CH 8 - ACTIVITY WORK

CHAPTER 8: ACTIVITY WORK

8.1 USING A DICTIONARY FOR CORRECT PRONUNCIATION AND STRESS

A dictionary is not just a book for meanings—it is a teacher in your pocket. For primary teachers and students, learning to use a dictionary is a superpower for mastering English.

What Information Does a Good Learner's Dictionary Give?

1. Pronunciation (with Phonetic Symbols): Shows how to say the word using special symbols (like /kæt/ for cat).
2. Syllable Division & Word Stress: Shows the beats in a word and which beat is loudest (e.g., dic-tion-ar-y).
3. Meaning(s): Simple, clear definitions.
4. Example Sentences: Shows how the word is used in context.
5. Word Type: Noun (n.), Verb (v.), Adjective (adj.), etc.
6. Related Words: Plurals, verb tenses (past tense).
7. Pictures/Illustrations: Especially in children's dictionaries.

How to Use a Dictionary to Find Pronunciation & Stress: A Step-by-Step Guide

Let's look up the word "ELEPHANT" in an Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Step 1: Find the Word. Use the guide words at the top of each page. "Elephant" will be between words starting with 'elec...' and 'elev...'.

Step 2: Look at the Entry. You will see something like this:

el·e·phant /ˈelɪfənt/ noun a very large grey animal with a long nose (called a trunk)...

Step 3: Decode the Information:

• el·e·phant: The dots show the syllables (el - e - phant).
• /ˈelɪfənt/: This is the phonetic transcription.
• The symbol ˈ is the stress mark. It comes BEFORE the stressed syllable. Here, it's before "el", so we say EL-e-phant.
• The symbols inside / / show the sounds. You can learn the basic ones or use the dictionary's pronunciation key.
• The word is a noun.

Recommended Dictionaries for Primary Teachers & Students:

1. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD): Best for teachers. Clear stress marks, Indian pronunciations included.
2. Oxford Primary Dictionary / Collins Primary Dictionary: Designed for children. Larger print, pictures, simpler definitions.
3. Online/App Dictionaries: Oxford Learner's Dictionaries website or app. You can hear the word pronounced in British and American English with just a click!

Classroom Activities for Dictionary Skills (Grades 3-5):

• Alphabet Race: Who can find a word starting with 'P' the fastest?
• Pronunciation Detective: Give students a list of tricky words (e.g., knife, honest, vegetable). They must find and write the phonetic spelling and stress mark.
• Stress Clap Game: Look up a new word. Don't say it. Just clap the syllable pattern (e.g., for "umbrella": clap-CLAP-clap-clap). Can your partner guess the word?

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8.2 PHONEMIC DRILLS USING MINIMAL PAIRS

What is a Minimal Pair? Two words that differ by only one sound, and that one sound changes the meaning.

• bit /ɪ/ vs. beat /i:/ (Only the vowel sound is different)
• fan /f/ vs. van /v/ (Only the first consonant sound is different)

Why Use Minimal Pairs?

They train the ear and the mouth. Many English sounds are confusing for Punjabi speakers because they don't exist in Punjabi or are used differently. Minimal pair practice fixes this.

Common Problem Sounds for Punjabi Speakers & Minimal Pairs:

Sound Pair (Eng)	Punjabi Hint	Minimal Pairs
/v/ vs. /w/	Punjabi has ਵ /v/ but not the /w/ sound.	vine / wine, vest / west, van / wan
/ʃ/ vs. /s/	'sh' sound vs. 's' sound.	ship / sip, shoe / Sue, wash / was
/p/ vs. /f/	Confusion between ਪ /p/ and ਫ /f/.	pat / fat, pine / fine, past / fast
Short /ɪ/ vs. Long /i:/	The difference between 'sit' and 'seat' is often lost.	sit / seat, bit / beat, fill / feel
/θ/ vs. /t/ vs. /d/	The 'th' in thin /θ/ and this /ð/ are very difficult. Often said as /t/ or /d/.	thin / tin, thank / tank, then / den, those / dose

How to Conduct a Phonemic Drill in Class:

Activity: Listening Discrimination (Ear Training)

1. Choose a Sound Pair: e.g., /p/ and /f/.
2. Write Two Columns on the Board:
• Column A ( /p/ ): pat, pine, past
• Column B ( /f/ ): fat, fine, fast
3. Teacher Says, Students Point: Say one word from either column at random (e.g., "fast"). Students must point to Column A or Column B. This checks if they can hear the difference.
4. Production Drill (Mouth Training): Once they can hear it, they must say it. Use the "Repeat After Me" technique, clearly exaggerating the target sounds at first.

