Teaching Problematic Consonants in English to Young Learners

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to improve pronunciation of Turkish young learners at Jale Tezer College. It aims to show that English pronunciation can be taught and improved by using various songs and games. The research has been carried out with the 4th grade primary school students at Jale Tezer College. They had a pre-test (read aloud the passage) to assess their pronunciation. As a result of the data obtained, the experimental and the control groups have been formed. There are 9 students in the experimental group and 9 students in the control group. Pronunciation exercises (songs and games) have been practiced with the experimental group, while the students in the control group have continued learning using sentence drills an hour a week during the term and this training has lasted approximately for four months. The data obtained from the post-test have shown that there is an increase in the success of both of the groups, but the increase in the experimental group is appreciably more than the increase in the control group. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.