Speak Clear English: A Curriculum for the Beginning English Learner/Reader
Speak Clear English is written for the beginning learner of English who has minimal or no reading skills. It starts with four sounds and teaches the 40 sounds of English over 34 lessons. Students will learn to read and speak English clearly. Through the use of Universal English the program teaches the natural language patterns of English. The program develops the listening and speaking as well as the reading and writing parts of the “English brain.” Simultaneously the program develops use of the natural rules of the English Language and interfaces them with the written language. Students are able to independently pronounce words and are taught to spell Webster’s English. The instructor will welcome the addition of the visual representation of the sounds to reinforce the sounds of English.
Speak Clear English Group Presentation Manuals:
This is the Speak Clear English program printed in large print format. There are 35 individual presentation books for large group instruction.
The following is the introduction to the Curriculum Speak Clear English:
Introduction to Speak Clear English
Speak Clear English teaches English from the perspective of the spoken English
Speak Clear English is written for the beginning learner of English who has minimal or no reading skills. It starts with four sounds and teaches the 40 sounds of English over 34 lessons. Students will learn to read and speak English clearly. Through the use of Universal English the program teaches the natural language patterns of English. The program develops the listening and speaking as well as the reading and writing parts of the English brain. Simultaneously the program develops use of the natural rules of the English Language and interfaces them with the written language. Students are systematically taught the spelling of Webster’s English. The instructor will welcome the addition of the visual representation of the sounds to reinforce the sounds of English.
Universal English - a phonetic tool
Universal English is a tool developed by the author to help beginning American English readers and speak Speak Clear English is written for the beginning learner of English who has minimal or no reading skills. It starts with four sounds and teaches the 40 sounds of English over 34 lessons. Students will learn to read and speak English clearly. Through the use of Universal English the program teaches the natural language patterns of English. The program develops the listening and speaking as well as the reading and writing parts of the “English brain.” Simultaneously the program develops use of the natural rules of the English Language and interfaces them with the written language. Students are able to independently pronounce words and are taught the to spell Webster’s English. The instructor will welcome the addition of the visual representation of the sounds to reinforce the sounds of English.
ers to visualize how to correctly pronounce the American English words. This tool is in addition to hearing the language spoken. It is a visual tool.
The constant comparison of Universal English and Webster’s English as he wrote it in 1828, helps build the two essential “file cabinets” in the brain to assimilate English. All English speakers have developed in their brains the ability to say the words and the ability to spell the words. English words usually do not follow a phonetic pattern. This forces the English speaker to have a “sight vocabulary” that is associated with the sounds of the word.
Using the “How we say/hear it” with the “How we see/write it” will help students develop the sight vocabulary, gain an understanding of the patterns in English which relate to the pronunciation of English.
Some academicians may feel that it is a duplication of the International Phonetic Alphabet which does this for all languages. The difference is that Universal English is specifically tooled for the English learner using the Roman Alphabet exclusively and is designed to be as close as possible to the American Webster’s English spelling. The use of Universal English facilitates the instruction and learning of English in an efficient manner based upon the sounds of American English.
American English has 40 sounds
American English has 40 separate sounds which include the author’s 15 designated vowel sounds. There may be more technical definitions of the terms for these various sounds but the author has chosen to simplify them into either vowel sounds or consonant sounds. The 15 vowel sounds are unobstructed sounds while the remaining 25 consonant sounds are in some way made by obstructing the sound with either the tongue or lips. This simplification lends itself to easy identification.
Vowels and Consonant sound symbols:
The typical teaching of English vowels are “a,” “e,” “i,” “o,” “u” and sometimes “y” and “w.” This is specifically for Noah Webster’s spelling rules in his 1828 first edition of his American Dictionary. The author teaches the vowels as 15 open sounds. There are the sounds (often referred to as “short” sounds) symbolized by “a,” “e,” “i,” “o,” and “u.” There are the names (often referred to as “long” sounds) symbolized as “ae,” “ee,” ie,” “oe,” and “ue.” There are to two combination sounds symbolized by “ou” and “oy.” The unique American English sound (the author refers to it as the “guttural vowel sound”) is symbolized by “oo.” Finally, the vowel controlling ‘r’ sounds are symbolized by “arr” and “err.” The “arr” sound is a combination of the “o” and the “r” sound. Because most of the words containing the “arr” sound in Webster’s English are spelled with “ar,” the “arr” designation is helpful for transition to “how we see/write it.”
The consonants symbols are the same as in the English alphabet: b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w, y and z. The combination sounds are the same as standard English with two exceptions: ch, ng, sh, th and wh.. The “th” in Webster’s spelling has both voiced and unvoiced sounds. Therefore it is necessary to distinguish between the sounds. The “th” remains as the voiced “th” as in “the” and “that.” The unvoiced “th” is symbolized as “hth” as in “three” or “diphtheria.” The second exception sound has no unique representation in Webster’s spelling. It is the voiced “sh” sound in “division.” This is symbolized with “zsh” as in “divizshun.”
