25 activities for teaching correct English pronunciation

How important is it for teachers to focus on correct pronunciation when teaching English to their students?

Speaking with an accent, of course, is not actually problematic, in fact, it is a natural. The problem occurs when incorrect pronunciation of specific words hampers a listeneres ability to comprehend.

When people have difficulty understanding another person simply due to the pronunciation, it can cause frustration on the part of the speaker and listener, and potentially cause misunderstandings or other unintended consequences. Additionally, if a listener has to expend a great amount of energy focusing on understanding what was said, then it will be more difficult to completely understand the message.

Generally speaking, if a person learns a language later in life, more often than not they will speak with some degree of an accent. Everybodies brain is preprogrammed to learn languages and to especially acquire the first language(s) that they hear as infants. Over time, they begin to disregard the sounds that do not exist in their native language, thus making it more difficult to produce those sounds.

Furthermore, differing linguistic structures can impact how a person speaks. Consonant clusters such as str and engths in the word strengths do not exist in every language. Sentence structure varies from language to language as well.

For these reasons, people may speak with an accent as they learn or acquire a new language. While this is not a set rule, it is notable and an important consideration when teaching students.

While the majority of native speakers may not realize or identify some of the specific characteristics in English, some of the irregularities in English spelling and pronunciation may present some challenges for students learning English. For example, pronouncing the th can cause difficulty for many, as the sounds that this combination of letters produces varies. Consider the words this, that and these, versus three or thread, versus Thai or Thames.

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Additionally, it is important to note that the differences among languages will cause some typical pronunciation errors when learning English.

Knowing and understanding the most typical language specific differences will help you determine which errors are typical and why they come up, as well as if they are worth working on based on their possibly impeding communication.

Below are a selection of activities that are guaranteed to help you to teach, and your students to improve their pronunciation in English.

1. Minimal Pairs Bingo

This is one of the easiest ways to focus on particular pairs of sounds.

A Bingo card commonly has 5 x 5 squares, so you can use 25 words (12 minimal pairs, or more than two words for some sounds). One or more spaces on each card could be a “free” spot, or you could change the size, maybe to 4 x 4 or even 6 x 6

Go to a website such as myfreebingocards.com, bingobaker.com, osric.com/bingo-card-generator etc to create your Bingo cards. You simply follow the instructructions and the program will créate a selection of cards that are customized to suit your needs.

·         Have a spare card cut up into individual squares that you can jumble and use to call the words.

·         Don’t let the students mark their cards. Provide markers such as small stones or sunflower seeds that they can put on each word as they hear it (and then remove to play again).

·         If you have “free” spots they can start the game by putting markers on those.

·         The first student to get five markers in a row in any direction calls “Bingo!”

·         Students remove their markers and a new game starts with the winner as the new caller.

·         After a game or two the students can swap cards to get a different arrangement of words to look at.

At the end of the lesson you can review the words and target sounds with the whole class.

This activity can give students the opportunity to hear the difference between the minimal pairs, recognize the different words written on the card and clearly pronounce the difference when they win and have a chance to be the caller. As each word is called, students tend to all say it quietly to themselves as well.

2. Odd One Out

Put similar words into groups of three—two with one sound, and one with a different (although similar) sound. Or you could have groups of four or five which contain the same sound, but only one that’s different. For example:

meet, seat, sit (for vowels)

plays, pace, space (for consonants)

The selection of the odd word can be a reading exercise—where students read the words to themselves out loud and identify the sounds in the written words—or a listening exercise—where the teacher reads the words and the students respond to the “odd” word.

Likewise, selected students could try reading the words aloud for others to identify the odd word, or they could work in pairs or small groups with one person  pronouncing the words and the others indicating which is odd.

There are a number of different activities you could run with these groups of words—depending on the ages and abilities of your class, and your classroom arrangement.

·         Ask the students individually to read through the word groups and pick which words have different sounds.

·         Ask the students to discuss the groups of words with a partner and decide which one is odd.

·         Divide the class into two teams, in two lines, and ask the person whose turn it is to choose the odd word as you read them out loud.

·         Make the question part of another game like Tic Tac Toe. The team or individual whose turn it is to place an X or an O must first pick the odd one out. They proceed with their turn if they choose the right word. If they can’t identify the odd word, then they lose their turn.

·         Play Run and Grab (see below) putting the words on the board and having participants run up to pick the odd word.

3. Minimal pairs stations

Students show which of two words they think they have heard by racing to touch one of the things that the teacher or class decided will be used to represent that thing, e.g. the table for /l/ or the chair for /r/. More active classes can run and touch things like the door and the window, while shyer classes can just raise their right and left hands.

4. Sounds same or different

In this variation on Minimal Pairs Stations, rather than indicating which sound they hear, students indicate if they think two words you say have the same or different pronunciation. This is good for homophones as well as minimal pairs. The easiest way to explain the task is to give students pieces of paper with “Same” and “Different” written on for them to hold up or race to slap.

5. Let’s Run and Grab

You could have your minimal pairs on flashcards or you could simply write two (or more) words at a time on the board.

