English Micro-Listening Lesson - Coalescence with /ʒ/
Channel: Davinna Artibey
Date: 2017-08-01

Improve your English listening skills by learning how sounds change or disappear in spoken English. 

This video aims to help English language learners hear how a final /z/ and initial /j/ sound in two words combine to a /ʒ/ sound due to a feature of connected speech called coalescence.

For more information on the phonetic symbols used in the video, please check out the Interactive Phonemic Chart: http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/pronunciation/phonemic-chart-and-app/interactive-phonemic-chart-british-english/

Special thanks to Carlos Sbai for making his video available for re-use with a creative commons license: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTdGBUKKFeU 

Notes for teachers:
This series, inspired by ELT author John Field,  is intended to develop bottom-up listening skills in pre-intermediate through advanced level English language learners. It is most suitable for students who need to interact with native English speakers in settings such as  ESOL, EAP or international business. The examples are drawn from high frequency words and collocations. While contextualization is usually ideal, the exercises here are intentionally decontextualized so that learners rely only on their ears instead of any top-down listening strategies. That said, these are intended to supplement comprehension-based listening lessons that incorporate top-down listening strategies since both bottom-up and top-down listening skills are necessary for effective learning.

Pauses are built in to this lesson so that your students can compare answers in pairs and/or the class can discuss certain segments. During the written dictation and  listen and repeat segments, since this is not a spelling or pronunciation lesson, approximations are acceptable. A learner might be able to recognize a particular sound even if they can't pronounce or spell it correctly.

The "Your turn" and "Real world challenge" sections can be used as homework.