11
254 1. Introduction This paper follows on Mosher (2019), which explores the teaching of pronunciation in university reading classes. In this paper, it was argued that due to the time constraints of once a week 90-minute classes and the lack of a class devoted to the teaching of pronunciation, it was best to focus on fostering intelligible pronunciation rather than the achievement of “perfect” or native speaker like pronunciation. For this purpose, it was concluded that the teaching of pronunciation in the broad sense (i.e., inclusive of prosody) should focus on the teaching and practice of good voice inflection (Harrington & LeBeau, 1996) and of English vowels sounds which are the loci of word and sentence stress in order to help students avoid the transfer of L1 suprasegmental patterns of stress, length, tone and intonation (Katayama, 2010). Following Nagasawa (1994), it was argued that read aloud practice was not only essential, but also a relatively easy starting point for the learning and practicing of both segmental and suprasegmental English pronunciation. Nagasawa further states using before and after audio recordings of students’ read- alouds is an excellent way to assess students’ progress and to motivate them to work harder to improve their pronunciation skills. The main focus of this paper is to describe a procedure for recording students’ oral readings on their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation instructional activities that are employed before the students record their oral readings. Second, a procedure for recording oral readings will be described. Next, the author will discuss instructional follow-up activities before offering conclusions. 2. Oral Reading Warm-up Activities When considering how to teach pronunciation, Celce-Mucia, Brinton & Goodwin’s (2010) list of ten approaches/techniques traditionally applied in the CLT (communicative language teaching) classroom is a good start. They are in brief: (1) listen and imitate: (2) phonetic training; (3) minimal-pair drills; (4) contextualized minimal pairs; (5) visual aids; (6) tongue twisters; (7) developmental approximation drills; (8) practicing vowel and stress shifts related to affixation; (9) reading aloud and recitation; and, (10) audio or video recording of learners’ production. To this point in time, the author has employed all but types (3), (4), (7) and (8). The textbook used for English Communication I and II is Essential Reading (Tennant, A., Miles, S. & Gough, C., 2015). In class, students regularly do some listen and repeat or shadowing practice with the reading passages in their textbook. Before they are asked to record themselves, they review the pronunciation of English vowels using the v-shaped vowel chart (Sells & Cosgrave, 1975; Mosher, 2019; See Appendix 1) with emphasis being placed on understanding the position and movement of the basic articulators (i.e., the tongue, lower and upper jaws and lips), the difference between long (or tense) and short (or lax) vowel sounds as well as well as the movement or lack thereof of the articulators when being A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach Pronunciation David M. MOSHER Key Words: teaching English pronunciation, read aloud, smartphone recording, English Communication I & II

A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

  • Upload
    others

  • View
    3

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

254

1. Introduction

ThispaperfollowsonMosher(2019),whichexplorestheteachingofpronunciationinuniversityreadingclasses.Inthispaper,itwasarguedthatduetothetimeconstraintsofonceaweek90-minuteclassesandthelackofaclassdevotedtotheteachingofpronunciation,itwasbesttofocusonfosteringintelligiblepronunciationratherthantheachievementof“perfect”ornativespeakerlikepronunciation.Forthispurpose,itwasconcludedthattheteachingofpronunciationinthebroadsense(i.e.,inclusiveofprosody)shouldfocusontheteachingandpracticeofgoodvoiceinflection(Harrington&LeBeau,1996)andofEnglishvowelssoundswhicharethelociofwordandsentencestressinordertohelpstudentsavoidthetransferofL1suprasegmentalpatternsofstress,length,toneandintonation(Katayama,2010). FollowingNagasawa(1994), itwasarguedthatreadaloudpracticewasnotonlyessential,but

alsoarelativelyeasystartingpointforthelearningandpracticingofbothsegmentalandsuprasegmentalEnglishpronunciation.Nagasawafurtherstatesusingbeforeandafteraudiorecordingsofstudents’read-aloudsisanexcellentwaytoassessstudents’progressandtomotivatethemtoworkhardertoimprovetheirpronunciationskills. Themainfocusofthispaperistodescribeaprocedureforrecordingstudents’oralreadingson

theirsmartphones.First,theauthorwillexplainvariouswarm-uporpreparationinstructionalactivitiesthatareemployedbeforethestudentsrecordtheiroralreadings.Second,aprocedureforrecordingoralreadingswillbedescribed.Next,theauthorwilldiscussinstructionalfollow-upactivitiesbeforeofferingconclusions.

