Course Overview

goals of the course

This course is designed to prepare you to teach Speaking and, in some cases, Listening for in a variety of English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. To that end, we will explore:

  • The phonetic and phonological structures of American English, including issues such as (1) allophones of consonants and vowels and when they are produced, (2) stress, and (3) prominence and intonation

  • Methods and approaches for creating learner-friendly explanation of tricky concepts in American English pronunciation

  • Methods and approaches for designing lessons and activities for teaching American English pronunciation

structure of this course

It is my belief that the best learning occurs in contexts in which students can actively engage with material in a supportive, collaborative environment. To that end, I've set this course up to involve a mix of readings, lectures, group discussions, and hands-on tasks. I expect students to complete the readings and watch the lectures before class. This will help prepare them for class meetings that involve discussions and other hands-on tasks designed to help students engage with the material and develop a deeper knowledge of that material.

Textbook

The main textbook we will use for this course is:

Celce, Murcia, M., Brinton, D.M., & Goodwin, J.M. (1996). Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Any additional readings used in the course will be uploaded to Canvas.

Course Modules & schedule

The course consists of 5 modules covering different topics on American English pronunciation and ESL Pronunciation teaching. Each module roughly corresponds to 2-4 weeks of the semester.

  1. Consonants: In this module, we will cover consonants in American English and how to teach them.

  2. Vowels: In this module, we will cover vowels in American English and how to teach them.

  3. Connected Speech: In this module, we will cover stress in American English and how to teach issues surrounding it.

  4. Prominence and Intonation: In this module, we will cover prominence and intonation in American English and how to teach issues surrounding them.

  5. Sequenced Instruction: In this module, we will discuss approaches to creating units of instruction on pronunciation.

For a detailed schedule of the modules, including related readings and course learning tasks, click here. (Spring 2023 Syllabus - Coming Soon!)