Unit 6
Lesson Plan
(With Notes for Teachers)
Back Vowels
Date:
Class:
Subject:
Oct. 21-25
Classes 1, 2 & 3, Grade 2011
English Pronunciation for Communication
Purpose:
The students will learn back vowels in English.
Objectives: Students will be able to:
1. Define - in their own words a definition for back vowels/ɑ:/ /Λ/ /ɔ/ /ɔ:/ /u/ /u:/;
2. Compare – based on the understanding of the basic concept, compare them with
other vowels;
3. Practice – imitate the sounds and do practice.
Resources/Materials:
1. Textbook: Wang, Guizhen, An English Pronunciation Course, Higher Education
Press, Beijing, 2000;
2. Handouts: illustration of the phonemes in focus;
3. Recordings of native speakers
Activities and Procedures:
1. Warming-up: Asking the class to read the following phrases in falling tone and
rising tone, pay attention to the words containing /ɑ:/ /Λ/ /ɔ/ /ɔ:/ /u/ /u:/ sounds.
/ɑ:/ a fast car / a large shark / a starved artist
/ɔ/ socks and stockings / borrow a novel / clocks and watches
/ɔ:/ more and more / on the fourth floor / a short story
/u/ look for the cook / woolen socks / stood in the foot
/u:/ a new rule / useful tools / stoop by a cool pool
2. Display examples by playing the recording of the native speakers showing the
typical pronunciation in English. For all of them the tip of tongue is withdrawn
towards the soft palate, lip-rounding plays an important part in producing all the
back vowels except for /ɑ:/
3. Have the students imitate the sound in focus.
 The tongue /ɑ:/ is held very low. The mouth is opened with no lip-rounding,
the sound is like the exclamation “Ah”.
 The sound /ɔ/ is made with open jaws and slight open lip-rounding, the back
of the tongue is kept very low and far back.
 This sound /ɔ:/ has a low, mid-back tongue position; the lips are tense and
protruded.
 This sound /u/ is produced with the tongue in a relaxed position. The lips are
loosely rounded.
 The /u:/ back of the tongue is raised the highest. This sound is the most tense
and most lip-rounded of the back vowels.
4. Have the students make a comparison between /ɑ:/ & /ɔ/, /ɔ:/ & /ɔ/ and /u/ /u:/
and share what they have learned by reading out the practice materials in pairs.
Pair work :
A: Hey, don’t walk on the lawn.
B: Sorry, I’m looking for my wallet.
A: You lost your wallet? Anything important in it?
B: Yes. A lot of money. Almost four thousand dollars.
A: That’s too bad. Better report to the police officer walking there.
5. Have the students listen to the conversations recorded by native speakers of
English and try to get the sounds in focus correct in their pronunciation.
6. Have the students practice the guided conversation. Ask them to pay special
attention to the sounds in focus in speech.
Practice: Tick the right word you heard:
Did you buy a (cart, cat)?
He likes her (form, farm).
The (clerk, clock) is slow.
It’s a good coat, but I don’t like the (colour, collar).
She wanted to find a (potter, porter).
The man was (shot, short).
7. Comment on the students’ performance by highlighting the achievement of the
students and the efforts they need for the improvement.
8. Give advice to the students.
 Some students often confuse /ɑ:/ with /ɔ/. In their pronunciation, part/pɑ:t/
sound like pot/pɔt/. This mistake may be corrected if they round their lips a
little.
 Many students substitute /ɔ:/ for /ɔ/. In their pronunciation, sport /spɔ:t/ and
spot /spɔt/ sound alike. To avoid such a mistake, they should open the lower
jaw less wide (about two thirds of the jaw-opening for /ɔ/) and raise the back
of the tongue higher.
 Students sometime confuse /u:/ with /u/. Remember the English /u:/ is
somewhat relaxed though it is a long vowel. In the pronunciation of /u:/, the
lips are more rounded and closed than for /u/. The back of the tongue is raised
higher, too.
