Innovative Approach to Teaching Pronunciation: A Physical and Interactive Method

The speaker begins by introducing the audience to the 'Sound Foundations' approach, emphasizing the importance of making pronunciation a physical activity rather than just a mental one. The approach aims to move pronunciation from the head to the body, focusing on using muscles and making sounds visible. This approach also involves using mime with the mouth and gestures with hands to aid in making sounds visible to learners.

The speaker highlights a common challenge in teaching pronunciation, noting that it is often treated as a mental activity rather than a physical one. He mentions that phology courses at universities are typically taught as mental activities, which can hinder effective pronunciation instruction. By shifting pronunciation instruction to a physical and visible approach, the speaker aims to enhance learners' understanding and production of sounds.

The speaker explains his approach to using models in pronunciation instruction. He mentions three ways of giving models: silently demonstrating sounds with mime and gestures, saying the model once, and avoiding habit-making or repetition. The focus is on raising awareness and intentional sound production rather than rote repetition. The speaker emphasizes the importance of connecting the head to the muscles for effective pronunciation learning.

The speaker discusses the role of the teacher in providing pronunciation models. He states that the teacher's pronunciation serves as the model for learners, regardless of their country of origin. The teacher's sound is associated with the symbols on the chart, and students are encouraged to use these symbols as reminders of sounds. The approach does not focus on teaching symbols but rather on practical sound production.

The speaker divides phology into sounds, words, word stress, and connected speech. In the lesson, the focus will be on sounds, with some attention to words and connected speech. The lesson is designed to be suitable for learners at various proficiency levels, from beginners to native speakers. By working on sounds, word stress, and connected speech, the speaker aims to improve learners' overall pronunciation skills.

The teacher emphasizes the importance of circulation in using the chart for future lessons, encouraging mistakes as they are essential for learning. The method relies on mistakes to guide the teacher on what to do next.

Students are instructed to practice sounds with varying pitch and intensity, such as loud, high, squeaky, low, and rumbly, resembling the wind. The teacher guides students through different sounds to develop pronunciation skills.

Students are guided to observe and practice lip and tongue movements for specific sounds. They learn to differentiate between forward and backward lip movements, as well as the positioning of the tongue for different sounds.

Students are taught to recognize and practice lip rounding and spreading for specific sounds. The teacher emphasizes the importance of understanding how lip movements affect pronunciation.

Students are instructed to maintain contact with the tip of their tongue while practicing specific sounds. They learn to feel the movement of the tongue going back without external assistance.

The teacher explains the importance of muscle coordination in pronunciation. Students are encouraged to focus on the muscles in the lips and tongue, gradually incorporating jaw movements for accurate pronunciation.

The teacher demonstrates sounds using mime and gestures, emphasizing energy levels and sound length. Students are encouraged to mimic pulling and pushing sounds like plastic, creating an interactive learning experience.

The teacher highlights the universality of certain sounds across languages, making them accessible even to beginners. By focusing on visible sounds, students can grasp pronunciation nuances effectively.

Students are encouraged to listen to subtle variations in sounds produced by different individuals. The teacher prompts students to enjoy these differences and eventually choose a model sound to emulate.

The teacher instructs students to relax their jaw and tongue while producing specific sounds, emphasizing a relaxed posture and minimal effort. By maintaining a relaxed state, students can achieve accurate pronunciation.

The teacher refrains from providing a model sound, prompting students to rely on their internal reference for pronunciation. This approach encourages students to develop self-awareness and refine their pronunciation skills independently.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of teaching pronunciation techniques by focusing on muscular movements, sound positions, and their impact on the ear. Encourages learners to find their own muscular criteria for producing sounds rather than blindly imitating others.

The speaker instructs learners to take specific positions for producing sounds without speaking initially. This approach helps individuals connect with the muscles involved in sound production and develop muscular memory for accurate pronunciation.

Learners are prompted to practice pronouncing sounds without overthinking, emphasizing immediate action over analysis. This method aims to improve pronunciation by focusing on muscle memory and physical positioning.

The speaker demonstrates self-correction techniques by internally analyzing the difference between desired and produced sounds. Encourages learners to adjust their pronunciation by consciously shifting from one sound to another, focusing on lip and tongue positions.

Learners are guided through exercises involving different sounds, such as Spanish and English variations, to explore pronunciation nuances. Emphasizes adjusting mouth positions, tongue placements, and energy levels to achieve desired pronunciation variations.

The speaker uses physical visualization, like imagining an orange in the mouth, to help learners understand tongue and jaw positioning for specific sounds. Encourages learners to physically feel the adjustments needed for accurate pronunciation.

Demonstrates how jaw and tongue coordination affects pronunciation by linking jaw opening to tongue movement. Encourages learners to observe how jaw and tongue positions influence sound production, emphasizing the connection between physical movements and pronunciation.

Introduces a neutral pronunciation sound for learners to practice, focusing on maintaining a neutral position without altering the sound. Emphasizes the importance of neutrality in pronunciation practice to achieve accurate and consistent sounds.

Engages learners in an interactive pronunciation evaluation exercise where they point to sounds on a chart for assessment. Encourages peer feedback and self-assessment to improve pronunciation accuracy and identify areas for further practice.

