Post on 12-Apr-2017
Draw Me a PicturePronunciation Aids for Visual Learners
Judy ThompsonTESL Canada 2015
Agenda•Why learners don’t speak English no matter how
long they study? 2 minutes•Spoken English is different from Written English
Venn Language Diagrams 10 minutes•The missing bridge between writing and speaking.
Thompson Vowel Chart 15 minutes•The Model for Speaking English 12 minutes•Grammar Goodies - Rita Baker 15 minutes•Conclusion 2 minutes
Why Don’t Learners Speak English Now?In English, Writing and Speaking are not
connected by a logical alphabet. We teach Reading and Writing almost exclusively (we spoke perfectly before we went to school).
It’s William Caxton’s fault English is basically two different languages. Applying Latin letters and Latin grammar to English without modification turned out to be a very bad idea. He split English in two when he wrote it down badly in 1476 and we have copied his mistakes ever since.
1476 When English was Split in Two
Writing vs. Speaking
In case I forget to mention:•We have no idea how to teach Speaking
http://bit.ly/Xtgyw9•Only say things that are true – all the time – no
exceptions•Use the information students already know –
ABC, colors, numbers•It’s empowering to start every lesson with,
“You know this already” – I’ll show you how to do that
•Vowel sounds are the main problem but there is an easy fix. Each vowel sound is found in the name of a different color
Every Word in English is a Color
This is the Bridge to PronunciationRegardless of spelling:Gray words: day, rain, great, eight, ate..Black words: cat, half, laugh, plaid...Pink words: sister, pretty, women, busy...
JUdy is Blue•What color is your name? •Do this with an elastic band to help your
students find the stressed syllable/name color•Blank Color Vowel Chart class exercise
The Vast Majority of Learners are Beginner/Intermediate The Vowel Chart is their Golden Key to Speaking
Success
Recap•Writing and Speaking are different and
we know most about writing•Colors are a perfect bridge from Writing
to Speaking (and back but we aren’t doing that)
•Every word in English is a color •The color holds the pronunciation and the
all-important WORD STRESS•The pattern is the same for Sentence
Stress
More Fun Venns
Students are Not MuteThey Make Most of the Sounds they Need
•Any two languages are more the same than different
•Start with what learners already know•What is the difference between accent
and intelligibility?
You have to ask me back for that.
Rita Baker – The Global ApproachAll Possible Grammar Structures
on One Page. Here is a Keynote for You!
Summary•It’s possible we make learning English
more difficult than it has to be•English is simple – not easy, but simple•It take 30 hours to teach the PATTERNS
of English that are always true
Do you see the arrow in the FedEx logo? You can’t un-know things you see now that you never saw before.
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