Teacher’s Guide
English vowel spelling and English vowel sounds
Vowels are particularly tricky in English. We have only 5-7 letters that can represent
approximately 15 sounds. In addition, dictionary symbols often do not match the letters
used in the words. For example, the word day is spelled with "ay" but is pronounced [e]
while sweet is spelled "ee" but pronounced [i]. This complexity is why vowels are
presented first. It is largely possible to predict vowel sounds from spelling (Dickerson
1989) but the work involved may be too much for most teachers and learners.
Exercise 1
This exercise helps learners become familiar with the textbook symbols and how they
relate to their own dictionary. There are a variety of symbols that may be used for
student dictionaries. PFP uses unglided symbols for all vowels (for example, we use [o]
rather than [ow]) except those with phonemic glides, in which the glides are represented
by a superscript (for example, [ɑʊ] for the vowel in how).
One variation is important in PFP, According to the note, we recognize that in some areas
of North America, pairs like cot and caught are pronounced differently: ([kɑt] for cot
versus [kɔt] for caught). In other areas, they are pronounced the same (only [kɑt] in the
Midwestern and Western U.S. and only [kɔt] in most of Canada). We will list all words
with these sounds as /ɑ-ɔ/. Since the variation almost never makes a difference for
understanding for native speakers, teachers shouldn’t worry about it. As long as learners
use one or the other, they may use either sound and still be correct.
Another word
In phonetic
with this vowel
symbols
/æ/
flat
/flæt/
head
/ɛ/
fresh
/frɛʃ/
3.
day
/e/
cake
/keɪk/
4.
see
/i/
wheat
/wit/
5.
hide
/ɑɪ/
sky
/skaɪ/
6.
sit
/ɪ/
think
/θɪŋk/
7.
rude
/u/
soup
/sup/
8.
book
/ʊ/
foot
/fʊt/
9.
luck
/ʌ/
duck
/dʌk/
Word
Your Dictionary
1.
hat
2.
Teacher’s Guide
10.
bird
/ɜr/
shirt
/ʃɜrt/
11.
hope
/o/
soap
/soʊp/
12.
hop
/ɑ-ɔ/
clock
/klɑk/
13.
talk
/ɑ-ɔ/
pause
/pɔz/
14.
loud
/ɑʊ/
sound
/saʊnd/
15.
boy
/ɔɪ/
boil
/bɔɪl/
Exercise 2
This exercise helps learners to hear differences between perceptually similar vowel sounds.
In many cases, the words that are spelled in similar ways are actually pronounced
differently.
1.
wait
/e/
passed
/æ/
day
/e/
2.
cost
/ɔ/or/ɑ/
cold
/oʊ/
load
/oʊ/
3.
sum
/ʌ/
use
/u/
tool
/u/
4.
side
/ɑɪ/
width
/ɪ/
tight
/ɑɪ/
5.
feel
/i/
head
/ɛ/
we
/i/
6.
fall
/ɔ/
foul
/aʊ/
how
/aʊ
7.
cast
/æ/or/ɑ/
have
/æ/
cage
/eɪ/
8.
sky
/ɑɪ/
fill
/ɪ/
pint
/ɑɪ/
9.
push
/ʊ/
fool
/u/
took
/ʊ/
10.
know
/oʊ/
talks
/ɔ/
told
/oʊ/
11.
loud
/aʊ
fowl
/aʊ
low
/oʊ/
Words in Phonetic Transcription (Exercise 1)
hat
head
day
see
hide
sit
rude
book
luck
bird
hope
hop
talk
loud
/hæt/
/hɛd/
/deɪ/
/si/
/haɪd/
/sɪt/
/rud/
/bʊk/
/lʌk/
/bɜrd/
/hoʊp/
/hɑp/
/tɔk/
/laʊd/
boy
/bɔɪ/
Teacher’s Guide
Words in Phonetic Transcription (Exercise 2)
wait
cost
sum
side
feel
fall
cast
sky
push
know
loud
/weɪt/
/kɔst/ or /kɑst/
/sʌm/
/saɪd/
/fil/
/fɔl/
/kæst/ or /kɑst/
/skaɪ/
/pʊʃ/
/noʊ/
/laʊd/
passed
cold
use
width
head
foul
have
fill
fool
talks
fowl
/pæst/
/koʊld/
/juz/
/wɪdθ/
/hɛd/
/faʊl/
/hæv/
/fɪl/
/ful/
/tɔks/
/faʊl/
day
load
tool
tight
we
how
cage
pint
took
told
low
/deɪ/
/loʊd/
/tul/
/taɪt/
/wi/
/haʊ/
/keɪdʒ/
/paɪnt/
/tʊk/
/toʊld/
/loʊ/