Some of my experiences for teaching the sounds / s / - / z / and / ʃ / - / ʒ / in language forcus of units 12, 16 English 10 and how to help my stidents do pronunciation exercises better

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
NONG CONG 4 HIGH SCHOOL
THE STUDY OF TEACHING EXPERIENCE
SUBJECT:
SOME OF MY EXPERIENCES FOR TEACHING THE SOUNDS /S/-/Z /AND / ʃ / - / ʒ / IN LANGUAGE FORCUS OF UNITS 12,16 ENGLISH 10 AND HOW TO HELP MY STIDENTS DO PRONUNCIATION EXERCISES BETTER 
	By: Nguyễn Thị Oanh
	Position: Teacher
	Field: English
THANH HÓA, 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS
PAGE
PART I. INTRODUCTIONS
2
I. REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPICS
2
II. AIMS AND REQUIREMENT OF THE STUDY
 1. Aims.
 2. Requirement.
2
2
3
III. SCOPES AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
 1. Scopes.
 2. Objectives.
3
3
3
IV. METHODS OF STUDYING
3
PART II. CONTENTS
4
I. THE THEORETICAL BASES OF THE TOPIC.
4
 1. Bases.
4
 2. Background information 	
4
 3. The theory of the consonants /s/, /z/, /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ 	
4
II. THE PRACTICAL BASES OF THE TOPIC.
7
 1 The real states of the problems
7
 2. Solutions.
8
 3. Application.
12
 4. Collecting the result of testing and evaluating.
16
PART III. CONCLUSION
18
I. Conclusion:
18
II. Some proposals to the leaders.
18
REFERENCE BOOKS
18
PART I: INTRODUCTION
I. REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC:
As we know, language is a very important mean of communication. One of the languages which is used widely all over the world is English because of its interests and advantages. In Vietnam, English becomes more and more popular and it is being taught and spoken everywhere.
In the past, we mainly focused on reading, writing and grammar when learning English. Nowadays, speaking and listening skills are becoming important skills. To speak English fluently and accurately, I think one of the important things is pronouncing the sounds correctly so pronunciation of the sounds is forced to be taught in language focus periods in new English textbook. But in fact, this section is perfunctorily learnt by most of our students because they are not aware of the important role of pronunciation. Besides that the pronunciation section is a new part for us- the teachers of English so we have some difficulties when teaching this section.
Of all the sounds I think the four sounds /s/ ,/z/, / ʃ / and/ ʒ / are the sounds which are difficult to teach because they can make students confuse easily Moreover the exercises on phonetics relating to these sounds appear in the tests more and more and most of my students have difficulty in doing this kind of exercises.
Because of the reasons above, in this writing I want to share my experiences with you - all of my dear colleagues - the way to teach these sounds. I also desire to improve my students’ pronunciation on these sounds and help them to do the pronunciation exercises relating to these sound better“ Some experiences for teaching the sounds /s/ - /z/ and / ʃ / - / ʒ / in language focus periods of units 12, 16 English 10 and how to help my students do pronunciation exercises better. ” 
II. AIMS AND REQUIREMENTS OF THE STUDY: 
1. Aims:
The first aim of the study is to help my students pronounce the sounds /s/ - /z/ and / ʃ / - / ʒ / accurately.
The second aim is that through this study I also try to offer some experiences to help students do the pronunciation exercises relating to these sounds better.
The third aim is to improve my students’ listening and speaking skills about the sounds through some exercises.
I hope my study is also an useful material for you - all of my dear colleagues to solve the problems relating to this aspect. 
2. Requirements:
To succeed in the study, the requirement for the topic is that the teacher has to help students know how to pronounce the sounds / s/ ,/z/, / ʃ / and/ ʒ / and do exercises correctly. 
Teacher provides them with the best ways to assist them how to pronounce these sounds correctly through the illusions and examples.
Students have to attend regularly and obey their teacher’s requirements. 
III. SCOPES AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.Scopes:
As far as we know, teaching how to pronounce and how to do the pronunciation exercises is a complicating and difficult area especially the four sounds / s/ ,/z/, / ʃ / and/ ʒ / there are a lot of things to mention so in this study I only focus on the following fields:
Give the definition and how to pronounce these four sounds.
