Steps for Effective Pronunciation Teaching

Greetings, I extend my gratitude for your presence. The discussion today centers on the methodology for instructing American pronunciation. This presentation is intended for both English educators seeking to enhance their pronunciation instruction techniques and English learners aiming to augment their clarity and confidence in English.

Pronunciation constitutes a fundamental element in the acquisition of a new language for several reasons. Firstly, it enhances the speaker's intelligibility, ensuring that the speaker's expression of English knowledge is comprehensible to others. Secondly, it fosters the speaker's confidence, empowering them not only during communication but also in their ability to comprehend native English speakers.

Furthermore, students experience a sense of competence and motivation upon attaining mastery in pronunciation, propelling them closer to their linguistic goals. Despite the acknowledgment among educators of the importance of integrating pronunciation into their instruction, challenges emerge due to the abstract nature and intricacy of pronunciation. The task involves not only teaching students to recognize diverse sounds but also imparting the techniques for producing them impeccably. Hear them, and at the same time, how to apply them properly.
And then, once they apply the sounds you have to give them precise feedback and to be able to recognize their mistakes. And that's when you, as a teacher, may doubt yourself in your ability to actually give concise and concrete feedback.

Also, you have time constraints. You have the materials that you need to teach, you have the curriculum and you don't know how to incorporate that in your day-to-day teaching because you have to go through certain materials and there is not enough time for everything.
 
✍️The first P is Perception

You have to teach them how to recognize the sound before you start teaching them how to make the sound. You want to make sure that
they see that there is a difference between what they hear and what they perceive. Because while they may hear the actual sound, they may categorize it as another sound, a sound that does exist in their native tongue. So for example, when trying to teach, let's say, a French speaker. In French, there is no difference between the two 'i' sounds like in American English or in English. 

For example, the tense 'i' as in 'sheep' and the relaxed 'ɪ' if as in ship. There is only one 'i'. So, it is very likely that a French speaker won't immediately recognize that there is a difference between 'sheep' and how he or she may be pronouncing it as 'ship'. And you want to say it clearly or show them examples till they hear that there is a difference. i - ɪ. Or the difference between 'sheep ' and 'ship'. And it's not 'sheep' and 'sheep', right? 

So when you do that slowly and first, you're not asking them to make any sounds just to hear the difference, you're developing their perception. This is the first and more fundamental stage of teaching pronunciation because if they can't hear it, they can't make it.
Even if they can imitate the sound, but they still don't hear it on a regular basis, it won't be effective. They won't be able to implement it in their day-to-day speech. They'll be able to imitate you clearly, but they won't be able to transform the way they pronounce the sound. So you really have to focus on perception before starting anything else.

✍️Pronunciation
The 2nd P is Pronunciation

This is a place where you teach them exactly what they need to do physically inside their mouth to make the sound. But it doesn't end there. When I teach pronunciation, I first start with the basics: your jaw is open, the tongue is forward, the lips pull to the sides, the back of the tongue is high, and the front of the tongue is low. But for most students, that's just not going to mean anything to them. They'd be like, uh, okay, let me try to do this thing with my mouth.And the thing that they around the lips, but they don't really. So just tellingthem what they need to do is not enough. It's a great starting point and you have to understand what the mouth is doing and to communicate that clearly, but you need to understand that that's not going to cut it for most students. So you might want to use some imageries or ways for them to measure their progress. 

For example, I tell my students to use a mirror to see that they actually round their lips when they pronounce the sound. Or I may tell them, imagine you have a hot potato in your mouth, and that immediately gets them to open their mouth. And they don't need to focus so much on the position of the jaw and the tongue because that imagery just completely helps them get to that position without being too physical.
So, start with the physical aspects of pronouncing the sounds, but give them other ways to understand how to pronounce and make a certain sound that will work for them.

✍️The next P is Predict

Predict the pitfalls of your students by knowing
what your student is likely to do, you are able to give them feedback before even making the mistake. For example, if you have an Arabic-speaking student and you're trying to teach them how to pronounce the American R. Now in Arabic, the R is trilled in comparison to American English where the tongue pulls back for the R - UR. So when teaching them how to pronounce the
American R, you want to tell them something like, "Make sure if the tip of the tongue doesn't touch the upper palate ever for the R, this is an indication that you are pronouncing the right sound." This is how I predicted their possible mistake by understanding their tendencies. So I need to understand something about my students to be able to give them feedback before even making the mistake or the mispronunciation.

