Phonology
All words are made up of a system of sounds (phonemes) and phonology is the study of these sounds and how sounds combine to form syllables and words in a language.
Why teach phonology and phonemes?
Sounds are the building blocks of a language, and without an understanding of English phonological rules and patterns, ESL students are at a distinct disadvantage in the classroom from their native speaking peers.
Speakers whose L1 is not English have a difficult time learning the English sound system.
Speakers whose L1 is not English have a difficult time learning the English sound system.
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
The relationship between English spelling and its corresponding sound are often mismatched and inconsistent. The English language was described as "the world's most awesome mess" by Mario Pei. (Curzan and Adams 2010, 67). The IPA allows for a concrete representation of sound to symbol as English language learners begin to learn spelling and pronunciation.
Speech segments are divided into the two categories of consonants and vowels.
The relationship between English spelling and its corresponding sound are often mismatched and inconsistent. The English language was described as "the world's most awesome mess" by Mario Pei. (Curzan and Adams 2010, 67). The IPA allows for a concrete representation of sound to symbol as English language learners begin to learn spelling and pronunciation.
Speech segments are divided into the two categories of consonants and vowels.
Consonants
The sounds that consonants make in English are divided into 5 categories:
Vowels
The sounds that consonants make in English are divided into 5 categories:
- Stops (bat, rod)
- Fricatives (this, path, zoo, so, show, pleasure, happy)
- Affricates (chew, jury)
- Nasals (now, rim, thing)
- Liquids and Glides (long, will, scar, yellow)
Vowels
- Front (seat, sit, gate, egg, cat)
- back (root, wood, boat, off, rot)
- central (other, ago, rub)
- diphthongs (toy, dough, buy)
Teaching Strategies
Clapping game - as students pronounce words, teach them to clap out syllables or specific sounds on which the lesson is focusing (ie. nasals, stops, etc.)
minimal pairs - give students minimal pairs to practice rhyming sounds (cat, bat/ frog, blog)
rhymes - use rhymes and rhyming literature to teach sounds (ex. Dr. Seuss)
letter tiles - give students letter tiles to create words within a specific sound or spelling pattern
Clapping game - as students pronounce words, teach them to clap out syllables or specific sounds on which the lesson is focusing (ie. nasals, stops, etc.)
minimal pairs - give students minimal pairs to practice rhyming sounds (cat, bat/ frog, blog)
rhymes - use rhymes and rhyming literature to teach sounds (ex. Dr. Seuss)
letter tiles - give students letter tiles to create words within a specific sound or spelling pattern