Dental fricative sounds of /θ/ and /ð/.
Pre-intermediate level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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To provide practice of the dental fricative sounds of /θ/ and /ð/.
Subsidiary Aims
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To provide fluency and accuracy speaking practice in a conversation in the relation to the dental fricative sounds /θ/ and /ð/.
Procedure (24-37 minutes)
I'll start by showing them a picture of the former president Gamal Abd El Naser, and ask them some questions, to elicit from them their knowledge about him and how did he use English a lot in his speeches.
They will listen to an audio by the former president Gamal Abd-El Naser, as an example of how Egyptians pronounce the dental fricative sounds /θ/ and /ð/. They will focus on the words that have these sounds by writing them in bold.
They will listen to a native speaker saying the same text as the one Gamal Abd-El Naser to see the difference between how Egyptians and native speakers pronounce these dental fricative sounds. Then we will discuss the difference together.
- I will explain what the dental fricative sounds are and how we produce the /θ/ and /ð/ sounds practically. - Then we will practice using some minimal pairs /θ/ and /s/, /ð/ and /z/. They will listen and repeat to get the difference. - Then we will practice the difference between /θ/ and /ð/ using a comparison.
Controlled practice: - They will practice using some tongue twisters to enhance their accuracy. The second practice: - They will work in pairs with practicing and reading a conversation that contains lots of voiceless and voiced th.
The feedback is going to be on the spot, because it's related to something they just took and phonetically needed, so I'll monitor them while they are practicing and focus on their accuracy and demonstrate individually if needed. Then maybe after they finish, I'll practice with some of them to make sure they mastered the pronunciation of the dental fricative sounds.