9. Ask the students to do more practice after class and get ready for presentation
during the next session.
10. Summary of the English Back Vowels: The English back vowels have the
following features in common:
 The tongue is retracted, the back part is raised to various levels in the direction
of the soft palate.
 The tip of the tongue is slightly drawn away from the lower teeth.
 For /ɔ ɔ: u u:/ the lips are rounded, but for /ɑ:/ the lips are not.
11. After-class assignments: Review and memorize the words, phrases, sentences in
class. Make sentences containing back vowels / u / / u: /. Reading practice “The
Boy Who Cried Wolf”
Notes for Teachers
Back Vowels
In this unit, we will learn the back vowels in English.
There are six back vowels in English. The back vowels are produced by shifting
the body of the tongue back from its central position. The tip of the tongue remains at
the level of the lower teeth. The front and back vowels have several features in
common as well as some differences. Unlike the front vowels that are made with a
fairly neutral lip posture, four of the back vowels are rounded. The back vowels may
also be subdivided into those that are high (/u:/ and / u /), mid (/ɔ:/ and /ɒ/), and low
(/ɑ:/ and /Λ/). The following is the description of the six English back vowels.
u:
u
ɔ:
:
Λ

ɑ:
:
ɑ:
ɒ
/u:/ and / u /
/u:/ and / u / are both high, back, rounded vowels. The /u:/ marks the highest
boundary for the back vowels, as /i:/ does for the front vowels. Therefore, the tongue
is retracted from its rest position and raised toward the soft palate. This vowel is quite
common in the languages of the world and appears without problem in most Chinese
learners. Along with /u:/, / u / completes the vowels in the high back space on the
vowels chart. Its corresponding front vowel is /i/. When making the sound, the tongue
is retracted as for /u:/ but not elevated to the same extent. In addition, the / u / vowel
is not made with as much tension in the root of the tongue as /u:/. The same tense/lax
contrast is also seen for /i:/ and /i/. This sound is not found very frequently as a
phoneme in the languages of the world, certainly not in Chinese Putonghua. In
English, it is not very common despite the fact that it appears in some frequently used
words, such as should, good, and book. /u:/ occurs at all the three positions of a word
while / u / occurs only in the middle position of a word, like book and hook. To ensure
correct pronunciation, it is important to make the following distinction between /u:/
and / u /:
1. /u:/ is the highest back vowel, so the raised part of the tongue for /u:/ is higher than
that for / u /;
2. the part of the tongue raised for / u / is not as back as that for /u:/;
3. /u:/ has quite strong lip rounding while the lips are only slightly rounded for / u /.
/ ɔ:/ and / ɒ/
/ ɔ:/ is a mid-back vowel. For its production, the tongue is retracted and almost
flat in the mouth. The vowel is almost fully back and has quite strong lip-rounding. /ɒ
/ is a low vowel. The lips are slightly rounded. / ɒ/ is a difficult vowel for the Chinese
learners. Many of them use a shortened version of / ɔ:/ as its substitution. To ensure
correct pronunciation, it is important to make the following distinction between these
two vowels:
1. / ɒ/ is a low vowel while / ɔ:/ is a mid vowel, so the mouth is more open for / ɒ/,
2. / ɔ:/ has quite strong lip rounding while the lips are only slightly rounded for / ɒ/.
/ɑ:/ and /Λ/
The /ɑ:/ is made by lowering and flattening the tongue in the oral cavity. It is a low
vowel, but not as back as other back vowels in English. /Λ/ is quite different from
other vowels in this group in that it is more like a central vowel than a back vowel
(see the vowel chart). /Λ/ is made with the tongue in the approximate middle of the
mouth, perhaps shifted back slightly. It is lower than the other central vowels /з:/ and
/Λ/. The lip position is neutral. It is important for the learners to make a clear
distinction between /ɑ:/ and /Λ/ in their pronunciation.