Assignment – FP005 TP

SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT:
TEACHING PRONUNCIATION

GENERAL INFORMATION:

This assignment must be done individually and has to fulfil the following conditions:

- Length: between 6 to 8 pages (without including cover, index or appendices –if

there are any-).
- Font type: Arial or Times New Roman.
- Font size: 11.
- Spacing: 1.5.
- Alignment: Justified.

The assignment has to be written in this Word document and has to follow the
instructions on quotes and references detailed in the Study Guide.

Also, the assignment has to be submitted following the procedure specified in the
document: “Subject Evaluation”. Sending it to the tutor’s e-mail is not allowed.

It is strongly recommended to read the assessment criteria, which can be found in the
document “Subject Evaluation”.

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 Assignment – FP005 TP

Assignment instructions:
Choose two problems of transfer which you consider to be obstacles to
efficient communication. Those problems need to be specific to Spanish
and English (that is, specific to Spanish speakers who are English
learners). The problems can either be segmental or suprasegmental.

FIRST, describe, as precisely as you can, the causes of the problems in

phonetic or phonological terms.

SECOND, explain and illustrate how these problems could be addressed

within the usual framework of a language course - the level, age and type
of student presumably being determined by the type of problem you have
chosen. Nonetheless, you should consider the problems in terms of the
three ’E’ variables, and with reference to Brinton’s five variables,
mentioned in Chapter 9.

Important: you have to write your personal details and the subject name on the
next page (the cover). The assignment that does not fulfil these conditions will
not be corrected. You have to include the assignment index below the cover.

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 Assignment – FP005 TP

Name and surname(s): Miledy Aguilera

Login: DOFPMTFL3898521
Group: Alone
Date: 01/29/22

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 Assignment – FP005 TP

INDEX

1. Introduction 5

2. Brinton’s five variables 6

3. Problem 1 - /b/ and /v/ 7

4. Exposure, Exercise, Explanation problem 1 7

5. Problem 2 - /s/, /z/ and /ェ z/ 9

6. Exposure, Exercise, Explanation problem 2 9

7. Conclusion 11

8. Bibliographical references 12

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 Assignment – FP005 TP

INTRODUCTION
A badly-behaved that is often debated currently is that which Spanish learners of English face in
their learning process: firstly; pronunciation, as a result of differences that both idioms have in
terms of phonetic and phonology, besides the highest difficulty to precise new sounds and this
requires the knowledge of a new phonetic alphabet.
Secondly, the enduring stigma is the origin of the accent students should be exposed to: British
or American. Many English learners are still concerned about the correct one to emphasis their
English input, whether or not they have access to speakers with one or the other, both present
special linguistic features and educational backgrounds that learners have to take into account.
Internet and social media have reduced the distance among them, In fact, “…teachers are
expected to help their learners cope with 'real English', which is taken to be the English used by
native speakers in their speech communities in e.g. the UK or the US”. Seidlhofer (2003). It is
necessary to consider the type of instruction, towards a unique way of speaking English or to
give the students a wider perspective regarding this matter it can be said that teaching and
learning English as an international language might be a way to transform paradigms such as the
ideal accent or a specific type of English.

The analysis about pronunciation problems in Spanish students of English, is one of the current
teachers challenges, we have to deal with it in order to allow students to improve their speaking.
Additionally this work give us meaningful data about their speaking skill improvements whilst,
we can give them a meaningful feedback. Improving our teaching and learning process is a
daily task, in this way we are responsible to adapt and create activities based on their
necessities, consequently, we will help them to get a good level of fluency.

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 Assignment – FP005 TP

BRINTON´S FIVE VARIABLES.

Learners: in this significant opportunity to share our experiences, I will consider the
pronunciation proficiency of intermediate students of English who belong to the third level of
English of the University UCEVA’s language department in Tuluá Valle in Colombia, their
ages are between 13 and 16 years old. There, students have 6 hours of classes per week. They
are also attending their high schools with an average of four hours more.

Setting: The students here have their own English book named ‘LIFE’, published by National
Geographic Learning and Cengage, This book brings integrated-skills development required to
take students to B1 level. It has a variety of short activities in 12 units, with different
pronunciation points and activities in each unit. The students are in contact with English-
speaking teachers at the local university or native English-speaking assistants in conversations
clubs they have to attend at least twice a week.

Methodological: As a starting point they were adressing to previous knowledge of English,

with a diagnoses test. All have achieved a good command of English grammar, reading and
writing throughout their previous experiences, but their skills in listening and speaking got
lowest level.
That is why I decided to stablish continuous questionnaires and class workshops, which allow
me to perceive their improvements. Most of them remark a high interest to improve
pronunciation and placed it as one of the most important issues that they had to work on with
speaking. By virtue of that I worked with pronunciation and speaking which obviously go hand-
in-hand.

