Susan Spezzini

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47133/tegc_ch44  

ABSTRACT

Language learners initially hear sounds of a second language (L2) through the filter of their first language. Because of this, they tend to say L2 sounds like they hear them rather than how such sounds are said by proficient L2 speakers. You can probably recall your own challenges at trying to pronounce L2 words. Thinking that you had repeated an L2 word as modeled by a proficient speaker, you were frustrated with the well-intentioned response, “No, not like that.” After repeating several times, you were still unable to say this word just like it had been modeled. You might have wondered why saying this word was so challenging. In this chapter, you will find answers to many of your questions about pronunciation, including intonation. You will learn about common challenges regarding English sounds and intonation. You will also learn several pronunciation teaching strategies to help English learners overcome pronunciation challenges. 

Keywords: pronunciation teaching strategies, intelligibility, L1 filter, interference, intonation, phonemes, segmental features, suprasegmental features

Spezzini, S. (2023). Strategies to Teach Pronunciation. In V. Canese & S. Spezzini (Eds.), Teaching English in Global Contexts, Language, Learners and Learning (pp. 525-551). Editorial Facultad de Filosofía, UNA. https://doi.org/10.47133/tegc_ch44

INTRODUCTION

English language teachers often receive little preparation for teaching pronunciation (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010). Consequently, such teachers are often ineffective at helping language learners with English sounds and intonation. Saying “Repeat after me” and modeling a word’s correct pronunciation usually does not help. However, by using pronunciation teaching strategies, you can help learners improve their pronunciation and speak more intelligibly. 

Language learners need pronunciation support because their first language (L1) interferes with how they perceive and produce words and intonation in a second language (L2). For example, learners perceive L2 sounds based on how related sounds are produced in their own language (Swan & Smith, 2001). For example, even when proficient English speakers say “sheet” as clearly as possible, Spanish-speaking English learners might still hear and say “shit,” which can cause miscommunication. Differences in pitch and intonation can also cause miscommunication. For example, when asking a question (e.g., “How are you?”), English speakers use English intonation, which has a high pitch. However, when Spanish-speaking English learners ask this same question (“How are you?”), they often use their Spanish intonation, which has a lower pitch (Coe, 2001). This lower pitch can be perceived by English listeners as a sign of boredom or even rudeness, which was not the English learners’ intention (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010). When English learners use their L1 intonation to speak English, this can negatively affect their intelligibility and interfere with their intended message.  

BACKGROUND

Intelligibility is defined as speech produced by L2 speakers being understood by L1/L2 listeners (Munro & Derwing, 2020). Studies have shown that the intelligibility of English learners is usually more related to how these learners use English stress, rhythm, pitch, and intonation (suprasegmental features) than to how they produce individual sounds (segmental features), which are the vowels and consonants (Levis & Grant, 2003). As teachers, we can help English learners increase their intelligibility by using strategies to teach pronunciation. Rather than trying to eliminate accents, we use these strategies to help learners produce intelligible speech.

When we implement pronunciation teaching strategies, our L2 learners usually begin to speak more intelligibly. Their improved pronunciation contradicts commonly held beliefs about pronunciation (Grant, 2014). Several of these disproven beliefs (i.e., misconceptions) are as follows:

• Adult learners are unable to improve their pronunciation. = myth

• Young learners do not need help with pronunciation. = myth

• Learners are offended and their identity affected if pronunciation is corrected. = myth

• Only native speakers are capable of teaching pronunciation to L2 learners. = myth

For L2 learners to speak more intelligibly, they need help from teachers who know how to implement pronunciation teaching strategies. To meet your learners’ needs, consider using recommended pronunciation strategies even if pronunciation is not a separate course in your institution’s curriculum or a recurring element across courses (Levis & Grant, 2003).

MAJOR DIMENSIONS

Each language has its own unique phonology that consists of 

• segmental features or segmentals (vowel and consonant sounds), and 

• suprasegmental features or suprasegmentals (stress, rhythm, pitch, intonation). 

This phonology is hardwired in the brain of native speakers when they are very young. The hardwiring of L1 phonology acts like a filter prompting language learners to use their L1 phonology when hearing and saying L2 words (Swan & Smith, 2001). Consequently, when learners speak an L2, their L1 filter causes interference, and this, in turn, can lead to miscommunication. One example of L1 interference is when English learners from Spanish and other L1s pronounce “beach” using an L1 vowel instead of an English vowel. This sound mismatch might cause English listeners to hear “bitch,” which was not the intention of these English learners who were trying to say “beach.” Another example of interference is when English learners say “Yes, I like it here” using low pitch from their L1 intonation instead of high pitch from English intonation. This intonation mismatch might make English listeners feel uncomfortable and perhaps even offended, which was not the intention of these English learners (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010). To better understand L1 interference, let’s first examine phonemes and then the suprasegmentals and segmentals.

