Pronunciation is one criterion examiners use to assess your speech in IELTS speaking test. Remember, you don’t have to speak in English like a native speaker. You are expected to use a range of pronunciation features such as sounds, stress and intonation. Your pronunciation should be effortless to understand by the examiner. Also, this affects the fluency and the smooth flow of your speech. 

Here are some common pronunciation problems students face. We will explain this in more detail in the course.   

1. Pronouncing every letter in words

The first thing you have to know, pronunciation is not pronouncing each and every letter in a word, but pronouncing syllables in the word. A syllable is the smallest pronunciation unit consisting of a consonant and a vowel. 

e.g., bun [bʌ] , kept [ke], tree [riː] , hat [hæ], sit [sɪ], 

2. Syllables

Now take a look at these words and try to divide them into syllables.

Bat Kettles Dangerous 

Minimization Meadow Predatory 

Animal Coconut Happy

Ready? Now take a look at these syllables. 

Bat Ket/tles Dan/ge/rous

Mi/ni/mi/za/tion Mea/dow Pre/da/tory 

Ani/mal Co/co/nut Hap/py

3. Stress

There are some syllables in words that are more prominent than other syllables. These are called “word stress”. For example, in the word “compare” (com/pare), which syllable should you stress more? Yes, it’s the second syllable. If the syllable is louder and changes the pitch, it can be a stressed syllable. You can use this simple trick to identify the stressed syllables. 

e.g.,.,. 

baby understand

Childhood pencil 

Affair function 

Work result 

Also, stress occurs before the words which end in “tion” or “sion.” 

e.g.,

station mansion

occasion operation 

justification invasion 

You can watch the attached videos to learn how to pronounce words properly.

Also, stress can be different based on the sentence structure. This is called “sentence stress”. This has a direct impact on the meaning of the sentence. 

e.g.,

He is going, isn’t he?

He is going, isn’t he! 

Why are you so tired?

We won’t be able to come. 

Hurry! You are missing the best scene.

Also, sentence stress can occur when you stress even one word. 

e.g., She will sing a song (She will do nothing but sing a song)

She will sing a song (She is definitely going to sing a song)

She will sing a song (She will be the one who sings the song)

Can I help you? (Can I be the one to help you?)

Can I help you? (What help do you need?)

Can I help you? (Are you the one whom I should help?)

Can I help you? (I can help you or I can’t help you)

If you stress the wrong syllables or phrases, your pronunciation will be difficult to comprehend and you will lose marks.

4. Length 

There are some syllables and letters that vary in length in pronunciation. 

e.g., 

can – can’t 

tap – tape

back – bag

mop – mope 

You can take a look at the attached International Phonetic Chart, created by IPA (International Phonetic Association), to practice your pronunciation accurately. Familiarize yourself with accurate pronunciation. Your hard work might pay off with a score 9!

e.g.,

respect – /rɪˈspɛkt/ (Most of the students pronounce this as “re-spect” but the accurate pronunciation is “ri-spect”). 

procedure – /prəˈsiːdʒə(r) (wrong) /  (pruh-see-jer) (correct)

mechanism – /ˈmɛk(ə)nɪz(ə)m (wrong) /  (mek-uh-niz-um) (correct)

5. Intonation

Intonation is simply the variances in voice. We use intonation to express our emotions such as anger, excitement and sarcasm. 

e.g.,

I was walking down the street and suddenly, I heard a loud cry.

I studied hard. Yet I failed.

Doctors saved his life. It was a miracle!

As you read this sentence, you can feel the tension created by the underlined clause. 

6. “a”

You already know that there are 5 vowels in the alphabet, but did you know that there are 12 vowel sounds in the phonetic alphabet? This is why most of the students face difficulties in differentiating the sound [a].

Take a look at these words: 

Cat Ant Car 

/kæt/ /ænt/ /kɑː(r)/

In this example the letter “a” has three different sounds. Even the phonetic symbols are similar in “cat and “ant”. So how come there is a difference in pronunciation?

Did you know that a vowel before a voiced consonant; Cat, is longer than a vowel before a voiceless consonant; Ant? ([t] is voiceless and [n] is voiced) This is why you should be thorough with the phonetic chart.

7. “f/p”

When you pronounce the letter “f”, you use bottom lip and top teeth and, to pronounce “p”, you only use your lips. This is a common error most students make. Read these words aloud, concentrating on “f” and “p”.

Pillow – fellow

Pig – fig 

Pan – fan

Practical – fraction 

Pool – fool 

.Also, note the difference between the pronunciation of “v” and “w”. You use bottom lip and top teeth to pronounce “v” (in other words, bite your bottom lip with your top teeth) On the other hand, you only use your lips to pronounce “w”. (make a round shape with your lips). 

Read these words aloud, concentrating on “v” and “w”.

Village – willow 

Vet- wet

Vase – wave 

Vote – world

Veto – weed 

8. “s”

When words start with the letter “s”, most of the Sri Lankan students tend to use the sound [i] to reduce the difficulty in pronunciation. For example, school 

/skuːl/ is often pronounced as /iskuːl/. When you practice, be conscious of this mistake. 

Read these words which start with the letter “s” aloud.

Scones 

Stethoscope 

Skirt

Slaughter

Skeleton 

 9. Silent letters 

There are some letters in words that we don’t pronounce as we speak. 

e.g., Wednesday Listen

Scissors Autumn

Kitchen Ghost 

Butcher Debt

Marriage Honest 

School Knuckle  

Salmon Change 

 10. British or American English

Do not alternatively use both British and American pronunciations. Select the most comfortable form and use it consistently throughout your speaking test.  

You can do this quiz to test your pronunciation skills on “stress”. 

https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/word-stress-quiz.htm