Another aspect is the complementary work of attending to different institutions and where they
can make a constant comparison of their native and qualified English teachers and assistants, as
a result of this experience, they could adjust pronunciation efficiently. I consider that to have the
opportunity of being exposed to different accents as I mentioned in my introduction is a fruitful
way to improve English pronunciation. When they are exposed to two types of teachers, as
highlighted by Jenkins (1998: 122), the crucial difference between a non-native speaker of
English and a native speaker as regards segmental, which I will remark in this assignment, is
that the non-native may diverge from native models in precisely those sounds that are
considered to be ‘core’ sounds of English, and therefore it is indispensable to find a way to face
student with natives in their learning process.

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 Assignment – FP005 TP

Linguistic: the linguistic variables which I consider relevant for this assignment are the
segmental level of production in L2 pronunciation. Bearing in mind their English level, some
general errors students make when pronouncing basic and very common words in English, also
these problems of pronunciation have been reflected since I am teaching English more than 7
years. I have noticed common problems on the pronunciation between [b] and [v] and the
final /s/ in the third singular person (e.g. he plays) and in plural (e.g. boys). Moreover, these
problems are segmental and phonological because they are associated with particular individual
sounds. In the next pages, I will be explained and proposed their possible solutions.

PROBLEM 1: [B] AND [V].

One of the most important difficulties to a Spanish learner in the speaking practice is to use b
and v, because in the standard Spanish there are any different in their pronunciation. Even
though, English makes a clear distinction in how the two letters are pronounced, Spanish does
not. The sound of the English "v" such as in the word "vigour" does not exist in standard
Spanish. The sound of the letters diverges, nevertheless, depending on the sounds around them.

Additionally, it is a well-known fact that b and v are so-called voiced fricatives — in this
occasion, a sound somewhat like the English "v" but with the two lips touching instead of the
lower lip and upper teeth. In this way, something like the English "b" but quite a bit softer. This
type of misperception when pronouncing words with “v” or “b” in their own language is mostly
transferred to L2, in this case “English” in many situations of spelling, because learners
sometimes are not aware of their differences while they are producing.

Exposure, Exercise and Explanation problem 1.

In order to tackle with these kind of complications, there are promising methods to emphasis on
them and improve. In the exposure stage, the students will be asked to perceive the second
language sounds and to use them in communicative tasks, in order to get accuracy. A worthy
activity in this matter is to include tongue twisters since, firstly it is a challenging and catchy
activity. It also allows enjoyment time during the class, a meaningful way, can be to have the
students to read the tongue twister and repeat it several times and practice with a partner.
Finally, after they get the ability to pronounce it in a fast way, they can challenge a partner.

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 Assignment – FP005 TP

Regarding a good feature of this strategy, the students will use and practice the sounds without
complete conscious of the formal pronunciation features. After that, they can be faced of the
prosodic features (stress, intonation and rhythm) and perform communicative autonomous
activities. Griffiths (2007) also described that pronunciation work can be kept simple and
employ exercises which are both accessible and enjoyable for students, whatever their level is.
Thanks to that, learners can practice by themselves in order to get a better pronunciation of the
target language.

In future activities, it would be superlative that the teacher explain the phonological features and
phonetic sounds, once students are aware of the reason of their already used pronunciation they
will be able to integrate new pronunciation experiences for real and successful communication
(Griffiths, 2007). Furthermore, teachers will “enable learners to surpass the threshold level so
that their pronunciation will not detract from the ability to communicate”

Finally, effective explanations, methods and plans to overcome pronouncing words problems
with “v” and “b” can help them to get accuracy at the moment of expressing their ideas.
Moreover, Underhill (1998) claims that even as one becomes slightly more sensitive to the
inner muscular movements, so one is abler to observe them visually in another speaker.
Aufderhaar (2004) in his study about discourse intonation-based pronunciation training
showed us that listening activities with intact and filtered samples (prosodic and phonemic
information on separate tracks) of audio literature appeared to have a positive influence on
production as measured by both subjective (raters’ judgments) and objective (vowel duration)
means.

PROBLEM 2: THE FINAL /S/ IN THE THIRD SINGULAR PERSON

AND IN PLURAL NOUNS

In many Colombian regions people do not pronounce the final /s/ of any kind of word. In
English the final /s/ in the third singular person (e.g. he plays) and in plural (e.g. boys). In both
cases it marks an important feature of grammar, the main reason of this pronunciation difference
lies in the Spanish phonological settings. Bell (1981) explains that underdifferentiation, appears
when the learner does not “recognize in the L2 a phonemic distinction”. Underdifferentiation is

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 Assignment – FP005 TP

commonly found by Spanish speakers in the following sounds /s/-/z/ and /b/-/v/. Bearing this in
mid with this problem the strategy can be focus in a formal explanation of the phenomenon and
to take advantage of it, the instructor can highlighted the two different cases (verbs third
singular, and noun plural) of the same pronunciation as an advantage.

