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[EnglishLanguage 2319] Re: Minimal pairsTyskiewicz, Andy atyskiewicz at crec.orgMon May 5 12:31:13 EDT 2008
Used this book extensively 25 years ago, thought of it right away, a good resource ________________________________ From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of robinschwarz1 at aol.com Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 3:46 PM To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2298] Re: Minimal pairs An even better book for minimal pairs is Pronunciation Contrasts in English ( Nilsen & Nilsen) available in both old and new editions at Amazon.com./textbooks. This book has ONLY minimal pairs of all contrasts in English and each page includes a) a list of languages for which that particular contrast is a problem, b) drawings of the mouth in both positions (actually side views) c) a set of minimal pair sentences with context d) a set of sentences with no context help (e.g. There is a bug/bag on the table.) and e) a complete list of all minimal pairs for that contrast. It is an invaluable teaching resource. Pronunciation Pairs is a good place to start if you are unfamiliar with the practice of minimal pairs, but it does not go far enough for review and mastery. Learners typically memorize the contrasting words in the pairsin that book in lightning time, but do not generalize that skill to o ther pairs, in my experience. I teach minimal pairs for the purpose of phoneme isolation and manipulation (auditory perception) -- a by-product of that instruction is better pronunciation. I know there has been discussion here previously about the effectiveness of MPs out of context. I do both-- a lot of non-contextualized practice and a LOT of contextualized practice, and have always seen a clear improvement--and learners report clear improvement. Teachers I coach who use this say their learners BEG for this practice. When teachers use this, or I use this approach, I emphasize that it is NOT a vocabulary exercise, but rather an auditory discrimination practice and practice in associating specific sounds with specific spellings. Students often resist not knowing the meanings, but the minute you include meanings, the listening part goes away. Different brain pathways are in play. Bear in mind, however, that neuroscience and many decades of SLA study are clear on the fact that adults will not acquire very accurate pronunciation of foreign sounds because the brain of an adult language learner does not process unfamiliar sounds effectively and does not translate them into speech gestures ( i.e. pronunciation) accurately anymore. Thus accents. An interesting study on adult Japanese showed that adults COULD learn to say L vs r more accurately in a study environment, but could not generalize the new skill to informal conversation. Nonetheless, pronunciation experts ARE able to achieve improvement, if not perfection. There are LOTS of pronunciation aids out there- videos, software, etc--Rosetta Stone has a feature where learners can see a visigraph of what they say compared to a native model. Learners LOVE this and it apparently helps a LOT. I heard a terrific presenter at the ACE of Florida conference last fall who does adult ESL pronunciation improvement. She uses LOTS of minimal pair practice and she emphasized the fact that to achieve improvement, you must do 100% correction. That is, no error goes unnoticed and uncorrected. This is essentially what the study on Japanese did as well. Obviously, you must have your learners' buy-in to do that or they will cry in frustr ation. She does it as part of a pronunciation improvement course where learners are there precisely to have their speech corrected. Mirrors are GREAT, as are "whisperphones"--those devices which look like telephone receivers into which the learner speaks and can hear him or herself saying sounds. Adult learners typically cannot hear that they are not producing the sounds you want them to. Don't forget as well, that speech pathologists can help a LOT in showing learners how to place tongue and lips for more accurate pronunciation (as long as they do not characterize speech differences that are the result of first language differences as "speech impediments" or speech problems--these are normal speech differences.). I have urged for over 20 years that adult ESL should be working more closely with speech pathologists to help learners hear and pronounce better and to help determine if there really ARE pronunciation problems even in first language. Robin Lovrien Schwarz -----Original Message----- From: Ted Klein <taklein at austin.rr.com> To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List <englishlanguage at nifl.gov> Sent: Fri, 2 May 2008 9:47 am Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2295] Re: EnglishLanguage Digest, Vol 31,Issue 18 Emma, May I suggest that listening procedures in teaching vowel and consonant contrasts may be more important than pushing students into immediate repetition. A basic principle in phonological exercises of any kind is that listening and identification of sounds is of primary importance before attempting