Month: November 2024

Intelligibility does not depend on having a standard accent. In this presentation, (register here now!) I will suggest that it is possible to teach pronunciation in a way which is more flexible and accepting of different accents. The presentation will present practical teaching ideas (including ‘Pair Squares’, which can be downloaded here) , while at the same time introducing four principles for accent-friendly pronunciation teaching:
1 ‘Effective’ beats ‘correct’
2 If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it
3 Make the difference you need
4 Speak locally, hear globally

You can download the slides here!

I have made 50 of these Pair Squares (minimal pairs, squared) to accompany The Minimal Pairs Collection, for different phoneme contrasts in English (download the PDFs in two files below!). One person says one of the phrases, the others have to identify which one they think they heard. There are some which are really important for learners to master, both receptively and productively, in order to understand and be understood. There are others which show accent alternatives, both of which are equally valid, and these are more for building learner awareness of different varieties of English (see here for details of a webinar connected to this resource).

The images in this collection of pair squares have been generated by AI. Little by little, I’m becoming aware of the environmental impact of this kind of data-heavy technology usage. In order for these pictures to perhaps justify the ‘cost’ of their generation, I hope their benefit (if any) will be spread as widely as possible. I would therefore like to make them freely available to as many ELT teachers as can be reached. If you’re interested, please download them from here: (and if you like them, spread the word!).