24 March 2015 / by Elena Riches

'Schwa' - unstressed syllables

Before I was taught how to teach English, by Oxbridge TEFL, I had no idea that the word "schwa" existed. Today, I'm writing about the 'schwa', which isn't (incidentally) about the pronunciation of words such as 'Schwartz' and 'Schwarzkopf'...it's about pronouncing a sound, a sound that features a lot in the English language but, not in any other language.
The schwa (

LETTER - With this word, although the schwa sound comes in at the second "e" so that we say "letta", the problem is not so much the schwa but actually lies in the "r". Where Spanish speakers roll their r's it makes it impossible for them to pronounce it the way it should be due to this. If they tried saying it with an invisible "r", I think they'd get it right.

CHOCOLATE - It's never too LATE to learn how to pronounce "choclert" (with no rolling of the R, of course). The mispronunciation of this word kind of confuses me because it goes against the grain of  the way it would be pronounced if it was a Spanish word...chock-o-la-teh, not chock-o-LATE.

CIRCUS - This is where the schwa is really dominant and one that  probably confuses the hell out of non-native English speakers as it is neither pronounced "sir-cuss" nor "sir-couss".

COMFORTABLE - When students pronounce this word you ought to be forgiven for thinking that they're inviting you for dinner..."Come-for-table"...why, thank you for asking but I wouldn't feel "cum-fter-bul".

FAMOUS - Students are "fay-muss" for not being able to say this word correctly, simply because "ou" customarily looks like it should be pronounced "ooh".

MOUNTAIN - This is another word where the ending is pronounced as "tane" and understandably so when you have words like "attainable", "pertain", "tainted" etc, where the "tain" is pronounced as it is written.

It is unfortunate that the schwa sound doesn't belong to any particular vowel as this makes it very difficult to teach. You could explain to your students that vowels don't always sound like 'themselves' and sometimes a vowel can't remember the sound it's supposed to make, so it scratches its head and goes "uh?"
 
 

 

 

06

March 2015
Tiers for fears & choosing words to teach
by Vincent Chieppa
Any conscientious teacher knows that choosing words to teach is not as easy as it seems.  Sure you can deal out words left, right & center.  However, would your students understand, grow & be empowered?  Fortunately, there is a nifty little 3 tier model that helps teachers enable their students to broaden their language capacity. &...

03

March 2015
Dealing with disruptive or difficult students
by Elena Riches
Whatever kind of teacher you are, be it a maths teacher, an art teacher or a teacher of karate, there will come a time when you will have problems managing your class/group of students and if you cannot find a way to do it effectively your students can become uninterested, unmotivated or quiet, and will seldom reach your desired goal...

27

February 2015
How to... use emails for ESL teaching
by Vincent Chieppa
In this day & age paperless teaching is the future.   Seeing that this is the case it should be no surprise that the next step should be using emails for ESL teaching.  How emails are incorporated in the out-of-class learning experience depends of course on the nature...

24

February 2015
Teacher student interaction: teachers are learners too!
by Elena Riches
So, you've completed your TEFL course, gained your certificate and procured a job. The next part is, how do you do it vs how do you do it well. I personally don't think there is a wrong and right way of teaching as everyone has their own way and each way works for them; providing the students are learning what they've set out to learn then...

20

February 2015
Teaching new vocabulary: 7 fail-safe strategies
by Vincent Chieppa
If teaching grammar forms the frame for language acquisition, teaching new vocabulary provides students with the building blocks. It is therefore the teacher's responsibility to bring home the value of these building blocks by presenting them in perspective - that is, in a way that is relevant and useful for the students. In order to do th...

18

February 2015
The trials and tribulations of being a TEFL teacher
by Elena Riches
If you're thinking of becoming a TEFL teacher you might want some information of what you get out of it from someone who has firsthand experience of being one. ...

13

February 2015
ESL error correction techniques for the classroom
by Vincent Chieppa
As any experienced ESL teacher knows, the type of language errors students make are as diverse as the students themselves & their attitude toward learning.  This in turn will dictate which of th...

10

February 2015
TEFL teacher: What does it take to become one?
by Elena Riches
For those already familiar with the term 'TEFL' (an explanation of the various terms can be found here) you will know that it means teaching English as a foreign language but, what do...

10

February 2015
ESL teaching through the eyes of Cynthia Amuneke from Nigeria
by Radmila Gurkova
My name is ...

06

February 2015
Setting effective boundaries in the classroom
by Vincent Chieppa
ESL teachers could face disruptive behaviour from their students on a daily basis and this can lead to distress, tension and/or anxiety.  For this reason it is important for teachers to take charge to ensure that they are setting effective boundaries because by sim...