About the phonemic chart
The phonemic chart is a useful tool to help your learners become more familiar with the phonemes or sounds of English. It consists of:
- 12 vowel sounds (7 short vowels and 5 long vowels)
- 6 diphthongs (combinations of two vowel sounds)
- 24 consonants (voiced and unvoiced)
Download the phonemic chart
Download the chart and display it in your class so that your learners can refer to it.
Download the phonemic chart
Download the phonemic symbols
Support your pronunciation activities with our A4-size downloadable pronunciation posters – one for each of the 44 phonemic symbols.
Download the phonemic symbol posters
These phonemes are part of the phonemic script that is used to describe the sounds of many languages. They have been established by the International Phonetic Association (IPA).
Using the phonemic chart in the classroom
You can use the phonemic chart whenever you are doing some pronunciation practice in your classes. It is an excellent resource for working on new sounds that may not exist in your learners' L1 or highlighting the difference between similar sounds.
You don't have to present the chart all at once. A 'little and often' approach is often the most beneficial when working on pronunciation. By introducing the symbols and sounds gradually, you can help learners both see and hear how English sounds work, while also drawing their attention to the physical processes involved in producing them.
Try out some of these TeachingEnglish ideas and activities for practising pronunciation:
- C-consonant; V-vowel
- Introducing the phonemic alphabet
- Phonetic dominoes
- Pronunciation of past simple verbs
- Pronunciation whispers
- Recycling and revising vocabulary
- Remembering the phonemic symbols
- Same sound, different sound
- Shadow reading
- Sound and spelling correspondence
- Teaching the schwa
- Telephone number pronunciation
- Vocabulary phonemic revision
- What's the pronunciation?
Using the phonemic chart autonomously
If learners become familiar with the phonemic chart and the sounds of English, they can also work autonomously on pronunciation. Encourage learners to use phonemic script to record the pronunciation of new words they meet. Point out that dictionary definitions also include phonemic script that can help them resolve doubts over pronunciation.
You can also set homework related to pronunciation. For example, ask learners to write five new words from the class in phonemic script for homework, to be used to test their classmates.
Similarly, if you want to focus on a sound that is problematic for your learners, ask them to find five words with that sound and write them in phonemic script. With a little training, your learners could prepare their own 'minimal pairs', for example with the sounds /i/ and /i:/. Depending on their level, they might come up with something like this:
| /i/ | /i:/ |
| sit | seat |
| hit | heat |
| will | wheel |
| mill | meal |
| bin | been |
| ship | sheep |
They can use these to test their classmates' ability to discriminate between these sounds, as well as their own pronunciation, in the next class. They simply show the two lists of words to a partner and say one of the words. The partner responds 'left' or 'right'. For example, in the list above, if student A says 'seat', student B will (hopefully) respond 'right'.
Interactive phonemic chart
Submitted on 13 February, 2009 - 01:34
While I think this chart would be a good item for students to be able to access, I was surprised, when trying it out, that voiceless consonants (p, t, f) are here voiced. When combining the sounds with diphthongs, for example, 'y' with 'ear' to make 'year', (sorry - can't do the phonemic symbols) there is little if any variation of sound between the consonant and the diphthong. What we get sounds like 'year' x 2.
Margaret Osborne
Interactive Pronunciation Chart
Submitted on 13 February, 2009 - 17:49
I agree with the previous comment (p, t, k) here are voiced. Very confusing!
Please could there be a clarification in meaning and use between the two words: phonetic and phonemic. They are used here as if they mean the same thing.
C.Collingridge
Phonetic chart errors
Submitted on 17 February, 2009 - 11:58
I love the idea of this chart and want to get my students using it in a self-learning mode, but unfortunately in it's current form it's fatally flawed. Many of the consonants (not all) include a vowel sound, which has led to the previous comments noting that some unvoiced consonants are voiced on this chart. The sound sample provided for /p/, for example is actually /pə/. Many other consonants are incorrectly folloed by schwa including /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /f/, /v/, /ð/, /h/, /l/. I hope the British Council will correct these errors because they are misleading learners when actually the tool ought to be a great boon to us all!
Tavis
Phonemic chart
Submitted on 3 March, 2009 - 19:54
Hi everyone
Thanks for your comments.
Firstly, you're absolutely right about phonemic/phonetic mix up: this is a phonemic chart.
As far as the sounds are concerned, I agree with Tavis that the problem is that there is a schwa added after the consonants in many cases. I would also say though that without the schwa sound it would be almost impossible to detect, for example, /p/.
We are looking to find a better, more accurate solution, and I will come back to this page to let you know about our progress.
All the best
Rob
Teaching English
Phonemic Chart...
Submitted on 5 May, 2009 - 15:40
I figure this is because computers can reproduce exact sounds (phonetic), but don't understand or reproduce meaning (phonemic) using features.
In short: the phonemic chart is phonemic. The sounds plugged in are phonetic.
To get the sense of a phoneme, it needs friends, the acid test of separate phonemes being minimal pairs. Anyway can the chart store up minimal pairs? (Rob.. we have big plans for you... seriously, take care of yourself, my project just about cost me my girlfriend...)
Matt...
English teacher, circus artist in Madrid, Spain doing "teatro en ingles", www.fifthbiz.com