The teacher emphasizes the importance of working with sounds close to uncertain ones to help students improve pronunciation. By demonstrating tongue, jaw, and lip positions, the teacher guides students in producing specific sounds accurately.

The teacher engages students in interactive learning by pointing at sounds and having students repeat them. This approach helps students develop a better understanding of sound production and pronunciation.

The teacher encourages students to actively participate by pointing at sounds and having them speak. This method allows students to practice pronunciation and receive immediate feedback.

The teacher focuses on helping students develop an internal sensation of sounds to aid in pronunciation. By guiding students to use muscular memory, the teacher enables them to find, retrieve, and remember specific sounds.

The teacher presents all vowel sounds together to help students understand and differentiate between various sounds. This comprehensive approach allows students to identify areas of uncertainty and confusion, leading to improved pronunciation skills.

The teacher discusses how different languages may have varying numbers of spaces within the mouth for sound articulation. For example, Spanish may have fewer spaces compared to English, requiring careful division of spaces for accurate pronunciation.

The speaker instructs to mix sounds by combining a little bit of one sound with a lot of another, followed by specific quantities like 60 and 40. The goal is to create a new sound by blending different elements together.

The speaker demonstrates how combining specific sounds results in a new sound, exemplified by the combination of 'a' and 'yeah' to create a new sound. This exercise aims to help students understand the nuances of pronunciation and phonetics.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of interactive learning by engaging students in physical activities to explore and understand the differences between various sounds. This hands-on approach enhances students' comprehension and retention of phonetic concepts.

The speaker engages students in a practice session to distinguish between different vowel sounds like 'i' and 'o'. By involving students in pointing out and identifying specific sounds, the speaker facilitates active learning and reinforces vowel pronunciation.

The speaker introduces consonant sounds by demonstrating the vibration and voice modulation involved in producing sounds like 'f' and 'v'. By explaining the mechanics of sound production, the speaker helps students understand the physical aspects of pronunciation.

The speaker guides students on tongue placement for producing specific sounds, such as moving the tongue back in the mouth to create distinct sounds. By focusing on the physical articulation of sounds, students can improve their pronunciation accuracy.

Sounds require obstruction to be produced. Different sounds are created by the meeting of two things, such as teeth and lower lip, teeth and tip of the tongue, tongue and hard ridge behind the teeth, tongue and palate. The movement of the tongue from front to back in the mouth influences the sound produced.

By sliding the tongue back further, a new sound is discovered where the tongue has no surface to press against. This sound is akin to a vowel and is distinct from the previous sounds produced by different tongue positions.

There are eight sounds produced in total, with four different tongue positions influencing the sound. The sounds range from plosive sounds to friction sounds, each created by specific tongue placements.

Nasal sounds are produced by stopping the air and allowing it to exit through the nose. Different sounds are created by varying tongue positions while maintaining the nasal airflow.

Multiple sounds share the same tongue position, indicating a limited number of distinct positions for producing various sounds. By manipulating tongue movements and positions, different sounds can be articulated.

The position of the tongue, whether the side is up or down, and the tip is up or down, influences the production of specific sounds. By adjusting the tongue's position, various sounds can be articulated effectively.

Understanding the subtle differences in tongue movements and positions allows for the differentiation of sounds, leading to the production of distinct phonetic elements. By mastering these nuances, learners can accurately articulate various sounds in different languages.

Students are taught to pronounce consonants accurately by making strong lip movements. The process involves gradually discovering all sounds to build words.

Students practice pronouncing English words by joining sounds together. They start with simple words like 'can' and progress to more complex words with multiple syllables like 'beautiful'.

Students learn to count syllables by using their fingers and saying the word aloud. The example word 'beautiful' is used to demonstrate syllable counting and pronunciation.

Word stress is emphasized as a crucial aspect of pronunciation. Students experiment with different syllables to identify the stressed syllable and understand how stress affects vowel sounds.

The speaker demonstrates playing with word stress by repeatedly saying the word 'beautiful' with varying stress patterns to help students hear and discriminate different stress patterns, understand how vowels may change according to stress, and prepare for connected speech and intonations.

Working on word stress helps in memory recall of words, as it acts as an energy distribution aiding memory. It also assists students in recognizing and remembering words better, preparing them for connected speech, intonations, and the rhythm of speech.

Learning to shift stress according to meaning helps students operate the intonation system and prepares them for connected speech. It allows them to understand the rhythm of speech and how stress affects the overall meaning and flow of sentences.

The speaker engages the audience in a storytelling exercise about a visit to Buckingham Palace, emphasizing the pronunciation of words with different stress patterns like 'photographs,' 'teapot,' 'scon,' 'corgis,' and 'crown.' This exercise helps in practicing stress variations and pronunciation nuances.

Participants are encouraged to pronounce words with different emotions like 'sorrow' and 'regret' to understand how stress and intonation change based on emotional context. The exercise highlights the importance of stress variation in conveying different meanings and emotions.

The speaker introduces variations in pronunciation based on social class, contrasting the pronunciation of words for 'red-blooded' and 'blue-blooded' individuals. This exercise showcases how pronunciation can reflect social status and cultural nuances.

Participants practice a royal pronunciation exercise, focusing on speaking with a royal accent and speed. The exercise aims to mimic the speech patterns and intonations observed in royal settings like Buckingham Palace, enhancing communicative skills and cultural awareness.