Teacher Notes: Pronunciation and Spoken English

Suggested full session

1. Warm-up: hardest word in sample sentence (5 min)
2. Spelling vs sound — choral “ough” examples (10 min)
3. Syllables — jaw-drop method + finance examples (12 min)
4. Diphthongs — table + glide exaggeration (12 min)
5. Finance word tables — pair cover-and-say (10 min)
6. Interactive tasks (typed + drag) (10 min)
7. Speaking drills A–C + shadowing if audio available (15 min)
8. Set homework + quick reflection (5 min)

Pronunciation wins to reward

• Correct stress on INvoice, reCILiation (final syllable stress)
• No /p/ in receipt
• Clear diphthong in payment, account, outstanding
• Slower but intelligible stand-up update beats fast mumbling
• Student can name one spelling trap they fixed today

English → Spanish (lesson 9)

• syllable → sílaba
• stress (word stress) → acento; sílaba tónica
• diphthong → diptongo
• silent letter → letra muda
• pronunciation → pronunciación
• spelling → ortografía
• vowel → vocal
• consonant → consonante
• reconciliation → conciliación
• remittance → remesa; comprobante de pago
• variance → variación; discrepancia
• outstanding → pendiente; impagado (context-dependent)

UK vs US

The lesson uses UK-friendly IPA (/əʊ/ for close). US teachers may model /oʊ/ for postpone and slightly different variance vowels. Pick one model for the room and stay consistent. Accept either in the drag task for postpone if you announced US English.

If you have no audio files

• Choral repetition: You say → class repeats → one volunteer → class repeats again.
• Back chaining: For reconciliation: “tion” → “liation” → “ciliation” → full word.
• Spelling aloud trap: Ask students to read debt letter by letter vs say it naturally—discuss the gap.
• Call-and-response: You say “How many syllables in…?” — students answer with fingers.
• Teams simulation: Student A reads an email silently; Student B asks “Can you repeat the invoice number and status?” — focus on clarity, not content.

Syllable count task

invoice 2 · receipt 2 · reconciliation 6 · variance 3 · outstanding 3 · procurement 3

Diphthong drag task

payment /eɪ/ · write-off /aɪ/ · account /aʊ/ · employee /ɔɪ/ · postpone /əʊ/ (or /oʊ/ US)

Stress marking

apPROVal · rec·on·cil·i·A·tion · outSTANDing · reMITtance

What to collect (optional)

• Part 1: Five work words with syllable marks—check stress, not perfect IPA.
• Part 2: Three email words + short recording (or live in next class).
• Part 3: Short reflection on one spelling trap—look for metacognition.
• Part 4: Spanish glosses—see student page key.

Spanish L1 patterns

• Adding vowels in clusters: “blocked-uh” → model blokked (one syllable add-on max).
• Flat vowels instead of diphthongs: “peymant” without glide.
• Stress on last syllable by default: inVOICE → INvoice.
• Pronouncing silent letters: reCEIPT with /p/.

Keep confidence high

Pronunciation correction is sensitive. Use recast (repeat correctly without “wrong”) in pair work. In plenary, ask “Who found a spelling trap?” rather than “Who mispronounced receipt?” Link forward: clearer speech helps lessons 1–3 email and call scenarios.