Quick Guide
- Keywords: Pronunciation, listening, reduced forms, schwa, vowels
- Learner English level: Low-intermediate and above
- Learner maturity: Junior high school and above
- Preparation time: ~30 minutes
- Activity time: ~30 minutes
- Materials: Whiteboard, schwa ninja printout, listening cloze worksheet and answer key (see Appendices)
Students will be surprised to learn that the most common vowel sound in the English language is not A, E, I, O, U… or even Y, but /ə/, a symbol known as the “schwa.” This activity helps to raise students’ awareness of this common but not-so-noticeable sound by presenting it as a sneaky character called the “Schwa Ninja.” It is a fun starting point for raising learners’ metalinguistic awareness about English pronunciation, particularly stress and vowel reduction.
Preparation
Step 1: Print out or create a presentation slide with the Schwa Ninja (Appendix A).
Step 2: Select a short listening passage (song lyrics work well).
Step 3: Analyse the passage, noting which vowels have been reduced to schwa.
Step 4: Erase words with reduced vowels to create a listening cloze activity worksheet (see Appendix B, for example, with answer key).
Procedure
Step 1: Write a sentence containing some reduced vowel sounds on the board.
Example: I’m not a normal student… I’m a ninja!
Step 2: Read the sentence aloud, using hand motions to demonstrate stress by spreading your hands wide on stressed syllables and bringing your hands together on reduced syllables.
Step 3: Ask students to mimic the sound they hear in each reduced syllable.
Step 4: Hold up the printout to reveal... the Schwa Ninja! Explain that the schwa is a sound that is quick, quiet, and difficult to notice, just like a ninja.
Step 5: Illustrate how vowels are reduced by “slashing” them out (ninja sword is optional):
I’m not a normal student... I’m a ninja!
Step 6: Erase the reduced vowels and replace them with the schwa:
I’m not ə norməl studənt… I’m ə ninjə!
Step 7: Have students read the sentence out loud, spreading their hands wide on stressed syllables, and bringing their hands together in a “ninja pose” during reduced vowels.
Step 8: Explain that students are going to listen to a longer passage and identify the schwas.
Step 9: Read or play the entire listening passage once so that students can become familiar with it.
Step 10: Distribute the worksheet and have students complete the cloze line by line, pausing and repeating as needed.
Step 11: Have students slash out the reduced vowels and draw schwas above them.
Step 12: Review the answer key together as a class.
Step 13: Have students practice reading or singing aloud while contrasting stressed and reduced vowel sounds.
Variations/Extension
The listening cloze worksheet can be adapted to focus on a variety of listening text types. When using song lyrics, you can extend the activity by analysing more verses together and having students discuss the song’s meaning in small groups or as a class.
Conclusion
In the context of English as a lingua franca, it is not necessary for learners to try to sound like “native speakers.” However, an awareness of English vowel sounds, particularly reduced vowels, can help students to decode spoken English. Introducing the schwa as a memorable character highlights that subtle sound that is so easy to miss in the stress-timed rhythm of English.
Appendixes
See below:
