Seven "Secrets" to Improving Pronunciation

The importance of incorporating pronunciation in the ESL1 curriculum is highly underrated. Teachers tend to shy away from pronunciation activities. On the one hand, for most teachers, it is a matter of time management and curriculum requirements that force pronunciation to be pushed back or pushed out of the ESL classroom experience. For others, it is the belief that pronunciation must be taught in a formal, time-consuming manner that tests their abilities and skills. On the other hand, students need pronunciation instruction and welcome the opportunity to work on theirs. From my experience, ESL students look forward to the opportunity to improve their pronunciation to converse better with native speakers and teachers in the academic setting. Most students would welcome 3-5-minute mini-lessons that could help them communicate more effectively. Therefore, the knowledge that students want and need pronunciation practice should be a catalyst to inspire teachers to begin to find ways to incorporate pronunciation

instruction time in their classes. The good news is that teachers do not have to devote hours teaching pronunciation, but, just by allotting a few minutes a day to pronunciation activities, they can give ESL students the tools and resources needed to make continued progress on their own. This paper will uncover seven so-called \u0022secrets\u0022 educated speakers of English internally understand and can pass on to their ESL students. It also illustrates pronunciation teaching techniques that can be covered quickly without sacrificing vital classroom time. [Publisher's Text]

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