How to do the pronunciation exercises relating to these sounds.
Collect the exercises containing these sounds to help the students practise listening and speaking at home.
2. Objectives:
As I have said my study is aimed at improving my students’ pronunciation of theses four sounds and help them to solve some difficulties in doing the pronunciation exercises so my objectives of the study are: 
+ My students
+ English textbook 10
+ Some reference books.
+ Some tests of the examinations
IV. METHODS OF THE STUDY:
In this study I have used the following methods
+ Observing and investigative method
+ Testing and experimental method
+ Contrastive and comparative method
+ Statistic method
+ Analytic and systematic method 
PART II: CONTENTS
I. THEORETICAL BASES OF THE STUDY:
1. Bases:
- Basing on the message No: 1753/SGD&ĐT- GDCN, No 2113/SGD&ĐT- GDCN a guide how to do the study of teaching experience and the scientific research. 
- Basing on the international transcription.
- Basing on the theory of the vowels and consonants.
2. Background information:
2.1 Vowels:
What is a vowel?
A vowel is a speech of sound in which the airstream from the lungs is not blocked in any way in the mouth or throat and which is usually pronounced which vibration of the vocal cords.
2.2. Consonants:
 2.2.1. What is a consonant?
 A consonant is a sound in producing it the airstreams coming from the lungs is stopped, impeded, constricted or otherwise interfered with in its passage to the outside air.
 	2.2.2. How are consonants classed?
 Consonants are classed as VOICED if they are produced with vibration of the vocal cords and VOICELESS if they are produced without vibration
3. The theory of the consonants /s/, /z/, / ʃ / and / ʒ / :
3.1: /s/
3.1.1: Description:
 	/s/ is a voiceless apico -alveolar fricative. We can hear it at the beginning of a word ( Ex: singer, son ), in the middle of a word ( Ex: mister, asleep .. .), at the end of a word ( Ex: hiss, loose ) or at the beginning and end of a word 
( Ex: cease )
 3.1.2: How to make the sound /s/ :
- Put the tip of the tongue near the alveolar ridge, the sound is articulated between the blade of the tongue and the teeth ridge. 
- The soft palate is raised, the vocal cords are not made to vibrate. 
- The teeth are close together, the lips are spread.
3.1.3: Spelling: 
frequently
sometimes
notes
/s/
s ( sad, sing, meets .)
ss ( class, miss, hiss ...)
c ( place, face )
sc ( science, scissors..)
x can spell /ks/ ( mix, box, exercise .)
s is not always pronounced /s/ ( sugar, rise )
3.2: /z/
3.2.1: Description:
/z/ is a voiced apico-alveolar fricative. We can hear it at the beginning of a word ( Ex: zoo, zip ) in the middle of a word ( Ex: amazing, surprising ) or at the end of a word ( Ex: buzz, prize )
 3.2.2: How to make the sound /z/ :
 /z/ is formed exactly like /s/ but the vocal cords are made to vibrate so that the voice is produced.
3.2.3: Spelling:
frequently
sometimes
note
/z/
z ( zero, zinc .)
s ( nose, music .)
zz ( buzz ..)
ss ( scissor .)
x spells /gz/ ( exact, exist )
-se at the end of a word is usually pronounced /z/ ( rise, because .)
3.2.4: Note: Pronunciation may be connected to grammar.
/s/
/z/
 abuse (n)
 excuse (n)
 close (adj)
 use (n)
 house (n)
 grease (n)
 abuse (v)
 excuse (v)
 close (v)
 use (v)
 house (v)
 grease (v)
3.3: / ʃ / 
3.3.1: Description:
/ ʃ / is a voiceless alveo-platal fricative. We can hear it at the beginning of a word ( Ex: sugar, she, shop ) in the middle of a word ( Ex: answer, nation, ashamed .) at the end of a word ( Ex: fish, cash, wash ..) at the beginning and end of a word ( Ex: shush )
3.3.2: How to make the sound / ʃ /: 
- The main body of the tongue is raised at the same time in the direction of the hard palate. The tip of the tongue is curved back behind teeth ridge.
- Push air through the gap. The sound is articulated between 
the blade of the tongue and the back part of the teeth ridge.
