Teaching Pragmatic Suprasegmentals in the Adult ESL Classroom

While many ESL teachers acknowledge that there is more to learning English than understanding letter sounds, grammar, and vocabulary, suprasegmental work still gets relatively little attention in most classrooms. The curriculum designed to address this need looks at how to create effective and engaging material in order to teach pragmatic suprasegmental features in the adult ESL classroom. It is designed to be delivered in 10-15 minute bi-weekly “mini-lessons” that draw on what students already know and incorporate visual, auditory, and kinesthetic components to engage all learning preferences. Drawing on the work of Celce-Murcia et al., (2010) the suprasegmental features that were designated as most sensitive to speaker intent are prominence and intonation. Therefore, the first four-week unit focuses on prominence, the second on intonation, and the third on how prominence and intonation work together to convey meaning. In alignment with Knowles’ (1990) assumptions of androgyny, the lessons are designed to show students why learning these suprasegmental features will benefit them in communication. The curriculum is also designed in such a way that teachers can alter the examples used in most lessons to align with their current classroom unit. In this way, the suprasegmental work will flow into and reinforce the other classroom work, all the while improving students’ comprehension and intelligibility in English