Exercises aimed at forming pronunciation habits

Exercises for pronunciation habits forming comprise exercises in: a) reception; b) reproduction; c) production. All three kinds of exercises are closely connected.

a) Reception process should be active, that is why drills in listening have to be combined with definite tasks concentrating students’ voluntary attention on a certain phonetic phenomenon. Drills of such a type allow for forming auditive stereotypes of words and intonemes and help auditive control development. They may be done both by ear and on the basis of the printed material.

Assignments for exercises in listening (by ear):

· Listen to the following words (sounds). Raise your hand when you hear the sound [...].

· Listen to the sentences. Raise your hand when you hear an interrogative sentence.

· Listen to pairs of sentences and define how many syntagms (stressed syllables, bars) there are in each pair.

· Listen to the sentences and say how many times the sound [...] was heard, etc.

Assignments for exercises in listening based on printed material:

· Underline a sentence (word, word-combination) the teacher/speaker pronounces in a given row (out of 3 or 4 sentences).

· Listen to words and word-combinations and underline the word with the sound [...].

· Listen to the sentences and mark stress and tunes.

· Listen to the sentences and mark the stressed and weak words.

· Listen to the sentences and underline the words on which the speaker’s voice rises/falls down.

· Indicate pauses in sentences you hear with vertical lines, etc.

b) Reproduction. Exercises in reception occupy rather an unpretentious place in teaching English. A far more important place is given to listening with reproduction to follow (listen and repeat; imitate the speaker’s pronunciation, etc.) and reading aloud. In exercises in reception and production the practised item may be a single sound or two or three sounds being contrasted.

Assignments for exercises in reproduction:

· Listen to the words (word-combinations, phrases) with the sound [...]. Repeat them paying attention to this sound (its characteristics).

· Listen to the words (word-combinations, phrases) with the sounds [...] and [...]. Repeat them paying attention to the contrasted sounds.

· Listen to the noun-phrases below and practise saying them, linking the articles.

· Listen to the sentences on tape. Imitate the speaker’s pronunciation/ intonation.

· Listen to the sentences on tape. Repeat them as quickly as you can.

· Try to say the sentences at the same time as the cassette, paying attention to stress and contracted and weak forms.

· Try to say the sentences at the same time as the cassette, paying attention to the rhythm.

· Listen to my statements. If they are correct, repeat them.

· Listen to the conversation, marking the words that are specially stressed. Practise the conversation in pairs paying attention to stress.

· Ask your friend to do the same thing I shall ask you to.

· Listen to the dialogue above and try to read the answers at the same time as the cassette.

· Listen to the poem. Read the poem after the speaker line by line.

· Learn by heart and recite the rhyme (tongue twister, poem).

· Listen to the chant and put the words from the boxes into the correct place. Try saying the chant alone or at the same time as the cassette.

· Listen to the text. Mark stresses, pauses and tunes. Read the text aloud.

c) Production. Following on from reception and reproduction drills the teacher now has to devise a series of exercises, or drills, for the production of the sounds.

Assignments for exercises in production:

· Remember and say as many words as you can containing the sound [...]

· Say as many words differing from the given word in one sound only as you can.

· Listen to my orders and report them to your friend making them requests.

(Open the door. Open the door.)

· Say these words together:

(red, a table þ a `red table)

· Combine these words in a sentence:

(quickly, it, eatþ `Eat it quickly), etc.

· Read the text paying attention to the intonation of the relative clause in the middle of the sentence.

· Read the short notice and show with the help of intonation that you are surprised at its content.