Friday, December 12, 2008

Minimal Pairs Exercises for ESOL Students' Pronunciation (Part 2)

In a previous post, I shared examples of minimal pairs that can be used to help students practice consonant sounds in English. In this post, I am sharing minimal pairs that can be used to practice vowel sounds in English. (See also Part 3 for minimal pairs practice with murmur diphthongs and special vowels sounds.)

Contrast the Following Sounds:


/ă/ and /ĕ//ŭ/ and /ŏ//ĕ/ and /ā//ĭ/ and /ĕ/

bag beg

tan ten

fan fen

pat pet

bat bet

sat set

ham hem

rad red

pan pen

mat met

and end

man men

sad said

gas guess

had head

hut hot
sup sop
gut got
nut not
mud mod
sub sob
rub rob
cup cop
cub cob
cut cot
dug dog
hug hog
jug job
pup pop
bus boss
miss mess
bucks box
duck dock
bum bomb
but bought
putt pot

bet bait
gel jail
let late
pen pain
pest paste
sent saint
shed shade
test taste
west waist
wet wait
fell fail
let late
get gate
sell sale
tell tale
fed fade
wed wade
less lace
shell shale
chess chase
bit bet
him hem
lid led
pig peg
sit set
tint tent
will well
miss mess
lift left
gym gem
spill spell
knit net
chick check
did dead
bid bed
big beg
hid head
pit pet
/ē/ and /ĭ//ŏ/ and /ar/

teen tin
heap hip
heel hill
peel pill
eel ill
deep dip
green grin
greet grit
sleep slip
meet mitt
sheen shin
sheep ship
cheap chip
sleeper slipper
wheat whit
deeper dipper
jaw jar
dock dark
lock lark
mock mark
pock park
shock shark
box barks
hawk hark
knock nark
laws Lars
hot heart
cot cart
clock Clark


Note: Information adapted from the Decoding Strategies for Literacy Development manual published by Reading Horizons.

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