Input session · CELTA
Sounds against letters, consonants and vowels, the phonemic chart, and phonemic script. The words are spoken by your browser, so turn the sound on.
Listen to each word and write it down. Then check your spelling with a partner and discuss what each word means. Finally, count the letters and the sounds in each word.
Example: letter = six letters (L-E-T-T-E-R) but four or five sounds, depending on British or American pronunciation.
| Listen | Word | Letters | Sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
Discuss in pairs: what does this activity show us about the sound–spelling relationship in English?
Click a term on the left, then click its definition on the right.
Consonant sounds are formed when the airflow from the lungs is obstructed by the moveable parts of the mouth — the tongue and the lips. Say each sound and decide where the obstruction happens. Example: /b/ as in ban is made by stopping the airflow at the lips.
Many consonants come in voiced / unvoiced pairs, such as /p/ and /b/. A voiced sound is made by activating the vocal cords — put your hand on your throat and feel them vibrate. An unvoiced sound needs no vocal cord activation.
Read each word in phonemic script, write it in normal spelling, then decide whether its first and last consonant sounds are voiced or unvoiced.
| Phonemic | Listen | Word | First sound | Last sound |
|---|
British English has 44 phonemes. Click any sound to hear its example word. Use this chart for the next two tasks.
Click in a box, then use the symbol keys to type. Slashes are added for you.
Use the chart to decode these film titles. First to finish wins.
Test the sound on the room’s machine: open the page, use the voice picker at the top and press Try it. Pick a British voice that the room can hear clearly; the choice is remembered on that machine. The Seeing Speech link in part 3 needs the internet.
| Stage | What you do |
|---|---|
| Sounds and letters | Play each word twice; they write it, then count. Let the room disagree about "letter" (four or five sounds) before you reveal: the disagreement is the lesson. |
| Terms | Pairs match the six. Then say each definition in your own words with your hand on your throat for voiced. |
| Consonants | Everyone says the eight sounds aloud, hand to mouth, before choosing. Then Seeing Speech on the screen for two of them. |
| Voicing | Pairs: read the phonemic script aloud first, write the word, then first and last sound. Throat check for every answer. |
| The chart | Click round the vowels in rows; ask them to feel the jaw drop from /iː/ to /ɑː/. Then the three places the consonant rows go. |
| Script | Individually on their own devices, using the symbol keys. Check as a class; reveal only after. |
| Film titles | Pairs, first to finish. Then the question that matters: which of these would you use with a class, and at what level? |
All on the page: Check answers under each task, Reveal for the script and the films. The obstruction answers are: b, m and p at the lips; v at the lower lip and top teeth; n and t at the tongue tip and ridge; r at the tongue tip near the ridge; k at the back of the tongue and soft palate.
Sources. The film titles, word lists and tasks are made up for this session. The terminology is standard in teacher training, and the phonemic chart is the standard British English chart of 44 phonemes (Adrian Underhill, Sound Foundations, Macmillan).