- The soft palate is raised, the vocal cords are not made to vibrate.
- The teeth are fairly close together, the lips are protruded.
3.3.3: Spelling:
beginning
middle
end
/ ʃ /
sh ( shoes, she )
s ( sugar, sure )
sh ( fashion, ashamed )
ss ( Russia)
ti ( nation, initial .)
c ( ocean .)
sh ( finish, wash, fish )
3.4: / ʒ / 
3.4.1: Description:
	/ ʒ / is a voiced alveo-palatal fricative. We can hear it in the middle of a word ( Ex: leisure, pleasure, vision ) at the end of a word ( beige, garage .). We never hear this consonant sound at the beginning of a word.
3.4.2: How to make the sound / ʒ /:
/ ʒ / sound is formed exactly like / ʃ / but with the addition of the voice.
3.4.3: Spelling:
middle
end
/ ʒ / 
su ( treasure, usual )
si ( Asia, television .)
ge ( garage, beige .)
II. PRACTICAL BASES OF THE STUDY: 
Real states of the problems:
+ Basing on the investigation and tests when my method hasn’t been applied, the result which I have collected has been shown in the table below.
Class
Total students
Good
Quite good
Medium
Low
Very low
quantity
%
quantity
%
quantity
%
quantity
%
quantity
%
10C2
44
1
2,3
8
18,2
14
31,8
17
38,6
4
9,1
10C5
45
1
2,2
7
15,6
15
33,3
18
40
4
8,9
+ Through many years of teaching I see that 
 Most of the students pronounced these sounds in the words inaccurately especially when they stand at the end of a word,. They also confused /s/ with / ʃ /, /z/ with / ʒ / and they often confused sound /s/ in English with sound “s” in Vietnamese. They didn’t also do the phonetics exercises relating to these sounds effectively. Why?
The reasons are that these sounds are difficult sounds. They are similar to each other.
The students didn’t give their whole mind to learn these sounds. The time and the exercises for the students to practise are limited. 
Besides that many of us – the teachers of English didn’t attach special importance to teaching phonetics in general and these consonant sounds in particular. We didn’t also have a suitable method to teach these sounds. Some of us only read and asked their students to repeat when teaching these sounds so we didn’t achieve the good result as we expected. 
Solutions.
Because of the reasons above my solution to these is “ Some experiences for teaching the sounds /s/ - /z/ and / ʃ / - / ʒ / in language focus periods of units 12, 16 English 10 and how to help my students do pronunciation exercises better. ” 
2.1 The steps of teaching these sounds:
These four sounds are taught in pairs in the two units 12,16 in English 10
To teach these pairs of sounds I often follow the following steps:
First, I write two sounds on the board and pronounce them clearly twice. Ask students to listen and observe.
Second, I show the mouth diagram of the sounds and explain how to make these sounds
Third, I pronounce these sounds again and ask students to repeat.
Next, I compare the two sounds in some couples of words 
Ex: 	/s/ 	/z/
sink 	zinc
cease 	sees
loose 	lose
course 	cause
Then I read the couples of words and ask students to repeat.
And I ask some students to read the couples of words loudly
Finally I give some sentences that contain these sounds, read and ask students to repeat.
Ex: / ʃ / - /s/ 
+ She sells seashells on the seashore.
+ No one seems to be able to find out the cause of the explosion. 
	..
2.2. Some experiences help students do phonetics exercises relating to the sounds /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, and / ʒ / better.
There are some letters transcribed into different sounds that make the students confuse easily. For examples the letter “s” is pronounced /s/ in “ sing” but it is pronounced / z/ in “ music” or /ʃ/ in “ sugar” so in this study I also give out some of my experiences when doing the pronunciation exercises – find out the word that has the underlined part pronounced differently from the others- relating to the sounds /s/, /z/,/ʃ/, and / ʒ /. 
 I often teach this part in revisions or in extra-lessons because the time in class is not enough. In this part, I often give out some signals to help students do this kind of exercises better.
2.2.1: If the underlined part is letter “s”
	- “s” is frequently pronounced /s/ Ex: send, insect  but it is pronounced /z/ when it follows “ u, e, ea” Ex: busy, easy, present, desire, reason, preserve . ( Except: measure ) 
Ex: 	A. music 	B. design	C. insect	D. season
	The correct answer is “C” because in A, B, D “s” follows “u, e, ea” so it is pronounced /z/.
