The following activity is one that we have each used many times. And, as we have noticed some new faces in our ITA group, we wanted to share a useful activity that new trainers can incorporate right away.
In our ITA training class, students do four micro-teaching presentations (a syllabus, a concept, a process, a review session). Pronunciation is one of many skills that we teach, and we often cannot spend as much time on it as we would like. To maximize our pronunciation time, we try to contextualize practice as much as possible. Focus, or prominence, is an important pronunciation feature for students to start noticing early on; it influences rhythm and it’s also an accessible way of learning to incorporate meaningful intonation. Thus, we introduce it during preparation for the first teaching presentation. We also recycle the topic with every presentation. It’s easier to talk about and practice focus when students later prepare for the concept and process presentations. In other words, this activity facilitates instruction and coaching as they prepare for the other presentations.
Preparation: We usually do this activity after having introduced the concept of focus words to students. However, you could do this activity first, and then teach some of the patterns associated with focus words (e.g., focus for contrast, function words as focus words, etc.). Our favorite resources for this are Well Said 4th edition by Linda Grant and Clear Speech 4th edition by Judy Gilbert.
Materials: Iowa State CELT. [ISUCELT]. 2009, September 1. Reviewing the syllabus and note taking procedures
The entire video is a little over five minutes. One way to warm up is to watch the entire video, so that students have a better understanding of the context. This is the first day of class in a large, introductory class in a lecture hall. After watching, you can either replay the needed portions of the video or play only the audio.
Students listen to a one to two-minute recording of a portion of the syllabus presentation. Ask them to listen for words that stand out. Repeat this step several times.
Tip: Have students listen to only two to three sentences several times each. Do not listen to the whole recording at once. Give students breaks between chunks of language so that they can note down words they hear. Ask students what they are noticing.
Students then read the transcript of the recording while listening. The first few lines of the transcript are marked for focus (see the example below). Allow students to read and listen to the first few lines several times.
Discuss why they think the speaker chose to put focus where she did.
Portion of Transcript for Practice (beginning at 2:34)
We’ll have FOUR MAjor exAMS in this CLASS. You’ll do TWO MAjor out of class asSIGNments; we’ll work through that toGEther in CLASS. I’ve GIVEN you a course OUTline, the CHApters that I’ll be COvering um in LECture on those DAYS, the READings, when the EXAMS ARE. And then there's an abBREViated schedule on the BACK for you, just some QUICK DUE DATES. Any questions right now that you can think of? As I said that’s available to you online; you also have this hard copy. Read it through, see if you have questions. You can start planning out your semester now.
I want to give you a few hints. Some of you this is your first, um, maybe your first course, but at least your first or second day at the university. For this particular class, and probably for some of your others, the notes will be posted on WebCT. What you can do is, before class, print those out and bring them with you if it helps.
Tip: Remember, you might notice the usual focus word patterns (e.g., focus on the last content words in a thought group), and you might also notice unusual places for focus. For example, a speaker might change their mind, mid-sentence, about something they want to say, and this can result in oddly placed focus. It is useful for students to recognize that spoken language can be messy and dynamic.
Students read and listen to the remaining, unmarked sentences in the transcript. Allow them to listen sentence by sentence, several times as they mark focus words on their own. Students then compare their results with a partner. They practice reading several lines with a partner, monitoring each other for focus.
After class: Students mark focus words in the course description section of their own syllabi (in our course, this is usually a short paragraph). They submit the marked-up paragraph and a recording of their best efforts for instructor feedback.
Extended Practice Ideas:
Students do two recordings: 1) they record three or four sentences from the transcript used in class. 2) Then they mirror/mimic the target speaker’s version of those sentences. Students record their mirrored version and compare their two recordings (i.e., reading without mirroring vs reading with mirroring). What do they notice?
Ask students to pay attention to their instructors’ spoken language in other classes. Do they notice the use of focus words? Ask them to note one or two short examples of what they hear/observe and bring these to class to share.
References
Gilbert, J. (2012). Clear Speech 4th Edition. Cambridge University Press.
Grant, L. (2016). Well Said: Pronunciation for Clear Communication 4th Edition. Heinle Cengage.
Maria Beatriz Mendoza, PhD, has been the EAP/ITA program coordinator at Florida State University (FSU) since 2005.
Jennifer Grill, PhD, is an instructor in the EAP Program at Florida State University.