·         Create two teams and then pair students up with a member of the opposite team. In turn, each pair goes to stand at the back of the room, looking down an aisle at the board. When you call one of the minimal pairs out, the pair races to the front to touch the correct word (the odd word out) on the board or grab the appropriate flashcard.

·         Students from the winning team could have a turn at calling the words for others to run to.

Younger students especially enjoy activities that include movement and a chance to race, but older students also find it enjoyable.

6. Let’s play Basketball

If your students are keen on basketball then there are a couple of ways you can use this to inspire them to practice their minimal pairs.

·         Board Basketball—Set questions using minimal pairs such as choosing the “odd one out” or asking students to choose the correct word as in Let’s Run and Grab. When students give the correct answer, they, or their team, score “baskets” (points) on the board. An optional additional to this game is to have students take a shot at throwing a ball into a hoop or a waste paper bin after they identify the correct odd word. (Making the shot wins them an additional point.)

·         Crumple and Shoot Basketball—The minimal pair words are written on pieces of (scrap) paper. Students are lined up in two teams. In turn, the front student picks up the paper and reads the word. If it’s read correctly they then crumple it up and throw it into a basket/bin/receptacle a set distance away. (Getting it into the basket wins another point.)

Or you could display words on a screen or on flashcards. When the student whose turn it is gets it right they can throw a ball or other object into the basket or bin, gaining another point.

7. Sound TPR (Total Physical Response)

Younger students especially enjoy any activity that involves movement.

Designate particular movements to particular sounds, as lively or as gentle as you like. For instance, they could be sitting at their desks and raise a hand, clap or stand up when they hear a particular sound, or they could be standing in a space and jump or run in response to sounds.

As with “Odd One Out”, this could be reading based or listening based. They could respond to words on flashcards by correctly pronouncing them and moving in the prescribed way, or they could respond to the teacher (or another student) saying the words.

If you’re teaching younger students—who may also be learning to read and write—they should also be learning phonics, which relates each sound to English letters. There are established systems of hand signs or gestures for each sound which you may find useful here. Videos describing these are readily available on Youtube.

8. Dictation

Dictation is when someone speaks out loud and someone else writes it down. Getting your students to write down what you say is good listening practice for them, and when you’re dictating minimal pairs they need to listen especially carefully. There are a few different dictation activities you can use.

·         Minimal Pairs Dictation—The teacher reads out minimal pairs in a particular order and the students write them down. Or the students could have the words already written down and you could instruct them to put marks, numbers, colors, etc. on particular words as you read.

·         Running Dictation—The students work in pairs. One student runs to read the words or sentences from somewhere farther away, like on the wall outside the classroom. They then dictate to the other student who writes them down. The dictation could be single words, minimal pairs or sentences including target words and sounds.

·         Fast Dictation—This is where the dictation is read in one continuous stream instead of a few words at a time with breaks. The students listen and write any words or phrases they notice (without panicking!) In this situation, the dictation should include some target words (in minimal pairs) which the students should listen for specifically and write down in the order they hear them.

·         Picture Dictation—The students have a picture, background or series of pictures containing objects that represent the minimal pair words. They follow instructions to highlight the pictures of their minimal pair words, which may include, coloring, making marks or drawing additional items.

9. Fruit Salad

This is generally a game where the players sit in a circle with one player standing in the middle. The players have each been designated as a type of fruit. The middle player calls a fruit, and all of the players who’ve been assigned that fruit must rush to change places while the middle player tries to take one of their chairs. Periodically they can call “fruit salad!” and then everyone must change places.

Instead of using the names of fruits, you can designate words containing minimal pairs to groups of students, and maybe choose another word for the “fruit salad!” command.

For example, as the students are sitting in the circle they “number off” one by one around the circle with:

“pea,” ” bee,” “pin,” “bin”

Then the person in the middle will call “pin!” or another given word to get their peers running around.

10. Pronunciation maze

This game also allows them to use a little bit of logical problem solving to help with a pronunciation task. In a grid, write a string of words with a common sound, e.g. the same vowel sound, between the top left corner and the bottom right corner. In all the other squares, write in words that people might think have the same sound but don’t. Students then have to get from the starting point to the end by the right route. After they have finished, drill the words on the right route, and then all the surrounding ones with different sounds.

11. Chinese Whispers

When someone is genuinely whispering, and therefore not using their voice, it’s nearly impossible to hear the difference between some words. For example: “bit” and “pit.” In a social situation where whispering is used we rely on context to fill out the meaning.

In the classroom, Chinese Whispers is a game that involves passing a message from student to student, hopefully without it getting changed too much. In order to play Chinese Whispers as a pronunciation game it might be best to allow speaking and to ask students to carry the message farther away where it can’t be overheard by others.

One student could be outside the door and you tell them what the message is. Then the second student goes outside and they tell them the message. The first student comes back in the classroom and sends the next student out. This goes on until every student has heard the secret word. The final student comes back into the classroom to say what they think the message was.

If the message contains words from your minimal pairs list, it will probably have changed, maybe more than once.

12. Common pron pictures

Students draw lines between the pairs of words that share the same sound on their sheet, and see what kind of picture is made by those lines. This can take a lot of preparation, but is easier if you just have the thing they draw as a letter of the alphabet, usually an upper case one as there are more straight lines.

