VOWELS
T H O S E P E S K Y E N G L I S H S O U N D SPHONETIC ALPHABET (AND TONGUE
AND LIPS AND ALL THAT)
• Not useful for students necessarily
• Different conventions and different
symbols
• Most always are they accompanied by
sample words
• App dictionaries have a little sound buttonVOWELS
• What are they?
• How is your pronunciation?
• “Pronunciation difficulties with English vowels are widespread, in part because English ahs a
relatively large number of vowels”
• “Vowel pronunciation can be affected by neighboring sounds as well as by stress”
• “Voiced and voiceless consonants can alter the length of preceding stressed vowels”
• Vowels can also be reducedTIPS FOR TEACHING VOWELS
• Direct students’ attention to vowel characteristics that they can see
• Teach exceptional or confusing spellings associated with vowel sounds
• Provide students with controlled practice to develop skill with vowels
• Base communicative practice with problem vowels on words or groups of
words that contain the vowels
• Use hand gesture to reinforce the pronunciation of /r/ after vowels
• Integrate vowel pronunciation with grammar practiceFRONT VOWELS: /IY/ AND /I/
• /iy/ and /i/ (leave and live)
• Can you hear the difference?
• Which is more difficult to hear? To say?
• Which is closest to Vietnamese?
• Easier to hear: his, live, fish, big
• Harder to hear: sit, quick, thin, lipFRONT VOWELS: /IY/ AND /I/
• For /iy/
• The raised part of the tongue is a little
higher and farther front
• Known as a tense vowel because you need
tension in the lips
• Glide ending of /y/ is used
• For /i/
• The tongue is a little lower and more
central
• The mouth opens a little
• Lips are relaxed and spread
• Lacks the front gliding motionFRONT VOWELS ACTIVITY: HOW DO
YOU SPELL L-I-V-E?
• Eat – It Cheap – Chip Beater - Bitter
• Seat – Sit Steal – Still Relieve - Relive
• Leave – Live Least – List Pete - Pit
• Reach – Rich Field – Filled Asleep – A Slip
• Feet – Fit Heat – Hit Meal – Mill
• Sleep – Slip Beaten – Bitten Deep – Dip
• Green – Grin Heal/Heel – Hill Feast – Fist
• Reason – Risen Seek – Sick Greed – Grid
• Each – Itch Peel - PillFRONT VOWELS: /IY/ AND/I/
PROBLEM WORDS
• Beach
• Sheet
• Lengthen the vowels
• /iy/ is not a single sound
• Use two /i/ sounds
• Stress the first /i/ sound
• No voice break between the two vowelsFRONT VOWELS: /EY/ AND /E/
• Wait and wet
• Bit easier to hear
• /ey/ is a tense vowel; /e/ is relaxed
• /ey/ tongue is higher and rather front
• /ey/ lips are more spread
• Issues before /n/ or /m/ (explain, name)FRONT VOWELS: /EY/ AND /E/
• Spellings are difficult
• /ey/ and /e/ overlap, which can lead to mispronunciation
• The letter sequence ea is a spelling for /ey/ (as in break) as well as /e/ (as in breakfast)
• /ey/: eight, they, great, baby, afraid, mistake, play,
• /e/: leg, bread, instead, head, egg, bed, rest, chair
• /iy/: wheatFRONT VOWELS ACTIVITY:
SORTING SOUND AND SPELLING
• Break Steal Receive
• Bead Key Eight
• Breakfast They Baby
• Instead Cheap People
• Medicine Many Stays
• Says Take Friend
• Say Again BelieveFRONT VOWELS: /A/ AND /E/
• The vowel in bad is the lowest front vowel
in English
• Body of the tongue is low and front in the
mouth and lips are spread
• Tip of the tongue rests behind the bottom
teeth and pushes down and forward
• Generally confused with /e/ as in bed *for
most Vietnamese*FRONT VOWELS: /A/ AND /E/
• Spellings are consistent!
• a (followed by a consonant): sad, glad,
Spanish, apple
• *exceptions: laugh, plaid, auntFRONT VOWELS ACTIVITY:
STAYING HEALTHY
• Eating too much fat - Lack of information
• Taking in too many calories - Genetic propensity
• Eating too much sugar - Poverty
• Eating too much fast food - Wealth
• Lack of exercise - Other _______________
• Watching too much TVBACK VOWEL: /OW/ (GO)
• Mid-back tense vowel
• Body of the tongue pushes back and up a
little
• Lips are rounded
• Glide ending /w/BACK VOWEL ACTIVITY: SORTING
SOUND AND SPELLING (NO HINTS)
• Possible Notice Gone Alone
• Cold Modern Bone Lost
• Potent Groceries Bother Monster
• Folk Shop Problem College
• Most Hold Rotten StoleTIPS FOR TEACHING VOWELS
• Direct students’ attention to vowel characteristics that they can see
• Teach exceptional or confusing spellings associated with vowel sounds
• Provide students with controlled practice to develop skill with vowels
• Base communicative practice with problem vowels on words or groups of
words that contain the vowels
• Use hand gesture to reinforce the pronunciation of /r/ after vowels
• Integrate vowel pronunciation with grammar practiceCONCLUSION
• “Nonnative English-speaking teachers should select vowels that they pronounce accurately and
feel comfortable teaching.”
• “English vowels are difficult because of confusing and inconsistent spellings”
• “Vowel articulation is difficult for teachers to describe and for students to visualize”
• In a nutshell, vowels are hard, so start with one and build from thereBIBLIOGRAPHY
• Lane, Linda. Tips for Teaching Pronunciation: A Practical Approach. Edited by H. Douglas
Brown, Pearson Education, Inc., 2010.