Let me give you an example. I once had a student who used to speak with his job really, really close. It was really hard for him to open his mouth, and he used to do that for all sounds, both in English and in Hebrew. He was a Hebrew speaker. And when I started teaching him the A in cat and the AH as in father - the two open vowel sounds - the first thing I said before even hearing him: "You need to make sure that your mouth is super relaxed here and that you drop your jaw and you create more space. You want to see it. You want to use your fingers to make sure you create space, otherwise, you won't be able to pronounce the sound clearly." So I gave him feedback before even having heard him because I predicted what his possible mistakes are going to be and that gave him focus. He was able to just work on that aspect and come a lot closer to the target pronunciation.
 
It was a lot easier for him to finally pronounce a sound, than trying it out himself without concrete feedback, to begin with. Or without something to hold onto as he's working towards finding the right placement for the sound. So predicting the possible pitfalls is something that is extremely helpful when coaching your students.
The next P is Performance. Here, you want to observe the performance
Performance
of your students and to give them precise and concrete feedback. You don't want to just tell them, "This is not good enough. It's close, but it's not there yet." Or something like, "It's just doesn't sound right" because that's vague feedback.
Like they won't be able to, it's not tangible. They won't know what to do with it. You've got to give them concrete and precise feedback. Like, "Your tongue is too far back. You've got to push it a bit more forward." Or "round your lips a bit more, your lips are completely relaxed, or "your mouth is really closed, open it a bit more."
 
Even if you're uncertain with the exact feedback should be, you kinda try different things.
One of the things that I do, if I don't know what to say exactly, I try to imitate the sound and to make it myself. And then I tried to understand what my mouth was doing. And from there what they need to do in order to pronounce the right sound. And this was one of the ways that I discover what feedback to actually give. Either way, you've got to give them something to work with, so don't be vague, and don't say general comments like, "It's not good enough" or "it doesn't sound right". Because it will just overwhelm them and make them feel discouraged, and when they feel discouraged, you lose them. They won't be motivated, and then they won't want to continue doing this work. So you've got to give them hope.

✍️The next P is Practice

Of course, practice makes it better. Better - because
Practice perfection is overrated, and we want to communicate that to our students. That whenever they practice this sound, it does not need to be perfect, especially when they're first starting out. They have to test it and try it and see how it works for them, and then train the tongue to do different things as they're practicing because practice makes it better. So, first of all, you've got to communicate why it's so important to practice. Because if they want to use the sound spontaneously, they have to develop muscle memory, and it only happens with practice. Also, if the way they pronounce the sound is not great yet, practice will solve it. 

It'll help them understand what they're doing right, and what they're doing wrong, and gradually move into the place or the placement of the target sound. Also, you want to develop realistic expectations. If your students work 14-hour days and you ask them to practice for one hour every single day, it's just not going to happen. And then they'll feel like they're always behind like they're not doing what they need to do. They'll feel overwhelmed and then they'll quit. If your students feel overwhelmed, they'll quit, that's just how it works.
 
So you want to make sure that they always feel capable. One of the things that I do is I give my students really short recordings and exercises to work on, and I tell them, “Even if you have 10 minutes a day, go out to the parking lot and listen to the recording, and work on the recording. They’ll feel good about having done something. It’ll help them improve because they’re practicing, and, also, it’s possible. They’ll come back the next day because they know it’s not that hard to do. 

So set realistic expectations understand your students’ schedules and work around those issues. But the most important thing is that you have to be very clear about exactly what they need to practice, where they’re going to find those resources, and how much time they need to spend each day. People need that guidance. And when you give them guidance, they’re going to say, “Okay, I think I can do this, I think I can do this.” Make it a dialogue. So ask them, “Does this sound reasonable to you?” And if they say ‘no’, you have to work with them
 
to see what needs to be done to actually follow through and work on it.
 
✨Conclusion✨

Of course, here is the text rewritten in a formal, professional tone suitable for a business or academic setting:
 
Thank you for your attention. If you are an English language educator, I invite you to share in the comments below what aspects of teaching English you find most satisfying.
 
For English language learners, please indicate ‘yes’ if you have adhered to the 5 Ps framework mentioned above, or ‘no’ if you have omitted any of the Ps. Also, please indicate which aspects you have missed: Perception, Prediction, or Practice.