13. Card Games

Flashcards are a wonderful resource that every ESL teacher should have bundles of. They can be used for whole class activities and games, or you can create multiple smaller sets to be used by individuals at their desks or in pair/group work activities. Here are a few examples:

·         Hold it High—Just like in the game Let’s Run and Grab, if students have individual sets of cards on their desks, they can hold up the appropriate one when it’s called, and the teacher can then look around and have a quick check that everyone is correct. To move from reading to speaking they should firstly say it as they hold it up, and secondly individual students could have a turn at the front.

·         Happy Families—Create a set of cards containing maybe 6 – 10 families of 4 cards, color coded by families. For example, “boo zoo boom zoom,” “cap tap cub tub,” “kick thick kink think,” etc. Supply a complete list for each member. The cards are distributed like in Go Fish. Students in groups of four play, trying to collect sets of four by asking the person next to them if they have particular cards.

·         Snap—Make the same decks of cards as in Happy Families. Students can play Snap in pairs or groups with a stack of cards containing relevant minimal pairs. The student placing the card down on the deck should call it at the same time. The next student must put down a card that fits in with that card family. The group proceeds until the winner has no cards left.

·         Catching Cards—Students gather at the back of the room. The teacher throws individual flashcards and students try to catch them. When they get one they say the word and show it to everyone.

·         Pair Up—Students are each handed a flashcard with a minimal pair word. They have to walk around and either find others with the same word/sound.

·         Bean Bag Toss—Lay the flashcards containing the minimal pairs spread out on the floor. Each students takes a turn throwing a bean bag onto a card and clearly saying the word on that card. (They could then collect the card and win a point.)

·         Stepping Stones—Lay the cards on the floor. Students use them as “stepping stones” to cross a river, saying each one clearly as they step on it.

14. Minimal Pair Math

Assign a number to each of the minimal pair words you wish to focus on. Then call out the words in your chosen sequence, possibly joined with mathematical symbols (e.g., plus, minus). Students can write down the words and their associated numbers while you speak. Ask the students to give you the final number that all these words add up to.

15. Shadow reading

Students try to speak at exactly the same speed and rhythm as the CD, then try one more time with the sound turned down in the middle of the recording to see if they are still in time when the sound is turned back up.

16. Syllables snap

Students take turns turning over cards with words written on them from their packs. If the two words have the same number of syllables, the first person to say “Snap” and/ or slap their hands down on the cards wins all the cards that have been turned over so far. The person with most cards at the end of the game is the winner. This also works with vowel sounds in one syllable words and word stress.

17. Word stress pellmanism game.

Pellmanism (= pairs/ memory game) can be played with the same cards as Snap, but is a slower game. All the cards are spread face down on the table and students take turns trying to find matching pairs of cards by which syllable is stressed. This is easier if all of the words have the same number of syllables. This game can also be played with students matching by vowel sounds or number of syllables.

18. The yes?! game

Students try to give as many different feelings and meanings to one word or sentence as they can by varying the stress and intonation. The other students guess what feeling they were trying to convey.

19. Yes. Yes! YES!

Similar to The Yes?! game, students compete to say a word or sentence in the most extreme way they can, e.g. they take turns being as angry as possible and the angriest person wins.

20. Sounds brainstorming board race

Teams of students try to write as many words with the sound they have been given on the board as quickly as possible. Each team member can only write one word before they pass the pen onto someone else, but they can prompt each other. This also works for number of syllables and word stress.

21. Sounds same or different pairwork

You can add lots more speaking practice, both controlled pron practice and free conversation, to Sounds Same or Different by giving students worksheets with the words you want them to compare highlighted on Student A and Student B sheets. First they read out just the word to decide if the pron is the same or not, then they read out their different sentences to see if the context gives them any more clues. When they have finished, they can spell the words out to each other and then look at each other’s sheets.

22. Tell me when I’m odd

In this variation of Sounds Same or Different, students listen to a whole string of words with the same sound (e.g. the same vowel sound) and race to indicate the first word they hear that is different.

23. Silently mouthing

Students try to identify the word or sentence that the teacher or a student is mouthing silently. This is good for awareness of mouth position for English sounds.

24. Sounds puzzle

You can get the logical parts of their brain working during pronunciation practice by hiding the sounds that make up a word that is the answer to the puzzle. Students find the sounds in common in each pair of words, put all the sounds together (mixed up or in order) and write the word they make.

25. No sounds listening comprehension

Students try to identify which sentence in a dialogue the teacher or a student has chosen without them using any English sounds. This can be done by waving your arms around to show sentence stress or intonation, or beating out the rhythm on the sentence on the table or your palm.

Pronunciation should always be taught and practiced when learning new words, especially academic vocabulary and language. I hope that the activities in this article will help you to make the teaching, and studying of pronunciation easier and more effective for both you and your students.

Good luck, and good teaching.


David White
Managing Director English For You Language Institute Trujillo Peru.
Headmaster American School (Bilingual ib school) Trujillo Peru
International conference presenter
International academic consultant.
dwenglishforyou@outlook.com