How can playing a musical instrument help your student learn English?
Transforming your words into a melody can be a useful and easy way to help students hear how variations in pitch, intonation, and stress can change the meaning of a word or phrase.
Pitch refers to the highness or lowness of a tone.
Intonation refers to rise and fall.
There are four basic patterns of intonation:
Stress is greatly affected by pitch and intonation, and refers to the emphasis you give to syllables in a word or to words in a phrase or sentence.
The ways in which pitch, intonation, and stress affect meaning can be difficult for a language learner to hear. Using a kazoo can help a student hear the differences and better comprehend how the changes affect meaning.
Here's how to use a kazoo to teach and emphasize the above:
1. Select a sentence you want to work on.
For example, "I don't think he should get that job."
First, say the sentence while stressing just one word in particular. Then play the sentence on your kazoo using normal English pitch and intonation. Stress one word in particular:
Rather than relying on your learners to distinguish the differences on their own, you can use this technique to help them hear the differences by way of the comical sound of the kazoo. Being able to aurally comprehend differences in pronunciation, intonation, stress, and rhythm is an important step in improving the intelligibility of speech.
Happy Tutoring!
Catherine
Catherine Sigmond
Project Assistant, English At Large
MA Candidate, Tufts University Department of Education
catherine@englishatlarge.org
We encourage you to purchase the book using the above link. For every purchase you make through this link, English At Large receives a 4% commission that helps support our organization and help us provide you with more teaching resources like these!
Transforming your words into a melody can be a useful and easy way to help students hear how variations in pitch, intonation, and stress can change the meaning of a word or phrase.
Pitch refers to the highness or lowness of a tone.
Intonation refers to rise and fall.
There are four basic patterns of intonation:
Rising Intonation pitches rise [↗]
Falling Intonation pitches fall [↘]
Dipping Intonation pitches fall then rise [↘↗]
Peaking Intonation pitches rise then fall [↗↘]
Stress is greatly affected by pitch and intonation, and refers to the emphasis you give to syllables in a word or to words in a phrase or sentence.
The ways in which pitch, intonation, and stress affect meaning can be difficult for a language learner to hear. Using a kazoo can help a student hear the differences and better comprehend how the changes affect meaning.
Here's how to use a kazoo to teach and emphasize the above:
1. Select a sentence you want to work on.
For example, "I don't think he should get that job."
First, say the sentence while stressing just one word in particular. Then play the sentence on your kazoo using normal English pitch and intonation. Stress one word in particular:
I don't think he should get the job.
Then, repeat this process, each time emphasizing a different word in the sentence. Discuss how stressing various words affects the meaning of the sentence. For example, look at how stressing different words in the sentence "I don't think he should get the job" affects the meaning of the sentence:
Allow the learner to duplicate the stressed "I" on their own kazoo.
Then, repeat this process, each time emphasizing a different word in the sentence. Discuss how stressing various words affects the meaning of the sentence. For example, look at how stressing different words in the sentence "I don't think he should get the job" affects the meaning of the sentence:
"I don't think he should get the job."
(Meaning: It's not true that I think he should get the job.)
(Meaning: It's not true that I think he should get the job.)
"I don't think he should get that job."
(Meaning: That's not really what I mean. OR I'm not sure he'll get that job.)
(Meaning: That's not really what I mean. OR I'm not sure he'll get that job.)
"I don't think he should get that job."
(Meaning: Somebody else should get that job.)
(Meaning: Somebody else should get that job.)
"I don't think he should get that job."
(Meaning: In my opinion it's wrong that he's going to get that job.)
(Meaning: In my opinion it's wrong that he's going to get that job.)
"I don't think he should get that job."
(Meaning: He should get another job.)
(Meaning: He should get another job.)
Happy Tutoring!
Catherine
Catherine Sigmond
Project Assistant, English At Large
MA Candidate, Tufts University Department of Education
catherine@englishatlarge.org
To learn more about alternative methods for dictation, have a look at:
Dictation: New Methods, New Possibilities (Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers) by Paul Davis and Mario Rinvolocri.
You can purchase it here: Dictation: New Methods, New Possibilities (Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers)
We encourage you to purchase the book using the above link. For every purchase you make through this link, English At Large receives a 4% commission that helps support our organization and help us provide you with more teaching resources like these!
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