Phonemes

Phonemes are segmentals (sounds) that differentiate meaning between otherwise identical words (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010). For example, the English words “meat” (food derived from animals) and “mitt” (glove used in baseball) have different meanings but are pronounced identically except for one sound, which happens to be the vowel. In “meat” and “mitt,” the pronunciation of each word’s vowel signals a different meaning for that word. Because of this, both vowels are distinct phonemes. “Meat” is pronounced with an /iy/ phoneme, and “mitt” with an /ɪ/ phoneme. In phonology and linguistics, we write phonemes between slanted bars: /iy/ and /ɪ/.

With almost identical pronunciation but different meanings, “meat” and “mitt” are what we call a minimal pair. Native speakers do not confuse words in a minimal pair. However, L2 learners confuse such words because their brain perceives the L2 sounds through their L1 filter. This confusion stems from L1 interference (Swan & Smith, 2001). English learners tend to hear “meat” and “mitt” as having the same vowel, usually one of their L1 vowels such as the Spanish /i/ in mí. Though similar, Spanish /i/ is different from both English /iy/ and /ɪ/ (Coe, 2001). 

Phonemes can also be suprasegmentals (e.g., stress and pitch) that differentiate meaning between otherwise identical words (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010). For example, the English words “desert” (arid region) and “dessert” (sweet food after dinner) have different meanings but are pronounced almost the same. Here, stress is the biggest difference, with “desert” stressed on the first syllable and “dessert” stressed on the second syllable. Similarly, pitch is the main difference between “Really?” (confused and seeking a response) and “Really!” (stern and ending an oral exchange). Here, “Really?” has a rising pitch, and “Really!” has a falling pitch. 

Suprasegmental Features: Stress, Rhythm, Pitch, and Intonation

All languages have suprasegmental features, and each language variety has its own unique suprasegmental system. Suprasegmentals enhance communication through prosody, which is varying one’s voice to create rhythm and intonation. In English, the suprasegmentals are of utmost importance because their prosody supports intelligibility (Levis & Grant, 2003). The English suprasegmentals are stress, rhythm, pitch, and intonation.

Stress—prominence of a syllable. In English, stressed syllables are longer, louder, and higher in pitch than unstressed syllables (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010). English has three types of stress, which are usually called major stress (strong), minor stress (medial), and no stress (unstressed). Other languages have different types of stress patterns. For example, in Spanish, a syllable can be either stressed or not stressed.

Word stress. Each syllable in an English word has some type of stress—major, minor, or none. All three types of stress occur in the word “photograph.” This is shown in Figure 1 (Spezzini, 2021).

Figure 1

Stress in an English Word

Figure 1 illustrates how each stress in the word “photograph” can be enacted by L2 learners (Spezzini, 2021). In the first syllable (pho-), jumping represents strong stress as long, loud, and high (major stress). In the second syllable (-to-), squatting represents unstressed as weak and almost disappearing (no stress). In the third syllable (-graph), standing represents medial stress as a minor role (minor stress). 

Another challenge regarding word stress is how, depending on a word’s suffix, the major stress can switch to another syllable. For example, “photograph” has major stress on its first syllable (as shown by bold underlining). However, “photography” has major stress on its second syllable, and “photographic” has major stress on its third syllable. The shifting of stress within the same word does not usually occur in other languages. Help English learners perceive and produce word stress by first having them act out stress using the jump-squat-stand strategy (Spezzini, 2021)

• Sentence stress. In English, each utterance (i.e., spoken word, phrase, sentence) has one syllable that is stressed more strongly than other syllables in that utterance. This is called sentence stress. English sentence stress falls on an utterance’s final content word, such as a noun or verb. However, for emphasis or contrast, English speakers can move this strong sentence stress to an earlier element in that same utterance.

regular sentence stress: Tom ran to the store in the rain.

emphatic stress: Tom ran to the store in the rain.

contrast stress: Tom ran to the store in the rain. (i.e., not someone else)

This shifting of sentence stress for emphasis or contrast does not usually occur in other languages. Help your English learners perceive and produce sentence stress as well as emphatic and contrast stress by using strategies for emphasizing content words and, also, de-emphasizing other words (Gilbert, 2012).

• Rhythm—pattern of stresses across an utterance. On the one hand, English has stress-timed rhythm and so do several other languages. On the other hand, numerous languages (including Spanish) have syllable-timed rhythm (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992). 

