2. Methodological classification of sounds and ways of introducing new sounds

	Groups of sounds	Methods of practicing the sounds
1	The sounds similar in articulation to the sounds of native speech	No additional explanation and long practice is needed
2	The sounds which seem similar to the sounds of the native language but differ from them in some essential aspects	Explanation of the articulation is necessary, demonstration and practice are needed. Most mistakes learners make in articulating these sounds.
3	The sounds which have no analogues in the native language	Detailed explanation of the articulation should be given, long practice is necessary. New articulation basis is to be formed and it may cause a lot of difficulties.

Ways of introducing new sounds:

1. Imitation.

2. Description of articulation (the way it is formed in the mouth).

3. Comparison with the sound of the mother tongue.

Step-by-step procedure:

1. Introduce a new sound in connected speech.

2. Pronounce it clearly in a word 4 times then separately.

3. Explain the articulation of the introduced sound. Show the difference between English sound and the one in the mother tongue.

4. Pupils pronounce the sound after the teacher, first in chorus in a low voice, then – individually in a loud voice.

5. Pupils pronounce words, pairs of words, phrases with the new sound.

3. Stages of teaching pronunciation and a set of activities

Teacher’s actions	Learner’s actions
Demonstration of the example Control of the learners’ pronunciation Correction of the learners’ pronunciation mistakes	Reception of the example Imitation of the example Reproduction of the example Production of the meaningful sound sequences

Problems:

• What students can hear;

• What students can say;

• The intonation problem.

When to teach pronunciation:

• At a whole lesson

• In discrete slots

• During integrated phases

• Using opportunities offered by the course of the lesson

A set of phonetic exercises.

I. Receptive and recognizing exercises – develop students’ ability to discriminate sounds and sequences (listen and differentiate sounds or intonation patterns).

• Recognition by giving signals (raising your hands when you hear the sound, stressed word, stressed syllable etc), by counting how many times you hear the sound, by signaling that you hear English (not Ukrainian) sounds etc.

• Differentiation of sounds (minimal contrasting pairs)

• Identification of sounds (in the flow of speech)

II. Receptive and reproductive exercises – develop students’ pronunciation skills, i.e. their ability to articulate English sounds correctly and to combine sounds into words, phrases, sentences easily enough to be able to speak English. They are based on “listen and imitate” technique (students listen and reproduce sounds or intonation patterns).

• Listen and repeat

• Agree or disagree

• Short answers

• Substitution

• Transformation (especially, when mastering intonation patterns, e.g. change these orders into requests< intonation should rise instead of falling)

• On your own (e.g. There are some toys on my table. You can get them if you ask for them with proper intonation).