Pronunciation Basics: Understanding & Addressing Pronunciation Issues in the ESOL Classroom (SE)

Description: “Teacher, I understand everything everybody says to me in English, but I can’t speak it.” “I know how to speak English, but when I try to talk to people, they say, ‘What? I don’t understand you.’” “I’m sorry. My English is bad.” Have your students said similar things to you? If so, this workshop may be helpful. We will discuss the reasons why students who seem to speak and understand English have such difficulty making themselves understood, and we’ll highlight some strategies for helping them to overcome that difficulty. Topics will include whether teaching phonics and teaching pronunciation are the same, and how pronunciation work can be easily built into any lesson with any group of students at any level—with minimal “prep” involved.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:

¨ Describe the source(s) of some common pronunciation problems experienced by their students

¨ Identify strategies, techniques and materials that will help English Language Learners improve English pronunciation