Pronunciation

Accented pronunciation is a part of our identity, who we are, and where we come from. Although accented pronunciation is not a problem, it is an example of negative language transfer. Accent is also not a concern unless it interferes with our intelligibility. After all, it is important to get the message across.

The challenges of English pronunciation vary among speakers of different languages. Portuguese speakers may confuse initial R with H. Spanish speakers may confuse Y with J. Korean speakers may confuse P with F. Meanwhile, Japanese speakers may confuse R with L.

To help multilingual learners with their English pronunciation, I have created a collection of minimal-pair activities shared below. Please feel free to use them and let me know what you think!

This minimal-pair activity helps students distinguish between seemingly alike or difficult to pronounce for non-native English speakers sounds. For this activity, students need to sit back to back, avoid looking at each other but communicate using their best pronunciation and listening skills. Their task is to exchange the information they have, which is different from each other, write down what they hear, and compare the results at the end. Once finished, practice pronouncing the word-pairs and create sentences. If you would like to try this in your class, access the document below:

It's only fair

to share

the minimal pair!