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My methodology students are often encouraged to
devise their own teaching aids. This fills a definite need since there are few
professional teaching aids on the Polish market-what we have is expensive and in need of
adaptation. A specific concern of our students is to use spoken English accurately. For
that reason there is an important role for pronunciation practice. This is clearly seen
when I observe my stu dents teaching styles.
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One of my teacher trainees, Jacek Pieczykolan,
invented an interesting pronunciation game called Homophone Dominoes that I would like to
share here with my minor alterations. It is devised for intermediate to advanced students
of English. A good thing about it is that it can be played by one student or in groups,
depending on how the teacher wants to organise the classroom.
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The idea of the game is based on a well
known-word game-Picture Dominoes. Here, instead of pictures, there are definitions or
descriptions. The task of the player is to identify the word and to find a match for it.
The match is another word whose pronunciation is identical (a homophone), but in this
case, the word is not given explicitly-only its definition is provided. For example, if
the description on one domino is: "part of body above the hips"-the word is waist
/weist/. If the student looking for its homophone identifies a domino with "items
thrown away" ( waste ) written on it, the two dominoes are a good match. The
winner of the game is the student or group that finishes first.
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Three sets of the game are illustrated here. A
set can be played by one to four students. The blank spaces opening and closing each set
will enable the player to join sets and use several at once in one group. You can
certainly add your own sets creating more groups. It would be quite convenient if the sets
are in different colours, so that they do not get mixed up. The object of the game is to
focus on pronunciation and have fun!
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| Set 1 |
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part of body above hips |
things no longer used |
colour azure |
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| sad |
a man, masculine |
letters, things sent by post |
not divided |
| an opening or gap |
no war |
a part, a bit |
past simple of "wear" |
| a struggle a flight |
a road or a mehtod |
to measure weight |
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| Set 2 |
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to put into the grave |
a small soft fruit |
simple past of " throw" |
| across |
to stop living |
to paint, to change a colour |
if |
| the condition of wind, rain…. |
simple past of "win" |
single |
simple past of send |
| a smell |
to give up for money |
a small room in a prison |
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| Set 3 |
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advanced, elevated |
to give someone a job |
a question about a location |
| to have on one's body |
an xpression of admiration |
to speak to God (3rd person sing.) |
the top of a room |
| fixing an emblem of wax |
a fruit |
two of them |
simple past of "pass" |
| former |
the rubber around a car's wheel |
to become weak exhausted |
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Ewa
Piechurska teaches methodology at Opole Pedagogical University and Teacher
Training College. Her interests are language awareness and learner autonomy. |
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