1. Recognizing Difficulties of English Pronunciation and How to Teach Them
Gabrielle Martineau

2. What do we do?
Speak louder
“Just watch me”
“Practice in front of the mirror”
“Watch YouTube videos”

3. Things we should do
Use paper for /p/ and /b/
Fingers on the throat for /f/ and /v/
Puppets/molds for /l/ and /r/

4. Arabic Speakers
/p/ and /b/
Cannot hear the difference
Lips/Air
Review all vowel sounds
/k/ combined with /p/ such as backpack

5. Asian Speakers
/l/ and /r/
Cannot hear the difference
Difficulty with tongue positioning
Show using puppet that the tongue will curl downward or upward

6. /r/ TIPS
Have the students bite the sides of their tongues so they can be more aware of where they are
Anchor the tongue on their top back molars
When doing the /l/ sound the tongue will have to move from the molars
This can also be used for the r-colored words such as sistER, fIRst & lEARn

7. /l/ Tips
Tip of tongue is on ridge of teeth
Sides of tongue should not touch teeth
Rounded /lw/ should have rounded lips (Look)
Unrounded /l/ should have pursed lips (like)
Voiceless /l/ should have relaxed lips (please)

8. Tests for /l/
Ask the student to feel the bump behind their teeth
Feel tongue as it moves
Use a ribbon
Have the student put a ribbon on their tongue. When the student puts their tongue to their teeth have them pull on the ends of the ribbon to allow airflow.

9. Do they hear it?
The students may be able to make to make the noise only once in a while
They may switch back and forth between the two sounds

10. My go to resources
Eliciting Sounds Techniques and Strategies for Clinicians
2nd Edition
Wayne A. Secord, Suzanne E. Boyce, JoAnn S. Donohue, Robert A. Fox & Richard E. Shine
Teaching American English Pronunciation
Peter Avery & Susan Ehrlich

11. Questions?
Gabrielle Martineau