“Pronunciation” refers to the way
in which we make the sound of words. To pronounce words, we push air from our
lungs up through our throat and vocal chords, through our mouth, past our
tongue and out between our teeth and lips (Sometimes air also travels through
our nose).
To change the sound that are
making, we mainly use the muscles of our mouth, tongue and lips to control the
shape of our mouth and the flow of air. If we can control the shape of our
mouth and the flow of air correctly, then our pronunciation to clearer and
other people understand us more easily.
Speakers of different languages
tent to develop different muscles of the mouth for pronunciation. when we speak
a foreign language, our muscles may not be well developed for that language,
and we will find pronunciation more difficult. By practicing the foreign
language pronunciation, our muscles develop and pronunciation improves.
As well as creating correct vowel
and consonant sounds using the muscles of our mouth, tongue and lips, there are
other important aspects of pronunciation, including:
-
Word stress = emphasis on certain
syllables in a word.
-
Sentence stress = emphasis on
certain words in a sentence.
-
Linking = joining certain words
together.
-
Intonation = the rise and the fall
of our voice as we speak.