Fun Game: "Ship or Sheep?"
Hold up two picture cards—one of a ship, one of a sheep. Say one word: "Sheep." Students must point to the correct picture. This is a fun, visual way to practice minimal pairs.

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8.3 ORGANIZING LISTENING AND SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

The best way to learn a language is to live it through fun and interaction. Here are powerful activities for your primary classroom.

1. Rhymes, Chants, Songs, and Poems

• Why They Work: They use rhythm, repetition, and melody, which make language stick in memory. They lower anxiety—it's easier to sing than to speak.
• Classroom Ideas:
• Action Rhymes: "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Combine with movement.
• Jazz Chants: Simple, rhythmic chants about daily life (e.g., "I like coffee, I like tea").
• Fill-in-the-Blank Songs: Write a familiar song on the board with keywords missing. Sing it, and students shout the missing word.
• Create a Class Chant: Invent a simple chant for your class routine. "Line up, line up, quietly please. Line up, line up, nice and easy."

2. Using Stories

• Why They Work: Stories are immersive. They provide rich context for vocabulary and grammar. Everyone loves a good story!
• Classroom Ideas:
• Storytelling with Props: Use puppets, pictures, or real objects to tell a story.
• Listen and Draw: Tell a simple story. Students draw what they hear. Then, they use their picture to retell the story to a partner.
• Picture Sequence: Give groups 4-6 picture cards from a story. They must put them in order and tell the story.
• "What Happens Next?": Stop at a exciting point in a story. Ask students to predict in pairs.

3. Role-Play and Dramatization

• Why They Work: They are real communication practice. Students must think on their feet and use language for a purpose (to buy, to complain, to help).
• Simple Role-Play Scenarios for Primary Grades:
• At the Shop: One student is the shopkeeper, one is the customer. ("How much for this?" "Ten rupees.")
• At the Doctor: Doctor and patient. ("What is the problem?" "My head hurts.")
• Greeting a New Friend: "Hello, what's your name?" "My name is... Do you want to play?"
• Asking for Help: "Excuse me, Ma'am. I can't find my pencil."
• How to Organize:

1. Set the Scene: Explain the situation clearly.
2. Teach Key Phrases: Write 3-4 useful sentences on the board.
3. Model with a Student: Act it out first so everyone understands.
4. Pair and Practice: Let students practice in pairs.
5. Volunteers Perform: Ask confident pairs to perform for the class (optional).

Golden Rules for All Activities:

• Focus on Fluency, Not Perfection: Don't interrupt to correct every small mistake during an activity. Note them down and give feedback later.
• Praise Effort: "Good try!" "I like how you used that word!"
• Make it Safe: Create a classroom where it's okay to make mistakes. That's how we learn.
• You are a Participant: Sing along, act in the role-play, tell the story with joy. Your enthusiasm is contagious.

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EXERCISE: ANSWERS

1. How can a dictionary be used for correct pronunciation and stress? Explain.

• Introduction: A dictionary, particularly a learner's dictionary, is an indispensable tool for any language learner. Beyond providing meanings, it serves as a definitive guide to the spoken form of a word, which is crucial for clear communication.
• Explanation of Usage: To use a dictionary for pronunciation and stress, one must first locate the word. The entry provides two key pieces of information:
1. Phonetic Transcription: Found within slashes (/ /), this is a code using symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that represents the exact sequence of sounds. For example, the word "teacher" is transcribed as /ˈtiːtʃə(r)/. A legend or guide at the front or back of the dictionary explains these symbols.
2. Stress Mark: The symbol ˈ (a high vertical stroke) is placed immediately before the syllable that receives primary stress. In /ˈtiːtʃə(r)/, the stress mark before "ti" indicates that the first syllable is stressed: TEA-cher. Some dictionaries also show secondary stress with a low mark (ˌ).
• Practical Steps: The learner must:

• Refer to the dictionary's pronunciation key to understand the phonetic symbols.
• Identify the stress mark to know which syllable to emphasize.
• Many modern online dictionaries (e.g., Oxford Learner's Dictionaries) include an audio button to provide a model pronunciation, allowing learners to listen and imitate directly.

