1. Internet Resources for Teaching Pronunciation
Holly Gray and Sharon Alayne Widmayer
TESOL 2000
** all right reserved **

2. Why would I want to use the Internet for teaching pronunciation?
highly motivating atmosphere
students can work on their own or in a lab
students can work at their own pace
audio & video clips can be played more than once
a vast array of timely, authentic materials is available
students can hear a wide variety of English
introduces students to valuable technology skills

3. What questions should I ask myself before I begin?
Are your students familiar with “surfing the Internet”?
How much time outside of class do you expect students to be able to work on technology-related projects?
Are you assuming that most of your students have home computers?
What technology skills are you assuming that your students already have?

4. What do I need to use the Internet for pronunciation?
a computer with a sound card
an Internet connection
headphones or speakers
a web browser (Netscape, Explorer, Mosaic, etc.)
plug-in software for listening and/or recording
a microphone

5. So I have all the materials, now what can my students & I do?
Learn from and explore sites created especially for the pronunciation student
Discover pronunciation patterns with authentic English sites
Practice specific skills with authentic English sites

6. Could you give me some examples?
Discovery activities
with formal and informal English
using “Foreign Accent Archive”
Practice activities
Discrimination activities
Haiku activity
Stress & Intonation with poetry
Intonation with an interview

7. Example Activities Discovering Sentence Stress
Discrimination activities
Counting Syllables with Haiku

8. We all have accents-- Foreign Accent Archive
On this site you will find recordings of many speakers reading the same passage.
Listen to the speaker of your native language and the North American speaker more than once.
What do you notice? Think about:
tone (which one sounds more “musical”)
sounds
stress (which things sound louder and softer)
Talk about your impressions with a partner

9. “Foreign Accent Archive” activities
One favorite introductory activity: after students listen to the archive and record their impressions, make a big chart on the board about their impressions of English & their language:
French Korean English Chinese
runs together doesn’t run runs together doesn’t run
together together

10. Stress & Intonation with poetry
Read the Poem "The road less traveled" by Robert Frost ( Discuss with your partner what you think the poem means.
Which words are the content words (more stress)? Which words are structure words (quicker and quieter)? Print out a copy of the poem and underline the content words.
Compare your underlined poem with your partner. If you disagree, read the poem out loud to decide who is right.
Now listen to the poem one more time, and see if there are any changes you want to make in your underlined words.

11. How can I create my own activities using sources that are already on the web?
make sure you have clearly defined your learning goal & have found a suitable website
decide on the type of activity you want to do to reach your learning goal
make sure your lesson is clearly planned with very specific instructions for students
bring at least 2 backup activities in case there is a problem with a website you planned to use

12. Going even further...
encourage students to create their own activities
have students record themselves--editable, able and no more tapes to carry!
Self assessment
peer assessment
teacher assessment
example-- Haiku activity, Limerick activity

13. Using the Sound recorder-- Stress & Limericks
Because limericks have such a distinct stress pattern, they are a good tool for practicing rhythm.
Have students read & practice the rhythm using “Sixteen Wonderful Old Women, 1-4” (
Then let your students write their own Limericks and record them using the sound recorder on their computer (you don’t need fancy software)
A neat follow-up is to upload the text and audio of the students’ poem to a class webpage.

14. How can I make my own Internet pronunciation activities?
Digitize existing audio or video tapes
choose the appropriate software
check for necessary hardware
be aware of copyright laws
Record right on your computer
use a microphone and free software
Transfer your sound files to your ISP account

15. What if I run into trouble? Don’t panic! Be prepared.
try out your activities as close to classtime as possible
check for necessary plug-ins and hardware ahead of time
bring alternate activities using other websites
avoid exercises requiring students to visit the same site

16. Still, problems can happen...
Website down?
Internet connection too slow?
No audio?
Not enough computers?
Students distracted?
Use a backup site
Have students work on different activities
Check settings
Use pair or group activities
Walk around the room or have students change stations

17. Thank you! questions? comments?
Holly Gray
University of Maryland
Sharon Alayne Widmayer
George Mason University