A 3 hour presentation at Centennial College in Toronto. The workshop showcased the English Phonetic Alphabet (EPA) and Thompson Vowel Chart. It included handouts and in-class exercises for teachers of EAP, ESL and International Students.

1. Teaching Speaking
Centennial College
Judy Thompson

2. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a
lifetime.

3. Agenda
1. English – what’s broken and what’s missing
2. The six point guide to spoken English
3. Techniques for teaching speaking
4. Classroom exercises

4. Information Doesn’t Make a Difference
1. Information – Lesson
2. Exercises – Practice
3. Transformation - Experience of success with
the new information
Rita Baker – BRAIN POWER
80% of our brains are interneurons whose job is to
find patterns and use them

6. X Ray of the Fracture

7. You
Are
Here

9. Pattern Teaching Techniques
1. Is it always true?
2. Attach new ideas to information students already
know, “You know this already.”
3. Create a successful experience of the new
information – transformation
Ask me about videos

10. The Six Points
What is most valuable for you to do today?
Basic – CLB 1-3
1. 40 Sounds - English Phonetic Alphabet (EPA)
2. Words - Stress-based language
3. Sentences - Content words
Advanced – CLB 4+
1. Linking - words start with consonants
2. Expressions – English is idiomatic
3. Body language – 80% of the message

11. 1A – Phonetic Alphabet
_ b _ d _ f g h _ j k l m n _ p _ r s t _ v w _y z
/Sh/ - shoe, sugar, nation, machine
/Ch/ - church, cello, picture
/TH/ - thing, thank, both, teeth
/Th/ - the, them, these, mother, brother
/Ng/ - singing, pink
/Zh/ - Asia, garage, usual, Taj Mahal
* Past Tense and Listening Skills Exercises

12. 1B - EPA Vowels
• The first thing people learn in a new language is
the names of the colors
• Inside the names of 16 common colors in
English are the 16 vowel sounds of English
• Students learn the colors of words and crazy
English spelling is no longer a barrier to
confident speaking
* Listening Skills, Olive Maze, Word Search

14. Everything is in the Color Chart
• Vowel sounds in an easy logical format
• Bridge to pronunciation from spelling
• Access to spelling from listening
• Priority - All vowel sounds are NOT equally
difficult they’re missing short vowels and
Purple
• Word stress dictates the word color
• Linking is in the letters

15. Words
*What color is your name?
• Stress-based language
• Elastic bands
• Every word is a color
• Accents don’t matter
• Use their names first
Every word in English is a color on that one page.

16. Sentences
• Some words are important and some are not
• Pablo’s Story – * context for students
• Grammar doesn’t matter when you are speaking
* Wolves Eat Sheep

17. Advanced (Fluency)
(Keep asking me how to attach this to information
they already know) *ABC… EPA Vowel Chart
Linking
c-c
c-v
v-v
Listening tool – not for students to master

18. Three Predictable Places
1. Consonant Consonant
bus _ stop bu stop
2. Consonant Vowel
turn _ off tur noff
3. Vowel Vowel
go _ away go waway

19. All Words Start with Consonants
Can I have a bit of egg
ca ni ha va bi da vegg
* Titanic Song, ABC

20. Expressions
Grass is Black
Teacher Judy’s Sound Dictionary App

21. Sound Dictionary App
• Colors provide the bridge from reading to
pronunciation
AND BACK
• Colors provide the bridge from listening to
spelling

22. Big Finish
• www.englishphoneticalphabet.pbworks.com
• Sneak peak at the new posters
• Thompson Language Center YouTube Channel
• Teacher Judy’s Sound Dictionary app
• Speaking Test app – accent/intelligibility
www.thompsonlanguagecenter.com
judy@thompsonlanguagecenter.com
(905) 757-1257