LETTERS AND SOUNDS OF ENGLISH
After going through this unit you will be able to
- Practice English letters and sounds at your level
- Practice English letters and sounds in the classroom with students
- Plan English sound, letters and word activities
2.2 INTRODUCTION
This unit is about classroom activities to learn and practice English sounds, letters and words .
We know that an important step in learning to read in English is to know that sounds the letters of English alphabet make . Of course this is not all that is involved in learning to read teaching reading must be done with a focus on meaning . The activities in this unit are designed to help you keep this focus on meaning as you and your students practice English sounds and letters .
2.3 ENGLISH PRONUNATCIION
In the first activity , you will work through an English pronunciation guide , at your level .
A good way to improve your pronunciation English is to hear the sounds of English as much as possible . Try to listen to English on the Radio . Even if you cannot understand everything that is spoken or sung , listen and try to say the sounds of English .
In the two case studies that follow , you can see how teachers introduce English letters and sounds to students .
It is a good idea to monitor students progress in learning English letters and sounds over time , and how they apply their letter /sound knowledge to their reading and writing . A simple tick list or table can help you keep track of individual students progress , so you can build their records of achievement .
- Can recite the alphabet
- Can recognize letters
- Can recognize letters not in alphabetical order
- Can link letter names to sounds
- Can link letter patterns to sounds (e.g. “ch”,”sh”,”th”)
- Can use letter/sound knowledge to read simple words
- Can use letter/sound knowledge to write simple words
- Can read words on flash cards
- Can read words in a sentence
2.5 WORDS AND SPELLINGS
Hearing and using , rhyming words helps students to recognize letter and sound pattern in English . Textbook contains lessons that ask student to look for selected short words within a longer text . You can adapt these lessons to help students identify rhyming words .
2.6 RESOURCE 1 : PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
Of course English is not your first language and you cannot expect to have perfect pronunciation . Although you might read and write English you may not have heard much English and may be shy about speaking it . Listening to the national radio and television programmes in English is one way of brushing up your pronunciation . Another way is using the pronunciation guide in a good dictionary .
If you want your students to speak English so that they can be understood well , you must try to have the best pronunciation you can .
Use the pronunciation guide below to check how well you know the main vowel and consonant sounds or combinations of these in English . Tick the sounds that you are less confident about , and take steps to hear and speak words that contain these sounds .
Group work is a systematic , active , pedagogical strategy that encourages small group of students to work together for the achievement of a common goal . These small groups promote more active and more effective learning through structured activities .
The benefits of Group Work :
Group work can be a very effective way of motivating your students to learn by encouraging them to think , communicate , exchange ideas and thoughts , and make decisions . Your student can both teach and learn from others a powerful and active form of learning .
Group work is more than students sitting in groups ; it involves working on and contributing to a shared learning task with a clear objective . You need to be clear about why you are using group work for learning and know why this is preferable to lecturing , pair work or to students working on their own . Thus group work has to be well planned and purposeful .
2.8 RESOURCE 3 : LETTERS AND SOUNDS
Oral activity : Say the sound of a letter ( for example , rrr) . Students must say words that start with that letter ( for example , ‘rain’, or ‘rabbit’) . Let them give responses in English or other languages .
Reading and listening activity : Write a letter on the board , for example , the letter ‘f’ . Then say the sound of a different letter , for example the sound of ‘g’ or a word that starts with the letters such as ‘goat’ . The students must raise their hands if they think the letter or word you say matches the letter on the board . You can monitor which students are following the lessons . Try this with different letters , sounds and words .
In this unit , you have looked at ways to develop your own and your students knowledge of English letters and sounds through activities . It is good practice to embed your teaching of letters and sounds in reading and writing so that students do not learn letters in isolation . If you can listen to English spoken or sung on the radio to improve your own pronunciation . Think about the possibility of using a radio for regular English listening activities in your classroom . Could you show students English letters on a computer keyboard or on a mobile phone ?
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