Pronunciation Activities

Levels: Middle School, High School, and Adult students, Advanced beginners to low intermediate proficiency. Pronunciation practice is made fun and effective using 16 comical limericks illustrated by witty cartoons. Varied activities involve different skills and creativity. Individual, pair, and group work. This is an integrated skills student text involving speaking, listening, reading, and writing in each unit. The students work on the 40 different significant sounds of English (segmentals). The 16 units focus on the sound and spelling of the 16 vowel sounds of English. Students also practice the 24 English consonant sounds, although the work stresses the vowels, which are the most difficult segmentals to master. The students learn about the rhythm, phrasing, and melody (suprasegmentals) of ordinary English speech. By working with verse, the students naturally learn to distinguish and produce stress, reduction, linking, intonation, and rhythm. For the teacher and the students: A summary of the basic features of English pronunciation, Suggestions for using the text, Answers to all the exercises. An audio CD is available with the limericks and other readings.