Teaching Pronunciation Online with Professor Todd Windisch

Christie Sosa

Like many teaching in an adult education setting, Professor Windisch had some concerns for his adult students and was especially concerned about how teaching a skill, like pronunciation, would translate to an online environment given that the skill is nurtured through interaction and reliant on face-to-face feedback. Further, Professor Windisch was worried about how some of his students would manage the technology aspect.

However, to his pleasant surprise, he felt that out of all this classes, he had most success with this course.

“There was a learning curve for sure. While it was a struggle at first getting everyone comfortable with Zoom and onto Canvas, within a few weeks, we were up and running.”

Fortunately, Professor Windisch was able to use the last two face-to-face classes to prepare and train students on using Canvas and Zoom before fully transitioning to an online format. For those who still struggled with Zoom the first few weeks, Professor Windisch utilized Zoom’s screen share feature, which allowed him to view a student’s screen and direct them in accessing course materials within Canvas and how to use Zoom.

“I was worried I was going to lose a lot of my adult students, so I was really happy to see all my students, still eager to learn, and in fact, found the camera to be unexpectedly beneficial in my instruction.”

In keeping with the current schedule, two online synchronous meetings were held every week.

In describing a typical online session, Professor Windisch opened up every session 5-10 minutes early to connect with students, allow students to talk with each other, and answer any questions.

Then comes a quick warm up. At the start of the semester, Professor Windisch asked each of his students to give him a list of words they want to practice—words that they use in their everyday life that they want practice in pronouncing. During warm up, Professor Windisch picks three words from these lists and goes over their meanings and pronunciation.

Moving into instruction, Professor Windisch typically uses a PPT to give a presentation on the sound which includes some sample sentences and pictures of the mouth positions. During this time, Professor Windisch is switching between his presentation mode and then to himself as he demos on camera how to pronounce the sound.

When demonstrating mouth position, Professor Windisch took a flashlight and shone it in his mouth to demonstrate his mouth movements.

I asked Professor Windisch if this was at all awkward, but he explained that for him—“it’s not awkward at all.”

“They laughed the first time, but got used to it and even comfortable showing their mouth movements as well.”

While his students did not use a flashlight when reciting words, Professor Windisch found he could see his students quite clearly when reciting words or sounds and could provide meaningful feedback to each student.

After calling on a few students to practice saying words with the sound, Professor Windisch moves into the more interactive portion of the class. “I’ll say two different words, for example, sheep and ship and then ask students to type in chat what they heard.”

Following some listening discrimination practice, students are then typically put into breakout rooms to work in pairs to complete a listening discrimination exercise. “I put them in breakout rooms so each student has an opportunity to practice both the sound as well as what they hear.”

“From there, move onto a list of tricky words and then move to a communicative practice exercise.”

As Professor Windisch explained, there are some notable benefits teaching the skill online. The camera affords both the teacher and the student an opportunity to model up close the articulation of consonants, vowels, and words. Teaching pronunciation online can seem intimidating at first, but as I listen to Professor Windisch discuss his positive experience with moving this course online, I am pleasantly surprised to hear how the online format can facilitate instruction.


Teaching Pronunciation Online with Professor Todd Windisch Christie Sosa Like many teaching in an adult education setting, Professor Windisch had some concerns for his adult students and was especially concerned about how teaching a skill, like pronunciation, would translate to an online environment given that the skill is nurtured through interaction and reliant on face-to-face feedback. Further, Professor Windisch was worried about how some of his students would manage the technology aspect. However, to his pleasant surprise, he felt that out of all this classes, he had most success with this course. “There was a learning curve for sure. While it was a struggle at first getting everyone comfortable with Zoom and onto Canvas, within a few weeks, we were up and running.” Fortunately, Professor Windisch was able to use the last two face-to-face classes to prepare and train students on using Canvas and Zoom before fully transitioning to an online format. For those who still struggled with Zoom the first few weeks, Professor Windisch utilized Zoom’s screen share feature, which allowed him to view a student’s screen and direct them in accessing course materials within Canvas and how to use Zoom. “I was worried I was going to lose a lot of my adult students, so I was really happy to see all my students, still eager to learn, and in fact, found the camera to be unexpectedly beneficial in my instruction.” In keeping with the current schedule, two online synchronous meetings were held every week. In describing a typical online session, Professor Windisch opened up every session 5-10 minutes early to connect with students, allow students to talk with each other, and answer any questions. Then comes a quick warm up. At the start of the semester, Professor Windisch asked each of his students to give him a list of words they want to practice—words that they use in their everyday life that they want practice in pronouncing. During warm up, Professor Windisch picks three words from these lists and goes over their meanings and pronunciation. Moving into instruction, Professor Windisch typically uses a PPT to give a presentation on the sound which includes some sample sentences and pictures of the mouth positions. During this time, Professor Windisch is switching between his presentation mode and then to himself as he demos on camera how to pronounce the sound. When demonstrating mouth position, Professor Windisch took a flashlight and shone it in his mouth to demonstrate his mouth movements. I asked Professor Windisch if this was at all awkward, but he explained that for him—“it’s not awkward at all.” “They laughed the first time, but got used to it and even comfortable showing their mouth movements as well.” While his students did not use a flashlight when reciting words, Professor Windisch found he could see his students quite clearly when reciting words or sounds and could provide meaningful feedback to each student. After calling on a few students to practice saying words with the sound, Professor Windisch moves into the more interactive portion of the class. “I’ll say two different words, for example, sheep and ship and then ask students to type in chat what they heard.” Following some listening discrimination practice, students are then typically put into breakout rooms to work in pairs to complete a listening discrimination exercise. “I put them in breakout rooms so each student has an opportunity to practice both the sound as well as what they hear.” “From there, move onto a list of tricky words and then move to a communicative practice exercise.” As Professor Windisch explained, there are some notable benefits teaching the skill online. The camera affords both the teacher and the student an opportunity to model up close the articulation of consonants, vowels, and words. Teaching pronunciation online can seem intimidating at first, but as I listen to Professor Windisch discuss his positive experience with moving this course online, I am pleasantly surprised to hear how the online format can facilitate instruction.
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