repetition. If a student can't discriminate the differences between two sounds, early attempts to produce them cause the students to hear their own voices and those of other class members nearby, reinforcing existing problems. Identifying numerically seems to be the easiest and quickest route. If students can't correctly hear the sounds, particularly vowel sounds, they really can't make them. One of the problems with English is that we have more vowel and diphthong sounds than most languages we deal with and they are produced closer together. For example, Spanish has only one high-front vowel sound, that of "piso" and it is between the English beat and bit sounds. I also have found that if we teach minimal pair listening in single words first, they should be followed by minimal sentences and then put into an open environment for speaking practice. Here is a sample exercise for the same sounds that you gave, in medial position. Notice that consonants after the vowels are different, because of the fact that in English syllable length changes according to the consonants that follow: beat (short) beef (half long) bead (long) and bees (very long). Try it. Most students have the most problems distinguishing the longer syllables. In Spanish, for example, all syllables remain short. Initial priority should always be given to the ears. MEDIAL VOWEL EXERCISE-1 & 2-Track 6 -/i/-1 -/I/-2 heat hit cease sis heed hid keen kin Lee's Liz bead bid It was a great heat. It was a great hit. I saw a cease fire I saw sis fire. We heed it. We hid it. They were keen. They were kin. It was Lee's. It was Liz. See the bead. See the bid. Don't hit it, heat it. Will your sis ever cease? We heed it and they hid it. I'm keen to know her kin. Liz is at Lee's house. We bid on the bead. Here are the procedures that I use with my students. Vowel numbers are permanent and used to identify sounds all of the time. Beat and bit happen to have the permanent numbers one and two: 1. Put the pairs of words and their identifiers on the marker board. Students are encouraged to copy these words in their notebooks, but are not given copies of the complete exercises. Students are encouraged to tape any exercises in class, rather than practice from the written language. My students receive an audio compact disk of all vowel sounds on their first day. 2. The instructor should repeat these pairs of words with numbers both horizontally and vertically for familiarization. Vowel numbers will remain consistent with numbers used in the vowel hatches. 3. The instructor will go to the back of the room and call out words at random for the students to identify numerically. This identification exercises can be done as both group and individual exercises. Example: HIT 2, HEAT 1, HEAT 1, CEASE 1, SIS 2, etc. If numerical errors are heard, call out the correct number. When a majority of the students are able to call the numbers correctly, change to double words at random. HEAT HEAT 1, 1, HIT HEAT 2, 1, HIT HIT 2, 2. HIT HEAT, 2, 1. etc. 4. After most of the students are responding accurately to the minimal pairs, switch to the minimal sentence pairs. These sentence exercises should all be performed without written reference. First repeat the sentences while the students listen. Next read the sentences at unpredictable random and have the students identify target words in a sentence environment numerically. This will be more difficult, but will help the students to hear the sounds in a real structural environment. Continue this exercise with the group and with individuals. Example: It was a great heat. (1) It was a great hit (2) It was a great hit (2), etc. 5. Finally give the students oral practice with sentences in which the target sounds are in free environments. "Don't hit it, heat it." Occasional corrections should be done gently, diplomatically and in good humor. If vowels 1, 3, 8 and 10 sound "flat" students can be instructed on how to make their mouth and throat muscles tense. To strengthen the oral and throat muscles takes time. Tongue twisters, "trabalenguas," which combine or emphasize target sounds, are useful and students often enjoy and memorize them. Vowel Numbers: 1 beat 2 bit 3 bait 4 bet 5 bat 6 bot (fly) 7 bought 8 boat 9 book 10 boot 11. but Diphthong Numbers 6+2 lied 6+9 loud 7+2 Lloyd Cheers, Ted www.tedklein-ESL.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Emma Bourassa" <ebourassa at tru.ca> To: <englishlanguage at nifl.gov> Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 5:41 PM Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2294] Re: EnglishLanguage Digest, Vol 31,Issue 18 >I believe it is Pronunciation Pairs that has illustrations, single word and short dialogue practice. For example there might be: > sit seat > bit beat > > etc. which is then worked into a conversation: > A: Bea, have a seat. > B: I can eat but can't sit. > A: Sit in the seat, and eat your meat. > B: No, I need to knit. > sorta silly but they do work for slow practice of moving the mouth and tongue around. > Pictures with mirrors so students can watch themselves works well. > e > > Emma Bourassa > English as a Second or Additional