• Stress-timed rhythm. The stress-timed rhythm of English is characterized by irregular alternating patterns of strong stress, medial stress, and no stress. Strong stress is so important in English that it determines meter in poetry and chants. Each strong stress indicates phrasing (or intervals) between thought groups. A thought group can consist of a single word that conveys meaning by itself (e.g., “Cats”) or several words that, when together, convey meaning (e.g., “Some big cats”). English speakers signal each thought group by placing strong stress on its focus word and pausing briefly after its final word. Here, focus word refers to the word—usually a noun or verb—that carries the main meaning of that thought group (Gilbert, 2012). The strong stress on a focus word represents the nucleus (peak or center) of its thought group, and each thought group has one strong stress. The number of thought groups (i.e., strong stresses) in an English utterance determines how long it takes to say that utterance. For example, both of the following sentences are said in the same length of time:

Cats chase mice 

Some big cats have been chasing small mice

The first sentence has three words (total of three syllables), and the second sentence has nine words (total of nine syllables). In the first sentence, each word constitutes its own thought group. Each of these thought groups has one strong stress (which is the syllable marked with bold underlining). In the second sentence, these nine words are grouped into three thought groups. Each of these thought groups has one strong stress (which is the syllable marked with bold underlining). If a thought group has two or more syllables (e.g., “have been chasing”), one syllable (chas-) is stressed and the other syllables (“have been …-ing”) are very short and do not carry stress.

Because intelligibility in English is based on accurately stressing a thought group, teach your English learners how to identify thought groups and how to strongly stress the most important syllable in each thought group (Gilbert, 2012). One strategy is clapping for each strong stress at equal intervals while saying “Cats - chase - mice” and then saying “Some big cats - have been chasing - small mice.

• Syllable-timed rhythm. The syllable-timed rhythm of many other languages is characterized by a regular alternation between stressed and unstressed syllables. In Spanish and other syllable-timed languages, the meter in poetry is determined by the number of syllables. English learners from syllable-timed L1s are challenged with perceiving and producing stress-timed rhythm in English. Help them perceive and produce English stress-timed rhythm by using strategies such as Jazz Chants (Graham, 2002). 

• Pitch—relative highness or lowness of a speaker’s voice relative to how that person normally speaks. Pitch provides musical quality to speech (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010). In English, pitch accompanies each utterance, ranging from a single word (Oh!) to several thought groups in one sentence (Some big cats – have been chasing – small mice). English speakers use different pitch levels to convey different meanings even with the same utterance such as “Oh?”, “Oh!”, and “Oh.” English pitch levels and their corresponding meanings are illustrated by the word “thanks” in Figure 2.

Figure 2

English Pitch

the one hand, these speakers use high pitch (Level 3) to convey expected, positive attitudes and very high pitch (Level 4) to convey excitement and enthusiasm. On the other hand, they use low pitch (Level 1) and mid pitch (Level 2) to convey negative attitudes such as indifference and sarcasm.

• Intonation—pattern of high and low pitches across an utterance. Each pattern of pitches represents a different intonation contour. North American English has a wide variety of intonation contours (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010). Two of the most common intonation contours in North American English are shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3

Two Examples of Intonation Contours in an English Utterance

The top half of Figure 3 shows how statements in North American English start with mid pitch (Level 2), rise to high pitch (Level 3) at the peak of the sentence stress, and then drop to low pitch (Level 1) at the end. The bottom half of Figure 3 shows how yes/no questions in North American English start with mid pitch (Level 2), rise to high pitch (Level 3) at the peak of the sentence stress, and then continue with high pitch (Level 3). 

Because each language has its own suprasegmental system, English learners from different L1s have different challenges learning to use English suprasegmentals. To better understand such challenges, let’s look at some major differences between English suprasegmentals and Spanish suprasegmentals as shown in Table 1.

Table 1

Comparing English Suprasegmentals with Spanish Suprasegmentals

Table 1 compares four suprasegmental features (stress, rhythm, pitch, intonation) between English and Spanish. These (and other) suprasegmental differences can cause miscommunication such as when English learners use Spanish suprasegmentals to speak English. For example, in everyday conversation, English speakers use strong stress and higher pitch, and Spanish speakers use less stress and lower pitch. Because of this difference, if Spanish speakers use polite Spanish intonation (i.e., reduced stress and low pitch) when speaking English, they “may sound unenthusiastic or bored to English ears” (Coe, 2001, p. 96), which was not their intention. This suprasegmental difference is often greater between English and other languages, thus causing English learners who subconsciously use their L1 suprasegmentals when speaking English to be “frequently misinterpreted as rude, abrupt, or uninterested” (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010, p. 248) and even “annoying or difficult to understand” (p. 249). 

Segmental Features: Vowels and Consonants

All languages have segmental features, which are the vowel sounds and consonant sounds. Each language variety has a unique vowel system and a unique consonant system. The English vowel system is described in this section, and selected consonants are described in the Appendix.

Worldwide, different varieties of the English language have different vowels, and these vowels can vary greatly. In North American English, many varieties have distinct vowel phonemes in these 14 words: beat, bit, bait, bet, bat, pot, bought, but, boat, book, boot, boy, buy, bough (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992). English also has another vowel, /ə/, that occurs in unstressed syllables. For example, /ə/ is the vowel in the second syllable of “habit,” “rabbit,” and “abbot.” In these three words, the bold underlining shows each word’s first syllable as being stressed, and the italics show its second syllable as being unstressed (i.e., pronounced with the vowel /ə/). Together, these 14 distinct vowels plus the vowel /ə/ represent the 15 vowels commonly found in North American English. 

