Activities
In this section you will find a wide range of classroom activities sent in by contributors around the world. Click the links below to select activities under each topic area.
Help your students hear the sounds of English by clicking on the symbols of this pronunciation chart - you can now install it on your own PC or Mac computer
This activity practises discrete vowel sounds. It practises both speaking and listening skills. It works well in pairs or in groups and usually generates lots of fun.
I like to use this activity to introduce poetry into the classroom and to raise learners' awareness of the beauty and fun to be had with poetry. It can also be used to practise learners' pronunciation.
Help your own and your students' pronunciation with our pronunciation
downloads. There are 44 A4 size classroom posters of phonemic symbols
with examples to download. The posters are in Portable Document Format
(pdf) and have been attached in a zipped folder.
If learners have access to a computer outside class, they can use the
chart together with a dictionary to check the pronunciation of new
words they meet in their own reading. This is particularly useful for
learners who are not yet fully familiar with all the sounds on the
chart.
If you have an electronic Interactive Whiteboard, or a computer with a
data projector, the phonemic chart can be used in class to recycle and
reinforce recently learned vocabulary, at the same time as revising the
phonemic symbols.
Certain pairs of consonants can be problematic for some learners. In some cases, the main difference between the pair is whether the consonant is voiced or unvoiced, that is, whether or not the vocal chords vibrate when making this sound.
