The long ‘a’ is the fifth sound in the International Phonetics Association’s (IPA) list of vowels. When you look at the vowel quadrilateral, it is a back open sound. Like the long ‘e’, /a:/ is a universal sound. In Nigeria, all the major dialects have the vowel, so it is not a difficult sound for Nigerians to articulate. If you have ever visited a dentist, then you said /a:/. Also, the sound is said each time you exclaim “Ah!”

As has also been noted with the long ‘e’, the only difference that can be seen between the English /a:/ and the /a/ in our dialects’ is the variation in length. The English /a:/ is a long sound and so it is always loud.

How to teach the long ‘a’ sound to beginning learners

Step one:

Show an item that contains the long ‘a’ sound. Use an item everyone is familiar with. For example, a picture of a shark.

Step two:

Ask if anyone can spell the word. After the word is spelt underline the letters ‘ar’ in the word and ask if anyone can say it.

Step three:

Explain that the letters ‘ar’ says the long ‘a’ and write out vowel /a:/. Give other word examples (barn, mark, sharp) and explain that when the learners see the ‘ar’ in words, it will most likely say /a:/.

Step four:

Ask the learners to supply more /a:/ word examples. They will supply a mix of words. Some are spelt with other letters; some may not contain the vowel. Use a dictionary to show them how to confirm whether a word has the vowel or not.

Step five:

Have the learners say /a:/ in isolation and then practice writing it down in their notebooks.

Word Examples for the long ‘a’ sound

Calm /ka:m/                                                    Palm /pa;m/

Farm /fa:m/                                                    Psalm /sa:m/

Barn /ba:n/                                                   Path /pa:θ/

Pass /pa:s/                                                    Chart /t∫a:t/

Bath /baθ/                                                      Father /fɑːðə:/