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AAHFAHFAJKHF
Pronunciation
Activities for
your Students
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INDEX
TO THE READER……………………………………………. 2
BALLOONS FOR LEARNING………………………………………… 4
METACOGNITION ARTICLE……………………………………………. 7
A HELPER BEE………………………………….………….. 8
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE PRONUNCIATION……………………………………. 10
TIPS OF PRONUNCIATION……………………………………. 11
A RED DIALOGUE…………………………………………... 12 .
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Balloons for learning
Target Sound: /I/ and /i/ Learning Style: Kinesthetic- auditory
Level: Beginners- intermediate Personality Type: Extroverted
Materials: Balloons, scissors, paper, markers or pen.
Objectives: Differentiate the sound for /I/ and /i/ in different words and
promote collaborative work.
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Procedure:
1. Divide the class into two groups
2. Assign the leader for each team
3. Give each group the same amount of balloons. Each balloon have
a word related to the target sounds.
4. The professor has to divide the board for each team to write the
words.
5. Each group has to pop up the balloon and they have to say the
word to the leader who is going to write it on the board without
seeing it; they have to write just what they heard.
6. Let´s begin the game.
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METACOGNITION
Nowadays, it is common to hear some
teachers talking about metacognition,
but what does it mean? Metacognition
can be defined as “thinking about
thinking”; the importance of
metacognition is that students can be
self-monitoring their process while
learning a second language.
Metacognition is a very important tool
for students to monitor their process;
they can be aware about their lacks
and strengths, but the professor must
be a facilitator, a guide, to hold this
process correctly.
The metacognitive process should
include some stages provided by the
professor in order to go “hiking”
within the knowledge process, and the
activities provided should be
meaningful for students for example,
students can record their selves so
they can hear their pronunciation and
figure out their problems or mistake; it
is also important to give them a real
situation or a real record of a native
person, so they can compare what
they did with something else. On the
other hand, it is important that the
professor provides some activities and
questions where students can identify
their mistakes and also what is
difficult for them.
Metacognition, which can also be
defined as “the ability to control one´s
cognitive process (self-regulation)
(Metacognition: An Overview (n.d)) is
sometimes related to intelligence
however, it also includes some
components to control cognitive
aspects and receive feedback. These
components are known as the
responsible of identify or point out is
the tasks are done correctly or not; it
involves some aspects like planning,
evaluating, and monitoring, and they
are also related to problem- solving
activities. It is very important to set
activities that fulfill students’ needs,
lacks, objectives, and strengths in
order to accomplish each of them, and
give students meaning activities.
It is very important to understand that
metacognition is a process that
influences students to use and
maintain cognitive strategies and
activities. The professor has the
responsibility to provide the learner
with the necessary tools such as
knowledge, strategies, experience, and
practice. Cognitive and metacognitive
strategies are really useful and
important, but the professor has to
evaluate the outcomes of students’
effort. It is important to provide
knowledge and experience; they need
to go together if one of them is lost,
the process is going to fail.
Nuria Camareno Vega
Metacognition: An Overview. (n.d.). Metacognition: An Overview. Retrieved December 4, 2013, from
http://gse.buffalo.edu/fas/shuell/cep564/metacog.htm
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A helper bee
Target Sound: /i/ Learning Style: Kinesthetic- auditory
Level: Beginners (Kids) Personality Type: Introverted-
extroverted
Materials: Worksheets, pencil
Objective: Recognize the /i/ sound through a bee activity.
Procedure:
1. Give the worksheets to the students
2. Each sheet has some words that correspond to the /i/ sound, the bee is
going to help students to identify and pronounce the sounds. Students
have to write the word represented in the final box.
3. Ask students for doubts
4. Let´s begin the game
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Some Factors that Influence the Pronunciation Process
While learning a second language,
there are some situations that can
interfere the process. As teachers, it is
important to be aware about these
factors and use them as tools to
improve and make students awareness.
