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Activities for Teaching English Language Learners6 chapters | 188 lessons | 13 flashcard sets
ESL Pronunciation Games & Activities
Instructor:
Erin Rowe
Erin is currently teaching English at a university in South Korea and has a Master's degree in Education.
Speaking English with a strong foreign accent can make it difficult for people to understand what you are saying. Pronunciation is an important skill for English language learners to master to increase their communicative ability.
ESL Pronunciation Games & Activities
The fun tasks and activities included in this lesson are designed to improve students pronunciation in order to increase their perceived English speaking competence, improve their communicative ability, and help them to master the English language at a faster pace.
Minimal Pair Bingo
This game will help students practice their listening skills by determining the phonological difference between two words that vary by a single sound. This can be played every week by adding a new sound combination.
Materials needed: A variety of different 5x5 Bingo cards with an example of a minimal pair in each box, dry erase markers and a box
How to Play
The teacher will distribute Bingo cards to all the students. The cards should have 25 spaces including the free space in the middle and not have the same placement of words. This allows students to practice 12 minimal pair sets. The teacher will start out as 'the caller.' They will reach into the box and draw out one of the minimal pair words and call it out to the students. The students must use their listening skills to help them determine which of the minimal pair is being called out. The first student to get a line will be the winner and can then become the new caller.
Minimal Pair Relay Race
This running dictation game is a fun kinesthetic activity that will focus on students listening, speaking, and writing skills.
Materials needed: Paper, pencils, erasers, and tape
How to Play
The teacher will have paper with a variety of minimal pairs written on it in sentence form or as a single word, these papers will be taped on the wall at one end of the room. Sentence A uses one minimal pair and sentence B has the other. For example:
- 1A - The bat was flying through the air.
- B- The vat of ice cream was almost ready.
- 2A - The runner's foot was off the base, so he was out.
- B - The flowers were in a pretty glass vase.
The students will either be with a partner or in a team depending on the size of the class. A writer and a runner must be chosen. The runner must run to the paper and memorize the sentence, they then run back to the writer and dictate what the sentence said while the writer copies it down. This can be a timed game or the game ends when one team finishes the task first. The winning team is the team that has the least amount of errors in spelling and in the dictation.
Tongue Twister Challenge
The game will challenge the students ability to say tongue twisters quickly while also focusing on their pronunciation.
Materials needed: a timer and a variety of tongue twisters that practice the the target sound.
How to Play
Students will be divided into two teams. Each team is given a tongue twister that is similar in difficulty and length that practices a target sound. The students will be given a specific amount of time to practice the tongue twister before the game begins. The students line up, when the timer begins the student who is first must say the twister three times with no mistakes before they are able to sit down, and then the next student in line must begin. This continues until all the students in line have been successful. The timer is stopped and the time is written on the board. It is now the second team's turn with their tongue twister. The team with the shortest time is the winner.
Minimal Pair Telephone Game
This speaking and listening game will practice students pronunciation as well as their knowledge of numbers.
Materials needed: list of minimal pairs each assigned an individual number, pencil, blank paper
How to Play
The teacher will make a list of 10 minimal pairs in which each is assigned an individual number. For example:
- 0-Base
- 1-Vase
- 2-Best
- 3-Vest
- 4-Bet
- 5-Vet
- 6-Bat
- 7-Vat
- 8-Beer
- 9-Veer
Students are put in to pairs and each student gets a word list and a blank sheet of paper. One student will give the other student their fake phone number but instead of giving the numbers they will say the word associated with each number. The student must write down the number that corresponds with the words.
If the speaking student says the words 'vet, beer, vase, best,' the resulting number would be '5812'
Alternately, this can be used as a large group activity with the teacher saying the words and the students listening for accuracy practice.
Reading with the Teacher
This is a one-on-one reading activity for all ages that will use children's books to help students with their pronunciation, fluency and accuracy.
Materials Needed: A variety of Dr. Seuss children's book
How to Play
The teacher will have the student choose a Dr. Seuss book to read. As the student reads from the book, the teacher will listen and correct pronunciation as necessary. This can also be a partnered activity among students, where each partner set is given a different book which they read to each other a few times before deciding on 10-15 sentences to perform for the class.
Dr. Seuss books are full of fun tongue twisters, simple vocabulary, and colorful pictures that are a joy to read and share.
Minimal Pair List Example
| /b/ /v/ sounds | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Base-Vase | Best-Vest | Bet-Vet | Bat-Vat |
| Beer-Veer | Bane-Vane | Bolt-Volt | Bowel-Vowel |
| Cab-Calve | Curb-Curve | Dub-Dove | Marble-Marvel |
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Lesson
3 in chapter 4 of the course:
- ESL Listening Comprehension Exercises
- Teaching Listening Strategies for ELL Students
- ESL Pronunciation Games & Activities
- Spoken English Exercises for Children
- ESL Reported Speech Activities
- ESL Speaking Activities for Middle School
- Speaking Activities for ESL Kindergarten Students
- ESL Public Speaking Lesson Plan
- ESL Listening Skills Lesson Plan for Beginners
- ESL Intermediate Listening Skills Lesson Plan
- ESL Advanced Listening Skills Lesson Plan
- Sight Word Activities for Kids
- Go to ELL Listening & Speaking Activities & Lesson Plans
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