Language/ Teaching English as a Second Language Instructor > ESL Department > Thompson Rivers University > 900 McGill Road. P.O. Box 3010 > Kamloops, B.C. V2C 5N3 > (250) 371-5895 > fax 371-5514 > ebourassa at tru.ca > >>>> > From: Andrea Canter <lucidpandora at gmail.com> > To: <englishlanguage at nifl.gov> > Date: 29/04/2008 12:03 pm > Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2292] Re: EnglishLanguage Digest, Vol 31, Issue 18 > > Jenny, > > Eek! That's the issue I'm coming up against soon. The way I've been doing it > works with the roman alphabet (and easiest with just one native language in > the group). I have this book that has Spanish translations of English > vocabulary words. Then it has the pronunciation of the word spelled out in > Spanish phonetics. I just borrow those phonetics for any word I come across: > (ex. Raise your hand = reiz yor jand). Sometimes there isn't a sound in > Spanish that quite matches the one in English and I have to wrk around it > (ex. the word 'sit'.... there isn't anything in Spanish that sounds like the > 'i' in that word.... I told my class it sounds some where between 'eh' and > 'ee' and they got it). > > The thing with non-Roman alphabets is unless you speak the language, it > would be quite a task to do it that way. Then if you have people with > differing languages, it would be even worse. If all the people in your class > know the Roman alphabet, then I have a link to a website that has books and > workshops on a unique system to teach pronunciation with. I haven't tried > the method, but it looks really cool. Let me know if you want the address. > Hope this (any of it) helps! > > Andrea > > On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 12:00 PM, <englishlanguage-request at nifl.gov> wrote: > >> Send EnglishLanguage mailing list submissions to >> englishlanguage at nifl.gov >> >> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage >> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to >> englishlanguage-request at nifl.gov >> >> You can reach the person managing the list at >> englishlanguage-owner at nifl.gov >> >> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >> than "Re: Contents of EnglishLanguage digest..." >> >> >> Today's Topics: >> >> 1. [EnglishLanguage 2291] computerless ESL instruction >> (Jenny Hubler) >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Message: 1 >> Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:57:35 -0500 >> From: "Jenny Hubler" <JHubler at womenscenter.info> >> Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2291] computerless ESL instruction >> To: "'The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List'" >> <englishlanguage at nifl.gov> >> Message-ID: <001a01c8a937$d1da28d0$d600a8c0 at womenscenter.info> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >> >> Andrea: >> >> >> >> Could you give more details about how you teach pronunciation to speakers >> of >> other languages? We have many Latinos, also some Koreans and a student >> from >> Sudan. >> >> >> >> Jenny >> >> The Women's Center of Tarrant County, TX >> >> >> >> _____ >> >> From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov >> [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov <mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov?> ] On Behalf Of Andrea Canter >> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 3:58 PM >> To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov >> Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2290] Re: EnglishLanguage Digest, Vol 31, Issue >> 16 >> >> >> >> This is a neat concept, but if you're like me and teach adults in venues >> without computers there needs to be something else. Since my class is >> entirely Hispanic, I use Spanish phonics to help. For some sounds I have >> to >> go into further explanation because there is no Spanish equivalent, but >> for >> the most part it translates. This has worked SO well!! They have near >> perfect pronunciation instantly!! I'm getting ready to start a class with >> people from all over the world now. I have no idea how to address the >> issue >> with them- any suggestions?? >> >> On Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 12:00 PM, <englishlanguage-request at nifl.gov> >> wrote: >> >> Send EnglishLanguage mailing list submissions to >> englishlanguage at nifl.gov >> >> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage >> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to >> englishlanguage-request at nifl.gov >> >> You can reach the person managing the list at >> englishlanguage-owner at nifl.gov >> >> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >> than "Re: Contents of EnglishLanguage digest..." >> >> >> Today's Topics: >> >> 1. [EnglishLanguage 2286] Re: on-line dictionary with instant >> sound (Molly Elkins) >> 2. [EnglishLanguage 2287] Re: on-line dictionary with instant >> sound (Tom Zurinskas) >> 3. [EnglishLanguage 2288] Re: on-line dictionary with instant >> sound (Elkins, Molly (CR)) >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Message: 1 >> Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:06:33 -0600 >> From: "Molly Elkins" <melkins