THE SCHWA MAZE

Ready for a pronunciation challenge?

As I am closing down My English Domain website for learners, and moving my ELTCATION blog to its own domain, I am moving some posts here to make them available for teachers. The modules and apps from the website will be featured in the Learning Design Projects. Additionally, I’ll be making a series of posts describing some collaboration projects to provide proper references and links, along with additional resources that may come in handy.

The links to ELTCATION posts and pages appear to be functioning correctly; in case of any issues, just take out ‘myenglishdomain’ from the address line.

The Schwa Maze is one of my recent projects inspired by Mark Hancock’s maze challenge.

Maze challenge: only pass words beginning with schwa! This game is an excerpt from an article published in the current edition of Modern English Teacher, in which I argue that learners need to be aware of schwa more for listening than for speaking. #schwa #pronunciation #ELT pic.twitter.com/O4V2fXyWYi
— Hancock McDonald ELT (@HancockMcDonald) January 21, 2024

Playing the Schwa Maze is easy.

Want a fun way to get your students practicing the most common sound in the English language? Look no further thanks to @HancockMcDonald and @ELT_CATION #teachers #eslteachers #englishteachers #teachingenglish #tefl #elt #teachinginspain #englishteacher #englishclass pic.twitter.com/D7UHvKz3ZN
— Charlies Lessons (@Charlieslesson) January 30, 2024

For a follow-up activity, show the maze snapshot and have learners read the words again, both with and without the schwa sound. Then, ask them to create sentences using these words.

Now, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and relax – it’s a stress-free start to the maze. No pressure, just the chill vibes of the schwa and the pop of bubble wrap.

Click on the image below to open the game in a new window.