Review

Of

Pronunciation Power 2

 

Software Reviewed by: Robert Bradford for GSL520 on 11/10/2001

 

Title: Pronunciation Power 2

 

System Requirements:

 

 

 

ESL/EFL levels:

 

Intermediate, High Intermediate, Advanced.

 

Age Group:

 

The vocabulary and technical words used in this software make it more suited for the high school, college, and adult levels.

 

Type of Program:

 

 ESL/EFL, Student Tool, Teacher Tool, Drill and Practice, Tutorial.

 

Friendliness:

 

Good. An excellent set of instructions, great graphics, and intuitive interface make this a very user-friendly program.

 

English Language Areas Covered:

 

Reading, Speaking, Listening

 

 

Program Description:

 

Pronunciation Power is a user-friendly, interactive program to help ESL/EFL students develop correct pronunciation of the 52 sounds needed to speak English clearly. It can be used to help students correct or avoid mispronunciation of troublesome sounds in English.

 

PEDAGOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

 

Program Operation:

 

The program is very easy to navigate. The opening screen has buttons, which lead the user to online instructions, lessons, exercises, or exit the program. Once the user goes to the lesson or exercise sections, there are navigation buttons to page forward, backward or return to the preceding menu level. The instructions are detailed and clearly written with very nice graphics to supplement the text. These instructions can be read in full at the beginning by choosing the instructions button on the initial page of the program. Each page in the other sections of the program has a help button, which is linked to the part of the instructions pertaining to that particular page of activities.

 

Feedback and Error Correction:

 

In general, the program provides minimal feedback and error correction. In the exercises, the student is given immediate feedback on whether the response is correct or incorrect, but there is no explanation given for why an answer is incorrect. To some extent, the speech analysis section gives feedback by allowing the student to compare the shape of their waveform with that of the instructors. There is no way for students to keep track of any scores on the exercises or save any results from previous screens.

 

Content:

 

In the lesson section, there is a graphic showing a side view of the mouth, teeth, and tongue. When the user clicks on the play button, the graphic is animated to show the movement of the different mouthparts to produce the sound. The sound is also played through the PC speakers so the student can hear it. Above the graphic is a drop down box with the 52 sounds for the student to select from. Each sound is shown with an IPA symbol and an example word. These can be done in any order desired. Below the graphic is a slow motion button, which advances the animation in the graphic one small step at a time. Each time the button is clicked, the animation moves a step. This allows the student to easily see how the different mouth parts move as the sound is made. The graphic also has some icons, which show if the air stream is full, released, or obstructed. There is an additional symbol, which shows whether the sound is voiced or unvoiced.

 

Also in the lesson section, there is a video of the frontal view of a mouth. Below this, there is a button to play the sound. Similar to the graphic, the video shows how the mouth looks from the front as the sound is made. 

 

Above the video picture is a drop down list to switch to the speech analysis page. This page shows the waveform of the sound as the instructor has produced it. Below the instructor’s waveform, there is a place for the student’s waveform. The student can record their sound waveform and compare it to the instructors above. The student waveform can be moved left or right to better align it with the instructor’s waveform above it. The comparisons can be made both audibly and by comparing the waveforms.

 

The exercises are varied and are accessed directly from the main program screen or the lesson section. The exercises are based on the sound that was being studied at the time. There are several different types of exercises.

 

Sample words give a list of 15 words with the sound at the beginning, middle, or end of the word. The student can listen to the instructor pronounce the word. The student can record their voice and compare the pronunciation to that of the instructor.

 

Comparative words give a list of 20 minimal pairs. The student can listen to the instructor pronounce the word. The student can record their voice and compare the pronunciation to that of the instructor.

 

Listening discrimination gives a list of 10 – 15 sentences with minimal pair words. The student must listen to the instructor and determine the correct word. This is one of the few places where the student is given any feedback, but it is only whether their answer is correct or incorrect. There is no further explanation.

 

Sentence exercises give the student 10 practice sentences. They must listen to the instructor say the sentence and then record their own voice and compare.

 

Stress, Timing, Articulation, Intonation, and Rhythm (S.T.A.I.R) exercises give the student practice in those same aspects of speaking English. There is an online manual with information on this, which is separate from the general online manual for the program use.

 

Output:

 

The navigational interface is consistent throughout the program making it very easy to go to any section or exit the program. Graphics and animation are well done and give the student a good view of how the organs of speech are used to produce the different sounds. The video of a real human mouth producing the sounds gives a much better perspective than a graphic in this part of the program. The graphic, on the other hand, is a much better way of showing the movement of the tongue, etc. to produce the sounds in a side view.

 

SUMMARY:

 

This is an excellent program to help ESL/EFL students develop correct English pronunciation. The layout and navigation of the program has been well thought out. The program should be considered a tool since its primary focus is on pronunciation. The graphics and waveforms are not very motivational. The program could be made more interesting for students by the addition of more interactive game oriented exercises. A new feature is the S.T.A.I.R exercises, which give the student an opportunity to go beyond just sound production and also practice supra-segmental aspects of speaking English correctly.