Tips to Teach Pronunciation 1. Vowel Length One of the biggest difficulties in clear pronunciation is vowel length. Short vowels aren’t short enough and long vowels aren’t long enough. It is important to exaggerate in the beginning so that students can hear the difference more clearly. Do competitions where students see who can hold the sound the longest. Over time, make the vowels shorter and shorter until they are the appropriate length. Example:
The vowels in: beat, boat, boot, bait, bite.
Short vowels: bet, bot, but, bat, bit
2. Practice Listening You need to hear it before you can say it. Encourage students to get as much listening experience outside of the classroom as possible. Assign listening reports in order to check in and see what kinds of English students are listening to outside of class. Listening doesn’t have to be boring. Therefore, you should tell your students to listen to popular music, TV shows, movies, or anything in English that will work for them to improve their pronunciation and speaking every day.