2. Oral Reading Warm-up Activities

Whenconsideringhowtoteachpronunciation,Celce-Mucia,Brinton&Goodwin’s(2010)listoftenapproaches/techniquestraditionallyappliedintheCLT(communicativelanguageteaching)classroomisagoodstart.Theyareinbrief:(1)listenandimitate:(2)phonetictraining;(3)minimal-pairdrills;(4)contextualizedminimalpairs;(5)visualaids;(6)tonguetwisters;(7)developmentalapproximationdrills;(8)practicingvowelandstressshiftsrelatedtoaffixation;(9)readingaloudandrecitation;and,(10)audioorvideorecordingoflearners’production.Tothispointintime,theauthorhasemployedallbuttypes(3),(4),(7)and(8). ThetextbookusedforEnglishCommunicationIandIIisEssential Reading(Tennant,A.,Miles,

S.&Gough,C.,2015).Inclass,studentsregularlydosomelistenandrepeatorshadowingpracticewiththereadingpassages intheirtextbook.Beforetheyareaskedtorecordthemselves, theyreviewthepronunciationofEnglishvowelsusingthev-shapedvowelchart(Sells&Cosgrave,1975;Mosher,2019;SeeAppendix1)withemphasisbeingplacedonunderstandingthepositionandmovementofthebasicarticulators(i.e.,thetongue,lowerandupperjawsandlips),thedifferencebetweenlong(ortense)andshort(orlax)vowelsoundsaswellaswellasthemovementorlackthereofofthearticulatorswhenbeing

AReportontheUseofSmartphonestoTeachPronunciation

DavidM.MOSHERKeyWords:teachingEnglishpronunciation,readaloud,smartphonerecording,EnglishCommunicationI&II

Page 2: A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

255

stressed.Thistrainingemploystechniques(1),(2)and(5).AdditionalfiguresofthelocationofthetongueforeachoftheelevenNorthAmericanEnglish(NAE)vowelsand/r/,theshapeofthelipsandtonguemovementforthepronunciationofthethreeNAEdipthongsareprovidedforreferenceandvisualsupport(SeeAppendix2). Studentsalsoreviewandpracticethebasicsofvoice inflection.Theyareremindedthatvoice

inflectionmeanstochangeyourvoiceandthatusinggoodvoiceinflectionwillmaketheirEnglishmucheasiertounderstand.It isstressedthatforintelligibility,goodvoiceinflectionismoreimportantandrealisticthanperfectpronunciation.Studentsareremindedthat,inEnglish,wechangeourvoiceinthreebasicways:

(1)Stressimportantwords.キーワードに強制を付ける。(2)Stretchthestressedwords.強制される音節を伸ばす。(3)Pausebeforeorafterkeywordsandphrases,andattheendofsentences.Besuretopauseatcomas

(,),hyphens(-)andperiods(.)一時停止することによって意味を聞き取り易くなる。

Studentsreviewandpracticethefollowingexamplesadaptedfrom(Harrington&LeBeau,1996)withsomeexaggerationofthestretchingofthevowelsoundsfollowingNagasawa’s(1994)“threetimes”rule.Itisalsovitaltoremindstudentsthatstressedsyllables/vowelsaregenerallypronounced(a)louder,(b)longer,and(c)withhigherpitch.Furthermore,thelocusofEnglishstressisonthevowelandthepitchisnotstatic,butgenerallyhasaraisingandfallingpitch.Inthecaseoflong(tensevowels)thisresultsinresultsinvowelshifting(Celce-Murciaetal.,2010),thatis,themovementofthearticulators,whichdoesnotoccurinthepronunciationofJapanese.Thus,itisdifficultforJapanesespeakerstodoallthreewithsuprasegmentalphonemes,suchaswhenreadinganextendedtextaloud.Theauthorhasfoundthatstudentsparticularlyneedhelpinusingappropriateraisingandfallingpitchwhenstretchingstressedvowels.

Examples:

Stress: I’vegotabigdog.Stretching: No,I’vegotab-i-i-i-gdog.Pausing: No,/I’vegota/B-I-I-I-I-Gdog!