In contrast to North American English which has 15 vowels, “many of the world’s languages (e.g., Spanish and Japanese) have only five vowels” (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992, p. 95). Another contrast is how these English vowels vary greatly among the many varieties of English (within North America and throughout the world) while the Spanish vowels do not vary among the many varieties of Spanish worldwide. With their brains hardwired for five vowels, Spanish speakers are challenged at hearing and saying 15 English vowels. 

English learners from Spanish and many other L1s are challenged by the English vowel system. Therefore, be sure to always include vowels when teaching pronunciation. This is especially important because vowels interact directly with English suprasegmentals and, thus, can help support overall intelligibility. As explained earlier, it is the suprasegmentals that contribute the most toward the intelligibility of L2 English speakers (Munro & Derwing, 2020).

The Spanish five-vowel system and the North American English 15-vowel system are shown in Figure 4. Tongue positions for articulating Spanish vowels are on the left, and those for articulating North American English vowels are on the right.

Figure 4

Spanish Vowels (left drawing) and North American English Vowels (right drawing)

In Figure 4, both drawings represent the space between the top of a mouth (upper lip, upper teeth, palate) and its bottom (lower lip, lower teeth, tongue) and, also, between the front of the mouth and the throat. Each drawing contains a 3x3 grid showing where vowels are articulated based on the position of the tongue: vertically (high-mid-low) and horizontally (front-central-back). On both grids, each vowel phoneme appears between slanted bars (e.g., /iy/), and a word containing that vowel appears between parentheses (e.g., (beat)). In the English grid, tense and lax differentiate between two English vowels articulated in the same general position, which occurs in four positions on this 3x3 grid: high front, mid front, high back, mid back.

To compare the articulation between Spanish and English vowels, the tongue positions from both languages are super-imposed on a single grid in Figure 5.

Figure 5

Comparing Tongue Positions of Spanish Vowels (encircled) and English Vowels

Based on Figure 5, we can predict challenges experienced by Spanish speakers learning English:

• High front. Spanish has one phoneme: /i/ in piso. English has two phonemes: /iy/ in “beat” and /ɪ/ in “bit.” Because of L1 interference, Spanish speakers cannot initially distinguish “beat” and “bit.” Instead, they perceive both English words as identical. As L2 learners, they might use their Spanish vowel /i/ to hear and say English “beat” and “bit.” Similar challenges occur in the mid front position (/ey/ in “bait” and /ɛ/ in “bet”) and the high back position (/uw/ in “boot” and /ʊ/ in “book”). For our English learners, this “distinction between tense and lax vowel pairs almost always creates problems” (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992, p. 96).

• Low. Spanish has one phoneme: /ɑ/ in “paso.” English has phonemes /æ/ in “bat,” /ɑ/ in “pot,” and /ɔ/ in “bought” as well as /ʌ/ in “but” (which is located just above the low central and back vowels). Because of L1 interference, Spanish speakers cannot initially distinguish “cat,” “cot,” “caught,” and “cut.” Instead, they perceive these four English words as identical. As L2 learners, they might use their Spanish vowel /ɑ/ to hear and say these four English words: “cat,” “cot,” “caught,” and “cut.” 

• Mid center. English has the vowel /ə/, called schwa. In English, vowels in unstressed syllables are reduced to schwa such as the vowel in the second syllable of “habit” and “abbot.” Here, italics indicate the syllable with the unstressed vowel, schwa /ə/. Like many languages, Spanish does not have a schwa. Because of L1 interference, Spanish speakers need help noticing that, when unstressed, English vowels become schwa.

PEDAGOGICAL APPLICATIONS

To prepare for teaching L2 pronunciation, do the following:

• Compare English with learners’ L1 to predict typical errors (Swan & Smith, 2001). 

• Learn about English segmentals and suprasegmentals that are challenging for English learners from the L1s represented in your class (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992).

• Identify teaching priorities to meet the most urgent needs of your learners for speaking with greater intelligibility (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010).

• Find pronunciation teaching strategies in print and online sources (e.g., YouTube).

• Align these strategies with the five phases in a “framework for teaching pronunciation communicatively” (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010, p. 45), as shown in Table 2. 

Table 2

Framework for Teaching Pronunciation Communicatively.

Note. Compiled from Teaching Pronunciation: A Course Book and Reference Guide (2nd ed.) by M. Celce-Murcia et al. (p. 45), 2010, Cambridge University Press. 

To implement the framework in Table 2, follow these suggestions (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010):

• Focus on one or two segmentals or suprasegmentals that are difficult for your learners.

• Teach several lessons over time (e.g., 15 minutes twice weekly for several weeks).

• Provide encouraging feedback as often as possible.

• Proceed gradually from analysis (consciousness-raising) to listening discrimination and, then, from controlled output to automated production—by using strategies provided here.

Although this framework looks linear, the learning of L2 pronunciation is cyclical. In other words, your learners might need to revisit earlier phases and repeat strategies. Because of this, the time needed for each phase will vary. Whenever possible, weave this framework into your regular classes (Levis & Grant, 2003). For each pronunciation challenge, implement several different strategies to help learners who, in any given class, have diverse ways of learning. 

