Teacher Training Materials of Professor Dr David Ngin Sian Pau

Syllables : is how many single sounds we can make in a word. E.g. Characteristics has 5 syllables. Some
     people miss out one or two syllables in English words which makes their English not
     understandable.

Three-syllable words               in.stru.ment      com.mer.cial           ar.ti.choke
                                              ca.len.dar         va.nil.la                   hur.ri.cane
                                              cu.ri.ous           de.ve.lop                ap.pe.tite
                                              sen.ti.ment        as.to.nish                cro.co.dile
                                              do.cu.ment        op.po.nent

Four-syllable words                  pos.si.bi.li.ty    com.mer.cial

Exercise 1

Say these words with the stressed syllables (in bold) more prominent. Try to stress them by lengthening the vowel. Try NOT to exaggerate the pitch difference.

two syllables                 de.sign            a.bout             af.ter
three syllables              va.nil.la           Ca.na.da          graf.fi.ti
four syllables                in.dif.fe.rent     A.ri.zo.na         a.vai.la.ble
five syllables                u.ni.ver.si.ty    ca.fe.te.ri.a       la.bo.ra.to.ry*

· Some native speakers (particularly British) pronounces this word la.bo.ra.t(o)ry (three
   syllables).

· Try: typical, responsible, itinerary, similarly, inevitably,

Homophones: A word that sound the same as another but is different in spelling, meaning or origin.

           Hill                                 heal                        heel

Let’s see some examples:

1.    accessary, accessory
2.    ad, add
3.    ail, ale
4.    air, heir
5.    aisle, I'll, isle
6.    all, awl
7.    allowed, aloud
8.    alms, arms
9.    altar, alter
10. arc, ark
11. aren't, aunt
12. ate, eight
13. auger, augur
14. auk, orc
15.aural, oral
16. away, aweigh
17. awe, oar, or, ore
18. axel, axle
19. aye, eye, I
20. bail, bale

Intonation

Techniques for indicating intonation

· By gesture: Give a clear sweep of the hand either up or down in order to indicate the general direction.
    Hands can also be used to indicate whether the sentence starts on a high or low pitch.
· The Board: By making marks on the board using curved or displaced writing to emphasis the point being
    made.
· Visuals: By drawing a diagram of the mouth showing how a particular sound is made.

e.g. “I won a billion Yuan.” Oh, really?

Try these:

How are you?, What’s your name?, My name is George.
I am going.
It’s very boring.
You mustn’t talk so loudly.