Perfect pronunciation?

Clip art: 

Clker

There are any number of ways to do that, of course. ("Per'fect" it, that is!) One place I would generally not begin with beginners or upper beginners, however, would be at the Merriam Websters Learner Dictionary and its "Perfect Pronunciation Exercises."  As noted in earlier posts, one place I might start however, one of my favorites, one very compatible with AH-EPS, is at English Accent Coach. The "difference" between the two sites is instructive. One begins with listening to words in sentence context; the other, begins with the sounds themselves, leads learners through a series of exercises (and games) and then extends to the sounds in words, etc. The EAC model is a good one, whether you use that specific site or do the same within your listening/pronunciation syllabus/curriculum. Most of the traditional pronunciation packages did something similar but did not have the technology available to make it fast and efficient, as does EAC.

Now EAC will probably not entirely agree with me that embodying them first gives learners a much better "touch" for the vowels of English, before they play the game there, but give Professor Thomson a break . . . he's listening.

So, once you finish Module 3 in AH-EPS, send your students over to EAC for some very fine, fine tuning. 

Perfect form in pronunciation teaching

(Note: Stress is on the 2nd syllable of the first word in the title of this post!) Probably the best way to "grasp" (to use our favorite haptic metaphor) the place of form in both learning and memory is to use your favorite sport or musical performance "instrument," the one you have some extended experience with, the one you learned or seriously worked at from scratch. Mine, as you may have guessed, is running. This 2004 article from Runners World on perfect running form, with a "touch" of analogical extension could apply equally to any physical art (See recent post on pronunciation work as art form.) The categories of attention management are:

Photo credit: Runners World

• "Head Tilt . . . ahead naturally . . . scan the horizon . . . Don't allow your chin to jut out."
• "Shoulders . . . should be low and loose . . . remain level "
• "Arms (and hands) . . . When you feel your fists clenching or your forearms tensing, drop your arms to your sides and shake them out for a few seconds . . ."
• "Torso . . . If you start to slouch . . . take a deep breath and feel yourself naturally straighten . . . "
• "Hips are your center of gravity, . . . think of your pelvis as a bowl filled with marbles, then try not to spill the marbles by tilting the bowl." (Losing your "marbles" lately?)
• "Legs/Stride . . . your feet should land directly underneath your body . . . your knee should be slightly flexed. . . " 
• "Ankles/Feet . . . Keep your ankle flexed . . . roll onto your toes . . . feet should not slap loudly . . . springy and quiet." (I love those last two descriptors!!!) 

clip art: Clker

One of the "challenges" for us haptic-integrating instructors, of course, is presenting a"visual speaking" model such that our body rhythm and posture present an appropriate model for students, not just in anchoring but in all classroom engagement and discourse. No need to be perfect, of course, but we should always be working on perfecting it, along with our students. Check with your mirror or your latest moving video of yourself in the classroom.