In Table 2, each framework phase requires specific types of strategies to support L2 learners in moving from that phase to the next phase. Modeled below are strategies to help learners perceive and produce English /iy/ and /ɪ/, a distinction that is challenging for learners from most L1s (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992). To demonstrate how this challenge stems from L1 interference, English vowels /iy/ and /ɪ/ are compared with a similar (yet different) Spanish vowel /i/. 

To help your learners overcome their pronunciation challenges, follow the five framework phases in Table 2 (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010). Within this framework, implement strategies that can best support teaching the vowels, consonants, and suprasegmentals that you are targetting.

Phase 1. Description and Analysis of Targeted Sounds (examples for /iy/ and /ɪ/)

This first phase focuses on “oral and written illustrations of how the feature is produced and when it occurs within spoken discourse” (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010, p. 45). To teach the pronunciation of /iy/ and /ɪ/, as well as other sounds, implement the following strategies:

• Ask learners about experiences saying “beach” and “sheet.” Though embarrassed, they might share uncomfortable anecdotes of when they have been perceived as saying “bitch” and “shit.” Reassure them that almost all English learners have this same problem and that you can help them prevent similar situations in the future. 

• Explain to your learners that you will use “seat” and “sit” to help them say a distinct English vowel in each of these words. Act out “seat” (place) and “sit” (action). Have your learners act out these words.

• Some learners might argue that “seat” and “sit” are pronounced the same. In fact, many English learners are convinced that “seat” and “sit” are identical words. Encourage these learners to participate in your activities with an open mind as you try to prove that these words have distinct vowels and, thus, are pronounced differently. 

• Provide an analogy by pretending to take a picture: “Smile! Say Cheese!” Learners say “cheese” producing a smile. Demonstrate how “Smile! Say Seat!” should have a similar result. Learners say “seat” producing a smile. Explain that saying “sit” does not produce a smile.

• Show your learners the vowel grid. Describe /iy/ and /ɪ/ as high front vowels but with different features:

/iy/ in “seat” = smiley face, tense muscles, long duration, gliding tongue

/ɪ/ in “sit” = sad face, lax muscles, very short duration, static tongue

• Project the 3x3 grid (Figure 5) on a screen or draw a 3x3 grid on the board. Stand next to this grid. Simulate a tongue by slipping a red sock over your hand and forearm. Act out the /iy/ articulation by gliding your simulated tongue across the high front box on the board, from this box’s bottom right to its top left. Repeat for /ɪ/ but keep your simulated tongue in the bottom right corner of this high front box. In other words, when articulating /ɪ/, the tongue does not move across the high front area and, hence, is described as static. Learners simulate a tongue with their hand and forearm. Then, they act out the different articulations of /iy/ and /ɪ/.

• While still projecting Figure 5 on the board, compare English /iy/ “seat” and /ɪ/ “sit” with learners’ L1 vowel /i/ such as in Spanish sí.

• With your simulated tongue, demonstrate Spanish /i/ as being in the middle of the high front box, situated halfway between English vowels /iy/ and /ɪ/.

• Describe Spanish /i/ as a high front vowel with some features resembling English /iy/ and other features resembling English /ɪ/: 

/i/ in sí (Spanish) = tense muscles, short duration, static tongue, staccato

• Explain to learners that their Spanish ears are keeping them from hearing English sounds. Because their sense of hearing does not yet work for English, invite learners to use their other senses—touch and sight—for feeling and seeing differences between /iy/ and /ɪ/. 

• Say “seat” /iy/ and “sit” /ɪ/ while learners watch your face. As you say “seat” and “sit,” learners look for differences in your mouth, cheeks, and jaw. Ask them to share what they notice. For example, when you say “seat” /iy/, your mouth produces a smile, your cheek muscles tighten, and your jaw drops slightly. This does not occur when you say “sit” /ɪ/.

• Have learners say “seat” /iy/ and “sit” /ɪ/. When saying each word, they look in a mirror (or on their phone as if taking a selfie) and try making the differences they saw in your mouth, cheeks, and jaw. After setting the mirror aside, the learners again say “seat” /iy/ and “sit” /ɪ/, but this time they prolong the vowel while doing the following actions with their hands:

1. Learners place their hands on their checks and feel tense muscles when saying “seat” /iy/ (smiley face) and lax muscles when saying “sit” /ɪ/ (sad face).

2. Learners place the top of their open hand under their chin (as if their hand is propping up their chin) and feel their jaw dropping when saying “seat” /iy/ because of the tongue’s gliding motion. Their jaw drops less when saying “sit” /ɪ/ because the tongue is relatively static when pronouncing this vowel.

3. Learners stretch a rubber band or Slinky (or use their hands) to show length when saying “seat” /iy/, and do not stretch to show shortness of “sit” /ɪ/.

