Professor Ronald Fong was invited by ASUM to give its teachers of English a professional workshop

Professor Ronald Fong was invited by ASUM to give its teachers of English a professional workshop on the sound system of English, particularly on the IPA as applied to English. Ronald explained the importance of choosing a model of English for learners, according to which teachers can set their goals to help learners with mastering the model. Then, he further explained the IPA uses and individual articulations carefully and pointed out the common difficulties Cantonese and Mandarin learners usually encounter and how they might be avoided.

In the second part of the workshop Ronald dealt with one of the major concerns of teachers for higher-level classes, namely, English word stresses. Although this area is not easy to understand and explained, Ronald clarified the issues succinctly and provided some helpful ideas for teachers hoping to assist them in their teaching. The workshop concluded in a fruitful discussion about the future potential topics such as rhythm and intonation.