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PRONUNCIATION POWER COURSE

TEACHER MANUAL

This book is in copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced, inany form or by any means. English Computerized Learning Inc.

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Pronunciation Power Course

© English Computerized Learning Inc. www.englishlearning.com

© English Computerized Learning Inc. www.englishlearning.com2




PRONUNCIATION POWER COURSE

Welcome to the Pronunciation Power Course.

The foundation of this course is based on the 52 lessons of Pronunciation Power 2 and will incorporatethe 8 in 1 English Dictionary and Pronunciation Power Idioms. These products are largely self-driven.As the teacher in this course your tasks will be to introduce the students to the concepts, terminology,lessons and exercises and then to become the guide for the students’ self study. You will reinforce theneed for practice and ultimately the need for the students to be able to listen to their own recordingsand hear their own pronunciation errors.

This Curriculum uses a separate Student Workbook (SWB). The Student Workbook contains the testsand worksheets the students will need to complete this course.

When you see *** SWB xxxxx *** , this is a reference to the student course book.

Example:

*** SWB Test 1 *** - refers to test number 1 in the student course book.

*** SWB Worksheet 1 *** - refers to worksheet number 1 in the student course book.

Important: Before starting the course the teacher should:

1. Review both the Teacher Manual and the Student Workbook.

2. Be familiar with Pronunciation Power 2, the 8 in 1 Dictionary andPronunciation Power Idioms.

3. Prepare a timetable for the course including the dates of all the lessons, testsand review days.

4. The teacher should create a grading table containing all the students.Example grading table:

Name Mid-Term1 Mid-Term2 Presentation Final Idiom Participation FinalGrade





Overview of Course:

First DayTesting - Pronunciation and Idiom Test – Appendix 3, 3A1,3A2.3A3Introduction to program and productsIntroduction exercise

***SWB Test 1 and Test 2***

Lessons 1 – 26Pronunciation Power Lessons 1 – 26 (1 per day for a 60 day course)Idiom lessons 1 – 104

Review and Mid-term - 1 dayReview and mid-term test of Pronunciation Power 2, Lesson 1 – 26. Test – 10% of mark Appendix 3B

***SWB Test 4***

Lessons 27 - 52Idiom exercises: Unit exercises A,B,C – 2 - 3 units per day – Appendix 4A, 4B, 4C

***SWB Test 3***

Review and Second Mid-term – 1 dayReview and mid-term test of Pronunciation Power 2, Lesson 27 – 52. Test – 10% of mark Appendix – 3C

***SWB Test 5***

Review of Course Work and Preparation for Final Communications test and pronunciationtest.– 2 days

Final Communications test:The students will be given 1 weeks notice for the final communications test. They will choose a short poem, story or paragraph to read. They will then explain orally what that poem, story or paragraphmeans to them. Mark according to the following chart: Appendix 8Individual practice of specific Pronunciation Power lessons where need occurs.Review all Idiom errors from the unit exercises.

Student presentations – 2 daysIndividual presentations - final communications test – 30% of mark - Mark according to Appendix 8

Last DayFinal pronunciation test – 30% of mark – Appendix 3A1, 3A2, 3A3

***SWB Test 6***

Idiom test – 10% of mark – Appendix 5

***SWB Test 7***

10% of final mark is a participation mark – the students must participate in activities and discussionsto their best efforts.Teachers should remember at all times that the students must train their ears to hear the articulation of





English sounds and words. Students must hear clearly to be able to reproduce the sounds and wordsclearly. The next step is for the students to be able to hear their own errors. When they reproduce asound, word or a sentence they need to be able to evaluate their recording and recognize that they havemade an error. At that point the student should be able to practice making the correct pronunciation.They will need to repeat each exercise several times to perfect the process of hearing correctly,recording, hearing their errors and finally correcting their errors.

The goal of this course is to have the students perfect their pronunciation so that they can beunderstood in the world of business, university and in social interaction.

