Minimal Pairs

The most instructive speech material has been shown to be minimal word pairs that contain the contrast that the learner produces deviantly. Techniques designed for demonstrating the production of individual sounds generally make extensive use of minimal pairs. This term refers to pairs of words which have different meanings and which differ in pronunciation on the basis of one sound only. For example, shoukyuu (promotion) and joukyuu (higher) are a minimal pair. The initial consonants are different (/sh/ and /j/), while the remaining sounds in each are the same. Minimal pairs can first be used to help learners develop an awareness of the distinction between the two sounds. Subsequently, the minimal pairs can be used to improve learners' production of this distinction.