	- “ s” can spell /ʃ/ in a few words Ex: sugar, sure
Ex: 	A. sugar 	B. sister 	C. sign 	D. singer
(Source: The entrance test of Tra Vinh teacher training college - 2003)
“s” in B, C, D is pronounced /s/. In A, it is pronounced /ʃ/ so the correct answer is A
	A. sure 	B. this 	C. ask 	D. stop
( Source: The entrance test of Qui Nhon teacher training university 1997-1998 )
	 The correct answer is A because “s” is pronounced /ʃ/ in “sure”. In the others, it is pronounced /s/.
- When “s” is followed by “i + vowel”, it is frequently pronounced /ʒ/ Ex: Asia, explosion, revision .
Ex: 	A. television 	B. illusion 	C. expensive 	D. Malaysia
	In A, B, D “s” is followed by “i + vowel” and in C, “s” is followed by “i + consonant” so the correct answer is C.
	- “s” in “-nsion” is frequently pronounced /ʃ/ Ex: pension ['penʃn], expansion [iks'pænʃn]
	- “s” in “-su-” is pronounced / ʒ / in some words Ex: casual, pleasure, measure, treasure 
	- “s” is silent when it stands after a vowel sound and before a consonant sound
Ex: island ['ailənd], aisle [ail], demesne [di'mein]
	- “s” is also silent in the word “debris” ['debri:]
2.2.2:If the underlined part is the endings “s,es”:
 is pronounced /s/ when it follows: /f/, /p/, /t/, /k/, /q/ 
Ex: laughs, walks, cups, cats, tenths .
 is pronounced /iz/ when it follows: /z/, /s/, /dʒ/, / t∫/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/
 “s,es Ex: refuses, passes, judges, churches, garages, wishes 
is pronounced /z/ when it follows vowels or voiced consonants: /b/, /d/, /g /, /r/, /m/, /n/, /η/, /l/, /r/, /d/
 	 Ex: boys, lies ways, pubs, words, pigs, loves .
Ex: 	 A. bushes 	B. headaches 	C. researches 	D. wishes
	( Source: College entrance exam- 2011)
	The correct answer is B because headache /'hedeik/ ends by /k/ so “es” is pronounced /s/. The others, “es” is pronounced /iz/
	A. pens 	B. boots	C. dogs 	D. lies
	( Source: The entrance test of HCM national university 1997-1998)
	The correct answer is B because boots /bu:t/ end by /t/ so “s” is pronounced /s/. The others, “s” is pronounced /z/.
2.2.3: If the underlined part is the endings “se”:
	- “se” is pronounced /s/ when it follows /ɪ/, /ɜ:/ ,/aʊ/, /ə/, /n/ , /ei/  Ex: nurse, sense, promise, mouse, purpose . The others, it is frequently pronounced /z/ Ex: please, disease, excuse, nose, because .
Ex: 	A. exercise 	B. base 	C. tense 	D. promise
	The correct answer is A because “se” follows /ai/ so it is pronounced /z/. The rest, it is pronounced /s/.	
2.2.4: If the underlined part is the letters “ss”:
	- “ss” is frequently pronounced /s/ Ex: class, glass, hiss  ( Except: dessert [di'zə:t]) but when “ss” is followed by “i”, it is frequently pronounced /ʃ/ Ex: discussion, Russian  ( Except: messianic [mesi'ænik], assist [ə'sist])
Ex: 	A. massage 	B. grass	C. discuss 	D discussion 
	D is the correct answer because “ss” is followed by “i” so it is pronounced /ʃ/. The others, it is pronounced /s/.
2.2.5. If the underlined part is letter “x”:
	- “x” can spell /ks/ when it stands at the end of a word or it is followed by a consonant.
Ex: box, mix, experience expand  ( Except: exhibit [ig'zibit], exhaust [ig'z˜:st] 
- “x” can spell /gz/ when it is followed by a vowel.