To be effective as the pronunciation teacher in this course it is vital to review and be familiar with thefollowing:* How speech sounds are made.* The linguistic vocabulary used for the Lessons and STAIR exercises in Pronunciation Power 2 – note Appendix 1.* The content and interface of Pronunciation Power 2, the 8 in 1 English Dictionary and thePronunciation Power Idioms. You should be able to maneuver through all 3 programs with ease andshould know where to find all relevant information. – note Appendix 2.* The additional pronunciation and communication exercises that are part of each Lesson. – noteAppendix 6 and 7.* Each of the 15 STAIR Topics – one of which will be taught or reviewed in each Lesson.

The program consists of 60 classes. 52 of the classes are broken into 4 Parts:Part 1 – Computer Lab - Lesson using Pronunciation Power 2Part 2 - Class time – exercises related to the sound covered in the lessonPart 3 – Computer Lab – Exercises using Pronunciation Power 2, the 8 in 1 English Dictionary andPronunciation Power IdiomsPart 4 – Class time – communication exercises

The remaining classes will be introductions and pre-tests, mid-terms and review classes, student presentations and final exams.

Note On IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet):We use 52 symbols that represent the 52 sounds used in Pronunciation Power 2. We had a number of options for choosing symbols: IPA common, IPA used in Australia and China (some slightly differentsymbols), American phonetic symbols or a combination of all three. Different dictionaries, ESL texts,linguists and teachers use slightly different symbols and/or focus on different sound blends thus givingus anywhere from the 44 to 56 "sounds" for the English language. Working closely with theLinguistic department of a University, the choice we made for symbols was deliberate and wasmotivated by the feeling that learning the phonetic alphabet is often an unnecessary task for mostlearners of English - and one which, in fact, may even impede (or at least interfere with) their progress. Note that we have, on the top right hand corner of Pronunciation Power 2, the symbol of thesound that the student is studying. The user may click on that symbol at any time to be reminded of

the sound they are working on. Also, the program features the "toggle" button where the student canhighlight the sound that they are working on in all of the words, thus helping them recognize thevarious ways that certain sounds may be spelt.

Program Objectives:- to enable the student to speak clear, understandable English.- to provide infinite practice for a student to improve his/her speaking skills through the

recording capability of Pronunciation Power 2.







Have you ever heard English speakers mention any of these before?"Italians are so emotional.""The Thais and Japanese are so polite and shy.""Latinos are so romantic!"Of course, we know that every culture has examples of shy, emotional, or romantically expressiveindividuals in it. However, the culturally insensitive or uninitiated may stereotype a speaker based on

what they hear in an accent. I wonder how many cultural/social misunderstandings (includingromances and even wars?) are rooted in some of the following scenarios.Let's go through a few specific scenarios which can cause cultural confusion:

Accent characteristic 1: speaking too loudly; speaking too quietlyEffect: Stereotyping of the cultural or linguistic background, labeling of the speaker or listener Loudness:If the normal level of loudness in the person's mother tongue is greater than in English, the speaker may offend or surprise listeners with his accent. It may sound like he/she is talking too loudly.Listeners may think that the speaker is overly emotional or pushy - aggressive, excited, or angry, or bossy.Quietness:If the normal level of loudness in the person's mother tongue is less than in English, the speaker may be identified as shy or unassertive by listeners. Culturally unaware or insensitive people may think thespeaker is sick, bored, lazy, stupid, or confused. Listeners may naively think that the speaker is shy,humble, gentle, fearful, or uncertain.

Accent characteristic 2: speaking too quickly; speaking too slowlyEffect: Stereotyping of the cultural or linguistic background, labeling of the speaker - or labeling of the listener Overly fast speech:If the normal speed of speaking in the person's mother tongue is faster than in English, the speaker may offend or surprise listeners with his accent. It may sound like he/she is talking too quickly.Listeners may think that the speaker is overly impatient, impolite or uninterested in what the listener has to say. Note that this includes how long the pauses are between words, as well as the time period one waits torespond to another person.Overly slow speech:If the normal speed of speaking in the person's mother tongue is slower than in English, the speaker may be considered shy or unsure by listeners. Culturally unaware or critical people may think thespeaker is sick, bored, lazy, stupid, or confused. Listeners may misread the accent, concluding thespeaker is mistrustful, fearful, or uncertain. Note that this includes how long the pauses are between words, as well as the time period one waits torespond to another person.

