Teaching English language skills

Course objectives:
By taking this course you will be able to:
1- improve your teaching skills,
2- build confidence through practicing language in teaching-related
contexts and combine language learning with the development of
teaching skills,
3- develop learner-centered teaching skills,
4- increase your marketability as EFL teachers,
5- provide you with the tools, strategies and knowledge you need to be
successful as English language teachers, and
6- Practice teaching English language skills.
Course outlines:
:The course will cover the following topics
· Teaching Pronunciation
· Teaching vocabulary and phrases
· Teaching Grammar
· Teaching listening
· Teaching speaking
· Discussion activities
· Teaching reading
· · Teaching writing
· Video lessons of teachers in action
Course assessment:
-Assignments = 40 marks
- Final exam = 60 marks
Total marks = 100
Teaching English pronunciation
As teachers, we’re always looking for new ways to make pronunciation
practice more fun and less scary for our students. Whether it’s with
interactive games that make everyone feel lighter or with songs that bring
music into learning language, our aim is to create a classroom where
students can try out sounds and rhythms without being scared of making
mistakes. By using these lively methods, we can guide our students
through the tough parts of English pronunciation with confidence and a
spirit of discovery.

What does teaching pronunciation involve?

The concept of 'pronunciation' may be said to include:

- Sounds of the language, or phonology

- Stress and rhythm

- Intonation.

As a teacher of English, you must teach your students to listen and

recognize English sounds in words and sentences so as to produce them
correctly. This means, teaching them to listen and learn, to distinguish
and pronounce correctly the vowel and consonant sounds in English
words as well as acquire and use the correct articulation, intonation ,
rhythm and stress patterns of English. The major objective of the
pronunciation segment of the course will be to improve students’
communicative competence by working on troublesome sound segments
and on the supra-segmental elements of pronunciation that promote the
ability to be understood in English discourse.

Teaching English Sounds

English Language has 20 vowel and 24 consonant sounds. It is useful to

be able to list and define these sounds, or phonemes, of the language by
writing them down using phonetic' representation·

The following are procedures for teaching samples of these sounds. The
procedure consists of the following steps:

-the sound is presented first in the words it occurs

-the sound is presented in short sentences containing words in which it

occurs
-the sound is contrasted with another sound using a technique called
minimal pairs, first in isolated words and then in short sentences. The
purpose here is to show the students the difference between the sounds
contrasted.

Teaching English sounds

Sample Teaching Procedure

This is an example of specific ways of teaching consonants.

Contrasting the consonant sounds /tʃ/ and /ʃ/

The sequence starts with students listening pairs of words and practicing
the difference between /tʃ/ and /ʃ/.

Ship chip

Shoes choose

If they have no problem with these sounds the teacher may will move on
to other sounds or merely do a short practice exercise as a reminder of the
difference between them. But if the students have difficulty describing
them the teacher ask them to listen to a tape and in a series of exercises,
they have to work out which word they hear,, for example.

1- Small shops/ chops are often expensive

2- The dishes/ ditches need cleaning
3- She enjoy watching / washing the children

They now move on to exercise which practice each sound separately, for
example:

it is very cheep

a gray chair

no chance

How much do you enjoy the things in the chart below?

1 very much 2 not much 3 not at all

Fill in chart for yourself, and ask three other people.

you Mona Lana Fatima

Playing chess
Watching TV
Going to a football match
Cooking chips

If during this teaching techniques sequence, students seem to be having

trouble with either of sounds, the teacher may well refer to a diagram of
the mouth to help the students to see where the sounds are made.

Teaching Stress

You will begin by explaining to your students what stress is and its
importance in the sound system of the English language. Words Your
students need to know that words are stressed by syllables. You should
tell them that the parts of a word formed by sound combinations are
called syllables. Tell them too that there are words of one syllable and
others of two or more syllables as shown below.

• Words with one syllable: it, an, a, boy, etc.

• Words with two syllables: mo/ther, bro/ther, su/gar, con/duct

Teach them that syllables are generally produced with force but some are
produced with more force than others and that such syllables are said to
be stressed. Such syllables are said to have primary stress while those
stressed with less force are said to have a secondary stress. Here are some
words with syllables of primary stress underlined: reason, mother, three,
thirteen. To teach words of different syllables make a table of these words
beginning from those with fewer syllables to those with more syllables.

Grammatical use of word stress

Teach your students that stress is used to make a distinction between

classes of words. A very good example is the distinction between words
which are spelt the same way but by pronunciation, one is a noun and the
other is a verb. Here are some examples. The stressed syllables are
indicated by capital letters.

