Pronunciation MAP

PRONUNCIATION MAP

Classification by Importance for Intelligibility (in international contexts)

Intermediate

Pre-Intermediate

Beginner

Elementary

Advanced

Intermediate+

Upper-Intermediate

• Long vs. short

vowels, eg. /pik/ vs. /pi:k/

• Aspiration of

initial voiceless plosives, e.g. /pʰ et/, /kʰi:p/

• Consonants

(exc. <th> sound) e.g. /vet/ vs. /wet/

• Consonant

clusters: initial and middle, e.g. /skri:n/, /ˈɒbstəkəl/

• /ɜː/ like in first

• Nuclear stress,

e.g. I didn’t BUY the car. I RENTED it. vs. I didn’t buy the car, but HE did.

• Adapting your

pronunciation

• Word endings,

e.g. /d/,/t/,/id/

• Sentence stress

• Connected speech

(elision: /ˌfɪʃ en ˈtʃɪps/)

• Word stress

/ˈkʌmftəbəl/

• Features of

connected speech, e.g. assimilation: /diʤu/

• Vowel quality,

e.g. /rʌn/ vs. /ræn/

• Intonation

• Weak forms,

e.g. strong /hæv/, weak /həv/, weak /əv/

Important for intelligibility(in international contexts): Focus on clear pronunciation (NOT ‘native-like’ pronunciation)

NOT-Important or NOT Useful for intelligibility

7 sessions + 1 (overview) + 3 individual feedback 'goes'

PRONUNCIATION course overview

• Aspiration of

initial voiceless plosives, e.g. /pʰ et/, /kʰi:p/

• Word stress

• Intonation

• Connected speech

(elision: /ˌfɪʃ en ˈtʃɪps/)

• Vowel quality,

e.g. /rʌn/ vs. /ræn/

• Often mis-

pronounced words

• Weak forms,

e.g. strong /hæv/, weak /həv/, weak /əv/

• Strong and weak

forms of prepositions.

• Consonants /v/ vs.

/w/ e.g. /vet/ vs. /wet/

• /ɜː/ like in first

• Homographs.
• Homophones.

• Sentence stress.

Questions.

• Vowel /ɒ/

• Foreign words

pronunciation.

• Silent letters.

• Features of

connected speech

• Vowels:short and long i as in ship vs sheep

• Consonant /f/

• Nuclear stress, e.g. I didn’t BUY the car. I RENTED it. vs. I didn’t buy the car, but HE did.

• Consonants /θ/

vs. /ð/

• Word endings,

e.g. /d/,/t/,/id/

• Consonants /r/,

/ŋ/, /h/.

• Vowels:short and

long u

• Br. vs. Am.

pronunciation