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This unit was on teaching pronunciation and phonology. As a native English speaker many pronunciations and phonology were learned young, and so they come easily without realization. It was easier to pick up on intonation, stress and sound joining. The phonetic alphabet and articulation are what I enjoyed learning the most in this unit. In my opinion, it is what is lacking most in native speakers, and needs the most time and attention as it is a useful tool to aid in students proper learning. Methods for teaching intonation include: using nonsense words, gestures, humming/singing, and writing out the sentence with arrow diagrams. You can show stress in a variety of ways, either written (underline, use boxes, accent marks) or by making sounds (tapping, clapping) where indicated. There are many ways to teach speaking the stress: with contrast (correct and non-correct examples, but always ended with the correct example) choral work and of course you can also write it out. Sound joining is a natural part of the spoken language, and so it is important to teach to students learning English as their non-primary language so that they can sound like more natural speakers. Sound joins occurs with linking, dropping, changing and extra lettering. The phonetic alphabet symbols work for all English sounds, and so can be used no matter what type of native speaker you are, or which dialect of English you are learning. Articulation explores the organs of speech as well as where and how the sound is made. This will help students understand how the sound is created and not just what the sound sounds like. This can be taught with diagrams, modeling and diction. How and when to teach pronunciation is up to the teacher. I find is most effective with new or difficult language points. I also teach pronunciation as the need arises. I look forward to continuing to learn more about these topics.
