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Pronunciation is a large part of speaking a language that can often be neglected by teachers. Students are just as concerned with learning proper pronunciation as with any other aspect of learning a language, as it plays a vital role in understanding what is being communicated. It is essential for a good teacher to be able to address pronunciation with the students to the degree that fits the students. The language level and confidence of the students can be informative for the teacher, as pronunciation can be taught as a whole lesson or parts of other lessons.
Phonology is the study of individual sounds and their physical properties. Sentences and words all have their own intonation, stress, and rhythm. These patterns can indicate underlying meanings of sentences.
Intonation refers to the variation of pitch in a whole sentence. The direction of the intonation can let the listener know when it is their turn to talk or not and the attitude or message of the speaker. The normal patterns in English are rise/fall and fall/rise.
In English we tend to stress individual words and more so, certain syllables of words. The stressed word of a sentence can dictate its meaning. For example "I wanted to eat your lunch today" can have a different implication depending on the stressed word in the sentence. Two simple rules about stress are: there is only one stress in any given word and we only stress syllables not individual letters.
The Phonemic Alphabet is an internationally recognized system of symbols that are meant to represent the consonant and vowel sounds in English. It is important for the teacher to be familiar with the Phonemic symbols because the students may find them helpful or be familiar with it already.
Articulation happens through a combination of two things, the place of articulation and the manner of articulation. The place of articulation is the organ used to produce a sound. The places are as follows; velar, or the soft palate in the back of the mouth; palatal, which is the center of the roof of the mouth; palatal-alveolar, which is the area of the roof of the mouth plus the ridge behind the teeth; alveolar, the ridge behind the teeth; dental, where the tongue would be placed between the teeth; and labio-dental; using the teeth and lips in conjunction to produce a sound; bilabial; using both lips to create the sound; and glottal, a sound that comes only from the throat.
The manner of articulation is defined by six descriptors. Plosive are sounds that are made when air is blocked and then released in an explosive way. Fricative are sounds that are made from air being pushed through a small space, creating friction. Nasal sounds are created when air is only able to escape through the nasal cavity. Lateral sounds are made from air escaping from the side of the tongue. Affricate sounds are a combination of plosive and fricative sounds. Approximant sounds are created by narrowing the vocal tract and placing the tongue near a different part of it.
The teacher can use visuals such as drawing or gesturing and emphasizing parts of words with your own mouth to help students understand the manner and place of articulation. Gestures, drawing arrows or markings, humming and singing are all ways that a teacher can emphasize intonation and stress of a sentence.
