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Tips for the CD-ROM
Use SoundSearch to explore pronunciation and spelling
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Tips for the CD-ROM
Using SoundSearch to explore the relationship between sound and spelling
by
Jane
Bottomley
The SoundSearch
tool of the Macmillan English Dictionary CD-ROM allows you to
search for words by the way they sound. This tool is ideal for
practising pronunciation and raising students’ awareness of the
relationship between sound and spelling in English. In this issue of the
magazine I will give you tips on how you can search for and practise
diphthongs and vowels using SoundSearch.
1
Diphthongs
Diphthongs are
amongst the most difficult sounds for learners of English, not least
because each diphthong can be spelt in a variety of ways.
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Tip
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Students can
use SoundSearch to find examples of the different spellings
in preparation for, or as a follow-up to a lesson.
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Teachers can
use SoundSearch to find examples of the different spellings
for use in the classroom and in worksheets.
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Using the
one-symbol wildcard (?)
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Click on
SoundSearch on the title bar.
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Select the
diphthong you want to work on and click on this.
-
Use the
one-symbol wildcard (?) before the phoneme, or before and after the
phoneme, in order to restrict the search. Diphthong + ? is less
productive but worth a look for some phonemes. For example, insert ? ? in the search box and click on
Go.
This search
generates the following range of spellings:
| beaux |
boat |
bode |
| both |
bowl |
doughy |
| folk |
gauche |
goes |
| kohl |
sewn |
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top
Using the
multi-symbol wildcard (*)
The multi-symbol
wildcard (*) can be used, especially with the less productive
diphthongs such as //
but the single-symbol
wildcard isolates the spelling combinations more clearly by restricting
the search to mostly monosyllabic words.
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Tip
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Students can
use SoundSearch to find, if they can, more examples of each
spelling, noting which are the most productive, and which one-offs.
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This type of
wildcard search also works well with long vowels.
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2 Creating
activities
SoundSearch,
using wildcards as above, is an efficient way to find examples when
creating your own activities. The exercises below practise a range of
vowels and diphthongs, with examples selected from lists generated by
the wildcard searches outlined above, but teachers could base activities
on sounds that their students find particularly tricky. Students can
also use this facility to check their answers.
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A
Which sound?
Aim:
To practise the pronunciation and spelling of diphthongs.
Activity: Students have to match words with the correct diphthongs.
See the activity
and
the answers.
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top
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B
Odd man out
Aim:
To practise the pronunciation and spelling of vowels and diphthongs.
Activity:
Students work in pairs and find the word that doesn’t rhyme with the
others.
See the activity
and
the answers.
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C
Rhyming pairs
Aim:
To practise the pronunciation and spelling of vowels and diphthongs.
Activity:
Students have to match pairs of words that rhyme.
See the activity
and
the answers.
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