Module 9 Reading Material资料文件与下载

Module 9 Teaching Language Knowledge

Top 10 Ways to Teach Vowel Pronunciation in English

Every ESL student should have a pronunciation element to his language studies. Sometimes, though, a student may need more than one strategy for tackling English pronunciation.

By making sure you use variety in your pronunciation lessons, your students will be more successful with English pronunciation and gain the confidence that comes with it.

1.Listen and repeat

This will be the first and most common method of teaching sound specific pronunciation in English. You say the target sound and have your students repeat it after you. If you are teaching a long word with multiple syllables, start with the final syllable of the word and have your class repeat it. Then add the penultimate syllable and say the two together having your class repeat after you. Work backwards in this manner until your students are able to pronounce the entire word correctly.

2. Isolation

When working on a specific sound, it may help your students to isolate that particular sound from any others. Instead of presenting a certain sound as part of a complete word in English, you can simply pronounce the sound itself repeatedly. When you do, your students can say it along with you repeatedly, focusing on the small nuances in the correct pronunciation and also engraining the sound pattern into their minds. This is especially helpful when you have several students struggling with a specific sound delineation.

3. Minimal pairs

Minimal pairs are a great way to focus pronunciation on just one sound. If you are not familiar with linguistics, a minimal pair is two words that vary in only one sound. For example, rat and rate are minimal pairs because only the vowel sound differs between the two words. Additional minimal pairs are pin and pen, dim and dime, and bat and pat. You can use minimal pairs to help your students with their pronunciation by focusing on one particular sound. In addition to the pronunciation benefits, your students will also expand their vocabularies when you teach minimal pairs.

4. Record and replay

At times, your students may think they are using correct pronunciation when in fact they are saying something quite different. By using a device to record what your students are actually saying, you have empirical data to play back for each person. Encourage him to listen to what he actually said rather than what he thinks he said. You may also want him to compare a recording of a native speaker against his recording of himself. In this way, your students will have a more objective understanding of their true pronunciation and be able to take steps to correct it.

5. Use a mirror

Giving your students a chance to view their own physical movements while they are working on their pronunciation can be of great value. You can always encourage your students to look at your mouth and face as you pronounce certain sounds, but they will also benefit from seeing what movements they are making as they speak. Sometimes, becoming aware of the physical movements involved in pronunciation is all your students will need to correct pronunciation issues of which they are unaware.

6. Phonetics

When your students are facing a pronunciation challenge, it could be that English spelling is adding to the mystery of the spoken word. Instead of spelling new vocabulary out on the white board, try using phonetic symbols to represent the sounds (rather than the alphabet to represent the spelling). If you were to use phonetic symbols, the word seat would be written /si:t/ and eat would be written /i:t/. You can find a list of the phonetic symbols on several websites or in introductory linguistics books. Once you teach your students the International Phonetic Alphabet, you can use those symbols any time you introduce new vocabulary to your students.

7. Show a vowel diagram

If you are using phonetic symbols to help you teach vowel pronunciation, a diagram of where each English vowel sound is produced can be eye opening for your students. Print copies to distribute in class or show your students where they can find this diagram online. When students know which area of the mouth in which they should be making their sounds, they may have an easier time distinguishing between similar sounds because they are produced in different areas of the mouth.

8. Sing

Surprisingly enough, singing can be a good way for your ESL students to practice their vowel pronunciation. Because singing requires a person to maintain vowel sounds over more than just a moment, it can give your students a chance to focus in on the target sound and adjust what sound she is making.

9. Tongue twisters

Though tongue twisters are probably more popular for practicing consonant pronunciation, they are still a valuable resource for vowel practice. Not only are they a challenge to your students’ pronunciation abilities, but they also add an element of fun to the classroom that can help your students relax and therefore free them to be more daring in their attempts at English. See our ‘Top 20 Tongue Twisters’ classroom poster.

10. Target language specific sounds

Some pronunciation patterns are found consistently in students with the same native language. Being aware of these patterns is helpful in addressing problems your students may not even know they have. You can find practice exercises to target specific pronunciation patterns, or you can write your own to target the specific needs of your class. Either way, making students aware of pronunciation patterns of speakers of their native language can be the biggest help in eliminating the mispronunciations.

Whether you are teaching conversation or grammar, pronunciation will always come into play in any ESL class. By using various methods to aid your students, their pronunciation will be more accurate, and their attitudes will be more positive.

Always remind your students that learning English takes time and acquiring pronunciation is a process. Encourage them that being aware of problems in pronunciation is the first half of correcting them!

https://busyteacher.org/8168-top-10-ways-teach-vowel-pronunciation-in-english.html

Teaching English Vocabulary

10 Fabulous Ways to Teach New Words

Did you know that a student needs to encounter a new word 10 to 16 times to effectively "learn" it according to recent research?

Considering the number of new words students have to learn per course, this means us teachers have our work cut out for us. We all know that although it is important for students to use correct grammar and structures, words are the main carriers of meaning. This means that the more words students are able to handle accurately, the better their chances of understanding English and making themselves understood.

To effectively acquire English vocabulary, students must go through four essential stages:

• First, they notice a new word with help.

• Secondly, they recognize the word at first with help.

• Then, they recognize it later on their own.

• Lastly, they are able to both recognize and produce the word.

It is essential that you, as the teacher, make use of activities that target each of these stages; more often than not, we make the mistake of merely introducing new vocabulary, and we don’t give students the opportunity to put these new words to use.