Noun Verb

SUBject subJECT

INsult inSULT

PREsent preSENT

EScort esCORT

Sentence stress

You should teach your students that stress is often used to give emphasis
on some words at the sentence level when such words are considered
important to drive home the intended message of the speaker. Here are
some examples:

-I need the money today not tomorrow. Here today is stressed to indicate
when the speaker needs the money

Teaching intonation

We need to draw our learners' attention to the way we use changes in the
bitch to convey meaning. One simple way of doing this is to show how
many different meanings can be squeezed out of just one word such as
'yes' . the point of exercise like this is raise the learners attention to the
power of intonation and to encourage them to vary their own speech.

Example exercise of intonation. Listen to these examples .prominent

words are in capital letters. Notice how the voice falls at the end.

- Its MINE
- She is from ROME

Now notice these how the voice rises at the end.

Are they HERE yet?

 - I THINK so.

However, there are many ways to teach intonation . the idea is to

explain the effect of intonation on varying the meaning in English.

Listening to accents

The purpose of this exercise is to find the specific pronunciation

problems of listeners by actually listening examples and having to
analyze and define them, and to think about how these problems might be
explained to the learners and corrected.

Identifying the elements of foreign pronunciation

Stage 1 preparing material

Using audio cassettes, prepare of recorded material with speakers who are
not very proficient in the target language. In a country where the target
language in not locally spoken.

Stage 2

Listen to the accent and try to analyze what it is about the accent which
make them foreign. If note a ward or a phrase sound generally foreign try
to define what precisely is wrong with them.

Stage 3 pooling and comparing.

If several such recordings have been made by a group of teachers

studying together, then their next stage is to share findings, in small, each
recording is listed, to, and participants try to identify the errors and how
and why think these occur.

Stage 4 Drawing conclusions

Discuss /your findings and draw conclusions. Questions that can be

investigated here are the following

- What seem to be the most common errors?

- Which errors are the most important to try to correct?
 - Are there you would not bother to correct? Why not?
- With regard to the error you would like to correct .how would you
explain to the learners?
- What further ideas do you have for getting learners to improve
their pronunciation of the item you have found?

Spelling and pronunciation

Where is in some languages there seems to be a close correlation

between sounds and spelling, in English this is not. the sound /ʌ/ , for
example, can be released in a number of different spellings (e.g. won ,
young, funny, etc.) .the letters ou, on the other hand , can be pronounced
in a number of different ways (e.g., enough, , through , trough, or even
journey . A lot depends on the sounds that come before and after them but
the fact remains that we spell some sounds in variety of different ways
and we have variety of different sounds for some spellings.

Words can change their sounds too, and this is not indicated by the way
we spell them. This happens when sounds get close to each other in
connected speech. Sometimes elusion takes place, where sounds
disappear into each other. E.g. / t/ of 'can't ' disappear when comes
before /d/. I can't dance. Thus, /n/ in the word 'green pronounced /m/ in
'green pen'. Linking sounds are inserted between vowels .e.g. /r/ is
pronounced between ' law and order' and 'formula one' etc.

Sometimes, assimilation takes place where the sound at the end of one
word changes to be more like the sound at the beginning of the next.

Rules of pronunciation spelling correspondence

Beside the a above mentioned points, learners need to know a whole set
of extra sound- symbol rules . for example, that , 'tion' is usually
pronounced /ʃ ə n/ .
Words or set of word with unusual pronunciation and spelling you may
need to teach and practice on their own.
Pronunciation and spelling activities
The following are some activities for teaching and practicing
pronunciation and spelling in the target language;
- Dictation of random lists of words; of words that have similar spelling
problems
- reading a loud; of syllables , words, phrases, and sentences
- Discrimination 1; prepare a set of minimal pairs, of words which differ
from each other in one sound – letter combination (such as dip deeper in
English) . either, ask learners to read them or a loud, taking care to
discriminate , or read them aloud yourself and ask students to write them
down.
-Discrimination 2; provide a list of words that are spelt the same in
learners mother tonque and in the target language ; read a loud or ask
learners to, and discuss the differences in pronunciation
Prediction 1 ; provide a set of letter combinations , which are parts of the
words learners know . How would the learners expect to be
pronounced .then reveal the full word.
Prediction2; Dictate a set of words in the target language which the
learners do not know yet but whose spelling accord with rules .can they
spell them and then reveal the meanings.

