Graduation Thesis ★ June

How much pronunciation work should we do?

Pronunciation should always be at the back of our mind. Be ready to steer our leanrers when necessary, and weave the activities into the fabric of our lessons. Many of the actvities will only take 5-10 minutes. It is important that we do not allow mistakes to become fossilized with beginners, but correcting too much and too overtly is counter-productive.

pronunciation is not something the teacher can instil in learners; it is something the learners assimilate for themselves. As a teacher we are the initiator, but respect our learners' choices and encourage them to have a personal agenda for development and to express their feelings. Develop their autonomy by suggesting they can and should work on their own, at home and in the wider world. Finally, welcome initiative and listen carefully to any ideas they may have about their progress.

Even if we have too little time to do pronunciation exercises using Sound Box, consider that most of the activities are short and can be integrated with other work in class. Most of them are simple and fun. We will probably find that 10 minutes spent on one of these at the begining of or during a lesson will not only result in a great improvement in our learners' pronunciation, but willalso have a positive effect on their attitude to the language and how they relate to the group.