Ex: exist, exotic ..( Except: exercise ['eksəsaiz], . )
“x” is pronounced /kʃ/ in “anxious” ['æηk∫əs], “luxury” ['l—k‘”ri] 
Ex: 	A. exist 	B. extinct 	C. explorer	D. expand
( Source: The college entrance test - 2009)	
	A is the correct answer because “x” is followed by a vowel.
2.2.6: If the underlined part is letter “c”:
- “c” is frequently pronounced /s/ when it stands before “ e, i, y” Ex: place, city, excite, cycle .. ( Except: cello, concerto )
- “c” is often pronounced /ʃ/ when it stands before “ea, ie,ia, iu,ious” Ex: ocean, official, delicious, politician ( Except: cease [si:s])
- “c” is pronounced /tʃ/ in a few words Ex: cello ['tʃelou], concerto [kən'tʃɜ:tou]” 
- It is pronounced /k/ when it stands before a,o,u and l,r Ex: come, decade 
Ex: 	A. Confucian 	B. cease 	C. appreciate 	D. special
	B is the correct answer because the underlined part is pronounced /s/, the rest, it is pronounced /ʃ/ 
A. cinder 	B. ceiling 	C. cello 	D. celebrate
(Source: The entrance test of Phu Tho teacher training college 2003)
	 The correct answer is C because “c” is pronounced /tʃ/ in “cello”. In A, B, D, it is pronounced /s/.
2.2.7: If the underlined part is letter “t”:
	- “t” is pronounced /ʃ/ when it stands before “ i + vowel” Ex: education, situation ambitious .
	- The rest, it is pronounced /t/ Ex: detective, teacher, politic 
Ex: 	A. initiate 	B. contain 	C. domestic 	D. attentive
( The test for GCSE 2010)
	The correct answer is A because “t” is followed by “I + vowel” so it is pronounced /ʃ/. The others, it is pronounced /t/.
2.2.8: If the underlined part is letter “z”:
	- “z” is frequently pronounced /z/ Ex: zero, zip, zoom, zinc , buzz but when it is followed by “u” it can spell /ʒ/ in a few words: Ex: azure ['æʒə, 'æzjuə], seizure ['si:ʒə]...
2.2.9: If the underlined part is letter“ch”:
- “ch” is frequently pronounced /tʃ/ Ex: change, church, children 
- “ch” can spell /k/ in some words such as: architect, character, characteristic, chracterise, school, chemist, chemistry, chemical, machinate, machinator, machination
- “ch” is pronounced /ʃ/ in a few words such as: machine, machinable, machinably, machining, machinist, machineless, machinelike, machineman .
3. Application:
3.1: Applying this study to teach the pronunciation section in language focus period unit 12 English 10
Unit 12: MUSIC (Pronunciation - Language focus)
I. Objectives:
 1. Education Aims:
	- Students can distinguish the sounds /s/ and /z/.
- Students know how to pronounce the sound /s/ and /z/ correctly.
- students can pronounce the words and sentences containing these sound correctly.	
 2. Knowledge:
+ Language: 	- Pronunciation: /s/ and/z/ .	
 3. Skills:	
+ Reading: 	- Read words and sentences aloud.
II. Anticipated problems:
 - Students may confuse sound /s/ in English with sound / s / in Vietnamese.
III. Teaching aids: - board, chalk, textbook.
IV. Procedures: 
 Teacher's activities
 Students' activities
1. Warm-up: ( 4 mins)
+ Let students play a game
Write down a list of the words that contains the sound /s/ or /z/ 
zoo 	 	sad zip
learns	see
music
- Call 2 sts to the front of the class.
- Ask them to stand at equal distance from the board.
- Call out one of the new word in a loud voice.
- The two sts must run forward and slap the word on the blackboard.
- The one who slaps the more correct word first is the winner.
- Lead to the new lesson.
2. Pronunciation:( 10 mins)
- Aims: to introduce two sounds /s/ and /z / and help sts to practise these sounds.
a. Write two sounds on the board and pronounce them clearly twice.
 / z / : a voiced sound
 / s / : a voiceless sound
- Show the mouth diagram of these sounds and explain how to make these sounds 
- Pronounce these sounds again and ask students to repeat. 
- Give out two sentences containg these sounds for students to practise. 
- Ask them to look at the textbook, listen and repeat.
- Then ask sts to work in pairs to read t