Studentsareinstructedasfollows:Englishstressalwayscomesonvowelsounds.Asingleunderline()indicatesmediumstress,andadoubleunderline()indicatesstrongstress.Thestrongerthestressthelongerthevowelispronouncedorstretched.Forpractice,trysayingthestressedvowelsoundsthreetimes(3Xs)longerthannormal.Finally,pausesareindicatedbyslashmarks.Asingleslash( / ) indicatesabriefpause,andadoubleslash(//)equalsalongerpause. Next,studentsaregivenpracticeinreadingselectedsentencesfromthetextbookwithgoodvoice

inflectionandexaggerated(3Xs)vowelpronunciation.Studentsrepeatand/orshadowaftertheinstructor,thenpracticeinpairs.Individualsareaskedtoreadsentencesaloudfortheclassandgivenfeedback.Then,thewarm-uppracticecontinueswithtonguetwisters,suchasthoselistedbelow.

Page 3: A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

256

Sentences:

1. I’ma / student //atOsakaUniversity. // I’m in the /middleofmystudies, /andmymajor isjournalism.

2. TheGreenMagic/TreeHouse,//inIndia,//istheperfecthotel/foranybody/wholikes/adventure.3. People /whogotothemoviesintheU.K. /cannowenjoyanewexperience/whilewatchingthe

movie//—4-D.

Tongue Twisters:

1. Thepeppy/puppy/ateallthepoppies.2. AreDanandDon/done/intheden?3. Howmuchwood/couldawoodchuckchuck/ifawoodchuckcouldchuckwood?//Justasmuchwood

/asawoodchuckcouldchuck/ifawoodchuckcouldchuckwood!

3. Read Aloud Recording Procedures

Afterdoingwarm-upandreviewexercisesasoutlinedabovestudentsaregiventhefollowing5-stepinstructions.Today,youwillpracticereadingaloudonereadingtextfromyourEssential Reading

textbook.Eachgroupwillbeassignedadifferentreading.Afterpracticing,youwillrecordyourreadaloudononemembersiPhoneusingtheVoiceMemoapp(ボイスメモアプリ).Attheendofclass,youwillsendyoursoundfiletotheteacherusingAirdrop.

Step1:Wewillmakefourgroups.Eachgroupwillgotoonecorneroftheroomtoensurethebestsoundqualitypossible.録音の質の向上を図るため,各グループは四方に離れてください。Step2:Eachgroupwillreadaloudonereadingfromthetextbooktogether.Eachstudentshouldreadabout5to6linesoftext.Decidewhoreadsfirst,second,third,etc.,andinwhatorder.音読課題:各学生は与えられたテキストから 5,6行程度を音読する。まず,読む順番を決めてから読む箇所を決めましょう。多少ダブルこともあるかも知れません。Step3:Practicereadingyourpassageatleastthreetimesuntilyoucanreaditsmoothlyandconfidently.Youshouldpractice simultaneously!Whenyoudonotknowhowtopronounceaword, check thepronunciationbyusingWeblio,theOxfordEnglishDictionary,oryourelectronicdictionary.YoumayALSOasktheteacherforhelp!自信を持ってスムーズに読めるまでに練習しましょう。順番関係なしに全員で声を出して練習してください。発音や語彙のアクセントが分からない時にWeblio,Oxfordや電子辞書の音声機能を使ったり,手を上げたり教員にでも聞いてください。Step4:ChooseonepersonwithaniPhonetorecordyourreadingtextaloud.OpenVoice Memoandrecord.Atthebeginning,clearlysayyournamethenreadyourlines.Example:ThisisTanaka.Read!YoumaypausetheVoice Memoaseachpersonfinishes.BesuretospeakdirectlyintotheiPhonemic.各グループはiPhoneを持っている学生を一人決めて,その人の電話で録音をする。録音の最初に自分の名前を言ってから読み初めてください。一人一人読み終わると一時停止してもいい。話す時直接にマイクに話してください。Step5:Whenyoufinishrecording,sendyoursoundfiletotheteacherusingAirdrop.