Improving learners' pronunciation

The followings are considered effective techniques for improving

learners' pronunciation

1. Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters are a playful and effective way to improve pronunciation

skills. They work by repeating similar sounds quickly, which helps
students focus on articulating challenging phonemes. For instance, “She
sells seashells by the seashore” targets the ‘sh’ and ‘s’ sounds, requiring
the speaker to switch rapidly between these two sounds. This not only
aids in mastering the sounds themselves but also improves overall speech
fluidity and agility.

Benefits: Improve diction and clarity; fun and engaging repetition;

suitable for all ages.

2. Sing Along

Incorporating music into language learning through sing-alongs can make

pronunciation practice more dynamic and memorable. English songs
often feature a wide range of vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, and
varied sentence structures, offering a rich linguistic environment.

By singing, students can naturally absorb the rhythm, stress patterns, and
intonation of English speech, which are crucial components of fluent
pronunciation.

Benefits: Natural learning of rhythm and intonation; exposure to

colloquial language; enjoyable group activity.

3. Minimal Pairs Bingo

Minimal pairs are pairs of words that differ by only one sound, such as
‘bat’ and ‘pat.’ Playing bingo with these pairs turns a traditional
pronunciation drill into an interactive game. Each time a word is called,
students must listen carefully to identify the subtle difference in sound,
enhancing their auditory discrimination skills.

This is particularly beneficial for sounds that don’t exist in the learners’
native languages or for those that are easily confused.

Benefits: Sharpens listening skills; introduces phonetic nuances; fosters a

competitive yet fun learning environment.

4. Role-plays

Role-playing activities immerse students in real-life situations where they

must use target language patterns, making the learning experience more
meaningful and practical. For example, staging a role-play in a restaurant
setting can practice food-related vocabulary and polite requests, offering
a natural setting to work on intonation and stress.

Benefits: Contextual learning; boosts confidence in speaking; enhances

communicative competence.

5. Pronunciation Videos

Online pronunciation videos offer a visual and auditory resource for

mastering English sounds. These videos often feature native speakers
demonstrating the correct mouth movements and sound production,
which can be particularly helpful for visual learners.

For instance, videos that show the difference between the ‘v’ and ‘w’
sounds can help students see how the lips and teeth should be positioned.

Benefits: Visual and auditory learning; allows for self-paced practice;

access to native speaker models.

6- Voice recording.

Using voice recording as a tool in pronunciation practice empowers

students to become more self-aware and autonomous in their learning
process. By recording their own speech and then listening back, students
can self-assess their pronunciation against the expected standard.

Benefits: Promotes self-assessment and reflection; highlights areas for

improvement; facilitates personalized feedback.

7. Storytelling

Incorporating storytelling into pronunciation practice allows students to

use language creatively while focusing on accurate pronunciation. By
narrating a story, learners must employ a wide range of vocabulary and
sentence structures, providing a rich context for pronunciation practice.

For example, a student might tell a tale from their own culture, paying
special attention to the pronunciation of key narrative elements. This not
only helps in practicing specific sounds but also enhances fluency and
expressive language skills.

Benefits: Contextualizes pronunciation practice; fosters creative use of

language; enhances fluency and expression.

Teaching vocabulary

What is vocabulary?
Vocabulary can be defined, roughly as the words we teach in the foreign
language. However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single
word: for example , post office and mother-in-law, which are made up of
two or three words but express a single idea. There are also multi-word
idioms such as call it a day, where the meaning of the phrase cannot be
deduced from an analysis of the component words. A useful convention is
to cover all such cases by talking about vocabulary 'items' rather than
'words'.

What needs to be taught?

1. Form: pronunciation and spelling

The learner has to know what a word sounds like (its pronunciation) and
what it looks like (its spelling). In teaching, we need to make sure that
both these aspects are accurately presented and learned.

2. Grammar

The grammar of a new item will need to be taught if this is not obviously
covered by general grammatical rules. When teaching a new verb, for
example, we might give also its past form, if this is irregular (think,
thought), and we might note if it is transitive or intransitive. Similarly
when teaching a noun, we may wish to present its plural form, if irregular
(mouse, mice).

3. Collocation

4. Aspects of meaning (1): denotation, connotation, appropriateness most

people in Arab countries has negative associations of dirt and inferiority.

5. Aspects of meaning (2): meaning relationships

- Synonyms, Antonyms, Hyponyms, Co-hyponyms or co-ordinates,

Superordinates.

6. Word formation (prefixes and suffixes).

Presenting new vocabulary

: WAYS OF PRESENTING THE MEANING OF NEW ITEMS

- concise definition (as in a dictionary; often a superordinate with

qualifications: for example, a cat is an animal which...)