Accent characteristic 3: Pitch changes which are different from EnglishExtreme pitch changes which are different from English can surprise listeners. Listeners may think thespeaker is aggressive, crazy, overly emotional, or foolish.Few or no pitch changes compared to English can upset the listener. Listeners may think the speaker isangry, bored, sick, tired, unhappy, or afraid. The listener may have trouble concentrating on the

speaker's words, and may become bored.

Accent characteristic 4: Differences in the speaker's "whole accent", i.e. combined grammar, stress,timing, articulation, intonation, rhythmEffect: prejudice, extreme positive or negative emotions, based on the listener's (involuntary) responseto the difference in the sounds. Luckily, most such reactions are in the minority."I love you(r accent)!" (I love you?!)For some reason, some accents sound beautiful to one's ear. It depends on past experience, personalaesthetic, and even social and political events associated with a particular group of people. What can





start out as an enjoyment of the other person's accent can even lead to an attraction to another person based only on the interesting, foreign sound of his/her accent."I hate his/her accent!" (I hate/mistrust him/her?!)For some reason, some accents sound unpleasant to one's ear. It depends on past experience, personalaesthetic, and even social and political events associated with a particular group of people. It is a veryunfortunate circumstance, if it causes a listener to express prejudice against a speaker.

Accent characteristic 5: Slow speech with much repetition.Effect: Frustration, impatience, wasting time.The listener may need to ask for a lot of repetition, which can be frustrating because it takes time. Hemay incorrectly conclude that the speaker is unintelligent or is uncooperative. He may avoid contactwith the speaker in the future if the communication is always labored. Chances for friendship, goodworking relations and other relationships may be adversely affected.The speaker may become equally frustrated or spend much time trying to make his or her messageclear, and may incorrectly conclude that the listener is unintelligent or is just making trouble for him/her.Fortunately, this problem usually clears up as the speaker becomes more fluent.

C. On accents, accent reduction, and clear, understandable English:

Students frequently ask, "Can you help me 'get rid of' my accent?" This question is based on multipleassumptions about accent which warrant examination. Let us discuss them below, and include their application to Pronunciation Power products.

What is an accent (in English)?Functionally, an accent is the difference between how the speaker produces and connects the (English)sounds and words, and the way the listener expects it to be done. The speaker produces and connectsthe sounds and words using speech habits originating from his or her first language. The listener'sexpectation is based on the typical speech patterns of his or her mother tongue. If a speaker does not produce virtually the same pattern as the listener expects, then the listener will hear an accent. Anaccent may include detected differences in the grammar, the vocabulary, or the way the sounds areconnected. It may also include patterns such as stress, timing, articulation, intonation or rhythm. No two languages have the same patterns. However, the closer the pattern is to one's mother tongue,the easier it may be to learn the other language. The skill, talent, experience, and diligence of thelearner also play a role. The key is that hearing and assimilating the differences is essential tochanging or developing one's accent in a foreign language.

How hard is it for listeners to understand someone who has an accent?It depends on speaker and on the listener, on past exposure, and on time. Some listeners will pick upthe pattern better than others. On the other hand, some listeners can understand even "very strong"accents (i.e., accents with many deviations from the expected pattern). Other listeners will havetrouble with even the smallest differences. Some listeners get used to accents also with time.

Can we "get rid of" accents in adults?

The answer to this is "usually not", at least not completely. Research is still being carried out toexplain why. People under the age of 18 have a reasonable chance of learning a second languagewithout an accent. Children and teens will probably be able to learn English without any trace of foreign accent, providing that their exposure to the spoken language is significant. (Consult the latestsecond language acquisition research for more specific guidelines.) Regardless, the more aware aspeaker is of what "helps" the listener to understand him/her, the greater the chance of communication being successful.

