Paul Rogers wrote (see full text below)
 
"And I also "discovered" that the major problem sounds for nearly all 

> students could be practiced by learning and reciting out loud .... the



> alphabet and the numbers!"


My comment is this: The names of the letters of the alphabet and the
sounds they produce are not one and the same. -The vowels have many
different sounds - which are not one and the same with the names of the
letters. The name of the consonants are not the same as their sounds,
either. Other factors include whether or not the vowels are stressed or
unstressed, the other letters around them, the etymology of the word,
and so on. Consonants are also affected by letters around them and by
position in word and by etymology. Knowing the names of the letters of
the alphabet is useful for spelling purposes - both understanding and
spelling names and addresses aloud, but certainly not sufficient to
ameliorate all "major problems" in pronunciation for English language
learners!
Miriam
**********
Miriam Burt
Center for Applied Linguistics
4646 40th Street NW
Washington, DC 20016
(202) 362-0700
(202) 363-7204 (fax)
miriam at cal.org 
-----Original Message-----
From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of PAUL ROGERS
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 2:26 PM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 454] Focus on Basics - pronunciation as a
basic?

I am curious to know if the role of pronunciation is covered in the
discussions on the basics.
I have been teaching ESL for about 20 years now, and have put together
lessons that "weave" pronunciation into my course. 
It finally dawned on me one day that adults (including
myself) have more difficulty pronouncing a foreign language than
children. So I developed a series of humorous exercises that I introduce
every now and then.

If a student can not pronounce a word fairly well, it is difficult for
the student to understand that word when it is spoken, especially if it
is one of the many words that are confusing. 
I also observed that when students learned how to pronounce English
sounds fairly well, their confidence increased and they began to learn
faster.
And I also "discovered" that the major problem sounds for nearly all
students could be practiced by learning and reciting out loud .... the
alphabet and the numbers!
Paul Rogers


 

--- Lynda Terrill <lterrill at cal.org> wrote:


> Dear listers,

>  

> Julie McKinney of the Focus on Basics discussion list sent the 

> following information about an upcoming discussion on that list next 

> week.  See below for details.

>  

> Lynda Terrill

> lterrill at cal.org

>  

>  

> ****************************************

> Discussion on Focus on Basics List

> June 26-30

> Shaping and Sustaining Learner Engagement with Hal Beder

> 

> Next week we are pleased to have Hal Beder as a guest to discuss his 

> recent FOB article about learner engagement. Hal is a professor at 

> Rutgers University and has studied adult literacy for more than 30 

> years. He is the project director for NCSALL at Rutgers and for the 

> National Labsite for Adult Literacy Education.

> 

> Please read the article at the link below, and prepare any comments or



> questions for Hal and other readers to send in on Monday.

> 

> Shaping and Sustaining Learner Engagement in Individualized Group 

> Instruction Classrooms

> http://www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=1106

> 

> To subscribe to the Focus on Basics List, please got

> to:

> 

> www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/focusonbasics

> 

> 

> Julie McKinney

> Discussion List Moderator

> World Education/NCSALL

> jmckinney at worlded.org

> 

> 

> >

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