Sounds, stress and intonation: Teaching English pronunciation

Tone is just one of the subjects the course covers

This five-module course is for practising teachers who wish to update their knowledge of English phonology (pronunciation, stress, intonation etc) and who want practical ideas on how to integrate phonology into the English language classroom.

The course includes work on sounds, stress, intonation and features of connected speech looked at both from the point of view of production: helping students sound better when they speak; and from the viewpoint of reception: helping students make sense of what they hear.

The course is based on the notion that as an international language there is no one 'correct' pronunciation of English, but suggests that students need to be 'comfortably intelligible' in as much as they need to be clear when they speak and that they need to be able to decode pronunciations they encounter with ease.

Each module includes practical ideas for you to try out in your classroom and report back on the forum where you will share your ideas with fellow course participants as well as receiving expert feedback from your course tutor.

Course content

The five modules deal with the following subject areas:

• An overview of the issues involved in pronunciation
• Phonemes and phonemic script in the classroom
• Word and sentence stress in listening activities
• lntonation
• Connected speech: what English really sounds like

Start dates

The next start date for this course is as follows:

• June 16 2008 -- July 18 (5 weeks)
• September 15 -- October 17 (5 weeks)
• October 20 -- November 21 (5 weeks)
• January 19 2009 -- February 20 (5 weeks)
• March 16 2009 -- April 17 (5 weeks)

Given the nature of online courses, although we recommend you to begin on the start date given, it is possible for "late starters" to catch up quite quickly, within the first module of the course.

Length & time commitment

It is notoriously difficult to predict exactly how many hours an online course will take any given student. For our courses, we believe you should estimate at least minimum 2.5 hours per module for the reading and completion of the tasks set, giving around 12.5 hours minimum for this particular course.

That estimate excludes the amount of class time you use for experimenting with the ideas and material from the course.

You should aim to complete each course module within 7 to 10 days.

Your tutors

The course tutors are all International House Barcelona CELTA and/or DELTA course tutors with many years of teaching and teacher training experience.

Course fees

€65

There is a 10% discount for those who have followed a prior Teacher Training course at IH Barcelona.

Note that courses will not begin unless there is a minimum of four participants.

Certification

Candidates will be awarded an International House Barcelona Online Training Certificate at the end of the course.

Application

To apply for a place on the course, fill in the online form.

If you prefer, you can download the application form as Word document or pdf file.

Note that no payment is required until you have been accepted for a place.

For payment details, see separate page.

Online teacher training courses from IH Barcelona

Courses currently available:

• Common European Framework (CEF)
• Foundation TEFL course
• Language Analysis for English Teachers
• Teaching English pronunciation
• Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT)
• Teaching Vocabulary
• Teaching Writing Skills for Exam Classes
• Teaching Young Learners