Keys to Better Pronunciation

Introduction

To be confident in your own pronunciation you need to know not only how familiar English words sound but also how to pronounce new ones. It is also useful to practise sounds that may be more difficult for you. Unlike Chinese, each sound in English is represented symbolically in writing. English has only 26 symbols (the 26 letters of the alphabet), but these 26 symbols can make about 44 separate sounds. It is very important to learn to associate the correct sound with the correct symbol (phonics) so that you can pronounce most English words even ones you have never seen before. In fact,understanding phonics will help you read and spell words. In addition to phonics, you will also need to learn the stress and intonation patterns of the language.

Self-Assessment
To help you to assess your pronunciation, start with the, Clear Listening Test, found in "Clear Speech" (C.P.U.) written by Judy B. Gilbert. Alternatively, you may want to use the task reading a poem in the Pronunciation Pack. Both can be found in the ELSC Resource Room.

Suggested activities
To pronounce words, you can do any or all of the following:

• Listen to a model. A teacher or someone you trust can model new words for you. Pay attention to the ways people say words.
• Record a TV interview programme or radio programme and use it as a model.
• Become familiar with the pronunciation system used in your dictionary. It is usually explained in the first few pages. Make it a habit to check the pronunciation of new words in the dictionary.
• Learn phonics and phonetic rules and the relationship between spelling and pronunciation. Learn to associate the correct sound with the correct letter. For example, when a short word ends with e in a vowel-consonant-e pattern, we sound the alphabetical name of the vowel and omit the sound of the e, e.g. make, like, hope. For more details see the IPA Pack.
• Learn the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). Applying the knowledge of the IPA can help you to learn how words are pronounced. Pay particular attention to the sounds which are sometimes difficult for Chinese learners.
• It is also important to learn the difference between long and short vowels and the variations of vowel lengths before consonants. Learn where to put stress in a word and in a sentence. In speech each division of sound which contains a vowel is a syllable. Every word has one or more syllables.
• In the dictionary dots usually divide words into syllables. When a word has two or more syllables, one of them has more force, or stress. The syllable, which has the primary stress, is shown with a high mark.
• Practice saying a short sentence using correct intonation.