Some language teachers will say that one of the most important aspects of teaching, especially when the language is not spoken at home or outside of the classroom, is pronunciation.
Many times, this can be difficult to apply in the class, because in the process of achievement our final goal of getting our students communicating in Spanish, we don't want to discourage them, and sometimes we overlook pronunciation errors for the greater good of creating a positive learning environment and give them the necessary confidence to start speaking the foreign language.
In my opinion, pronunciation can be something to improve in the latest stages of learning a second language or at least not be the focus in their first years. I am more of the idea of improving pronunciation in a more natural way, giving them some tips during class when they are learning new vocabulary rather than during their oral presentations.
At Blouberg International one my favourite ways of teaching the pronunciation is through songs, stories, and role plays.
Songs are the perfect resource for teaching pronunciation, especially when they have great rhythm, related and comprehensible vocabulary, and have repetitive and memorable lyrics.
Cesar, the creator of Rockalingua, explained this way: "Focuses on creating songs that combine useful vocabulary with functional language structures, rhythm, and ample opportunities to repeat the words heard using the pronunciation presented in the song” I completely agreed with him. Songs are a great way to practice meaningful listening while you work on pronunciation, but stories are also.
By listening, reading, and creating stories - specially for the year 5 and 6 students- that they can replicate using their own vocabulary during the role play lessons the students absorb more vocabulary in a more relax, practical and fun environment.
It is very important to listen to the stories more than one time:
· The first-time you can focus in identifying vocabulary and expressions that you have learned during the class.
· The second time focus on the content, try to understand the whole story.
· The third time you can focus on the pronunciation.
A good example of this is the Term 3 Year 5 project about the restaurant, that can apply to any topic that you wish your students to learn:
- Learn the vocabulary and expressions related with the food. Book practice and Rockalingua.
- Create a menu with the food related vocabulary for their role play.
- Add some relevant grammar to the mixture. “I would like. I prefer, I want or need”.
- Create a story using those expressions and vocabulary for the students to listen and practice during the class with some questions
at the end. They need to decide the name of the Restaurant and the menu.
- Ask them to create a similar story and present it to the class.
Javier Vidal, Spanish – IES Blouberg International, SA
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