4) we can see a table with the three sounds being represented by the
phonetic symbols. These symbols also depict a picture of a word in which this sounds appears,
for example, /s/ for snake. I found the phonetic table highlighted by these series of books very
useful as the students will make a connection between the picture of the word they see and the
sound. It is a great way for them to memorize and practise the different sounds. In this particular
activity, students listen and repeat the sentences to identify the target sounds. Then, they must
look at six verbs and put them into the third person singular and highlight the sound used for the
‘s’. After, they must do something similar but this time with the plural ‘s’ of nouns. Finally, they
can listen and check their answers.
The final activity which I have included (Appendix 6.5) is similar to a “Spot the
difference” activity. Individually, students looks at the sound and the three verbs below it. They
must circle the verb with a different sound. After, thay can consult with their partner before
having an open-class feedback.

7. Conclusion

Good pronunciation is vital in order for students to communicate without any awkward
difficulties. Teachers must take extra care when planning their lessons as to provide students
with a good basis of pronunciation, with solid practise and correct output. We must take all the
variables into consideration in our planning so that they are effective. Tasks should be fun and
innovative and not the usual standard of listening, repeating and drilling. All activities should be
practical and communicative to encourage better speaking abilities.
The teacher should also stand as a model for correct pronunciation, thus students can go
to him / her for help and guidance. By optimising these factors, students’ pronunciation will
develop and improve and their overall confidence and their proficiency will grow.

8. Bibliography

10
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

Baker, A. (1977): Ship or Sheep. An intermediate pronunciation course. Cambridge University

Press. Cambridge

Dalton, C & Seidlhofer, B. (1994): Pronunciation. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

Jenkins, J. (1998): “Which pronunciation norms and models for English as an International
language?”. In ELT Journal 52/2, pp.119 -126

Kenworthy, J. (1987): Teaching English Pronunciation. Longman. London.

Oxenden, C., Latham-Koenig, C. & Seligson, P. (2011): New English File: Pre-intermediate -
Student’s Book and Workbook. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

Underhill, A. (1998): “Get an ear for pronunciation”. in El Gazette Issue no. 223, August 1998,
p.10

9. Appendices

11
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

Appendix 5.1 - Baker (1977) p. 78 Appendix 5.2 - Baker (1977) p. 120

Appendix 5.3 - Practising the pronunciation of /b/ and /v/

1. B V
2. bat VAT
3. berry very
4. best vest
5. ban van
6. boat vote
7. bow vow

Appendix 6.1 - Baker (1977) p. 97 Appendix 6.2 - Baker (1977) p. 100

Appendix 6.3 - Practising the pronunciation of /s/, /z/ and /ェ z/ - Part I

12
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

Work with a partner and put the following list of words into the correct column
according to the sound of the ‘s’ letter. Is it /s/, /z/ or /ェz/?

glasses, shops, legs, cakes, classes, toothbrushes, schools, chips, boots, plays, Sundays,
watches, books, shoes, finishes

/s/ /z/ /ェz/

(answers)
shops legs glasses
cakes schools classes
chips plays toothbrushes
boots Sundays watches
books shoes finishes

Appendix 6.4 - Practising the pronunciation of /s/, /z/ and /ェ z/ - Part II

Oxenden, C., Latham-Koenig, C. & Seligson, P. (2011): New English File: Pre-intermediate -
Student’s Book. p.7. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

Appendix 6.5 - Practising the pronunciation of /s/, /z/ and /ェ z/ - Part III

13
Universidad de Jaén

ASSIGNMENT – TP

Oxenden, C., Latham-Koenig, C. & Seligson, P. (2011): New English File: Pre-intermediate -
Workbook. p. 6. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

14