10 pronunciation books for DipTESOL trainees

Here’s my suggested reading list for the phonology component of the DipTESOL. I don’t want to mislead you – the course is 9 months long (depending) and you’ve a lot to do during that time. I’m not saying you should read all of them, but it’s worth getting hold of a few – particularly the classroom-focused ones. I shared a few articles in this recent post which might also be of interest.

Note: no affiliate links below. Views my own.

For the classroom

Star Buy: The Book of Pronunciation (Marks and Bowen)

I harp on about this so much – I really should be on commission. I’ve mentioned it elsewhere as my ‘if you only buy one book on pronunciation…’ so enough said. It’s very good.

Recommended: PronPack (Hancock)

I recently bought this 4-book set and will do a full review on the blog soon. You can’t fault this collection for the sheer volume of engaging, classroom-based ideas and slick photocopiable resources. It has some great activities to try out but it doesn’t come cheap. Plus, although it looks fancy I’d say it’s less accessible overall than the Book of Pronunciation.

If your budget allows…

You can get gist of what Hancock offers in PronPack if you pick up Pronunciation Games. If you can pick up a few older books online I’d recommend Bradford’s Intonation in Context. I have copies of English Pronunciation in Use kicking about but I’ve never found them much use if I’m honest – there is a (relatively) new edition out though. I wouldn’t invest money in a book like Ship or Sheep as I think it’s application is a bit limited, but if you see it collecting dust in the staffroom it’s worth flicking through. There seem to be plenty of examples online too. Primary Pronunciation Box is kicking about our staffroom as well – you know what you’re getting with that ‘Primary…Box’ series but I don’t teach YLs much so haven’t put the activities into practice myself. (more…)

Webinar: Teaching English pronunciation for the real world (Laura Patsko)

This webinar from November 2018 is a good introduction to the concept of English as a Lingua Franca. The hour-long session gives an overview the following:

  • Why teach pronunciation?
  • Who uses English nowadays?
  • What should we prioritise for learners’ pronunciation?
  • What can we do in the classroom?

It’s certainly a tall order to cover all these areas in such a short session, but Patsko’s summary is clear and she provides plenty of links for further reading.

Patsko says we should teach pronunciation because…

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30 Role-plays for TEFL

Do you want to bring some drama and creativity into class? Are you looking for new ways to motivate and engage your teen/adult learners? Are you on the lookout for a good value TEFL resource written by real teachers, for real teachers?

If you answered YES to any of the above…. Here’s 30 Role-plays for TEFL! Woohoo!

Me and my colleague, Richard McCully, have teamed up to produce this book which is packed full of useful resources. There are some great two-person role-plays in here which can be used for a variety of purposes, such as:

  • engaging lesson starters
  • interesting and relevant tasks to drive your lesson forward
  • providing a good context to introduce functional language or grammar points
  • providing a route into drama – one of the most underused tools in the EFL classroom!

How did the book come about? (more…)

How to get a CELTA Pass A

I passed the CELTA with a grade A. There’s my certificate…

There are already some good posts around on how to get a Pass A – see CELTA Helper for an example. However, I’ve been contacted a lot since I mentioned my Pass A grade in a previous post. People genuinely want to know how I achieved it and how they can do the same.

Here’s the first of a few posts with my take on things. Feel free to comment if you have any questions – I’ll respond to everyone. However, if you want expert advice rather than my opinion, talk to a CELTA course tutor!

Full disclosure: none of the links in this post are affiliate links.

The path towards a Pass A…

Just as CELTA Helper says, read the CELTA assessment criteria carefully. The criteria for a Pass A is basically that you can…

  • analyse target language thoroughly
  • plan effectively with minimal guidance
  • select appropriate resources for skills development
  • deliver effective lessons using a wide range of effective techniques
  • show very good awareness of learners and respond to them
  • reflect on strengths and weaknesses – use those reflections to help develop your skills

Overall: show excellent understanding of English teaching and learning processes.

Sounds easy, right?! If you can achieve all of that within the one-month intensive course then you’re a far better trainee than me! Preparation was the key to my success… (more…)

Lesson idea: Kahoot! for capitalisation and punctuation

A few months ago I mentioned word stress games using Kahoot! This app has also come in handy recently for practising punctuation/capitalisation. I just display a sentence with various errors in it– learners judge how many mistakes there are in the sentence. That’s it really.

Why I like this Kahoot!

  • I use this as a primer before writing, rather than for error correction based on learners’ own writing. You could use it for both though. The reason I do it this way is to review punctuation rules that they usually know already
  • As the students are looking at the sentence on the board, you can see them going through the rules together (if working in pairs). This is a good way to establish features they are most/least familiar with
  • Of course, Kahoot! isn’t a necessity here, you could do a similar game on paper. It’s a pretty engaging start/stage of a lesson though…

Review: Language Fuel online training

I love a freebie! I‘ve just completed a two-week free trial of Language Fuel. Overall, I give it an ELTplanning thumbs up. Skip to the end for my overall thoughts…

Language Fuel (Academy) is an online training platform both for ELT teachers and learners. This review focuses solely on resources designed for teachers. They offer a suite of online courses (currently over 30 of them) via a membership model. A Premium membership is around 15 UK pounds per month, although there are discounts for institutional membership. There are also occasional freebies like webinars offered through the platform and their free ‘community membership’, so it’s worth a visit just to sign up for that.

Who is it aimed at?

I’ve completed around 10 of the courses. Overall, most were aimed at TKT or CELTA-level trainees, or what Cambridge would describe as Foundation or Developing level teachers.

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How sanitized is your coursebook?

Tut! Coursebooks with their PARSNIP policy. You’ve literally given me nothing this term – not even a shred of controversy.

First, there was that unit on travel and ‘responsible tourism’. As usual, full of affluent looking Westerners with aspirational lifestyles, backpacking around Europe or cycling at the Golden Gate Bridge. I mean, I guess the publisher did shoehorn in the odd reference to illegal trade in ivory, plus the dangers of plastic waste and the carbon footprint of tourism. But these are hardly ‘political’ topics. After all, it’s not as if I live in a country that has taken an active stand against the environmental impact of excessive tourism, by closing one of their most popular tourist attractions for the foreseeable future. Nope, no springboards for robust discussion here… (more…)