IPA

The International Phonetic

Alphabet
Lesson 1
This short course will review the role that IPA
plays in teaching English as a foreign
language.

We will cover the following topics:
pronunciation of the English vowels and
consonants
the relationship between spelling and sound
the schwa sound //
applying IPA in your classroom
The IPA Chart

Consonants
A consonant sound is made by blocking the
air as it leaves the mouth. The tongue, lips,
teeth and voice all work differently when
producing each sound.

INSERT DIAGRAM OF PHYSIOLOGICAL
ASPECTS OF PRONUNCIATION
Plosives /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/


These sounds are made by blocking the air
in the mouth followed by an expulsion of air

[INSERT MECHANIC DIAGRAM]
Lets Practice!
Plosive Initial Final
/p/ park stop
/b/ best lob
/t/ time might
/d/ done paid
/k/ cart lake
/g/ guide flag
Nasal /m/ /n/ //


These sounds are made partly through the
nose

[INSERT MECHANIC DIAGRAM]


Lets Practice
NASAL INTITIAL FINAL
/m/ main lime
/n/ no rain
/ / x sing



Activity- Mingle

Review
Today we covered plosives

/p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/

and nasals:

/m/ /n/ / /



See you tomorrow! [IPA Typeface]
IPA
The International Phonetic
Alphabet
Lesson 2
Review
Yesterday, we covered plosives and nasals.
/p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/
/m/ /n/ / /

Today we will be focusing on fricatives and
affricates


Fricatives- /f/ /v/ // // /s/ /z/ // //


Fricative sounds are made by pushing the
air through a gap in the mouth, creating a
friction sound.
These are the sounds that are mostly
responsible for pronunciation issues

[MECHANIC PHYSIOLOGY DIAGRAM]
Lets Practice
FRICATIVE Initial Final
/f/ fine knife
/v/ van leave
// think path
// those bathe
/s/ sort pass
/z/ zone cheese
// ship marsh
// x measure
Affricates // //

Affricates an affricate sound is made when a
plosive is followed by a fricative

[MECHANIC DIAGRAM HERE]
Lets Practice

AFFRICATE

Initial

Final

//

chart

itch

//

giant

page



Activity
Concentration

Review
Today we covered fricatives:
/f/ /v/ // // /s/ /z/ // //

and affricates:
// //


IPA
The International Phonetic
Alphabet
Lesson 3


See you tomorrow! [IPA Typeface]
Review
Yesterday, we covered fricative sounds:
/f/ /v/ // // /s/ /z/ // //

and affricate sounds:
// //

Today we will cover the final two types of
consonant sounds, approximants and glottal
sounds.






Approximants /w/ /r/ /j/ /l/ /--/
Approximants are between a vowel and a
consonant because the air in the mouth is
not fully blocked.

[INSERT MECHANICAL DIAGRAM]
Lets Practice
APPROXIMANT INTITIAL FINAL
/w/ wall x
/r/ right x
/j/ yes x
/l/ /--/ like fall
Glottal sounds- /h/ /--/
glottal sounds are
produced in the glottis
[DIAGRAM]



Glottal

Initial

Final
/h/ hate x
/--/ x what
Lets Practice


ACTIVITY
Write and Say
Review
Today we practiced using the approximant
sounds:

/w/ /r/ /j/ /l/ /--/

and the glottal sounds:
/h/ /--/



See you tomorrow! [IPA Typeface]
IPA
The International Phonetic
Alphabet
Lesson 4
Consonant Sounds Review
In lessons 1-3, we
learned about the
different consonant
sounds in the English
language

Butcan you recall the
names of the consonant
groups?

FRICATIVE
GLOTTAL
APPROXIMANT
AFFRICATE
NASAL
PLOSIVE
Vowel Sounds- How many vowels
are there?
IPA VOWEL CHART
Vowel Sounds
Vowel sounds shape the flow of air in the
mouth.

[DIAGRAM]
How many vowels are there in the
English language?
There are 19 vowel sounds in English
These sounds are split into two main
categories:

1. MONOTHONGS (12)
2. DIPHTHONGS (7)

Monothongs require 1 mouth position and
diphthongs require 2 mouth positions.
But Wait
If we look at the vowel section of the IPA
chart, we see that there are 21 symbols!