The complete set of the 40 sounds of American English is the following:
Symbol:
_____Webster’s Spelling:
______________Universal English Spelling:
a _____gnat ______nat
ae ____sundae ___sundae
arr ___car ______karr
b _____bee _____bee
ch ____cheek ____cheek
d _____dog _____dog
e _____net _______net
ee ____bee ______bee
err ____her _____herr
f ______fan _____fan
g ______dog _____dog
h ______hat ______hat
hth ____thin _____hthin
i _______in _______in
ie ______tie _______tie
j ______job _______job
k ______keep _____keep
l ______let ________let
m _____mat _______mat
n ______nut ______nut
ng _____sing _____sing
o _______not _______not
oe ______toe ______toe
oo ______book _____book
ou _____out _______out
oy ______boy ______boy
p ______pan ______pan
r _______run ______run
s _______sun _____sun
sh ______ship _____ship
t _______tap ______tap
th ______this ______this
u ________nut _______nut
ue ______sue ______sue
v _______van ______van
w ______win _______win
wh _____when ______when
y _______yam _______yam
z _______zip _______zip
zsh ______vision _____vizshun
Voiced and Unvoiced sounds:
As important as the designation of vowels and consonants is the concept of “voiced” and “unvoiced” sounds. These are important in the natural sounds of English. They affect the ending “s” and “ed” sounds. The addition of “s” to a word in Webster’s spelling makes a noun plural and makes a verb in the present tense match the 3rd person singular usage. The addition of “ed” to a word in Webster’s spelling changes the verb tense to the past tense. In both situations the “s’ or “ed’ may change its sound. The pronunciation of the “s” or “ed” depends upon the preceding sound as to whether it is “voiced” or “unvoiced.” The “s” or “ed” takes on the same state (”voiced” or “unvoiced”) as the previous sound. The word “bed” when spelled “beds” is pronounced “bedz.” The “s” takes on the same state as the previous sound “d” (a “voiced” sound) and is pronounced as a “z” (the “voiced” “s” sound) and not as an “s” (the “unvoiced” “s” sound). The word “work” when changed to the past tense is spelled “worked” and is pronounced “workt.” The “ed” takes on the same state as the previous sound “k” (an “unvoiced” sound) and not as a “d” (the “voiced” sound).
Sustained and Quick sounds:
English is often difficult for 2nd language learners because of the “blends” found in English. Many languages are syllabic and do not combine consonant sounds as we do in English. Understanding that there are “sustained” and “quick” sounds will help students to combine consonants naturally, sounding out words without stopping between the sounds. Speak Clear English, a teacher directed language program simplifies the pronunciation of consonant combinations by its use of “sustained” and “quick” sound formats. The technique of going from one sound to the next, either slowly or quickly as the sounds demand, makes sounding out American English words a simple and natural process. The success comes when the student is able to sound out words, sound by sound, without stopping between the sounds. A student’s success in being able to do this is dependent upon the success of the teacher in moving correctly from sound to sound while teaching the pronunciation of the word. The teacher knows when to move quickly over a “quick” sound and slowly over a “sustained” sound!
Progressive Instruction
Speak Clear English takes advantage of the “progressive instruction” approach. Simple concepts are introduced in a logical pattern, starting with the simple to the complex. Concepts are taught before they are expected to be used. This program starts with just 4 sounds. The sound order of instruction has been program so that confusing sounds are not taught together. They have been separated by several lessons in order to allow the student time to become competent in the first sound. This can be illustrated by the introduction of the “th” sound in lesson 5 and the “hth” sound in lesson 21, 16 lessons later. Plurals are introduced in lesson 9 when the number six can be phonetically read. This systematic approach can be observed through out the program.
As the student’s sound library grows, so does the vocabulary library. Each lessons gives practice with the new sounds, reviews the previously taught sounds and adds new vocabulary commensurate with the known sounds. As vocabulary becomes available the grammatical structures are taught. As the student learns grammatical structures the student is given practice in succeeding lessons.
Additional vocabulary activities are available with the Student Materials Module.
Instructional Formats and directions:
The instructional formats are efficient ways to deliver the directions for each part of the lesson.
These formats are used over and over throughout the program. They are written out for each section for the benefit of the instructor. When a teacher has repeated specific format a minimum number of times (usually 6 times) the instructions will discontinue in the text. If additional use of the written formats or additional practice is needed, the teacher can duplicate that specific format from Chapter 36. Every teacher will develop his or her own personal style of implementing each format after initially following the suggested directions in the written formats.
It is important to know when the instruction format changes. In some cases the change is minimal. To help the instructor know the format has changed the author has coded the instructions with asterisks (*****). These asterisks appear when the instructions are first introduced and then the asterisks diminish as the instructions are repeated. After 6 repetitions the instructions usually no longer appear in the text. The instructor will notice that all the instructions in the first lesson are designated with asterisks because it is the first time for each set of instructions.
Each format is designated by the same Roman numeral appearing after it. When the instructions no longer appear in the text, the Roman numeral is present. That particular format can be found in the chapter 36 under the same Roman numeral.
In each format the Instructions of what the teacher does usually precedes what the teacher will say. To help the teacher there are recommended words to use. These instructions are guides for the teacher. After the teacher becomes familiar with the program, the teacher will adjust the instructions to his or her personality and experience.
The last section of the lesson is a reproduction of materials that are available to reproduce for the students as follow up to the lesson. The activities are particularly important if you wish to help your students transition to Webster’s English.
There are many more activities to reinforce each lesson in the Student Materials Module. You will find exercises for extra classroom assignments or homework assignments. There are crossword puzzles and word search activities along with handwriting and printing exercises. If you do not have the Student Materials module log on to speakclearenglish.com for more information.