Adrian Underhill

Sound Foundations
Introduction to Teaching Pronunciation Workshop
This workshop takes you through how you could teach pronunciation using the
phonetic chart. The following is a quote from Adrian Underhill on the importance
of pronunciation.
Pronunciation suffuses all language activities
Pronunciation is prior to all other language activities. It is all-pervasive. Even if
you do not speak aloud, pronunciation is still at work. Think about this: When you
read, your inner voice may be saying, and therefore pronouncing, the phrases.
When you prepare to speak, an inner voice may be rehearsing the words, and
therefore of course the pronunciation. When you write, you may be saying the
phrases internally with your inner voice, and without thinking about it you are
practising your pronunciation. And what about when you listen? Well, in this case
your pronunciation is being tested all the time as you use sounds (and context)
to recognise and discriminate sounds and words from each other, identifying
them and fitting them into what you think is being said (and sometimes being
confused by them). There is a relationship between what you can say with your
mouth and what you can hear with your ears. Once you can say it, you can
probably hear it, so developing pronunciation improves listening. Pronunciation
affects everything!
What is most important as teachers is to realize that the chart is organized to
show places and manner of articulation. It can help you for example in raising
awareness about how the lips, tongue and jaw move to make different sounds.
You can isolate specific sounds Malay students have and focus only on those
problems. You might also use this to teach about the schwa and syllable stress.
Mr Underhill says he uses this chart with any age or level and he does not
teach them the symbols, but they pick them up. His aim is to raise
awareness of how the different sounds are made, the area around the symbol is
what is the focus because that is the place and manner of articulation. Students
though quickly pick up the symbols through practice.
1. What are the objectives of this approach?
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2. What techniques does he use?
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3. Which English is used?
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4. Does he teach the symbols?
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Adrian Underhill
Sound Foundations
Introduction to Teaching Pronunciation Workshop
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5. What does he say about making mistakes?
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6:00 Note what he asks the students to be aware of: find your mouth,
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Why does he use miming and gestures?
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Why does he not repeat and have students repeat after him many times?
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19:40

What does he do if a student gives a sound that is not quite right?

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21:40 He says the chart is a kind of map? Of what?
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The point is not for the student to keep repeating after the teacher. He wants
them to develop muscular memory, take a snapshot and feel the sounds.
30:31 What is he demonstrating?
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36:09 The Consonants First he demonstrates
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37:26 This is a sound Malaysians might have trouble with. What does he show
you need to do?
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Adrian Underhill
Sound Foundations
Introduction to Teaching Pronunciation Workshop
39:00 What two things stop the air.
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47:00 He begins to show how you can build _____________________________.
51:03 He begins to work on
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How can you help students hear syllable stress?
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What are some benefits of working with syllable stress?
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