"Tied to the Tree" Activity

Each pairs gets a card. Decide together "What was the question to the answer they have?"
Elicit answers. Ask "What additional information is needed to tell what the question
was?" Stress.
Actual question on WB. Pairs now give answers with proper stress. Pairs create similar
possible questions for their answer, and answer with proper stress.
Feedback - Stress and intonation convey (often crucial) meaning.

Did you tie them to the tree?

No, Bob tied them to the tree.
No, I tied them to the dishwasher.
No, I tied him to the tree.
No, I nailed them to the tree.
No, I tied them around the tree.
No, I'm going to tie them to the tree.
"Thanks" Activity

Each trainee given one card, pinned to back so they cannot see it
Milling - trainees look at what others are "giving them" - they are only allowed to say
"Thanks". They are to stand behind each "gift giver" in turn, and say it into giver's ear
(such that body language / facial expressions are not visible)
After giving / recieving from everyone, trainees return to seats. Groups of 5 tell each other
what they think their gift was, and then check
Feedback - How closely did we guess? How could we tell? Intonation

An all expense paid trip to Hawaii

A coffee
Help with your next written assignment
A goat
A used kleenex / handkerchief
An old bicycle
Two dollars

One thousand dollars

The new Enrique Iglesias CD
A geometry textbook

PRONUNCIATION PROBLEM
Here are some comments made by teachers about their students' pronunciation.
What exactly are the learner difficulties being identified, and what features of English speech are
they related to?
1. I couldn't make out what he was saying until he showed me the word in a dictionary.
2. He sounds so rude and abrupt all the time.
3. She sounds so bored and superior.
4. Every time he opens his mouth, it sounds like a machine gun going off.
5. "Clothes". yes, that always causes trouble. "World", too.
6. Yes, I know we write it with four syllables, but we say it with three.
7. It's not "estation", it's "station". Try again. Why do you always get it wrong at the beginning of
words?
8. The Japanese guy can't hear the difference between "l" and "r", and the one from Egypt can't
hear the difference between "p" and "b". I don't know what's wrong with them!
9. The poor man was trying to look up "snotinuff"!
10. He missed the point of "What are you doing?" completely.

Find the SCHWAs

"UH! UH! UH! UH! UH! UH! UH! UH! UH! UH! UH! UH!"

You'll need to read the text aloud at normal speed, and remember that you won't hear any schwas
if you unnaturally enunciate syllables and words that would normally be unstressed.

Buy Your Grade

A professor was giving a big test one day to his students. He handed out all of the tests and went
back to his desk to wait. Once the test was over the students all returned the completed papers.
The professor noticed that one of the students had attached a hundred dollar bill to his test with a
note saying "A dollar per point." At the next session the professor handed the tests back out. This
student got back his test and seventy-two dollars change.

KEY: Buy Your Grade

A professor was giving a big test one day to his students. He handed out all of the tests and
went back to his desk to wait. Once the test was over the students all returned the completed
papers. The professor noticed that one of the students had attached a hundred dollar bill to his
test with a note saying "A dollar per point." At the next session the professor handed the tests
back out. This student got back his test and seventy-two dollars change.
The syllables highlighted in green seem to be schwas, to me. If you have a UK accent, I think
you might have heard schwas at the end of "dollars" and "professor" as well? If you disagree
with my interpretation or your neighbour's, justify your decision by saying the words to each
other and comparing.

To consider:

Why is the word "the" always pronounced with a schwa in this text? Can you come up
with a sentence in which it would be pronounced differently?
Why might schwa create difficulties for students in terms of their pronunciation, and their
comprehension of native speakers?
We almost certainly disagreed about some placements of schwa. So, whose pronunciation
do you teach? Yours? The coursebook cassette's? RP?