Low-level students get discouraged when their attempts at using what they have learned fail because their spoken English is unintelligible. Because of this, pronunciation help must begin early, but there is only time for the most useful aspects. The presenter offers a priority list, along with practical techniques. The presenter demonstrates with videotape a variety of consonant and vowel sounds and intonation patterns. The people videotaped are of different ages and ethnic backgrounds and come from five different U.S. cities.
Standard pronunciation is discussed.
The presenter makes suggestions for incorporating the teaching of regional pronunciation into the curriculum. Discover that pronunciation teaching can be an enjoyable, rewarding experience. After briefly examining fossilization and L2 pronunciation acquisition, the presenters explore what teachers can do in practical terms to help students bridge this carry-over gap. The presenter first explains and demonstrates the major pronunciation trouble spots for Japanese EFL learners, then suggests several class activities that help learners develop their pronunciation skills. Although work with discrete vowels and consonants is covered, special attention is paid to prosodic features.