01: PRONUNCIATION OF FINAL /S/

Activity I. Tongue Twister

Tongue Twister is a fun way to improve pronunciation. Let's practice!

Sally sells sea shells by the shiny sea shore

So she can see the shimmering silver ships

In sunshiny summers she strolls along the sea shore

Shoelessly splashing somersaults while she skips

Activity II. Articulation and Demonstration

PRONUNCIATION OF FINAL /S/

When speaking English, the final /s/ ending in the third person can have three different sounds:
a) /s/ as in sings;
b) /z/ as in tells; and
c) as an added/separate syllable, /iz/, as in watches

a) /s/ sound

Placement	- the tip of the tongue is close to the gum behind the top teeth.
Manner	- air flows between the tongue and the gum.
Voice	- /s/ is a voiceless sound (no vibration)
Examples	: lips, packs, slips (hint: sound of snake; ssss)

b) /z/ sound

Placement	- the tip of the tongue is close to the gum behind the top teeth.
Manner	- air flows between the tongue and the gum.
Voice	- /z/ is voiced (place hand on throat to feel the vibration)
Examples	: seems, scenes, moves (hint: sound of a bee; zzzz)

c) /iz/ sound

Placement and Manner	- same as the /z/ sound with a short /i/ as in is: pronounced as a separate syllable /iz/
Voice	- /iz/ is voiced
Examples	: fixes, misses, garages

* Rules for using the correct sound of the final /s/:

Rule 1:	When the last sound in the base word ends in a voiceless sound, use the voiceless ending /s/.
Rule 2:	When the last sound in the base word ends in a voiced (vibrated) sound, use the voiced ending /z/.
Rule 3:	When the last sound in the base word ends in /s/, /z/, /sh/, /ch/, /zh/, and /j/, use the voiced ending /iz/.

Activity III. Production Exercises

a. Direct students to listen and repeat the following words. Remind them to notice the contrasting sounds by placing their hand on their throat to feel the voiced vibration in /z/, as well as the separate syllable of /iz/:

/s/	/z/	/iz/
cats	arrives	discusses
looks	opens	charges
likes	seas	kisses
laughs	sees	entrances
stops	stays	freezes
lasts	marries	causes
wants	he’s	changes
paints	she’s	encourages
months	robes	catches
depths	tries	judges

b. Ask students to listen and repeat the following sentences, practicing the sounds of the final /s/:

The cats are noisy.
She arrives home late.
The early bird catches the worm.
She has been away for months.
The seas are crystal clear.
The judges are fair.
She laughs out loud.
He has a lot of robes.
Mrs. Perez gave me a gift check.
Her lips are red.
The waves are gigantic.
A real friend encourages.