ESL Pronunciation Practice - Alphabet Radio Game

Matthew W. Blake (Shanghai, China)
mw_blake[at]yahoo.com

Teacher Notes

It's important that the students are familiar with the alphabet song. This Alpha-to-Zulu way of spelling out letters (for the benefit of those communicating by radio, primarily) has proven quite useful in my classes. When you ask a student to spell a word, they spell it using this system and confusion with letters which rhyme (such as B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V, Z [in American English]) can be avoided.

To practice the English alphabet and practice the sounds of each letter in a fun and interesting way

Skills

Speaking, listening

Level

Basic level

Children (5-7)

Resources

Alphabet flashcards (A-Z); Copies of radio handout.; blackboard

Time

45 minutes

Requirements

Students should be familiar with the alphabet.

Introduction – 10 Minutes

Sing the "Alphabet song" with the class. Repeat.
Teacher uses the alphabet flashcards and goes over the alphabet with the children. A flashcard is shown, the teacher says the letter, and the students then say it. This is repeated for each letter.
Students then practice the alphabet with a partner.
Student then all stand up and meet 5 classmates. When they pair up, they will play the 'rock, scissors, paper' game. If they lose, they will say the alphabet to this partner.

Building the Lesson - 15 Minutes

In order to assist each student with their pronunciation, the teacher will use the flashcards A-Z, but after each letter will add a word.
Students then repeat the words after the teacher. Repeat the words three times.

The words for each letter are:

Alpha
Bravo
Charlie
Delta
Echo
Foxtrot
Golf
Hotel
India
Juliet
Kilo
Lima
Mike
November
Oscar
Papa
Quebec
Romeo
Sierra
Tango
Uniform
Victor
Whisky
X-ray
Yankee
Zulu

Main Activity - 15 Minutes

Give out the handout.

The handout is a piece of paper with an image of a walky-talky.
You can make your own handout using this image or a similar image.
http://www.wm8c.com/images/Walkie%20Talkie%202.gif

Give each student one letter and one word to write on their handout. (For example, the first student gets A – alpha)
Students then play 'rock, scissors, paper game' with other students. The winner of the game will say the letter and then the word on their hand-out and move on.
When a student says their word 10 times they sit down.

Extension: If the class is smaller than 26 students, give the best student two letters and
two words.

Conclusion - 5 Minutes

Teacher sings the alphabet song with the students.
Students save their “walkie talkie" worksheets for possible later use.

The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XI, No. 12, December 2005
http://iteslj.org/

http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Blake-Alphabet.html