/A/ and /B/ are known as regional variations
and may only be used in certain places
where English is the first language!
Lets Practice
Short Sounds

Long Sounds Diphthong
Sounds
// cat
/e/ left
// thin
// lost
// love
// look
/:/ heart
/i:/ need
/u:/ food
/:/ turn
/:/ bored

/e/ pave
// boy
/a/ time
// road
/a/ down
// beard
/e/ chair


Activity
Divide and Conquer

How many did you get right?
SHORT LONG DIPHTHONG
/ht/ HOT /l:f/ LAUGH / sad/ SAID
/tp/ CHIP /w:n/ WORN / mmnt/ MOMENT
/west/ WEST /mi:n/ MACHINE / rand/ ROUND
/sn/ SUN /lu:z/ LOSE / tz/ CHEESE
/bk/ BOOK /:/ ARE / we/ WHERE
/ht/ HAT /b:d/ BIRD / n/ ANNOY
/hv/ HAVE /mi:t/ MEAT
Review
Today we covered vowels in English
We learned that:
there are 19 pure sounds and 2 regional
variations
the vowels are classified as monothongs
and diphthongs
when pronounced monothongs have one
mouth position and that diphthongs have
two.



See you tomorrow! [IPA Typeface]
IPA
The International Phonetic
Alphabet
Lesson 5
Review
So far, we have covered the IPA symbols for
each of the consonant and vowel sounds
that make up the English sound system

Today we will cover spelling and sound
Spelling and Sound
Look at the words below

LOSE LOOSE

What is the difference in both meaning and
pronunciation of these words?
Spelling and Sound
The difference is:
lose - /lu:z/ = Verb meaning the opposite of win.
loose - /lu:s/ = Adjective meaning the opposite of
tight.

When pronouncing the two words, loose will
sound slightly shorter even though it is spelt with
a double o. This is because the /s/ sound
shortens the vowel.

Spelling and Sound
As English is not phonetically written, it can
create pronunciation issues for learners.

An < s > in written English can be pronounced /s/ or /z/
in spoken English. There are some rules for this,
but with many words, you have to learn which
pronunciation is correct.

This is a key reason why we need to teach IPA in our
classrooms!


Lets Practice
/s/ and /z/ create many pronunciation issues,
especially for Chinese learners.

So lets practice these sounds!
How many did you get right?
/s/ /z/
lease, loose, lights, its,
whats, crease, pass,
stop, chase
plays, lose, was, peas,
is, us, please,
as, hes, whos
Remember, if you do not know what sound to produce, you can always check
the IPA using your dictionary, electronic translator or the web!

IPA
So far we have focused on pronunciation
and learned a little about how to apply IPA
in class.

In this part of the lesson we will look at IPA,
and how we can apply it in ways that are fun
in our classrooms.
IPA: Not just for speaking!
IPA is not only a tool that can be used to
develop pronunciation and speaking skills, it
is also one
that can be used to aid development across
all four language skills.

How can IPA be linked to the four language
skills?
IPA & the Four Skills
Speaking, IPA is mostly used to allows us to
access the pronunciation of words
Reading, if we come across a word we do not
know we can reference it in a dictionary. There
we use IPA to internally produce and store the
word
Writing, the more we learn words and their
pronunciation, the more productive and creative
we can be in our writing.
Listening, the more we practice IPA the more
aware we become of the sounds and this allows
us to become more effective and active listeners

Review
Today we highlighted the link between IPA,
spelling and sound.

We also linked IPA to all four skills of
English.


See you tomorrow! [IPA Typeface]
IPA
The International Phonetic
Alphabet
Lesson 6

What is the most common sound in
English?

It is the schwa sound //

When written it can be written as:
a,e,i,o or u

Schwa //
The schwa // is the most common
sound in English and it is found in
the unstressed syllables of words.

To form the schwa, your mouth should be
relaxed with your jaw slightly open with
your tongue resting in the middle. When
you produce the sound do not move your
lips



ACTIVITY
Say it, Match it!
How many did you get right?
Category IPA Written Form
colour /p:pl/ purple
city /mdrd/ Madrid
fruit /bn:n/ banana
vegetable /krt/ carrot
animal /elfnt/ elephant
soccer hero /devdbekm/ David Beckham
sport /knu:./ canoeing
country /p:tgl/ Portugal
make of car /msedz/ Mercedes
More schwa practice.




Listen and underline the schwa sounds in
each word.
Answers
England
mother
potato
bottomless
congratulations
darken
particular
London
rememberthe // is found
in the unstressed syllables
of words.
Review
Today we focused in the most common
sound in the English language,
the schwa //.

We identified that it is found in the
unstressed syllables of words.


See you tomorrow! [IPA Typeface]
IPA
The International Phonetic
Alphabet
Lesson 7
Review
Over the last six lessons we discussed the
IPA chart and reviewed the sounds of English.

We have also looked at how IPA can be used
across the four language skills.

Today we are going to have fun with IPA!


Tongue Twisters


IPA Running Dictation


IPA Jeopardy.
Discussion
Is IPA important to you?
Is IPA a necessary skill for your students
to develop?
Which activities will your try with your
students? Why?
Final Words


IPA is a skill, it is one that takes time to
perfect but once you know it you can apply
it many different areas of both your
teaching and further learning of English.