Why should changing an accent be so difficult? What is involved in learning English without an





accent? No one really knows why it is so difficult, but let's look at what is involved.Without even commenting on the proper acquisition of the grammar of English, there are thousands of "speech habits" which have to be adopted by the speaker in order to sound just like a native Englishspeaker. These speech habits involve how we open the mouth or move the mouth, lips, tongue, or vocal cords to make a sound. They may include how and with which timing we connect sounds, and

many other such details. They include the proper voicing of sounds, and also the loudness of onesound in relation to another.In children, the habits appear to be easier to change (some researchers believe that these"neurological" habits are not yet fixed), so when they learn a new language, they usually develop anew set of habits for the new language. Adults have already developed and perfected the correcthabits for their mother tongue or tongues. The tendency is for an adult to try to use these old habitswhen learning a new language. Research is still being done on the reasons why the adult is less able toacquire new speech habits. The result is, in any case, a foreign accent.

Are this course and the use of Pronunciation Power products useful for learners of English, given theodds of them learning a "new accent"?Yes. Learners can learn the appropriate speech habits presented in this program. The age of the learner (older or younger than 18), time available to learn and practice, motivation to change speaking habits,natural ability to hear the patterns, and the ability to put learned concepts to practical use all play arole in changing an accent - or developing the most clear speech possible.

Do we need to "get rid of our accent" or develop a "perfect" accent in order to be able to speak goodEnglish?Absolutely not! Our mandate is that it is not necessary to completely "get rid of" an accent nor is itnecessarily desirable, or practical. It is, however, important to observe and practice the key speech patterns of English if one wishes to increase the ability to communicate well. Identifying the keyelements and practicing them can assist the learner to speak English clearly. Remember, the goal of this program is to have the students speak clear, understandable English.

In the lesson pages you will find instructions and exercises for this course. You will notice as you gothrough the lessons that the STAIR topics are repeated in 3 or 4 lessons. The first lesson of a STAIRunit is the teaching unit. All following units of that topic are review. This is due to the complex natureof learning Stress, Timing, Articulation, Intonation and Rhythm. You will also notice that some of theexercises are repeated but with different content. Repetition and review are an integral part of thiscourse.Lastly, it is IMPERATIVE that the students speak only English while they are in your classroom,including group and pair work.





Day 1 – Introductions and testing

1. Introduce yourself and give an overview of the program.

2. Go over the pronunciation vocabulary that will be used throughout the course – refer to

Appendix 1.

3. Computer lab – go over the interface of all programs: Pronunciation Power 2, 8 in1 English

Dictionary, Idioms. Note appendix 2 for teacher instructions.

4. Idiom pre-test – computer lab – Have the students go to the Idiom program. Click on Idiom

Quiz and do each of the 10 unit tests. Appendix 3. The students will record their scores in their

student course book.

*** SWB Test 1 ***

5. Choose either one of the following Warm-up exercises:

A. Getting to know you exercise – Have the students stand and tell a little about themselves and

why they are taking this course. Next have them sit in pairs. Allow 1 minute for them to

communicate with their partner and then call “switch”. The object is to have each student speak

for 1 minute to every other student in the class. When everyone has had a turn speaking to the

others, have each student stand up and talk about some things that they learned from their

classmates.

B. Prepare a worksheet such as the one below for the students according to the number of

students in your class. Have the students go around the class and speak to each other (English

only) and fill in the blanks. After the task is done have each student introduce one of the other

students according to the information they discovered.

StudentInformation

Student Name Student Name Student Name Student Name Student Name

Place of birth

Languagesspoken

Number of children

Occupation

Hobbies

Favorite food

Goals

6. Perform an individual pronunciation test with each student:





Pronunciation Power pre-test – Appendix 3A1, 3A2, 3A3

*** SWB Test 2 ***

Lesson 1- iy – beat

Part 1 – Computer lab – Pronunciation Power 2

Before going to the lab, introduce the first sound iy. Review the meaning of hard palate and

voiced sound.