• Guide learners with saying these two English vowels by starting with a Spanish vowel. Learners first say Spanish sí /i/ and then learn to say English “seat” /iy/ differently from “sit” /ɪ/:

• Learners say Spanish sí by using, of course, their Spanish vowel /i/. Now, have them prolong this Spanish /i/ vowel into an exaggerated smile until approximating the English /iy/ in “seat.” Congratulate them!

• Learners again say Spanish sí by using their Spanish vowel /i/. Now, have them relax their mouth muscles, make a sad face, and shorten this Spanish /i/ vowel until approximating the English /ɪ/ in “sit.” Congratulate them!

• Ask learners to demonstrate their understanding about the differences in /iy/ and /ɪ/ by drawing their own representations of these two English sounds.

Phase 2. Listening Discrimination Activities (examples for /iy/ and /ɪ/)

The second phase consists of “focused listening practice with feedback on learners’ ability to correctly discriminate the feature” (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010, p. 45). To teach the pronunciation of /iy/ and /ɪ/, as well as other sounds, implement the following strategies:

• Use listening discrimination activities to diagnose whether learners perceive targeted sound contrasts and, also, to help them notice differences (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010).

• Say one word per line. Learners should not see any words. They point to the corresponding object or picture.

1. sheep ship

2. cheek chick

3. meat mitt

• Read one sentence from each line. Learners do not see words. They do what they hear.

1. Pretend you are sleeping. Pretend you are slipping.

2. Draw a heel. Draw a hill.

• Say one word per line. Learners see two words per line and circle what they hear.

1. beat bit

2. feet fit

3. reach rich

Phase 3. Controlled Practice (examples for /iy/ and /ɪ/)

The third phase includes “oral reading of minimal-pair sentences, short dialogues, etc., with special attention paid to the highlighted feature in order to raise learner consciousness” (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010). To teach the pronunciation of /iy/ and /ɪ/, as well as other sounds, implement these strategies.

Minimal pairs. Create a T-chart with minimal pairs, such as the one in Table 3 for /iy/ and /ɪ/. Because your learners do not yet distinguish the targeted sounds, label the columns with descriptors (e.g., smiling, not smiling) rather than with letters or fonts.

Table 3

T-chart with Minimal Pairs

In Table 3, the T-chart consists of minimal pairs that end in the same consonant to help learners focus on perceiving the vowel distinction. Use this T-chart to implement the following strategies: 

• Columns

• Left column (smiling) 

T says “seat, beat, meat, eat.” Ss listen to these four words.

T says “seat.” Chorally Ss say “seat.” Repeat with “beat,” “meat,” “eat.”

• Right column (not smiling)

T says “sit, bit, mitt, it.” Ss listen to these four words.

T says “sit.” Chorally Ss say “sit.” Repeat with “bit,” “mitt,” “it.”

• Rows (1, 2, 3, 4)

• Row 1: T says “seat” and “sit.” Ss listen carefully to vowel distinction.

T says “seat-sit.” Ss chorally say “seat-sit.”

• Row 2: Repeat steps from Row 1 but now for “beat-bit.”

• Row 3: Repeat steps from Row 1 but now for “meat-mitt.”

• Row 4: Repeat steps from Row 1 but now for “eat-it.”

• Ask for a volunteer to read Row 1, another to read Row 2, and so on.

• Activities

• Ss write numbers (1, 2, 3, 4) vertically on a piece of paper.

• Row 1: T says, “number 1,” and then says either “seat” or “sit.” 

Ss make smiley face if hearing “seat” or sad face if hearing “sit,” or they write left or right (to designate the column).

• Rows 2, 3, 4: Repeat the previous step for each row, one row at a time.

• Invite learners to pretend to be the teacher and read one word per row.

Subject categories. Learners work in pairs and find words with the targeted sounds for subject categories like those in Table 4 (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010).

Table 4

Subject Categories

Phase 4. Guided Practice (examples for /iy/ and /ɪ/)

This fourth phase includes “structured communication exercises, such as information-gap activities or cued dialogues, that enable the learner to monitor for the specified feature” (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010, p. 45). In this phase, learners are more aware of the targeted sound distinction and, thus, can participate in different types of games based on these sounds.

Sound-based games. Have learners participate in engaging games based on /iy/ and /ɪ/.

• Treasure Hunt: animals, classroom items, clothing, hobbies, cities (like in Table 4). Ask students to find an item with the targeted sound (e.g., Find something that is green.) Per your instructions, students point to something in a book or walk around to find the item.

• Charades: sleep, eat, feel, leave, scream, leap, reach; slip, hit, fill, live, drink, sit, kick, dig. On the board, write verbs with the targeted vowels. Students take turns acting out one of these verbs. Other students need to guess what they are doing.

• Bingo: Each Bingo board contains 12 minimal pairs, with both words from each pair (e.g., seat, sit). Hence, in total, there are 24 words with the targeted sounds (/iy/ and /ɪ/) on this Bingo board. After playing Bingo as a full class, learners work in small groups taking turns calling out the words. When calling out the words, they become aware that they need to pronounce vowels clearly for words to be understood by their classmates. 

