Pronunciation

On this page: useful materials, needs analysis, common problems, planning, and testing.

Useful Materials

• How to Improve your Pronunciation - by the ELSC staff
• Videos and Sounds of difficult symbols ( ð æ/e v/w I/i: l/r etc.)
• Cute diphthong game - add vowels together on a calculator and watch the face pronounce the diphthong.
• Correct pronunciation of the English alphabet - no more "l-o", "r-o" or "ezed"
• Video Programs on Pronunciation from Chinese University

Phonetics - for advanced level students of pronunciation

• Phonetic Vowels of British and American English
• Stirling University's on-line phonology course. This course has been designed as a self-access course for all those interested in learning the script and identifying the sounds of the phonology of R.P.(Received Pronunciation).
  The course is designed so that either native or non-native English speakers can achieve quite a sophisticated understanding of the basics of phonology.
• Learning Oral English On-line - dialogues to listen to and practise (a bit slow!): Early Intermediate+-
• Impact! On-line - an interactive news magazine (has audio for pronunciation).

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Needs Analysis

There are four stages in needs analysis: what you need to know about a language, your present problems, your future needs, your needs for your course.

Problems

Make a list of the problems that you have about pronunciation, and the situations where you have these problems. For example:

Example Problem: I'm nervous when I am speaking English. I am worried that I will make a mistake and other people will laugh at me. (Click here for advice.)

Future Needs

Think about what English you will need in future, for example for your job. Here are some examples:

Example Future Need 1: I will need to speak in meetings.

Example Future Need 2: I will need to give presentations.

Example Future Need 3: I want to work for an international company, so my English, including my pronunciation, must be very good.

Needs for Your Course

If you are a student you probably need to study English to help you with your course work; eg. for writing assignments. Some example needs are:

Example Course Need 1: I need to speak in seminars and lessons.

Example Course Need 2: I need to do a presentation on my final year thesis.

(Click here to see the English courses that most full-time HKPU students do.)

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Planning

You need to decide:

• what materials and resources you want to use
• whether you want to work alone or with other people
• when you want or need to finish studying; eg. in time for an assignment deadline
• how much improvement is necessary

Materials and Resources
Materials can be books, handouts, videos and computer programs on pronunciation
Resources can be teachers, classmates, computers, learner pathways, etc.

Working Alone or With Other People
Reasons for working with other people on speaking are:
- You can't learn pronunciation alone, you need to talk to someone
- People can suggest improvements
- They can tell you if you make a mistake
- They can encourage you to do better
- You can share your thoughts and feelings

Reasons for working alone are:
- You can't find anyone to speak to
- You don't want to pick up mistakes from other learners

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Materials

Click here to go back to the list of pronunciation materials on the Internet at the top of this page.

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Testing

You can test your pronunciation skills yourself, with classmates, with a CILL tutor or with a teacher.

Testing Yourself
Record yourself speaking some of the common phrases you can find in the CILL pronunciation materials. Then check in the materials to see if you are correct.

Testing with Classmates
Practice your speaking with your classmates; e.g. practice giving part of a presentation. Discuss your pronunciation mistakes with your classmates. If you are not sure if something is right, check in a dictionary. CILL has a dictionary on CD-ROM with recordings of how to pronounce the words. To test yourself, you can video yourself, and then watch the video, looking for mistakes in the things you have learned.

Testing with a CILL Tutor
Give a tape or video of your pronunciation to a CILL tutor. It is very important to tell the tutor what you have been learning so that they can assess that. If you would like suggestions for other things to improve, please ask. CILL tutors do not believe that it is good to correct everything because we know you are not studying everything about pronunciation, that would take a long time. We believe it is better for you to work on one small area of pronunciation at a time.

Testing with a Teacher
Your English teacher will probably give you assignments such as a presentation or a interview, and give you feedback on your pronunciation in these assignments. Read the feedback carefully, and use it to improve next time.

Further Planning

When you have finished your plan you need to test or assess yourself to see if you have fulfilled your need. Can you do what your Needs Analysis and your plan aimed for?
- If you can, then you can plan to learn another point from your Needs Analysis, or you can change it because of some new thing that you want to learn. Don't forget to come back and revise later.
- If you can't, you need to study more, so change your plan. You could, for example, do some of the Alternative Materials or Extra Materials if you are following a learner pathway. If you are bored you can do something else and come back later.

For more details on how you can test yourself, click here. The learner pathways also have details on how you can test yourself. Click here for an example.