Teaching Pronunciation: Seven Essential Concepts

Simplicity is the Key

Talk by Judy Gilbert at The New School
Before you watch answer the following questions
A. Do you like to teach pronunciation? Why or why not?
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B. Why do you think your students wont speak in the classroom?
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C. Is pronunciation done for any other purpose than improving speech?
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You can begin watching this video at 10:50 as the opening introduces the
speaker Judy Gilbert, her books Clear Speech and the event where this talk
takes place. The introduction makes the important points that: students want
more pronunciation; however, teachers are insecure about teaching
pronunciation, have limited techniques and simply dont know how to teach
pronunciation. Judy adds that for the past 50 years teachers have not
been trained how to teach pronunciation. (Its not your fault if you dont
know how.)
1. Why is pronunciation not a focus in the curriculum? The video highlights 4
problems and solutions. In your own words, summarise what Judy Gilbert
says about the problems of not having enough time and discouragement.
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Teaching Pronunciation: Seven Essential Concepts

Simplicity is the Key
Talk by Judy Gilbert at The New School
2. Think about your students, why they dont or wont speak and what does
the quote from Shakespeare mean.
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3. What is involved in the harmony of English? Why does she relate it to
punctuation?
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Draw the Prosody Pyramid

4. For busy teachers, what can we focus on with pronunciation?

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5. Why does she show you the example of a French chunk? Think again
about your students who struggle, will not or cannot speak and keep
failing. Could teaching them chunks help?
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6. What does she say about long-term memory and building confidence?
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7. Why does she say note-taking is easy for native speakers but difficult for
non-native speakers?
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Teaching Pronunciation: Seven Essential Concepts

Simplicity is the Key
Talk by Judy Gilbert at The New School
8. What two things does a change in pitch signal?
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9. What is the foundation and the building blocks of the prosody pyramid?
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10.How can we get students to practice with syllables and pitch movement?
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11.The peak vowel must be : __________________________,
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and _________________________________________.
12.Is reducing to schwa sloppy speech? Explain.
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13.If students learn a language through reading, and are never taught about
the schwa, what is the result?
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