How to teach ESL pronunciation

ESL (English as Second Language) students often have pronunciation problems. Let’s discuss the reasons and improvement methods. This discussion is based on junior ESL students. Senior ESL is another topic and needs to be discussed separately.

There are several reasons for junior students’ pronunciation problems:

• Early stage input of pronunciation is inaccurate. Correct and native pronunciation is not accessible in the living environment;
• Students imitate native pronunciation but do not correctly imitate them;
• Students have not mastered the rules of pronunciation and spelling (phonics rules), and have no consciousness of following the rules of phonics when they read.

The first case of pronunciation correction will be more difficult than others. To avoid the first case from happening, teachers and parents need to ensure correct and native pronunciation input at an early stage. The latter two cases can be solved by learning phonics rules and practices. A student that knows phonics rules will classify the sounds he or she hears and applies the rules. When they sound the words out, the rules help them pronounce each word and syllables in a clear and full manner. Familiarity with phonics rules will also help students improve their listening skills. The process of listening is a process of identifying, familiarizing, and applying rules.

What teachers or parents can do to help:

• Learn phonics rules by starting from a single syllable. For example, blendings: bl and br. If students can’t distinguish them well, teacher or parent can help them read the two blendings until they feel the difference, and then to practice reading words with “bl” and “br” until they can be pronounced correctly
• Follow audios of native speakers. Slow down and imitate the tones and pronunciation. Teacher and parent can adjust the speed of the player to help.
• Read aloud independently. Pay attention to the rules of phonics when reading. Reading rhyming poems or rhyming short stories is helpful for students to apply and practice phonics rules in the process of reading aloud. Avoid read aloud before mastering the rules of phonics. Reading without correct pronunciation render no benefits.

In summary, for pronunciation correction of ESL, the most important thing is to ensure that students have native pronunciation input at the very beginning. Like in a car journey. If a car drives in the right direction from the beginning, even if there is a fork in the way, it can be adjusted to the right road in time. If you drive in a wrong direction at the beginning, the subsequent corrections will be time-consuming and laborious.

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