at dclibraries.org> >> Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2286] Re: on-line dictionary with instant >> sound >> To: "'The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List'" >> <englishlanguage at nifl.gov> >> Message-ID: <004f01c8a62d$8c7cafe0$be070a0a at dpld.org> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >> >> I think it is pretty interesting- >> >> My only concern is that it took some time to load the sound- even on my >> pretty fast computer, AND it has a British accent. Many of my learners >> have >> complained about media that is British instead of American pronunciation. >> >> Thank you, >> >> Molly Elkins >> Literacy Specialist >> Douglas County Libraries >> Phillip S. Miller Library >> 100 S. Wilcox Street >> Castle Rock CO 80104 >> Map >> Direct Phone: (303)688-7646 >> Alt Phone: (303) 791-READ >> Fax: (303) 688-7655 >> Email: melkins at dclibraries.org >> Web: www.DouglasCountyLibraries.org >> -----Original Message----- >> From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov >> [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov <mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov?> ] On Behalf Of Daphne Greenberg >> Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2008 3:00 PM >> To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov >> Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2254] on-line dictionary with instant sound >> >> ESL is not my area of expertise, so I don't know if this site is good, or >> if >> it is a site that everyone already knows about. A friend of mine >> introduced >> me to a site described as "An English Pronouncing Dictionary with Instant >> Sound" I tried it out with a few words, and it seemed like a great idea >> for >> learners struggling with pronunciation of specific words. They need to >> have >> some proficiency with English spelling in order to use the site because >> they >> need to write the word in order to hear it pronounced. >> >> The url is: http://howjsay.com/ >> >> I am curious what people on this list think about this site. >> >> Daphne >> >> Daphne Greenberg >> Associate Professor >> Educational Psych. & Special Ed. >> Georgia State University >> P.O. Box 3979 >> Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3979 >> phone: 404-413-8337 >> fax:404-413-8043 >> dgreenberg at gsu.edu >> >> Daphne Greenberg >> Associate Director >> Center for the Study of Adult Literacy >> Georgia State University >> P.O. Box 3977 >> Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3977 >> phone: 404-413-8337 >> fax:404-413-8043 >> dgreenberg at gsu.edu >> ---------------------------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Adult English Language Learners mailing list >> EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage >> Email delivered to melkins at dclibraries.org >> >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> Message: 2 >> Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:13:32 +0000 >> From: Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com> >> Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2287] Re: on-line dictionary with instant >> sound >> To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List >> <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>, cornell Kimble < cornell9 at earthlink.net> >> Message-ID: <BAY135-W4511FA4584E33E80584DDFD3DD0 at phx.gbl> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >> >> >> m-w.com is a marvelous dictionary that you can click on to hear words in >> US >> accent. The only nits I pick are what I call "awe-dropping" where the >> sound >> "awe" is replaced sometimes by "ah". Click on the word "flaw" to hear it >> correctly (note, the word "awe" is said "ah"). Another nit is that words >> starting with "ex-" are said to be spoken as "ix-" (so example is >> ixample). >> I don't think that is the norm in USA but perhaps UK. >> >> Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+ >> See truespel.com - and the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at >> authorhouse.com. >> >> >> >> >> >> > From: melkins at dclibraries.org >> > To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov >> > Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:06:33 -0600 >> > Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2286] Re: on-line dictionary with instant >> sound >> > >> > I think it is pretty interesting- >> > >> > My only concern is that it took some time to load the sound- even on my >> > pretty fast computer, AND it has a British accent. Many of my learners >> have >> > complained about media that is British instead of American >> pronunciation. >> > >> > Thank you, >> > >> > Molly Elkins >> > Literacy Specialist >> > Douglas County Libraries >> > Phillip S. Miller Library >> > 100 S. Wilcox Street >> > Castle Rock CO 80104 >> > Map >> > Direct Phone: (303)688-7646 >> > Alt Phone: (303) 791-READ >> > Fax: (303) 688-7655 >> > Email: melkins at dclibraries.org >> > Web: www.DouglasCountyLibraries.org >> > -----Original Message----- >> > From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov >> > [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov <mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov?> ] On Behalf Of Daphne Greenberg >> > Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2008 3:00 PM >> > To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov >> > Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2254] on-line dictionary with instant sound >> > >> > ESL is not my area of expertise, so I don't know if this site is good, >> or >> if >> > it is a site that everyone already knows about. A friend of mine >> introduced >> > me to a site described as "An English Pronouncing Dictionary with >> Instant >> > Sound" I tried it out with a few words, and it seemed like a great idea >> for >> > learners struggling with pronunciation of specific words. They need to >> have >> > some proficiency with English spelling in order to use the site because >> they >> > need to write the word in order to hear it pronounced. >> > >> > The url is: http://howjsay.com/ >> > >> > I am curious what people on this list think about this site. >> > >> > Daphne >> > >> > Daphne Greenberg >> > Associate Professor >> > Educational Psych. & Special Ed. >> > Georgia State University >> > P.O. Box 3979 >> > Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3979 >> > phone: 404-413-8337 >> > fax:404-413-8043 >> > dgreenberg at gsu.edu >> > >> > Daphne Greenberg >> > Associate Director >> > Center for the Study of Adult Literacy >> > Georgia State University >> > P.O. Box 3977 >> > Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3977 >> > phone: 404-413-8337 >> > fax:404-413-8043 >> > dgreenberg at gsu.edu >> > ---------------------------------------------------- >> > National Institute for Literacy >> > Adult English Language Learners mailing list >> > EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov >> > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> > http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage >> > Email delivered to melkins at dclibraries.org >> > >> > ---------------------------------------------------- >> > National Institute for Literacy >> > Adult English Language Learners mailing list >> > EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov >> > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage >> > Email delivered to truespel at hotmail.com >> >> _________________________________________________________________ >> Spell a grand slam in this game where word skill meets World Series. Get >> in >> the game. >> >> http://club.live.com/word_slugger.aspx?icid=word_slugger_wlhm_admod_apri l08 >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> Message: 3 >> Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:26:53 -0600 >> From: "Elkins, Molly (CR)" <melkins at dclibraries.org> >> Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2288] Re: on-line dictionary with instant >> sound >> To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List >> <englishlanguage at nifl.gov> >> Message-ID: <web-1497724 at bl-208.cluster1.echolabs.net> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >> >> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >> URL: >> >> http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/englishlanguage/attachments/20080425/1599a 44f/ >> attachment-0001.html< http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/englishlanguage/attachments/20080425/1599a 44f/attachment-0001.html> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> ---------------------------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Adult English Language Learners mailing list >> EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage >> >> End of EnglishLanguage Digest, Vol 31, Issue 16 >> *********************************************** >> >> >> >> -------------- next part -------------- >> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >> URL: >> http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/englishlanguage/attachments/20080428/af65b 6b0/attachment-0001.html >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> ---------------------------------------------------- >> National Institute for Literacy >> Adult English Language Learners mailing list >> EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov >> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to >> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage >> >> End of EnglishLanguage Digest, Vol 31, Issue 18 >> *********************************************** >> > ---------------------------------------------------- > National Institute for Literacy > Adult English Language Learners mailing list > EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov > To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage > Email delivered to taklein at austin.rr.com ---------------------------------------------------- National Institute for Literacy Adult English Language Learners mailing list EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage Email delivered to robinschwarz1 at aol.com ________________________________ Plan your next roadtrip with MapQuest.com <http://www.mapquest.com/?ncid=mpqmap00030000000004> : America's #1 Mapping Site. 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