Page 4: A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

257

4. Oral Reading Follow-up

Afterthefirstattemptatrecordingstudents’oralreadings,theauthorlistenedtotherecordingsandmarked fiveorsixof themostproblematicsentences ineachof thereadaloudtexts. Inclass,studentspracticedre-readingthesesentenceswithbettervoice inflection.Theauthorfocusedonjusttheimprovementofsuprasegmentalpronunciationsinceitwasdifficultto identifyanycommonsetofsegmentalpronunciationproblems. Asanextstep, theauthorplans toholdsmallgroupplay-backsessionswithstudents.For

efficiency,theteacherwillconferencewithtwoorthreestudentsatatime.Studentswill listentotherecordingoftheiroralreadingwhilelookingatacopyoftheread-aloudtext.Theteacherwillthennoteproblematicareasandmodelbetterpronunciationforthestudentstoimitate.SpecificsegmentalerrorswillbepointedoutandlocatedonchartsthatsummarizeandclassifythemainfeaturesofNAEvowelsandconsonants(SeeAppendixes3and4).Aftersomepronunciationcoachingthestudentswillpracticereadingthetextagainontheirownbeforebeingaskedtorecordthemselvesagainafterwhichasecondfollow-upconferencemaybeheld.Overtime, it ishopedthatthiswillhelpboththeteacherandthestudentstobetteridentifyproblematicareasandleadtobettermoretargetedpronunciationtraining.

5. Conclusion

Oneunanticipateddiscoveryfromhavingstudentsrecordtheiroralreadingoftextswhichtheyhavestudiedinclass, isthat, ingeneral,theirpronunciationandvoiceinflectionismuchbetterthanwhenstudentsareaskedtoreadstoriesaloudinfrontoftheclass(c.f.,Mosher,2019).Perhapstheactofrecordingoneselfinjectsasenseofseriousnesswhilethesmallgroupsettingprovidesamorerelaxedenvironment. There isneedtodevelopavarietyofpronunciationexercises,suchasminimalpairspractice

withvowelsandconsonantsthathaveahighfunctional load(Celce-Murciaetal.,2010;Ueno,1998)andthatareknowntobeproblematicforJapaneseL1speakers.Suchpracticecouldbefollowedwithshort listeningdiscriminationexercises.Thensomeof thesamephonemescouldbereviewedusingcontextualizedminimalpairs;thatis,shiftingfromsegmentaltosuprasegmentaltraining.Theuseoftonguetwisters isyetanotherwaytoprovideusefulandenjoyablepronunciationandvoice inflectionpracticeinshortsessionsinEnglishclassesacrossthecurriculum.Suchpracticewouldaddvarietyandenablestudentstoreviewpreviouslytargetedphonemeswhileworkingonimprovingtheirstress-timerhythmatthesentencelevel. HavingstudentsrecordtheiroralreadinghighlightedtheneedtoteachEnglishpitchpatterns

bothatthesegmentalandsuprasegmental levels.Englishstressgenerallyinvolves(a)aloudervoice,(b)longerduration,and(c)higherpitch.Formanystudents,itseemstobethehigherpitchthatisthehardesttoachieve.Inadditiontoshadowingandrepetitionpractice,studentsshouldbetaughtsomeofthemajorintonationpatternsinEnglish,suchasthatforstatements,commands,Wh-questions,listingofinformation,high-lightingnewinformationandexpressingemotions.Providingvisualsupportforsuchinstructionandpracticewouldalsoseemtobeveryhelpful(SeeCelce-Murciaetal.,2010,andAppendix5). Moreattentionneedstobegiventotheneedsofnon-JapaneseL1speakers,suchasVietnamese

L1speakerswhoseemtohavemoredifficultywiththepronunciationofconsonantsandmayevendropvowelsounds(Dung,2014;Tan,2005).LearningtousingEnglishpitchandintonationpatternswillalso

Page 5: A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

258

presentspecialproblemsforsuchstudents(Nhung,2010).Fortheteacher,itisimportanttobeawareofsomethemajorlinguisticdifferencesbetweenEnglishandothernon-Japaneselanguages.1Itishopedtheuseofpronunciationconferenceswillalsohelptoincreasemutualawarenessofthemostimportantareastoworkon. Finally, in the future, theauthorwould like to collaboratewith otherEnglish language

teaching facultymemberstodevelopofasmallpronunciationmanual (c.f.,Padeo,2017) thatcouldbeusedto integratetheteachingofEnglishpronunciationandprosodypatterns inEnglishclassesacrossthecurriculum.Inaddition,itwouldbegoodtoprovidestudentswithamenuofon-lineEnglishlanguagelearningresources(c.f.,Shigesako,MosherandChapman,inpress)thatincluderesourcesforpronunciationpractice.OneexampleistheBritishCouncil’sdownloadableinteractivephonemicchart(Kumar,2015;BritishCouncil,2009).Linkscouldbeprovidedtofreeonlinevideosandpronunciationlessonsthatcouldbesimilarlyusedinsideoroutsideoftheclassroom(c.f.,SpeakMethod,2010),andtorecommendedinternetdictionariesandsoon.