So, here are 10 great ways to teach English vocabulary, outlined for each of the stages of vocabulary acquisition:

Stage 1: Noticing and understanding new words

Introducing nouns, things, objects, animals, etc.…

Visual elements work best with concrete nouns but try to go beyond flashcards and illustrations. Try to use real objects whenever possible, or even sounds, smells, and tastes. Appeal to all of your students’ senses!

Introducing adjectives

Opposites, like “big” and “small”, “long” and “short”, are usually illustrated with pictures, but here’s another case where realia will help you teach new adjectives; the use of real-life objects is wonderful for words like “soft” and “rough”, adjectives that may take precious minutes of class time to explain. For more advanced adjectives, like “stunning”, “gorgeous”, “spectacular”, “huge”, or “immense”, bring in photos of famous sights from around the world like the Louvre, Egyptian pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, etc.…then use these new adjectives to describe these places in ways that clearly illustrate their meaning.

Introducing abstracts

There are things you simply cannot teach with a flashcard. What works best in these cases are synonyms, definitions, substitutions, or simply placing students within a given context. Consider this simple example: To teach the difference between “early” and “late”, remind students what time class begins, then state that those who arrive before this time are “early” while those that arrive after this time are “late”.

Stage 2: Recognizing new words

Bingo

Bingo is one of the most versatile games employed by ESL teachers. For younger learners, make bingo cards with illustrations, and call out each word. For those who can read, do the opposite, make the cards with words, then draw the flashcards from a bag. For teens or adult learners, you can make cards with the definition and call out the words, or vice versa.

Matching
Another type of exercise with countless possibilities. Students may be required to match opposites, synonyms, or a word with its definition, as well as a picture to a word.

Fill in the blanks (with options)
Hand out a piece of written text (anything from a description, song, letter, to even a short story) with blank spaces that must be filled in from a list of words. You can adapt this to longer texts, and also have longer word lists.

Stage 3: Producing vocabulary

Descriptions

From a newspaper photo of a recent event to a personal account of a recent trip, there are countless things students can describe while putting new vocabulary to good use. This goes for both oral and written descriptions. You may give them some guidance, like indicating that they have to use at least five adjectives in their description, or five words related to sports, weather, etc.…to no guidance at all.

Fill in the blanks (no options)

Supply students with a piece of written text with blank spaces that have to be filled in with any word that fits. You may give them indications for each space, like “noun”, “adjective” or “adverb”, if they’re advanced students. You can then read several out loud to compare the different words used to fill in each blank.

Mind maps or brainstorming

Tell students they need to think of words they can use to describe the weather. Write “weather” at the center of a blackboard or whiteboard and circle it. Write every word supplied by students as “rays” that shoot out this circle. They should reply with previously taught words, like “chilly”, “scorching”, or “mild”. You may even have sub-circles shooting off to the side for winter, summer, etc.…words. This works great for vocabulary review lessons.

Guess what I'm thinking

Students take turns describing something, like a place: “I’m thinking of a place that is so huge it takes visitors hours to see all of it. It has stunning works of art. It is a breathtaking building, very old, but with a modern glass pyramid in the front.” Students choose to be as obvious or as cryptic as they like. Even little ones can do this with simple descriptions: “It's an animal. It has a very long neck and big brown spots.” Or simply state a series of words: “Africa, black and white, stripes”.

It’s better to teach vocabulary in context, in other words, teach highly descriptive adjectives when the lesson is about travel. Or clothes and accessories when you’re talking about shopping. Never teach a list of words just because, or students won’t have a chance to practice this new vocabulary.

On a final note, remember to cater to different learning styles or multiple intelligences.

Use songs and music, real life objects, or puzzles, but the more you mix the better. Remember the difference between recognizing and producing words: to practice recognition the words have to be supplied by YOU; then students use them to fill in blanks or match them. For students to produce vocabulary effectively and accurately, they have to spontaneously recall the words.

https://busyteacher.org/2921-teaching-english-vocabulary-10-fabulous-ways-to.html

Key principles for teaching grammar

The purpose for teaching grammar is not simply for you to be confident about correcting mistakes in children’s work, nor is it to pass on tricks and techniques to be replicated in a mechanistic way. This does not make children writers or lead to good writing.

Teaching grammar effectively is about enabling children to control grammar to express increasingly complex ideas. When grammar is taught well, it can make a significant different to children’s literacy development.

Here are 7 key principles to bear in mind when teaching grammar:

1. Build up your own subject knowledge
        To teach grammar, you need explicit as well as implicit knowledge, to be confident about using the correct terms and explaining these. Don’t just learn the next term you are teaching. It is important to be able to relate new learning to other features and the text as a whole.

2. Give talk a high priority in your classroom
        Children need to be able to select from a wardrobe of voices that includes Standard English.

3. Remember the purpose of teaching grammar
        Grammar is not simply the naming of parts of speech or for teaching the rules of English. It needs to be strongly embedded in classroom talk, reading and writing.

4. Teach grammar in context
        By introducing children to grammatical features and language in context, you will be helping them to internalize these principles. Try not to go for the ready-made solution by using a worksheet from a book. It will make very little difference to children’s use of language and will be      meaningless for those learners who are not yet able to think in abstract ways.

5. Read aloud and discuss how authors use grammar
        Children who read extensively and are read to will have a ‘toolbox’ of structures, patterns and rhythms to draw on.

6. Be systematic
        Make sure you know what the class you are working with have already learned and what they need to learn now. Link new learning with their prior knowledge.

7. Make learning grammar fun
        Teaching grammar can involve investigations, problem-solving and language      play as part of developing children’s awareness of and interest in how      language works.

*This is an edited extract from Teaching Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling in Primary Schools.

https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/key-principles-for-teaching-grammar