These factors are:
1) The interference of the native
language (Mother Tongue): This
is a common interference in the
pronunciation area that is why
teachers have to be aware about
it. Teachers need to know some
aspects about students’ native
language, so they can try to
identify the more common
mistakes produce in that
transference and how to avoid
them. It is also important to
make comparisons between
languages, so students can
understand some pronunciation
aspects better.
2) Learner´s age: it is common to
hear that the younger a learner
is, the easiest to understand and
acquire a second language. This
is also apply in the
pronunciation field because, the
plasticity of the brain in early
stages allow students to sound
more as a native speaker.
3) Exposure: one of the most
important aspects while
learning a second language is
the exposition that the student
has to that target language. This
is exposure is referred to length
of time and intensity. The more
exposure a student has, the
better pronunciation he can
acquire.
4) The innate phonetic ability: it is
true that some people have some
skills to certain activities while
other not, and, this is why this
ability produces better results.
Talking about pronunciation,
the ability to imitate or produce
some sounds make a difference
between learners.
5) Attitude and sense of identity: it
is known that the attitude is
going to influences everything
and it also applies in the
learning process. The way a
student can see a country and its
culture is going to interfere in
the learning process as well as
the sense of identity he or she
has, and how much they can
modify or not some attitudes
and belief related to the new
culture.
6) Motivation and concern of good
pronunciation: this is a really
important aspect because
students’ motivation is going to
set the atmosphere of a learning
process for a student, and the
more motivated a student is, the
better opportunity to improve.
Nuria Camareno Vega
Taken from: Murcia, M., Brinton, D., & Goodwin, J. M. (1996). teaching pronunciation. Teaching pronunciation: a reference
for teachers of English to speakers of other languages (pp. 136-149). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Red Dialogue
Target Sound: /ʃ/ and /tʃ/ Learning Style: Auditory,
communicative.
Level: Intermediate Personality Type: Extroverted
Materials: Dialogue sheet and a red card (both for each couple)
Objectives: Differentiate the sound for /ʃ/ and /tʃ/ in different words and
promote peer correction and help.
Procedure:
7. Divide the class into pairs
8. Explain the rules:
- Each pair is going to have a dialogue sheet and a red card, they are
going to decide who is going to be A or B.
- They are going to read it first in order to identify the words that
correspond to each specific sound and write it (the target sound)
- Then, each student is going to read his/her lines and the other is
going to listen, if he/she listens a word mispronounced is going to
show the red card (without saying the mistake) and the other
student has to say the word correctly and then switch.
- After some time practicing, the professor is going to ask for a
volunteer or call a couple and they can read the dialogue aloud.
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Dialogue
A: Hello_____________! How are you? I heard that you won the swimming
championship!
B: Hi! Yes, I did it. It was hard because Maria, the last year champion was there,
just next to me. My parents were watching the competence and they said that she
was just behind me.
A: Yes, I heard that, but thank God you win. Oh, by the way, did you go to the
church activity last Friday?
B: No, I could not because I was really busy. My brother crash his car and I have to
go there and check that everything was find. It was a mess.
A: But is he ok? I heard that he is going to travel to a very important National Park
in Panama on March. Is he going to see the canal and all those ships?
B: Well, I am not pretty sure now since he has to pay the fine and all those things.
And how about you, are you still teaching in that school in Alajuela.
A: Yes, I am and I love that place. My students are great. Can you imagined that
they bought a chair for me, a special one, because mine was causing my
backaches?
B: Oh! That is pretty nice! I remember that you always picture yourself as a
teacher.
A: Yes. It is a lot of pressure but I love it. Look at these picture there are my
children. I love them. Make them happy and good people is my mission here.
B: Congratulations! I am sure you are going to be such a great person always.
Well, I have to go. Please call me next week! Maybe we can go out.
A: Sure, I will do it. Take care.
9. The professor is going to give a sheet so students can answers some
questions where they identify their mistakes, strengths and lacks.
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