Get excited about teaching pronunciation - ELTed Limerick June 2014

As promised, I'm posting my presentation from Saturday's ELTed event in Limerick:

Get excited about teaching pronunciation from Loueltblog

 

 

Here are just some of the resources that I recommend and that have helped and continue to help me on my pronunciation journey:

 Adrian Underhill

• Sound Foundations: Learning and Teaching Pronunciation (Macmillan)
• This is the video I spoke about.
• Adrian's Pron Chart Blog
• Macmillan short videos

Books

• How to Teach Pronunciation by Gerard Kelly
• English Phonetics and Phonology by Peter Roach
• Phonology for Listening by Richard Cauldwell
• The Phonology of English: An Introduction for Teachers of ESOL by Ray Parker & Tim Graham
• Teaching the Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca.

Activty and photocopiable resource books

• Pronunciation Practice Activities by Martin Hewings.
• Pronunciation games by Mark Hancock
• The Book of Pronunciation by Jonathan Marks & Tim Bowen
• Test Your Pronunciation by Michael Vaughan Rees

Online Resources

• Hancock McDonald
• English Global Communication
• Pronunciation Bites blog and Facebook Page
• IATEFL Pronunciation Special Interest Group Facebook page 

Thank you very much for the positive feedback on Saturday. If you have any questions or comments on my presentation, please feel free to comment below, or e-mail me at loueltblog@gmail.com

Value your peers in face-to-face CPD

Earlier this year, I was offered a position as a full time pronunciation materials writer for Kaplan International English. It was a dream come true, not only do I get to be creative and develop my writing skills for digital, but it's all about pronunciation! It was an opportunity that I couldn't refuse, although, I did think, "What's the catch?" But there wasn't one; they were really impressed by the pronunciation lessons I had written for Kaplan's print materials, and wanted me to join their team for a new digital project.
  So, at beginning of March, I started working remotely. We hold meetings on skype and my team members are a call or email away if I need them. Everyone on the team are all uber enthusiastic and want to create the best product we can. I have to say, I feel my days are so peaceful and productive as I have very few interruptions. My health has improved as I'm not running around or as stressed. The pressure of a deadline gives me a buzz, but doesn't really stress me out. It's been a very positive experience up until now, and hopefully it will continue that way.
  Recently, however, I realised how much I missed the face to face discussions, idea swapping and general banter that goes on between teachers. I took part in a forum for teachers who wanted to start writing and having their articles published in ELT magazines and journals. The meeting was set up by ELT Ireland and brought a group of like minded teachers together. I was on a high after the forum and it made me realise the value of face to face discussions with peers.

  There are so many CPD opportunities, forums, webinars and twitter chats available online. Don't get me wrong, these are fantastic and give teachers all over the world the chance to exchange ideas and do research that they don't have in their teaching location. But sometimes, simply nothing beats having a good chinwag face to face.
  I love my job and thanks to ELT Ireland,  I have the best of both worlds; I work remotely in my little world of pronunciation and then I have the chance to bounce ideas off my peers at meeting every month when ELT Ireland hold an event.

ELT Ireland has lift off!

Saturday 12th April marked a very important day for ELT in Ireland. Following a very successful conference by the IATEFL Learning Technology SIG in November 2013, a new association for ELT teachers was born. ELT Ireland officially launched the association on Saturday with their first event, ELTed, which consisted of eight local teachers giving a twelve minute talk on an area of teaching that they have a particular interest in. This not only allowed others to learn new things, but gave those teachers the opportunity to present in front of their peers - an opportunity they might not have inside their institutions.

                                   

ELT Ireland was set up to provide support for ELT teachers here in Ireland, and to provide a platform for idea sharing with others across the country and to promote opportunities for professional development outside our own institutions.

This is something that is badly needed here in Ireland. When asked what I do, I say that I'm a teacher. When asked if it's primary or secondary, I say that I'm neither, but, in fact, I teach English as a second or other languages. Sometimes people ask me further questions as they find language learning interesting, but more often than not, people look embarrassed and ask if I've been doing it for long and what are my plans for the future. In my responses, I always feel like I'm defending my profession, that I'm trying to prove to the listener that what I do is a real career. And I know I'm not alone. ELT Ireland, I believe, will help EFL teachers to take themselves and their profession seriously and above all, to make them proud of what they do. It was so wonderful at the ELTed event on Saturday, to see so many teachers there who wanted to learn new things, meet other professionals from around Ireland and discuss different ideas. The enthusiasm and excitement that teachers here have been deprived of for so long, has finally arrived.

For more information, check out ELT Ireland's website or Facebook page. They also have a Twitter chat session every second Monday, just add #eltchinwag on Twitter to join.