Tag Archives: stages

ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY; STAGES


Adapted by Eduardo Becerrit.

Description of the sound / ɝ/:

 

/ ɝ/= The open-mid central unrounded vowel, or low-mid central unrounded vowel, is a sound known as difficult to master, the position of the tongue is halfway between a back and a front vowel sound. It is very sonorous, and it sounds like a semi /r/ consonant.

Problems for Venezuelan speakers:

 

Most of Venezuelan English-learners have difficulty mastering this sound because of degree of tension put at the time of saying it. People get confused by a /r/ or just simply do not say it by substituting it for another one. Another thing is that this phoneme does not exist in Venezuelan (Castilian) repertoire, and students get it complex at early and late stages.

Tips for producing the sound:

 

There are ways to be in presence of the /ɝ:/, for example: a hint is having a look-see on the word having a pairing vowel-r; ur, er, ir, yr or the conceivable ear, ere, irr, err orthographical signals. Be cafeful, ear by itself is a single unit; but, united to other possible spellings can be a / ɝ/.

Spelling Position
Letters Initial Middle Final
Ur Urgent Burst Blur
Er ergonomics Berth Her
Ir ᴓ Bird Stir
Yr ᴓ Myrrh ᴓ
Ear Earn Heard ᴓ
Ere Erelong ᴓ Where
Irr ᴓ ᴓ Whirr
Err Err ‘day ᴓ ᴓ
Urr ᴓ Purring Burr

Description of the /eə/ diphthong:

/eəʳ/ is a diphthong commonly pronounced with a centering ending in /ə/, the production of this diphthong is made up by putting tongue from a more front position to a more centered one.

Problems for Venezuelan speaker:

According to teflpedia.com (2015), “when using words containing “eəʳ” Spanish speakers tend to confuse /eəʳ/ with /ɪə/ i.e. they assume that “bear” rhymes with “dear”. And tear vs tear really irritates them.” Consequently, it is said that this puzzling problem is given at all stages.

Tips for producing the sound:

This diphthong occurs with the thinkable combinations of are, air ayr, eir, ear, aire, aero, ar, and ari. The resemblance of these sounds falls mainly in their orthographical relationship.

Spelling Position
Letters Initial Middle Final
Are Area Blared aware
Air Aired Blairite chair
Ayr Ayrshire ᴓ ᴓ
Eir Eire heirloom heiress
Ear ᴓ wearable wear
Aire ᴓ ᴓ Millionaire
Aero Aeroplane ᴓ ᴓ
Ar ᴓ Sarah ᴓ
Ari ᴓ Various ᴓ

Reference:

Teflpedia.com, (2015). IPA phoneme /eə/ – Teflpedia. [online] Available at: http://teflpedia.com/IPA_phoneme_/e%C9%99/ [Accessed 19 Jun. 2015].

ORTHOGRAPHY EXERCISE: (0+8 ITEMS) CHOOSE THE WORD

TEACHER´S VERSION

INSTRUCTIONS:

SOUNDS: / ɝ/ vs /eəʳ/

  1. Tell the students to choose the unnecessary word that contains the sound that does not match in the trial.
  2. Advise them to circle them

SAMPLE:

0. Bird    There   Flare

Exercise key answers:

  1. Care         Chair           Burst
  2. Eire     Heirloom          First
  1. Urgent       Berth         Daredevil
  2. Earn          Aware        Earth
  3. Were         Where        Fair
  4. Aeroplane Burrs        Various
  5. Hair           bare           Stirrer
  6. Yearn         Her            Heir

/ ɝ/: Burst, first, berth, urgent, earn, earth, were, burrs, stirrer, her, yearn.

/eəʳ/: Care, chair, Eire, heirloom, daredevil, aware, where, fair, aeroplane, various, bare, hair, heir.

REMEMBER:  if a student do not know the pronunciation of a word, tell him/her once.

ORTHOGRAPHY EXERCISE: (0+8 ITEMS) CHOOSE THE WORD

 

STUDENT´S VERSION

INSTRUCTIONS:

SOUNDS: / ɝ/ vs /eəʳ/

  1. Follow the teacher´s instructions to complete the task.

SAMPLE:

  1. Bird     There    Flare

Exercise key answers:

  1. Care         Chair               Burst
  1. Eire           Heirloom          First
  1. Urgent       Berth              Daredevil
  1. Earn           Aware             Earth
  1. Were          Where             Fair
  1. Aeroplane   Burrs             Various
  1. Hair             bare                Stirrer
  1. Yearn          Her                 Heir

If you are not familiar with any of these words, ask the teacher to pronounce it once.

TEACHER`S HANDOUT

  1. 1 LISTENING PRACTICE
  1. 2 Minimal Pair Drills in Isolation
  1. 3 Identification Task

Read one member of a pair of words and have the students indicate whether you are reading from Column 1 or Column 2.

SOUNDS: / ɝ/ vs /eəʳ/

Column 1 Column 2
/ ɝ/ /eəʳ/
0. Fur 0. Fair
1. Were 1. Where
2. Curd 2. Cared
3. Blur 3. Blare
4. Her 4. Hair
5. The clerk 5. De klerk
6. Per 6. Pare
7. Per 7. Pear
8. Care 8. Cur

STUDENTS` HANDOUT

  1. LISTENING PRACTICE
  1. Minimal Pair Drills in Isolation
  1. Identification Task

Listen to each word pronounced and place a check mark (√) in  Column 1 if the word uttered has the  / ɝ/ sound or place the check mark (√) in  column 2 if the word uttered has the /eəʳ/ sound.

SOUNDS: / ɝ/ vs /eəʳ/

Column 1 Column 2
/ ɝ/ /eəʳ/
0.           √ 0.
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.
6. 6.
7. 7.
8. 8.