Teaching pronunciation with ICT

• To begin…

Let’s have a look at the TPACK framework to understand that ICT comes after pedagogical decisions. Technology in the classroom is welcome as long as we have a clear learning goal.

• To follow…

I invite you to revise the main questions around teaching pronunciation What to teach? Why? When? How? Have a look at the following Prezi.

• Now, the tools!

👉 To help recognize and remember sounds

Phonemic chart

The British Council offers an interactive phonemic chart. If you click on the symbols, you can hear the pronunciation. If you click on the little triangle, you can see examples of words that include the sound.

Phonemic chart by Adrian Underhill

There’s another interactive phonemic chart based on the one designed by Adrian Underhill. You can choose a symbol, hear the sound and an example of a word with that sound.

Pronunciation apps & websites

There are lots of applications and websites that offer exercises and quizzes to practice pronunciation. Explore them:

• Exercises and quizzes by ESL Tower
• 9 best online resources at Busyteacher.org
• Vocabulary quizzes and practice at Manythings.com
• Sounds, the pronunciation app by Macmillan
• Spell up by Google

👉 To extend listening time & practicing beyond the classroom

Most tools that will help our students with pronunciation are called text-to-speech, or TTS for short. Basically, we type in text and the application or website reads it aloud. Some are very good, others are still working on that. The pronunciation is usually accurate but they don’t have intonation patterns, which makes them good for sounds rather than whole sentences. Let’s see some examples:

Talk it

This is a text-to-speech application. It is very simple to use and it works without internet. If you type in text and click on “Talk it”, you can hear words or phrases pronounced in different ways. You can choose the personality of the speaker, speed, pitch and other features.

SitePal

This is a text-to-speech demo by Oddcast Technology. It is available online. It is very simple to use. If you type in text and click on “Say it”, you can hear words or phrases pronounced in different ways. You can choose the speaker’s gender and nationality; as well as other features.

Google translate

When using the translator, both the website and the app, you can click on the loudspeaker icon and hear sounds. It is also possible to say something aloud, as if dictating, and check whether the pronunciation is clear.

👉 To create with pronunciation

Audacity

This is an application to record and edit sound. It is free and quite easy to use. You can record your voice, add sound effects and combine with music or sounds. It is a very good option for story-telling with sound effects. It shows stress and intonation visually, which makes it a good aid for students to understand rhythm and pitch.

Vocaroo

This is a voice recorder available online. It is free and very simple to use. Once the audio is recorded, it can be downloaded as an MP3 file, sent by email or shared online.

Voki

This website offers talking avatars and you can also record your voice. It’s a good tool to listen to texts read aloud with different avatars and it can be used to record your voice to practice pronunciation and reading aloud. Sign-in is required.

That's all for now!

Feel free to share your experience here :)

Lemon & ICT

A couple of weeks ago, I started a seminar on using technology in the EFL classroom. To begin, I compared the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) with lemon… they have a lot in common :)

Lemon is sour – really sour. Our reaction when we try lemon for the very first time is usually that of rejection  However, many of us get over it and decide that it isn’t that bad after all… there’s something good about it.

Lemon is delicious. There certainly might be people who disagree but, to me, food with lemon tastes good: lemon pie, lemon icecream, lemon filled sandwich cookies, tea with lemon… and it’s just not the same without the lemon.

Lemon is invisible. We can’t really say it’s a staple food. In fact we have it as something that is there but unnoticeable, something that enhances flavor but doesn’t prevail. Lemon is invisible to the point that we wouldn’t decide to prepare a certain recipe just because we have lemon at home.

Lemon is ubiquitous: it’s everywhere. Not only do we know lemon as something we can eat and drink, but we also see it in detergents, perfumes, air fresheners, bleach, deodorant and a long list of products.

Lemon is personal. Although we can admit that a lot of people add lemon to food, there’s no rule as to what goes well with it… soup, “empanadas”, soda, alcoholic beverages, “milanesas”… No doubt this is a personal choice.

Lemon is necessary. When someone tends to be anemic, like me for example, it’s common that the doctor recommends that you have your meat with lemon since it helps absorb iron. Lemon is good for sore throats, to remove stains, to lose weight, and so on.

I believe that ICT and lemon have a lot in common. Our first reaction when we’re faced with a new app or digital tool may be that of rejection. But once we get used to technology, we learn to do things we wouldn’t have dreamed of doing before. Just like lemon, ICT is –or should be– invisible, it's a means to an end. Just like lemon, technology is everywhere. The way we use ICT is personal; we decide when to use it, what for and how. Finally, technology is necessary for students that were born in a digital era and learn in new ways.

Originally posted in Spanish http://edu-did-tic.blogspot.com.ar/2015/04/las-tic-y-el-limon.html 

Unexpectedly interesting

It happened in my English class at high school, a couple of weeks ago, in a group of about 30 students, false beginners, aged 16-17. I had planned to deal with a song but there was a problem with the audio system so... plan B!!!

I told students I was going to read 10 sentences about myself and they had to guess if they were true or false. It was at the beginning of the school year and they didn't know much about me, so it was just guessing, using their intuition or finding out if I was lying. The sentences were simple, such as "I'm married", "I have a cat and a dog", "I live in big house", and "I don't smoke". I read, they listened, they helped each other understand what I was saying and they guessed. And we checked.

Surprise #1 It was fun checking and they were able to see how good they are at guessing, how intuitive they are... We got to know each other through a bit of English. It's amazing to see how gossipy high school students can be! 

After that, I asked them to do the same, only shorter. They had to write 5 sentences about themselves, mixing true ones and false ones. I walked around, helping those who seemed to need it. When we started checking, I asked one student to read her sentences aloud and I told the rest that I was going to guess. And so we did.

Surprise #2 I can still see their faces, wondering whether I would be able to get it right, waving and nodding to help me out. They wanted me to guess, they really did. They seemed to enjoy the activity, and so did I. 

And it didn't stop there! I asked another student to read her answers; this time she had to choose another classmate to guess, someone who wasn't so close and didn't know the answers beforehand. She read, somebody else guessed, we all listened.

Surprise #3 They wanted to listen and they wanted to read their sentences aloud. I could tell they were making an effort to understand and be understood. And they wanted to know about the one who was reading.

That day, only 6 students were able to write the 5 sentences and volunteered to read them aloud. And it was enough; it was meaningful, interesting and memorable. It helped me remember their names and learn about their interests and who they are. 

The activity was really simple, the language involved was right for their level. Pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar were not a problem. They managed perfectly well; they practiced a bit of listening, speaking and writing. Plan B had turned out to be unexpectedly interesting; I had underestimated how much they want to know about me, how much they want me to know about them and how much they want to know about each other.

@CarolaClerici

 Explore:

• Dogme by Wikipedia
• Dogme on Scott Thornbury's blog