Pronunciation- Intonation

An Activity for Teaching Intonation Awareness to ESL/EFL Students

What we teachers are looking for are ways to generate conversation and communication in class-and hopefully beyond. Getting learners to say something-anything at all-in a conversation class is great, but it must be built on. One way to achieve this is by sensitising students to the conversational tactics they use naturally when talking in their native tongue: turn-taking, supporting, challenging, questioning, expanding on statements, and so on. They don't tend to use these when interacting in English.

Bringing Culture into the Classroom

For those currently teaching an EFL discussion or cultural studies course, the following unit is one way to engage university or adult students in a meaningful exchange which explores cultural values. While many textbooks do deal with culture and cultural values, supplementing these texts can create a richer experience.

Intonation - It Does Matter!

This is a fun, game-like activity that helps students see just how important intonation is.

Introduction

As ESL instructors we realize how important intonation is, but at least, often in my experience, students are skeptical that developing good intonation is crucial to being properly understood.  This activity helps them to see just how important intonation is.  Also, it is fun and works as a good filler, or "wake-up/attention getter" activity.

Practicing Pronunciation through Proverbs

Practicing pronunciation can be very tedious. Proverbs, however, will give fun. For example, when practicing "a", students will prefer reading "No pains, no gains" to some monotonous sentences such as "He looks pale today."

Checking into a Hotel in a Video-based Lesson

People often check in to hotels in the movies, so they are a good source of language models. In this activity, video is used to reinforce and consolidate student-produced language.