Making Pronunciation Fun for ESL Students

"Repeat after me" can get old after a while if you're an English language student. It can become annoying to hear for anyone learning another language. Sitting in a classroom of people that are all learning the same language, some of whom are at the same level as you, and some of whom have a different native language can be frustrating at times for students. It can get even more so when students are having to learn pronunciation.

Pronunciation is not known to be the most exciting of all areas to focus on when learning English. There are so many nuances and subtleties, consonant and vowel differences between English and other languages, and other potential problem areas that many students are apt to shy away from pronunciation exercises. Couple this with the fact that pronunciation lessons are often boring, and you may find that your class of ESL students are anything less than engaged in the pronunciation lesson you're presenting.

Below is a quick review of three of the many pronunciation games that English as a Second Language teachers can use in their classrooms. These games can give the teacher of a multilingual and multi-level classroom the opportunity to see which students need help in which particular areas of pronunciation. They are focused mainly on learning the specific consonant and vowel sounds of the English language rather than on stress and intonation. The links in this article can provide some ideas for teachers teaching stress and intonation to their students.

1.) David Dalton uses a drawing exercise to help students become more aware of the specific sounds that they are apt to confuse when they hear English. The teacher instructs students to draw a sheep on the board, then to draw a "P" above it. Students are then told to use the "P" to start the word "Pleasant" on the board. Then students write "light" next to "pleasant." A mouse is then drawn next to "light," and a pear is drawn next to the mouse.

The differences in the pictures at the end of the exercise will be obvious, especially in an multilingual classroom. For instance, native Spanish speakers might draw a ship instead of a sheep, and Arabic speakers may draw a bear instead of a pear.

2.) An activity from the British Council helps students to listen more accurately when a specific sound is used in English. First, students are split into teams. A short passage or sentence is read to the students. The passage or set of sentences should contain the sound that is the focus of the lesson either once, twice, three times, or not at all. Team members confer among themselves to decide how many times they heard the sound in the passage or sentence. Teachers can read a few passages or one sentence at a time to give the students a few opportunities to practice listening for the sound. Points can be awarded to the team that heard the sound the correct amount of times.

3.) Alex Case suggests a pair work game for students that focuses on listening for same or different words. One student in the pair is given a sheet with one set of words and sentences using those words, and the other student is given another sheet that has words and sentences to compare to those on the firs student's sheet. These sheets are not shared until the end of the activity. One student will read his or her word out loud, and then the other student does the same. The pair then decides if the pronunciation of the two words is the same. Students can use the context of the sentences they have on their individual sheets to help them decide of the words are different if they need some extra help. When students have worked through their lists of words and sentences, they can read out the spelling of each word on their lists and see which ones they read and heard correctly.

These are only three of many pronunciation games and activities out there to liven up pronunciation lessons. Check out the sites where these activities came from to get some more engaging ideas for your next pronunciation lesson. Keep it alive and fun!