Have the students read the Description and the Suggestion. Have them repeat the two different

sounds presented in Suggestion.

The students will:

- study the front and side views as instructed by the teacher on Day 1.

- practice the sound by using Speech Analysis.

- practice Sample Words and Comparative words.

Part 2 – Class time

A. Listening Exercises

Exercise 1:

Dictation for improving listening.

Choose 5 sentences from Pronunciation Power 2. Choose the sentences from the sound unit that

the students are working on in this lesson. Dictate the sentences at normal conversation speed.

Correct.

Exercise 2:

Listening Discrimination – This exercise focuses on the sound that the students are working on in

this lesson. Say each pair of words to the students at normal speed. Ask whether the 2 words have

the same sound (the one for this lesson). Each student takes a turn in answering “Yes” or “No”.

eager - easy meat - might plea - play

even - Evan feel - fill see - sigh

each - eat seep - sip funny - tea

eagle - end keep - cap crazy - cry

even - ape please - freedom happy – honey





B. S.T.A.I.R Unit – teach the following (based on Pronunciation Power 2). Give several

examples.

TOPIC 2. Stress in Sentences -Structure words

Concept:

Spoken (North American) English has a particular rhythm, which is created by the stress and pitch

patterns of the words. In order to be well understood, the student needs to practice this pattern.

The pattern is created by the combinations of content and structure words as we speak. Structure

words are always in contrast to content words. Their syllables are shorter in duration, lower

pitched, and quieter than the stressed syllables of content words. (See Topic 1, Content Words).

Often these syllables become so short they disappear, and a contraction or reduction results. (Topic

4, Contractions).

In order to understand more about structure words, you may need to consult the glossary for the

following definitions:

• Syllable

• Syllable Stress

Aim of Topic 2:

Topic 2 provides the opportunity to focus on structure words. The student should listen for - and

imitate - the way the unstressed syllables of the structure word sound.

Structure words:

Sound - Words that are quieter, shorter, and lower pitched than content words.Stress: - One-syllable structure words are unstressed. Multisyllabic structure words have a stressed

syllable, but its pitch does not go as high as that of a stressed syllable in a content word.

Function - Structure words provide grammatical structure in the sentence, and show us the

relationship of the words to each other. The grammatical categories for structure words are:

prepositions, articles, pronouns, the verbs "to be" and all helping (auxiliary) verbs, and

conjunctions.

Examples:

prepositions: in, on, over

articles: a, an, the

pronouns: he, she, me, I, you

"to be": am, are, is, were, was, being,

auxiliary verbs: can, have, should

conjunctions: and, but, or

Structure words are often made into a written short form called a contraction (e.g. have not >

haven't), or pronounced in a short form we call a reduction. e.g. (going to > gonna gənə). These

words often have unclear, "quick" vowels which we call schwa. (ə). See Topic 4 for Contractions.

Structure words are marked with a small black dot on the screen.





A one-syllable structure word is not normally stressed. Often it becomes part of a contraction, and

the vowel becomes ə or disappears from spoken English. i.e. "is" > 's; to > tə

Common Errors with structure word stress:

1. Pronouncing all syllables with equal stress and all too strong1.1 Grammatical problems

All words sound like one-syllable content words, that is, like one-syllable nouns, verbs, etc. Such

sentences are possible in English, but they are not common, and they are usually commands e.g.

"go home!"

1.2 Social problems

You may offend or surprise people because you will sound like you are talking too loudly. They

may think you are always excited, or angry, or bossy (or that you think they are deaf).

2. Pronouncing all syllables with equal stress - all too weak

2.1 Grammatical result

- all words sound like structure words. Structure words may be correct but the listener will not be

able to tell content words from structure words.

- content words will be hard to understand; people may ask you to speak up (talk louder), or to

stop mumbling (talking unclearly)

2.2 Social problems

Culturally unaware or insensitive people may think you are sick, lazy, stupid, or confused.

3. Pronouncing the syllables with the wrong stress

3.1 Grammatical result

- grammatical categories may be mixed up. e.g. verbs become nouns and vice versa, e.g. re-cord

and recordThe listener will be confused about the meaning of your sentence.

