Pronunciation 4. Reduction

In this lesson, your students will:

• Discover the difference between careful and fast connected speech.
• Identify content words and function words in sentences.
• Learn and practice the weak and strong forms of certain prepositions and articles.
• Listen for reduced function words in authentic speech extracts.
• Drill sentences with reduction patterns.
• Roleplay short dialogues using weak forms naturally.
• Discuss personal questions while applying reductions.
• Complete a project task using an authentic speech extract.
• Practice and record themselves to receive feedback.

This lesson contains up to 20 interactive exercises that raise learners’ awareness of weak forms in connected American English speech and give them practice in recognizing, producing, and using these reductions in meaningful contexts, so that their spoken English sounds more natural, fluent, and easy to understand.

Features: Reduction of Function Words in Connected Speech
Additional resources: Wordwall, LearningApps