Using Soundscripting in your Classroom:

A Technique for Improved Speaking & Pronunciation

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What is Soundscripting?

Soundscripting is a technique inspired by teleprompters or Autocue, which allows

presenters to read a script while maintaining direct eye contact with the audience.
Because the speaker does not look down to check written notes, he or she appears to
be speaking spontaneously. Soundscripting is very simple to use, requires few materials
(Microsoft Word of Google Docs) and was first brought to ELT by Mark Powell in
“Presenting in English” (1996)

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Why Soundscripting? The theory behind it

Soundscripting is easy to implement and helps learners improve their fluency, accuracy,
and pronunciation by focusing on lexis and prosodic features, i.e. suprasegmental
elements, such as chunking, length, stress, tone, and intonation. It emphasizes
communication and meaning over isolation & sounds. This tool is particularly useful for
students who are not familiar with the notion of intonation for conveying importance
and lengthening of words.

Soundscripting - a tool for self-directed learning. Once we train our students in the
steps of soundscripting, they can implement it on their own. It’s a transferable skill.

What THEY say:

● “[W]hat standard of performance is [pronunciation teaching] expected to

produce in the pupil?” - Abercrombie (1949: 20)
● “..most language learners need no more than a comfortably intelligible
pronunciation..”
● “...and by comfortably intelligible, I mean a pronunciation that can be
understood with little or no conscious effort on the part of the listener..”
(ibid)
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 ● Segmentals do not affect intelligibility (Thornbury, 2006)
● Suprasegmentals have a greater impact on intelligibility (Kelly, 2001)

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References and Further Reading:

Abercrombie, D. (1949). ‘Teaching Pronunciation’. ELT Journal 3/5: 113-22.

Clandfield, L. & Pickering, K. (2010). Global Elementary & Pre-Intermediate. London,

Macmillan Education.

Cotton, D. (2011). Market Leader. Intermediate. Allyn & Bacon. Pearson.

Jenkins, J. (2007). English as a Lingua Franca: attitude and identity. Oxford University
Press

Kelly, G. (2001). How to Teach Pronunciation. Allyn & Bacon. Pearson.

Koenig, C.L. & Oxenden, C. (2014). American English File. Oxford University Press.

Levis, J. and K. LeVelle. (2011). ‘Pronunciation and intelligibility: an overview of the

conference’ in J. Levis And K. LeVelle (eds). Pronunciation and Intelligibility: Issues in
Research and Practice. Ames, IA: Iowa State University

Pelteret, S. (2012). Speaking: B1+Collins English for Life: Skills. Collins

Powell, M. (1996). Presenting in English. Global ELT.

Roach, P. (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course. Cambridge

University Press

Thornbury, S. (2006). An A-Z of ELT. MacMillan Education.

Tilbury, A. & Clementson, T. (2010). English Unlimited B1. Cambridge University Press.

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Activity 1 - Word Stress Mingle
Task your students with completing this word stress mingle with the target vocabulary
below. This works best with slips or projecting the chart on the board and having
students move around saying the words aloud to each other. Be sure to do one as a
model before activating the activity.

O Oo oO oOo Ooo ooO

holistic hazardous pillar pure pesticides replace

chemicals compost disappear employees fresh recycle

waste reuse protect engineers garbage consumption

*to see part 2 of this activity, go to the free preview of our course “SPA” and download
it for free.

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Activity 2: Soundscripting with Low-level Presentations

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Soundscripting can absolutely work with lower proficiency levels as well. Here is an
activity we designed. Based on the text below:

Teaching Sequence:
1. Provide the handout below to your students. Dictate the presentation introduction
and have them fill in the blanks. Alternatively, have each sentence on the screen or a
sheet of paper and partners take turns dictating to each other.
2. Once confirmed, go through soundscripting procedure:
i) have students mark the pauses
ii) have students underline the most stressed word(s) in each chunk
iii) listen to the teacher read the original passage again and confirm
3. Have students write their own presentation introduction following the same structure
as the model
4. Have students mark the pauses, stress in their introduction
5. Practice saying it with the soundscripting principles. Record themselves as necessary.

Original Text:

Good afternoon. My name is Akira and this is my partner Nori. Today we are going
to talk to you about Terrace House.

Who here likes to watch TV? Well, there is a very popular show in Japan called
Terrace House.

Today, we will introduce three key features of Terrace House.

First, Nori will discuss the concept of the show and second he will introduce the
hosts.

Finally, I will describe some funny episodes.

If you have any questions, we will answer them at the end of the presentation.
Let’s begin by looking at the concept of the show, Nori.

Student Version:

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 Introduction Dictation

Your partner will dictate a sentence. Write down what you hear.

Good ______________. My name is Akira and __________ _____ _____

________________ Nori. Today we are going to ________ to you

___________Terrace House.

________ __________ likes to watch TV? ________, there is a very popular show

in Japan called Terrace House.

_____________, we will ____________three _____________________of

terrace House.

___________, Nori will ____________________the concept of the show and

_____________ he will introduce the ___________.

______________, I will _____________some ________________episodes.

If you ____________ any __________________, we will ___________ them

_______ _______ _______ ______ _______ presentation.

Let’s _________ by _______________ _______ the concept of the show, Nori.

Now, Listen to your teacher and mark the pauses.

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Want to Learn More?

For more information on Soundscripting and implementing it in your classroom, enroll in

our course “Speaking, Pronunciation, and Autonomy” today.

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