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3.3.2.2 Performance Training
Performance Training means performance practice involving rehearsing,
pronouncing the same phrases several times, commenting on performance and practice
in growing out of shyness and self-consciousness. This training helps to cope with
communication activities. Such training focuses on correct facial movement,
management of breath, and gestures. (MacCarthy 1978, 20-67) To help learners to
master and raise awareness in English pronunciation, the following suggestions seem to
be useful.
´Phonetic Placement Methodology´- according to Paulette Dale
Phonetic placement and anatomical explanations often used with multi-sensory
methods are helpful. It is useful for students to feel tension or lack of tension
under the chin, or the presence of vibration of the vocal cords, to see the tongue
tip in a small hand mirror. (2003, 18)
Piers Messum (2002, 26) and Joanne Kenworthy (1992,70) suggest that teachers should
confirm that their learners know the vocal organs vocabulary, such as ´lips (top and
bottom, upper and lower) ´, ´teeth (top, front, back teeth) ´, ´tongue (tip or front, back of
the tongue and sides of the tongue) ´. These authors also recommend words such as
´put, place, touch, near, close to, round and spread´. It should not be forgotten that
phonetic placement terminology should be with respect to the learners´ age and level of
proficiency.
´Phonemic alphabet / Use of International Phonetic Alphabet´ (IPA/ International
Phonemic chart) – as most dictionaries give the pronunciation of the words in phonemic
symbols, it seems useful for students to be aware of the different phonemes and “it is
the clearest way of promoting awareness of sound and spelling correspondence by
introducing the various symbols.” (Harmer 2001, 185) Alfred Gimson confirms, “The
learner will often find it rewarding to transcribe phonetically various utterances.” (1989,
337) However, Jeremy Harmer admits, “It is perfectly possible to wok on the sounds of
English without ever using any phonemic symbol.” (2001, 185) Here again, target
course group, and course aims should be taken into consideration.
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´Tongue-Twisters´ - are either words or phrases that are difficult to pronounce because
they contain many difficult sounds, especially ones that are very similar. They exist in
every language and are designed for improving the articulation. (Celce-Murcia 1991,
139) Their use will depend on the type of course, target audience, pronunciation
element to be presented, practised, or mastered.
´Drilling´ - “Perhaps the oldest method of teaching pronunciation involves exercises in
elocution: imitation drills.” (Jones 2002, 80) Nowadays, there are many types of drills
recommended, such as ´Drilling of Vowel Shifts, of Stress Shifts, Chain Drills, and so
on. (Celce-Murica 1991, 140) Rodney Jones suggests that drills should move beyond
the simple identification and mimicking of de-contextualised sound contrasts to both the
perception and production integrated into effective communication by the use of
pictures, gestures, poetry and songs, games and physical activities along the line of
Total Physical Response
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. (2002, 181)
´Games´ - “They are not only motivating and fun but can also provide excellent practice
for improving pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and the four language skills.”
(Brewster, Ellis, Girard 2002, 172) Some games are competitive, with teams or
individual working towards being the ´winner´. Other games are cooperative, where
teams or pairs work together to achieve a common goal, such as drawing a picture or
solving a puzzle. (Brewster, Ellis, Girard 2002, 173) Chosen games should be
meaningful and real-life, as only in such activities communication takes place in a
natural way. (Dunn 1983, 3
;
Brewster, Ellis, Girard 2002, 173-176) By the use of
regularly repeated easy language structures, in literature usually called ´prefabricated
language´, children quickly memorize the language involved. Opal Dunn confirms
“Once a child has memorized some prefabricated language, he has a feeling he can
speak a lot of English.” (1983, 5)
´Communicative activities´ - include interviews, speeches, debates, role-plays and
dramatizations. Such activities mainly aim at supra-segmental pronunciation elements.
To deal with connected speech elements students and teachers can follow a three-stage
procedure concerning firstly comparing words in isolation with normal connected
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Total Physical Response - is very popular with young learners because it develops listening skills,
introduces new language in a very visual, contextualized way, involves
activity and movement
.
When
you use action songs, rhymes and stories, this is a form of TPR. (Brewster, Ellis, Girard 2002,44)
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speech, secondly identifying what was said in normal connected speech, thirdly
producing normal connected speech. (Harmer 2001, 197-198) It should not be forgotten
that factors influencing the choice of communicative activities are the same as with the
previous suggestions, in other words, target audience, and their level of proficiency.
Some of the above mentioned suggestions and recommendations were used in
teaching the course of young learners, the results are discussed in chapter No.6.
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