• Conclusion: Therefore, consistent and guided use of a dictionary empowers students to become independent learners. It allows them to decode the pronunciation and stress of unfamiliar words accurately, moving away from guesswork and building a foundation for correct and confident spoken English.

2. What is a minimal pair? How can it be used in phonemic drills?

• Introduction: A minimal pair is a fundamental concept in phonology and a highly effective tool in pronunciation teaching. It consists of two words that differ in meaning based on only one distinct sound (phoneme), while all other sounds remain in the same position.
• Definition and Example: For instance, "ship" /ʃɪp/ and "sheep" /ʃiːp/ form a minimal pair. They are identical except for the vowel sound: /ɪ/ versus /iː/. This minimal difference changes the word's meaning entirely. Other common examples are pat/bat (/p/ vs /b/) and fan/van (/f/ vs /v/).
• Use in Phonemic Drills: Minimal pairs are used in structured drills to tackle specific pronunciation problems. The process involves two main types of drills:
1. Perception/Recognition Drill (Ear Training): The teacher says words from a minimal pair list (e.g., bit, beat, beat, bit) in random order. Students must identify which word they heard, often by pointing to a picture, holding up a card, or saying "A" or "B." This sharpens their ability to hear the difference between two confusing sounds.
2. Production Drill (Speech Training): Once students can reliably hear the difference, they practice producing it. The teacher models the two words clearly, and students repeat in chorus, then individually. The drill forces conscious attention on the articulatory feature that distinguishes the two sounds (e.g., spreading lips for /iː/ in sheep vs. a neutral mouth for /ɪ/ in ship).
• Conclusion: By isolating the problematic sound contrast, minimal pair drills provide targeted, repetitive practice. They are especially useful for addressing common interference errors from the mother tongue, such as the /v/-/w/ or /p/-/f/ confusion for many Punjabi speakers, thereby systematically improving both listening discrimination and accurate speech production.

3. Describe any two activities for developing speaking skills in the classroom.

• Introduction: Developing speaking skills requires creating a low-anxiety, high-engagement environment where students have a genuine reason to talk. Activity-based learning shifts the focus from accuracy to fluency and communication.
• Description of Two Activities:
1. Information Gap Activity (Pair Work):
• Objective: To compel communication by creating a need to exchange information.
• How it works: Students work in pairs. Each partner has a part of the information needed to complete a task, but they cannot see their partner's information. They must talk to share it.
• Example - "Complete the Schedule": Partner A has a school timetable with some subjects filled in (e.g., Math at 10, ______ at 11). Partner B has the same timetable with the missing subjects filled in (e.g., ______ at 10, English at 11). Without showing their papers, they must ask and answer questions ("What do we have at 11 o'clock?") to complete both timetables.
• Skill Developed: This activity fosters question formation, listening for specific details, clarifying, and using vocabulary in a purposeful, interactive context.
2. Role-Play / Simulation:
• Objective: To practice language in a realistic, situational context, building confidence and socio-pragmatic skills.
• How it works: The teacher sets up a familiar scenario and assigns roles. Students act out the scene using language appropriate to the roles and situation.
• Example - "At the Fruit Shop": The scenario is a market. One student is the fruit seller, and another is the customer. The teacher provides support with key phrases on the board (e.g., Seller: "What do you want?" "Ten rupees a kilo." Customer: "I want apples." "How much?" "Here you are."). Students then enact the buying and selling process.
• Skill Developed: This activity encourages improvisation, use of functional language (requesting, stating price, thanking), appropriate tone, and non-verbal communication, making learning experiential and memorable.
• Conclusion: Both these activities are student-centered, interactive, and goal-oriented. They move language practice from mechanical repetition to meaningful use, which is essential for developing the confidence and competence required for real-world speaking.