Simon Says game. Do the Simon Says game by using verbs with /iy/ and /ɪ/ (like those listed above in Charades). The game starts with all students standing. The caller says “Simon says” followed by a command (e.g., Simon says “eat”). Students act out the verb. However, if the caller does not start with “Simon says,” students must not respond. If they do, they have lost and must sit down. The last person standing is the winner. Here are examples of both possibilities.

• T says: “Simon says, ‘Eat a peach’.” Ss act out the action of eating a peach.

• T says: “Drink milk.” Because this command did not start with “Simon says,” students should not respond. If they act out this action (drinking milk), they must sit down.  

Learners take turns being the caller. By doing this, they become aware of the need to clearly pronounce the vowels in these words so that their instructions can be understood. You can also play this Simon Says game by having learners touch colors, classroom objects, and items from other word categories—always selecting words that have the targeted sounds, /iy/ and /ɪ/.

Phase 5. Communicative Practice (examples for /iy/ and /ɪ/)

This fifth phase provides “less structured fluency-building activities (e.g., roleplay, problem solving) that require the learner to attend to both form and content of utterances” Celce-Murcia et al., 2010, p. 45). To provide communicative practice, use pronunciation strategies within lessons focused on speaking (Levis & Grant, 2003) and, also, in content-based lessons. The following roleplay illustrates how, by participating in an authentic scene (going to the doctor), learners become aware of the need to distinguish both vowels within a minimal pair.

Roleplay. Pretend to be a physician. Wear a white lab coat with a stethoscope around your neck. Learners pretend to be your patients. One at a time, they come to you as their doctor and say, “I’m sick.” If they pronounce “seek,” offer a flashlight and give instructions to seek something. If they pronounce “sick,” use the stethoscope and examine their stomach or back. This activity often serves as an “ah-hah” moment. Learners suddenly realize that they must pronounce vowels accurately to convey their intended meaning [acknowledgement to Karen Snyder].

After learners make progress with distinguishing “seat” /iy/ and “sit” /ɪ/, invite them to resolve a similar pronunciation challenge with “bait” /ey/ and “bet” /ɛ/. By reflecting on how they learned to hear and say /iy/ and /ɪ/, learners explore how to go about hearing and saying /ey/ and /ɛ/. After that, have learners do the same with the /uw/ and /ʊ/ distinction (e.g., “Luke” and “look”). 

Other Types of Strategies

Use this framework for teaching pronunication communicatively to help English learners perceive and produce all vowel distinctions and, also, the consonants and suprasegmentals. For teaching other sounds and features, adapt the strategies explained above for teaching /iy/ and /ɪ/. When adapting these strategies, be sure to incorporate sound-specific strategies such as those provided in the Appendix for teaching the /b/ and /v/ distinction and the /s/ and /z/ distinction. Targeted strategies for teaching other consonants and, also, the suprasegmentals are accessible through links in the Expanding Further section. Also consider using strategies from print and online sources such as Color Vowel Chart (Taylor & Thompson, 2018), Jazz Chants (Graham, 2002), Clear Speech (Gilbert, 2012), and Haptic-Integrated Instruction (Acton et al., 2013). 

In this chapter, you learned about common pronunciation challenges facing learners with respect to English segmentals (sounds) and suprasegmentals (stress, rhythm, pitch, intonation). You discovered that L2 learners hear new languages through an L1 filter. You learned that, although learners are initially unable to hear L2 segmentals and suprasegmentals, they can distinguish challenging sounds by using two of their other senses—sight (watching mouths to see smile) and touch (touching cheeks to feel tenseness)—as well as movement (stretching to show length). You also learned to apply strategies in a framework for teaching pronunciation communicatively.

Here are key concepts about strategies for teaching pronunciation:

• Intelligible L2 pronunciation means that L2 learners are easily understood when speaking. 

• The segmentals are sounds (vowels and consonants). The suprasegmentals are features (stress, rhythm, pitch, intonation) that provide prosody, especially within thought groups. 

• By improving their use of English suprasegmentals, English learners can improve their overall intelligibility.  

• Language learners hear L2 segmentals and suprasegmentals through an L1 filter in their brains. They can only say what they hear. If they are unable to distinguish L2 sounds and intonation, they cannot produce them.

• Teachers can help L2 learners improve their pronunciation of L2 segmentals and suprasegmentals by first identifying the errors that affect learners’ intelligibility and then by using pronunciation teaching strategies to address those errors. 

With respect to strategies for teaching pronunciation, answer these questions:

1. Why should pronunciation teaching be focused on producing intelligible speech rather than eliminating foreign accents?  

2. Do you feel it is easier to help students improve their pronunciation of English segmental features (vowels and consonants) or suprasegmental features (stress, rhythm, pitch, intonation)? Why?

