Teaching prominence through kazoos In-class Teaching Experience 3 Sung Huh

Agenda Personal goals Analysis of learners Teaching context Activity introduction Critiques and modification Corresponding the activity with my philosophy

Shifting focus Old New Realistic setting Children EFL Imaginary setting Adults ESL Communicative method with worksheet New Realistic setting Children EFL Controlled method with tangible tools

Learners 20-25 of 4th through 6th grade students / beginners Linguistic aspects monotone, flat intonation and a quiet volume wrong placement or absence of prominence on stressed words and syllables Inappropriate application of intonation patterns Behavior aspects Relatively reserved and passive in classroom participation Short attention span More responsive to hands-on experiences Environmental and social aspects Rural areas, relatively low income school district less opportunity for private language education less exposure to direct interaction with native speakers

Course and Topic A sample lesson Supplement program to regular English classroom / Special repair program or after-school English program The goal has shifted to international intelligibility, comprehensibility rather than native-speaker imitation Suprasegmentals and segmentals, and conversation A sample lesson Targeted topic: Prominence on important information

Dee Broughton ,an English language teacher Source Dee Broughton ,an English language teacher http://www.deebroughton.com/ Content Her blogs on teaching English during her fellowship Downloadable textbook she’s published while working on the fellowship Her online class on research writing for international students Activity: http://www.vidyablog.com/2011/12/using-kazoos-to-teach-suprasegmentals/

Activity procedure Step 1. Introduce the idea of emphasis and focus words. Play recorded sentences with clearly emphasized content words: Ask the students to point to words that are easiest to hear. Point out that focus words carry information, explaining that these words are not just louder, but clearer, higher in pitch, and longer. Step 2. Introduce the idea that the sentences can be hummed, then pass out Kazoos for each student. Introduce the students to the kazoos. Then, they listen to the phrases above again and play them on Kazoos.

3. Put students in pairs. Give them a list of written phrases 3. Put students in pairs. Give them a list of written phrases. Students identify one focus word in each phrase. One student plays on the kazoo and the other student reproduces the sound.

4. Repeat the drill, alternating between kazoo and speech.

5. Play another recorded dialog, giving students the new rule that, after a conversation begins, the focus word is the new thought in each sentence . Have pairs kazoo the entire dialog.

6. Repeat the drill, alternating between kazoo and speech.

7. Speak the words.

8. Assign different dialogs to each pair but don’t provide recordings so that students can work out their own emphasis. Have each pair perform their dialog for the class.

Strengths Amusement helps the students forget that they are nervous or shy about speaking loudly. Used in a group, the students feel comfortable with “being silly” and exaggerating pitch contours and the duration of stressed syllables Remove the need for grammar and vocabulary long enough for the students to focus on stress and intonation. Easy for teachers to implement this activity Cultural aspect

Critiques and Modifications 1. Class management with noise and distraction All purpose room Exploration time playing with kazoos 2. Successful or native speakers’ examples Raise awareness; Have students record themselves and monitor their performance 3. Possibility of creating choppy sound influenced by L1 Demonstrate the distinction between stress-timed and syllable timed language on the kazoos

Philosophy 1 Teachers must balance the needs of their students within a somewhat fixed curriculum. Pronunciation is not always explicitly included even in a speaking course, and the teachers need to find ways to integrate pronunciation into existing curriculum and textbook materials.(textbook, pp281) Activity-needs analysis with as many perspectives as possible

Philosophy 2 Defining a core curriculum-A scaled-down set of teaching priorities enables both teachers and learners to address a more manageable set of goals, focusing on those features to be essential for international intelligible pronunciation(textbook, pp283) Activity: the goals/objectives of the course

Philosophy 3 “Learner also need to develop a concern for pronunciation. They must recognize that poor, unintelligible speech will make their attempts at conversing frustrating and unpleasant both for themselves and for their listeners.” by Joanne Kenworthy, "Teaching English Pronunciation“ On Building Awareness and Concern for Pronunciation (p. 27)

Balance /flexibility "Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one." -Malcolm Forbes Awareness, motivation needs Teaching priority