Besides, the ending is pronounced /s/ after a voiceless sound, it is pronounced /z/ after a voiced
sound and is pronounced /ɪz / or /əz/ after a sibilant sound:

Voiceless: helps /ps/ -- sits /ts/ -- looks /ks/

Voiced: crabs /bz/ -- words /dz/ -- gloves /vz/,
Sibilant: buses /sɪz / or /səz /, bridges /dʒɪz / or /dʒəz /, wishes /shɪz / or /shəz /

 The pronunciation of the S at the end of words in English

 The pronunciation of the final S in plural words and verbs in the third person depend on
the final consonant sound before that S.

EXPOSURE, EXERCISE AND EXPLANATION OF THE PROBLEM 2:

Students can be exposed to listen the different pronunciation of the two cases of “s”. Place each
sound at the top of each column. Students are asked to notice and try the three kind of sounds in
verb/noun and students have to say it in the third person singular or plural. Ask the student
which verb/column belongs to, depending on the pronunciation.

Table 1.

Moreover, the students will work in teams to practice, pronunciation and to find the
modifications of each word in the column. Then, the teacher have the right moment to explain

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 Assignment – FP005 TP

the sounds and practice pronunciation of each case. Students can have the opportunity of
listening an audio and classify each verb/noun with the “s” or “z” sound at the moment of
pronouncing these. Then, they compare the activity with a partner and the teacher can call some
students at random to say them and also to express a sentence by using this sound; next, he/she
gives them the appropriate feedback according to their accuracy and fluency. Tice (2004) has
mentioned that “for drills to be meaningful, learners need to understand what they are being
asked to say.in this sense, the mission of the teacher when drilling is to provide students with a
model of a certain structure or just to repeat a word they have already seen and get them
pronouncing in unison. A strategy like this benefits learners to shape their confidence at the
moment to speak, however, drilling exercises should not be used too much time because it can
be exhausting and unexciting.

Further activities which may be implemented from well-known texts like: Pre-Intermediate
series by Oxenden, Latham-Koenig & Seligson (2001). In the first activity (Table1.) with the
three sounds being represented by the phonetic symbols. In order to present those to children
these symbols can be represented with a picture of a word in which this sounds appears, for
example, /s/ for snake. It is a great way for them to memorize and practice the new sounds.
Then, students can listen and check their answers.

Finally, we are also confronted of working with millennials students which are involved in
technological free time activities, in this way, we need to include media interactive tools and
applications on line like Kahoot or Quizlet that are free and available for teachers around the
world, those can be configured to students on pronunciation and intonation, activities which
involve matching words to sounds in individual or teamwork tasks.

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 Assignment – FP005 TP

CONCLUSION

Thanks a lot to this assignment I recognized myself in a occupation that is constantly

confronted, and now is required to include pronunciation as a vital practice to help students to
communicate without less difficulties. We must take additional pronunciation elements in our
lessons that allow solid practices. In this way, pronunciation is perhaps the greatest challenge
for me and my learners, in order to master great processes with better result day by day. That is
way, it has been included in more curriculum, materials and even applications as part of the
fundamental tools to learn languages.

To conclude, it seems to me that nowadays teachers have increased pronunciation knowledge as

a way to guide their students in their pronunciation problems, according to Krashen
(1996). ..”in the foreign language classroom that students start establishing pronunciation
habits In this way, teachers can guide their learners to achieve the appropriate pronunciation
by applying drilling exercises and contextualizing these into communicative activities.”

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 Assignment – FP005 TP

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

1. Aufderhaar, C. (2004). Learner Views on Using Authentic Audio to Aid Pronunciation.

TESOL. Quarterly,38 (4), 735-746.
2. Bell, R. T. (1981). An Introduction to Applied Linguistics. Approaches and Methods in
Language Teaching . London: Bastford Academic and Educational Ltd.
3. Griffiths, B. (May de 2007). Integrating pronunciation into classroom activities. Obtenido
de http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/pron/integrating/shtml.
4. Jenkins, J. (1998): “Which pronunciation norms and models for English as an International
language?”. In ELT Journal 52/2, pp.119 -126

5. Krashen, S. D. (1996). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. .

New York, NY: Prentice Hall International.

6. Seidlhofer, B., (2003), “A Concept of International English and Related Issues: From 'Real
English' to 'Realistic English'?” University of Vienna.
7. Tice, J. (2004). Drilling 1. British Council & BBC. Obtenido de Retrieved from
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/articles/drilling-1.
8. Oxenden, C., Latham-Koenig, C. & Seligson, P. (2011): New English File: Pre-
intermediate - Student’s Book and Workbook. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

9. Underhill, A. (1998). “Get an ear for pronunciation”. El Gazette Issue , p.10.

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