Teaching EFL/ESL Students Pronunciation of Nouns and Verbs

The phonetic chart. - my photo

Pronunciations of some noun and verbs which are spelled the same are tricky for students lesraning English. Here is a way to teach the differences.

As long as a native speaker understands what is being said by the non-native speaker however things are said doesn’t matter. At least that’s the accepted stance in the EFL/ESL world. However, students of EFL/ESL should be aware of the differences in pronunciation between nouns, adjectives and verbs, as pronouncing them correctly aids the listeners understanding and means that the non-native speaker is becoming proficient in the use of he English language.

One of the pitfalls in the English language is that there are heteronyms; words which are spelled the same but may have different meanings or pronunciations. The distinction between how we pronounce nouns and adjectives which are spelled exactly the same can be confusing.

Preparation for a pronunciation lesson

You will need to have a list of nouns and verbs which are the same and make a pod cast of them. Do this by saying words in isolation and give a long pause after each as this activity can be used as a game, explained below.

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Some nouns and verbs which are spelled the same

There are many more than these, but here are some to get you started, conflict, contest, contract, convert, convict, incline, insult, object, produce, present, protest, rebel, recall, reject, research, suspect.

Some, like excuse use the “s” sound in the pronunciation of the noun, but the “z” in the verb’s pronunciation, and you should think of some of these before the lesson as some students may come up with these as well. An example of an adjective and verb being pronounced differently is the word “perfect” with the adjective following the same pronunciation rule as the nouns listed.

The rule for pronunciation

Think about the word “insult”; the noun stresses the first syllable “in” whereas the verb stresses the second syllable “sult”. This is the rule; the stress falls on the first syllable in the verb form and the second syllable in the noun form.

Introduction to the lesson

Write “insult” on the board and ask students how it is pronounce. Generate some discussion between them regarding the “right” pronunciation, leading them to the conclusion that the only way to tell if the word is pronounced one way or the other is to hear the words in context. Give them a few more words and ask about the parts of speech they can be. Then ask them to come up with the general rule for pronunciation given above.

Read on 

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The pronunciation game

Divide students into groups or two teams and play the pod cast, asking them to note whether they hear a noun or a verb. They can just write 1 N for example to make this easier and quicker.

Award points and congratulate all involved.

Elicit sentences containing the words

Now write one of the words on the board and ask students to give you a sentence for the noun, then one for the verb to illustrate the correct usage and pronunciation.

When they have done this to everyone’s satisfaction, put them into groups or pairs and ask them to come up with sentences using both words. They can use the verb in any tense.

For example “Che Guevara was a rebel who rebelled against capitalism.”

Have each group read out their sentences, with a different person reading each sentence.

Extension activities

• You could ask the students to write a one act play using sentences containing these words, and then have them act it out.
• They could be asked to write some comic verses illustrating the differences in pronunciation of these words.
• Use the phonetic symbols chart and ask students to write the words in phonetic symbols. The chart hangs in many classrooms but is rarely used and this is a good way of illustrating how it can be useful to pronunciation.

Read more at Suite101: Teaching EFL/ESL Students Pronunciation of Nouns and Verbs http://www.suite101.com/content/teaching-eflesl-students-pronunciation-of-nouns-and-verbs-a322728#ixzz18zg7mWgi