3.2 Social problems: Confusion, people asking for repetition, other general social problems

Exercise 1 :

Have the students read each of the following sentences and mark the stressed and unstressed

words/syllables. Worksheet #1

*** SWB Worksheet 1 ***

EXAMPLE: That was easy.

1. She is a nice teacher.

2. We like to eat dinner at six o’clock.

3. Meet him at the university.

4. Is the king crazy?

5. He feels sick.6. This honey is sweet.





7. Put the milk in the tea.

8. Did he call me?

9. These are nice plants.

Exercise 2:

Sometimes we can give even more stress to some parts of the sentence to emphasize important

information.

Students will be in pairs.

Student A will read the sentence, stressing one of the words to create emphasis for giving

information.

Student [B] will give the corresponding answer/question depending on what he/she heard.

After going through the exercise once have the students exchange tasks.

**SWB Worksheet 2 ***

1. That was easy.

[What was easy?] OR [How was that?]

2. She is a nice teacher.

[What kind of teacher is she?] OR [Who is a nice teacher?]

3. We like to eat dinner at six o’clock.

[Who likes to eat dinner at 6:00?] OR [What time do you eat dinner?]

4. Meet him at the university.

[Should I meet him near the university?] OR [Where should I meet him?]5. This honey is sweet.

[Do we have anything sweet in the house?]OR [How does it taste?]

6. Put the milk in the tea.

[Where should I put the milk?] OR [Do you want the milk with the tea?]

7. These are neat plants.

[Do you like these plants?] OR [Which ones do you like?]

Exercise 3:

The English language uses many two-word verbs. We can change some of these two-word verbs

to nouns by changing the pronunciation. Compare the following with the students and have them

practice saying the phrases. Worksheet #3

*** SWB Worksheet 3 ***

Verb Noun

To look out (to be careful) a look out (a high place where one can get

a good view)

To take off (to leave, to remove clothes) a take off (when a plane leaves the ground)





To set up (to arrange) a set up (an arrangement)

To put on (to put clothes on) a put on (an act)

To turn on (to turn on the tv, lights etc.) a turn on (informal: something that excites

you)

To turn off (to turn off the tv, lights etc.) a turn off (informal: something that you

don’t like)

To upset (to disturb) an upset (a disturbance)

Activity: Have each student choose any 10 phrases from the above list and write them in any

order. Beside each word write “V” or “N” to indicate which one they are saying. In small groups

have them take turns reading their list of phrases. The listeners will write 1 – 10 and then indicate

either “V” or “N” according to what they hear when the speaker says his/her phrases. The speaker

gets one point for each time a listener has the correct answer.

Exercise 4:

On the board list several words from a dictionary. One at a time, have a student read a word and

state how many syllables it has and where the stress is in the word.

Part 3 – Computer Lab

The students will practice the iy sound through Listening Discrimination, STAIR exercises, and

Sentences.

The students will practice the iy sound using the 8 in1 Dictionary. Remind the students to

practice the iy sound at the beginning and ends of words by going to the search by sounds that

appear in words. Click on the tab that says "Sound".

Idioms – Lesson 1 and 4. Have the students write 1 sentence of their own for each Idiom they

study.

Part 4 – Class time

A. Have a few students read their Idiom sentences. Write a few different ones on the board andhave some students read them. Be sure they are using intonation, stress and timing.





B. Communication exercise:

Exchange this Exercise for any other from Appendix 7 if it is suitable for your class at this time.

Exercise 1:

In pairs have the students write a short dialogue on a topic of their choice using two sentences

from Exercise 2 and two phrases from Exercise 3. Tell them to make sure the story makes sense

and that their pronunciation fits with the meaning of the dialogue. Present the dialogue.

C. Class discussion:

If there is time left in the lesson, present a topic for discussion. Remind the students that they will

be marked for participation for all discussions. Choose an activity from Appendix 6, Appendix 7

or create one of your own.


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