English Speech Sounds

Lesson notes

Curriculum details

Strand

Oral Language (Strand 1)

Sub-strand

English Speech Sounds (1.1)

Content standard

2.1.1.CS.1 - Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of speech sounds in oral communication. 2.1.1.LO.1 Articulate English vowels (diphthongs and triphthongs) and consonant sounds effectively in oral communication. 2.1.1.LO.2 Articulate consonants and consonant clusters effectively in oral communication.

Indicator

2.1.1.LI.1 - Use diphthongs (closing and centring) in connected speech.

Suggested placement

Semester 1, Week 1 (Week 1 of the year)

Our suggestion, laid out in curriculum order across three terms of twelve weeks. NaCCA does not fix the week, so follow your school's scheme of learning.

Source document note

The official curriculum document has a fault in this entry, so the curriculum text above is transcribed exactly as printed:

• content standard text - p.101: this content standard's code is printed "2.1.1.CS1", with no separator before the final digit. Confirmed at 900 dpi. Normalised to 2.1.1.CS.1 for import, since the intent is unambiguous and every other content standard in the document is x.x.x.CS.n; the printed form is recorded here
• exemplars - p.101: this page's text layer returns U+01DD LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED E for ə; U+028B LATIN SMALL LETTER V WITH HOOK for ʊ. The printed glyph is transcribed, checked against a 900 dpi render of the page; the same document sets the correct character for these sounds on printed pp.101 and 104

Curriculum reference

NaCCA curriculum document, p. 101

Exemplars (from the NaCCA curriculum)

Collaborative Learning: Learners in attainment groups, work collaboratively to identify the features of diphthongs and use them effectively in words and in connected speech. Learners critically assess the sound combination of diphthongs in English and creatively blend them into meaningful words. Learners then communicate with clarity and confidence, being mindful of the unique qualities of each sound while tolerating their peers' individual differences in the articulation of the sounds.
Examples:
i.
In groups, learners brainstorm on words that contain closing diphthongs (/aɪ/, /aʊ/ /eɪ/, /ɔɪ/,
and centring diphthongs (/eə/, /ɪə/, /uə/)
E.g., /eɪ/ - bake, say, sail, pain, etc.
/ɔɪ/ - boy, foil, poise, etc.
/eə/ - air, tear, bear, etc.
ii.
In pairs, learners then use words containing the diphthongs above to form sentences.
Eg:1 I may break the cage.
Eg:2 Both girls and boys play with toys.
iii.
Using a jigsaw game, learners in their groups find appropriate sounds to complete words:
Eg: h/oi/st ; b/ow; j/ew/el; gr/ow/l; b/oy; l/aw/n; a/ud/io.
iv.
Learners have the opportunity to communicate freely among themselves in the groups as they share opinions.
Teaching and Learning Resources:
- Audio recordings
- Visual aids such as sound charts (i.e., sounds in different colour backgrounds), pictures, props, regalia, etc.
- Minimal pair aids
- Materials such as pictures or books with speech sounds, dictionaries (print/audio)
- Audio-visual aids e.g., YouTube videos, television, etc.
- https://www.speechactive.com/english-vowel-ipa- international-phonetic-alphabet
- Visual aids such as sound charts (sounds in different colour background), pictures, props, regalia, etc.
- Tongue twister cards.
Assessment (2.1.1.AS.1). The document marks these depth-of-knowledge levels for this indicator: Level 2 Skills of conceptual understanding; Level 3 Strategic reasoning.
Extended critical thinking and /əʊ/) reasoning