Anne - TS #9

Anne – TS #9

Date/Time:  Friday, January 22, 2016, 10:00-11:00

Location:  Lyon Country Library

Topic/Skills:  Pronunciation of unvoiced and voiced “th”

Teacher Presentation:  I modeled the way to pronounce “th,” starting with the soft (unvoiced) “th.”  I handed out a list of words with this sound at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of words.  Students practiced.  Many were able to use the sound itself, but had difficulty combining it with other sounds, so we continued to practice the sound in sentences.  We then practiced the voiced “th” and used a word list to compose sentences.  This sound was more difficult for students. For both sounds, I encouraged over-emphasizing the tongue position, that is, sticking it way out of the mouth between the teeth.  Some students seemed embarrassed to do this – a cultural difference?  We laughed about the mistakes in meaning with words like “sink” and “think” and “sick and “thick.”

Feedback provided to tutee:  In practicing the sounds, I had students do it at the same time while I listened for mistakes, I then modeled correct pronunciation and asked each student to follow me.  (These students have known each other for a while, so trying something new in front others did not seem to be a problem.)  The students all made progress, and I told them so.  

Lessons learned:  The students are very engaged in this class.   There is a difference in ability, with some students more able to make the correct sounds than others.  With a lower level group, I would have stuck with the unvoiced “th,” rather than moving on to the voiced.  To accommodate the higher-level students, I moved on.  They appreciated this.  Two Chinese students were new to the class, and who had a lot more difficulty than the rest of the students.  I didn't want to single them out, so I worked with them quietly while other students were working with each other on sentences. There was a guest today, a new volunteer I happen to know who wants to work on accent correction.  She is a speech therapist who recently retired from FSU.  She told me that what I had done with the students was “on target” and correct.  Next week we move on to vowels, and she suggested I start with vowel pairs that are often difficult to discern by ESL students.