Sounds Clear is designed for intermediate to advanced Korean learners and teachers of English, wanting to improve their teaching and learning of pronunciation drastically. It aims to build up the confidence of speaking English by identifying the pronunciation patterns of native English speakers, namely that of North American speakers, and replicating these patterns confidently and effectively.

- Sounds Clear targets challenging aspects of pronunciation by providing clear explanations of concepts and activities for improvement.
- Appropriate for both classroom use and self-study, students are motivated and encouraged to practice their skills through various engaging aural, oral and written exercises, thus allowing students to tailor their approach to practicing pronunciation to suit them.
- Pronunciation Tips throughout the book serve as helpful reminders of where students often struggle, and how to identify and avoid common mistakes.  

To the Instructor
To the Student
Guide to the Symbols

Chapter 1 SYLLABLES
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN 3
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Syllable Maze
SPEAK 2: Counting Syllables
SPEAK 3: Change the Lyrics

Chapter 2 STRESSED AND UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES
PART 1. STRESS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN 3

PART 2. UNSTRESS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
SPEAK 1: Word Stress Bingo
SPEAK 2: Highlighting and Weakening Syllables
SPEAK 3: Role-Play Situations

Chapter 3 PREDICTABLE WORD STRESS

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
PART 1. STRESS PATTERNS ACCORDING TO SYLLABLE WEIGHT AND WORD CATEGORY
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN 3
SPEAK 1: Airport Check-in
SPEAK 2: Have You Ever…?

PART 2. STRESS PATTERNS IN MORPHOLOGICALLY COMPLEX WORDS
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN 3
LISTEN 4
LISTEN 5
SPEAK 1: College Life Dice Bingo
SPEAK 2: The Perfect Date Survey

PART 3. STRESS PATTERNS ACCORDING TO SPELLING
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
SPEAK 1: Ty & Teen Snakes and Ladders
SPEAK 2: Personality Interview

Chapter 4 RHYTHM IN SENTENCES
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN 3
SPEAK 1: Ordering Drinks at a Cafe
SPEAK 2: Team Project

Chapter 5 PHRASING AND LINKING
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN 3
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Worst Day Ever?
SPEAK 2: Chants & Poems
SPEAK 3: One Fry, Two Fries

Chapter 6 PROMINENCE IN DISCOURSE
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: The Danger of a Single Story
SPEAK 2: Focus Tic Tac Toe
SPEAK 3: Eliciting Vocabulary
SPEAK 4: Food Debate

Chapter 7 INTONATION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Asking Questions
SPEAK 2: Lesson Introduction

Chapter 8 CONSONANTS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Voiceless vs. Voiced Consonants in English
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1

/p/ as in pin vs. /f/ as in fin
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Classroom Quiz
SPEAK 2: Are You Adulting?

/b/ as in boat vs. /v/ as in vote
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Guess Who
SPEAK 2: Giving Directions

/?/ as in think vs. /s/ as in sink
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Tongue Twisters
SPEAK 2: Battleship

/ð/ as in though vs. /d/ as in dough
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Whose Is It?
SPEAK 2: Desert Island

/r/ as in rent vs. /l/ as in lent
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: The Dial Pad Game
SPEAK 2: Lesson Review

/?/ as in usual vs. /?/ as in judge vs. /z/ as in zoo
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Dots and Boxes
SPEAK 2: The Time Capsule

Chapter 9 VOWELS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
/iy/ as in leap vs. /?/ as in lip
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Tongue Twisters
SPEAK 2: OXO Game

/ey/ as in mate vs. /?/ as in met
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Find the Objects
SPEAK 2: American Slang

/æ/ as in mat vs. /?/ as in met
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Connect Four
SPEAK 2: A Visit to the School Nurse

/?/ as in hut vs. /?/ as in hot
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Family Tree
SPEAK 2: Common English Errors
SPEAK 3: Pronunciation Pyramid Page

/uw/ as in Luke vs. /?/ as in look
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Blankety Blank - What to Say When...
SPEAK 2: Daily Activities

/ow/ as in no vs. /?/ as in all vs. /?/ as in null
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
LISTEN 1
LISTEN 2
LISTEN AND SPEAK
SPEAK 1: Carnival Bingo
SPEAK 2: Setting Homework

Practice Activity Answer Keys
APPENDIX: Activity Worksheet

박미애, Claudia Tumba

Even when English learners speak with noticeable nonnative patterns of English pronunciation, often called foreign accents, verbal communication can be successful. Many specialists and practitioners believe that intelligibility, not the entire elimination of foreign accents, should be the goal of second language pronunciation learning and teaching. Foreign accents are natural and inevitable characteristics of learning any new language, and there is nothing wrong with foreign accents, if they do not undermine pronunciation intelligibility.

Moreover, foreign accents offer some clues about who you are and where you may be from. In this textbook, pronunciation training is not designed to eradicate all of your foreign accents but to improve your pronunciation intelligibility so that you can communicate comfortably and confidently with other speakers. This training can help you break down English pronunciation into small, manageable elements and help you practice target pronunciation aspects to the extent that listeners can easily understand your speech.

This textbook has been designed to make the daunting task of learning and teaching pronunciation doable. Regardless of whether you are studying individually, and/or taking classes, this book will enable you to get more out of your English learning. The accounts and explanations that are provided in this textbook intend to help you build linguistic knowledge about target pronunciation features, differences between Korean and English sound systems and difficulties you may encounter while learning English, improving your understandings and clearing up many misunderstandings about English pronunciation. Practices include both listening and speaking exercises and they proceed from structured activities with a focus on the control of new pronunciation points to more spontaneous, real-life communication tasks. Incorporated within most of the dialogs are clear and concise English phrases and expressions which are intended to equip learners and teachers alike with the language required of them not only in the classroom but in everyday life.

You will have opportunities to work individually, with partners, in small groups and as a class to take on speaker and listener roles. As a speaker, you will improve your ability to speak with clear and intelligible pronunciation. At the same time, as a listener, you will advance your capabilities to discriminate between clear and unclear pronunciation points in your classmates’ speeches and to monitor and correct your pronunciation and the pronunciation of your classmates. It may be that it takes longer to improve your oral skills. To change your speech, you need to practice regularly, monitor your pronunciation more carefully, and keep trying out your new pronunciation skills both in isolation and in communicative contexts. The one who takes strong initiative and makes every effort to improve their pronunciation will make the most progress. No pain, no gain!

Audio Files: The Audio Files present all listening activities marked with numbers.

Practice Activity Answer Keys: You will find Answer Keys for the activities at the back of the textbook.