3. When you were learning another language, what pronunciation strategies were used by your teacher and/or by you? Were such strategies helpful? 

4. How does the framework for teaching pronunciation communicatively (Table 2) fit with language teaching methods and strategies that you have used or might be using?

Apply your knowledge about teaching pronunciation:

1. Visit classrooms where pronunciation is taught and interview these teachers.

2. Learn about a student’s L1 on Wikipedia. Compare the student’s L1 segmentals and suprasegmentals with English segmentals and suprasegmentals.

3. Respond to a learner’s pronunciation error as a teachable moment by using pronunciation teaching strategies.

• To learn more about teaching pronunciation, visit these websites:

• Color VowelTM Chart. https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/color-vowel-chart 

• English club: Learn pronunciation. https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/  

• International Phonetic Association (IPA). https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/  

• Jazz Chants. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLauwxQ-VGyUvLfP5Ckk_ajLSmH0fIuibj; and https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/teaching_with_jazz_chants_0.pdf  

• Keyboard for typing IPA fonts. https://ipa.typeit.org/  

• Phone app. https://www.need2say.com/  

• Prosody pyramid. https://www.tesol.org/resource-center/teaching-pronunciation-using-the-prosody-pyramid/   

• Search “pronunciation” on TESOL website: https://www.tesol.org/search/?search_field=pronunciation  

• Sounds of English. https://www.soundsofenglish.org/  

• Sounds of speech. http://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/english/english.html 

• Special issue on pronunciation teaching. http://www.catesoljournal.org/volume-30-1/  

• Speech, pronunciation, and listening interest section: TESOL International Association. https://www.tesol.org/connect/communities-of-practice 

• Wikipedia. Search L1 (e.g., Swahili language) and then scroll to phonology.

• YouTube. Search English sound (pronouncing “th”) or strategy (teaching intonation) 

Aspects related to pronunciation are also addressed in the following chapters of this book: 

Chapter 2 The Diversity of Global Englishes by L. Barratt

Chapter 17 Providing Feedback on Learners’ Language Output by C. Cristóful

Chapter 25 Preparing to Teach through Effective Lesson Planning by H. Lalwani

Chapter 29 Using Theater to Teach English by C. Ortiz and M. Vaky

Chapter 30 Incorporating Music in the ELT Classroom by O. Carrasquel

Chapter 39 Strategies to Teach Listening by E. Nuñez

Chapter 40 Strategies to Teach Speaking by S. Spezzini 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank Leslie Barratt and Melinda Harrison for their insightful suggestions. 

Acton, W., Baker, A., Burri, M., & Teaman, B. (2013). Preliminaries to haptic-integrated pronunciation instruction. In J. Levis & K. LeVelle (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference (pp. 234-244). https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1414&context=sspapers 

Avery, P., & Ehrlich, S. (1992). Teaching American English pronunciation. Oxford University Press.

Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J. M. (2010). Teaching pronunciation: A course book and reference guide (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Coe, N. (2001). Speakers of Spanish and Catalan. In M. Swan & B. Smith (Eds.), Learner English: A teacher’s guide to interference and other problems (2nd ed., pp. 90-112). Cambridge University Press.

Gilbert, J. B. (2012). Clear speech: Pronunciation and listening comprehension in North American English (4th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Graham, C. (2002). Children’s jazz chants old and new. Oxford University Press.

Grant, L. (2014). Pronunciation myths: Applying second language research to classroom teaching. University of Michigan Press.

Levis, J. M., & Grant, L. (2003). Integrating pronunciation into ESL/EFL classrooms. TESOL Journal, 12(2), pp. 13-20. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1949-3533.2003.tb00125.x

Munro, M. J., & Derwing, T. M. (2020). Foreign accent, comprehensibility and intelligibility, redux. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, 6(3), 283-309. https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.20038.mun 

Spezzini, S. (2021). Teaching applied phonology in a virtual classroom: Reimagining kinesthetic activities. Nemityra Research Journal, 2(2). 10-19. https://revistascientificas.una.py/index.php/nemityra/article/view/1619/1581 

Swan, M., & Smith, B. (Eds.). (2001). Learner English: A teacher’s guide to interference and other problems (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Taylor, K., & Thompson, S. (2018). The color vowel chart (5th ed.). English Language Training Solutions. https://www.colorvowel.com/interactive-chart 

Susan Spezzini earned a bachelor’s degree in linguistics (University of California San Diego, USA), a master’s in language teaching (University of California Berkeley), and doctorate in ESL curriculum (University of Alabama). Susan started her career in Paraguay—working initially with Peace Corps and then at the Higher Institute of Languages (National University of Asuncion) and other ELT entities. She also served in leadership roles of the TESOL International Association’s affiliate in Paraguay (known as PARATESOL). Susan is professor and program director of ESL teacher education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. As a Fulbright Scholar, she returned to Paraguay to help create this book.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6296-9365 

Emails for correspondence regarding this chapter: spezzini@uab.edu

Cover Photo by Edho Pratama on Unsplash