References:

BritishCouncil.(2009).Phonemic Chart.RetrievedNovember24,2018,fromTeachingEnglish:https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/phonemic-chart.

Celce-Murcia,M.,Brinton,D.M.,Goodwin,J.M., (withGriner,B.) (2010).Teaching Pronunciation; A

Course Book and Reference Guide, 2nd Edition.CambridgeUniversityPress.Dung,N.T. (2014).Some Common Pronunciation Problems Facing Vietnamese Learners of English.

Retrievableon-lineathttp://125.234.102.27/handle/TVDHBRVT/15742.Harrington,D.&LeBeau,C.(1996).Speaking of Speech: Basic Presentation Skills for Beginners.Tokyo:

MacmillanLanguagehouse.Katayama,T.(2010).ASuprasegmentalThresholdforL2Pronunciation.Research Bulletin for English

Teaching, 7,1-23.Kumar,K. (2015).ProgressTracking;ImprovingEnglishPronunciationforJapaneseL2Learnersof

EnglishthroughGroupWorkandPeerReview.The Journal of Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies,19,37-46.

Mosher,D. (2019).Exploring the Teaching of Pronunciation in a University Reading Class.HijiyamaUniversityandJuniorCollegeKyoushokukatei Kenkyuu,5:149-157.

Nagasawa,K.(1994).AnAnalyticalApproachtoTeachingPronunciationtoAdultLearnersofEnglish.Research Bulletin for English Teaching, 25,93-104.

Nhung,L.T. (2010).ABriefComparisonofVietnameseIntonationandItsImplicationsforTeachingEnglishIntonationtoVietnameseEFLLearners.VNUJournalofScience,ForeignLanguages26,171-180.

Padeo,S.A.(2017).Speaking Training, 2nd ed.Baguio,Philippines:PinesInternationalAcademy.Sell,D.&Cosgrave,D.P.(1975).Pronunciation Manual for Japanese Speakers.Kobe:SeidoLanguage

Institute.Shigesako,K.,Mosher,D.&Chapman,D.(Inpress).An Investigation into Actual Conditions of English

1Intheauthor’steachingcontext,theothernon-JapaneselanguagesthatneedtobestudiedareChinese,KoreanandVietnamese.

Page 6: A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

259

Education in Korea and Taiwan.HijiyamaUniversityandJuniorCollegeKyoushokukatei Kenkyuu,6.SpeakMethod.(2010).PronunciationinEnglish500Words.RetrievedNovember24,2018https://www.

speakmethod.com/500wordsintroduction.html.Tam,H.C.(2005).Common Pronunciation Problems of Vietnamese Learners of English.VNUJournalof

ForeignLanguageStudies21(1),35-46.Tennant,A.,Miles,S.&Gough,C.(2015).Essential Reading, Level 1, 2nd ed.MacmillanEducation.Ueno,N. (1998).TeachingEnglishPronunciation toJapaneseEnglishMajors:AComparisonofa

Suprasegmental-OrientedandaSegmental-OrientedTeachingApproach.Research Bulletin for

English Teaching, 29,207-225.

Page 7: A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

260

Appendix 1: V-shaped Vowel Chart

Adapted from Sell, D. & Cosgrave, D. P. (1975).

Page 8: A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

261

Appendix 2: Vowel Quadrant and Lip Shape Visuals

Page 9: A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

262

App

en

dix

3:

Cla

ssif

ica

tio

n o

f N

AE

Vo

we

ls T

ab

le

Fro

m C

elc

e-

Mu

rcia

, M

., B

rin

ton

, D

. M

., G

oo

dw

in,

J.

M.

(2

01

0)

Page 10: A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

263

App

en

dix

4.

Cla

ssif

ica

tio

n o

f N

AE

Co

nso

na

nt

Ph

on

em

es T

ab

le

Fro

m C

elc

e-

Mu

rcia

, M

., B

rin

ton

, D

. M

., G

oo

dw

in,

J.

M.

(2

01

0)

Page 11: A Report on the Use of Smartphones to Teach …harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/hijiyama-u/file/12837/...their smartphones. First, the author will explain various warm-up or preparation

264

Appendix 5: Visual Support for Intonation Instruction

From Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., Goodwin, J. M. (2010)