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Kang Guru Connection Bulletin	July-August 2005 Page 3

PRONUNCIATION

In the last edition of POUCH we mentioned the phonemic symbols. This time we have included a complete list of the symbols and example words to help you get used to the sounds. As you know, English words are often not pronounced like the spelling. This makes it very difficult to learn how to say a word correctly, unless you have heard it. Many learners of English find these symbols very useful with this problem. All good dictionaries will include the phonemic spelling of a word like those below between the two/slashes/. If you know the sound for each symbol, you can pronounce a new word quite easily.

Vowels

Consonants

Learning the Symbols

Teachers usually find that drilling games are a good way to help students learn the sound for each symbol. One example is to make up flash cards with each symbol on the front of a different card. Write the example word on the back of the card. Students then call out the example word followed by the individual sound as the teacher holds up a flash card. For example, the teacher holds up a card and the students can see i: so they shout out the sound of this symbol “eeee”. The teacher says that’s correct and then shows another card with I. This time the students shout “ih”.
When the students have practiced oral drilling like this many times the teacher can change to a writing activity. For example, the teacher shows the students the example word and the students write the symbol. Next, the teacher can show the students a symbol and the students write the example word and so on. Later teachers should use a similar activity to show and practice the difference between two similar sounds. The two sounds above i: and I are good examples of this.

BINGO is a really popular pronunciation game. Bingo seems a little complicated at first but it’s actually really easy. Students love bingo when they know how to play it. It is great fun.

Example one - bingo card for vowel sound

Example two - bingo card with phonemic symbols

Instructions:

The teacher prepares a list of words with similar sounds like those in bingo Example one. You will need 25 words or more.
The teacher or the students can make up bingo cards like the ones in Example one. Each card should contain 16 of the words on the teacher’s list. There should be one card for each student. The cards should not all be the same, if they are all the same ALL the students will win the game! But it’s okay for a couple of students to have the same card. The ones in example one are to practice vowel sounds.
When each student has a bingo card the teacher calls out the words from the list. When the students hear one of the words on their card they cross off that word. If they hear all the words in a line they are the winner. The line can be up, down, across or diagonal. If a student thinks they have won they have to shout “BINGO!”. The teacher can check to see if the student has heard all the words correctly by looking at their list of words.

Another good variation is if the students have bingo cards with phonemic symbols in the boxes instead of words (see Example two). The teacher calls out words and the students have to cross off the symbol for the vowel sound in the word, if they have it on their card. For example, if the teacher says “feet” the student cross off one of the i: symbols on their card.

In This Issue

KGRE Launch 2005 - July 9th

Clubs of the Month:

Pronunciation

Language Activity

Code Breaker

KGRE Radio Highlights for July - August 2005