sound or that sound?” Phonemic symbols give us a way to
check our hearing.
Should you use phonemic symbols or not? You’ll have to
make that decision based on your students’ needs and
abilities. If you think they’ll be helpful, give them a try. If
you !nd that they do more harm than good, don’t use them.
If you do decide to include a phonemic alphabet in your
teaching, don’t try to introduce all the symbols at once or
make students memorize them all in a day. Introduce
unfamiliar symbols little by little as students learn and
practice the sounds they represent. Emphasize symbols that
represent sounds that don’t have a clear, unambiguous
spelling in English, like /θ/, /ð/, /∫/, or /ŋ/. Vowel symbols
are especially useful since the spelling of vowel sounds in
English is complicated and inconsistent. It’s useful to have a
consistent way to identify vowel sounds that doesn’t depend
on spelling.
In conclusion
In planning your pronunciation teaching, you’ll need to think
about your own students, their goals, abilities, and
preferences, and all the other aspects of your teaching
situation. All of these will guide you in deciding what
methods and activities to use in teaching pronunciation.
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