Designing pronunciation instruction for a
specific group of learners
When the instructor has the opportunity and flexibility to tailor
instruction to a specific group of Learners, there are some steps
to guide the teacher of pronunciation.
Step one: find out who your learner's are and
what they need
Step two: find language that is relevant to your
learners to use as practice material
Step three: use these samples of authentic language to illustrate
and practice specific pronunciation features
Step four: provide frequent and sustained choral repetition
with body movement
Step five: give learners a chance to practice similar language in
less-control activities
Step six: record learner's speech for feedback
and review
Diagnostic evaluation
Diagnostic evaluation of pronunciation is a
means of determining a learner's level of
proficiency usually for the purposes of
screening or placement
Diagnostic tests of listening discrimination should test
learner's ability to distinguish both segmental and
suprasegmental features
Consonants and Vowels
the teacher can use minimal pair
discrimination exercises
word Stress
the teacher can ask Learners to choose the
correct stress patterns for words or sentences
in a text being read aloud
Prominance
these can be the same as the ones
used for word stress
Intonation
the learner could be asked to determine whether the utterance has
final rising or falling intonation the learner could be asked to identify
which intonation counter reflects what they hear
Reduced Speech
the teacher could use a cloze passage in which commonly
reduced and unstressed words have been deleted
Formal oral-proficiency testing instruments
TOEFL IBT Speaking
International English Language Testing System
Versant or Phone Pass
Interagency Language Toundtable (ILR) Oral
Proficiency Interview (OPI) Rating Scale
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
Proficiency Interview and ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
UCLA Test of Oral Proficiency
(TOP) for International
Teaching Assistants