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TESOL Matters Vol. 10 No. 3     (August/September 2000)

From the column of the TESOL Speech/Pronunciation Interest Section
by Anne E. Witte

Scripts have proved effective for pronunciation instruction for several reasons. First, traditional pronunciation exercises require students to repeat given sound models, differentiate similar vowel/consonant groups, and formulate speech patterns unfamiliar in the native language. Despite the excellent linguistic and phonetic research demonstrated in the writing of popular commercial methods in pronunciation, students may still fail to learn how to build bridges between the laboratory drill and situational communication. By basing pronunciation development on student scripts, teachers can map out irregular speech sounds and intrusive speech patterns for individual students in contexts that are as close as possible to the ideas and situations they will be using to express themselves. The corrected class scripts also allow teachers to customize follow-up activities.

For example, in the EFL context in which I teach in France, a number of "fossilized" pronunciation errors seriously prevent students from being understood. In a typical French students' oral presentation, the different sounds of short and long i are all pronounced long e. This, in addition to the confusion between th and z, is one of the most intrusive pronunciation characteristics of French speakers.

In the context of English studied for instrumental purposes, it is often unfeasible to invest limited class time in learning phonetics and advanced spelling correspondences to resolve these particular flaws. In addition to supplementary laboratory exercises, pronunciation is therefore taught in oral communication contexts. Highlighting on the script with different colors or graphic codes calls students' attention to the spelling prompt to induce the proper sound pattern with only a little practice. For example, red boxes can be used to highlight all the long i sounds, and blue boxes to signal all the short i sounds. A colleague of mine uses a green exclamation point before words with th. After having studied the corrected script and integrated sound modifications in the oral presentation, learners respond well to follow-up activities that make them guess at proper pronunciation patterns in sentences drawn from other class scripts and even other written materials.

Follow-up activities can also include reading aloud selected passages that contain trouble areas. They can call on the traditional dictation exercise, in which students hear the correct sounds and transcribe the proper spelling. Other follow-up exercises include specific pronunciation drills like choral repetition and more sophisticated tasks that involve distinguishing between close sound patterns or exceptions to spelling-sound correspondence rules.

Used as a practical tool for oral communication feedback, scripts can be marked during or after oral presentations and even before the presentation (if the teacher is setting specific language targets already identified through previous interaction with particular students).

Experienced script users recommend some simple guidelines for class planning:

1. Limit the script to only one page of dialogue (meaning that the oral presentation will be very short or that the script only concerns a section of the presentation).

2. Use different markings for different areas of correction. (Suggestion: Highlight pronunciation errors, circle prepositional errors, cross out grammar errors, and underline vague passages.)

3. Have students correct the script errors and redo the oral presentation (e.g., using an audiocassette).

4. Establish specific class objectives to be reached through the use of the script (e.g., targeting specific sounds such as i or th).

5. Accustom students to learning pronunciation along with other language skills. It gives their performance a greater coherence.

The script obliges students to prepare in detail everything they plan to say during an oral presentation or during its recording on an audiocassette given to a teacher. This preparation pushes them to be more precise in their communication. Although they are not simulations of spontaneous exchanges of discourse, short oral exposés that are carefully guided through the use of scripts challenge the students and develop the type of communication skills used in transmitting short, precise messages, such as those found in e-mail, memos, letters, ads, radio and TV announcements, and even telephone calls. Once students have mastered the script, teachers can introduce exercises that bridge the gap between controlled speech presentations and more spontaneous ones.

Anne E. Witte is head of languages and international communication for EDHEC School of Management, in Nice, France.