- detailed description (of appearance, qualities. ..)

- examples (hyponyms)

- illustration (picture, object)

- demonstration (acting, mime)

- context (story or sentence in which the item occurs)

- synonyms

- opposite(s) (antonyms)

- translation

- associated ideas. Collocations

Remembering vocabulary

There are various reasons why we remember some words better than
others: then nature of the words themselves, under what circumstances
they are learnt, the method of teaching and so on.

Implications for teaching

1. You will get better results if the words you teach have clear, easily
comprehensible meanings.

2. You will get better results if items can be linked with each other, or
with ones already known, through meaning- or sound-association.

3. It is better to teach vocabulary in separated, spaced sessions than to

teach it all at once. In other words, words will be learnt better if, for
example, they are taught briefly at the beginning of a lesson, reviewed
later in the same lesson, and again in the next than if the same total
amount of time is used for learning the words all at once. This needs
careful lesson-planning, but will repay the effort.

Ideas for vocabulary working the classroom

Ideas for vocabulary activities

1. Brainstorming round an idea

'Write a single word in the centre of the board, and ask students to
brainstorm all the words they can think of that are connected with it.
Every item that is suggested is written up on the board with a line
connecting it to the original word, so that the end result is a 'sun-ray'
effect. For example e, the word tree might produce the words below.

Climb, bird, (TREE ) green, forest, family, flowers, trunk, roots

This activity is mainly for revising words the class a heady knows, but
new ones may be introduced, by the teacher or by students. Although
there are no sentences or paragraphs, the circle of associated items is in
itself a meaningful context for the learning of new vocabulary. The focus
is on the meaning of isolated items.1)

2. Identifying words we know

As an introduction to the vocabulary of a new reading passage: the

students are given the new text, and asked to underline, or mark with
fluorescent pens' all the words they know. They then get together in pairs
or threes to compare: a student who knows something not known to their
friend(s) teaches it to them, so that they can mark it in on their texts. They
then try to guess the meaning of the remaining unmarked items. Finally
the teacher brings the class together to hear results, checking Successes
and teaching new items where necessary. This activity tends to be
morale-boosting, in that it stresses what the students know rather than
what they do not; it encourages student cooperation and peer teaching; it
also entails repeated exposure to the text and vocabulary items, through
individual, group and teacher-led stages.
What is grammar?

Grammar is defined as the way words are put together to make correct
sentences'. Thus in English 'I am a teacher' is grammatical, but 'I are a
teacher' is not. 'We can, however, apply the term grammatical to units
smaller than sentences. A brief phrase said or written on its own can be
grammatically acceptable or unacceptable in its own right: a tall woman
sounds right; " but woman tall does not. The same may be true of single
words: compare went with " goed.

The place of grammar in teaching

The place of grammar in the teaching of foreign languages is

controversial. Most people agree that knowledge of a language means,
among other things, knowing its grammar; but this knowledge may be
intuitive (as it is in our native language), and it is not necessarily true that
grammatical structures need to be taught as such, or that formal rules
need to be learned. Or is it?

Grammatical terms

If you do decide to do any formal, conscious teaching of grammar, it is

useful to have at your fingertips the various common terms that are used
in explanations of grammatical structures:

Units of language

Linguists usually define the largest unit of language as 'discourse' or

'text'; but for most practical teaching purposes, the sentence is probably
the most convenient 'base' unit. Smaller units are the clause, the phrase,
the word, the morpheme.

Parts of the sentence

The most common parts of the sentence are subject, verb and object,
which may be combined into a basic pattern like I saw the man. I being
the subject, saw the verb and the man the object. The object may be direct
or indirect; etc.
Parts of speech

Different parts of the sentence may be realized by various kinds of words

(or phrases): these are called parts of speech; nouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, pronouns etc.

Presenting and explaining a new grammatical structure:

1. Presenting the form and meaning of grammatical structure.

2. Giving a plenty of contextualized examples of the structure .

3. Your explanation should cover the great majority of instances learners

are likely to encounter.

4. Here you have to decide whether to elicit the rule from the learners on
the basis of examples (sometimes called the 'inductive' method), or give it
yourself, and invite them to produce examples ('deductive'). If the
learners can perceive and define the rule themselves quickly and easily
then there is a lot to be said for letting them do so: But if they find this
difficult, it is better to provide the information yourself.

Grammatical mistakes ·
Give three problematic sounds for Libyan students .Why do you think the
students have problem in pronouncing these sounds?

Select one of the problem sounds you have listed and briefly )2
describe an activity you can carry out to correct the error in
.pronunciation