Patterns of Stress and Pronunciation

‘Each language has its own music, and it matters..’

Segmentation Drilling individual sounds Important** Isolated – out of context Phonemes, consonant clusters, linking, contraction

= Prosody - Judy Gilbert Focus on stress patterns in words and sentences ‘Supra-segmentation’ Prosody = rhythm +melody = Intonation = rhythm + pitch

Prosody - Judy Gilbert A: I like that cat. B: Which cat do you like? A: The ginger cat. *********** “Peter,” said Kate, “is nice.” Peter said Kate is nice. FIRST FUNCTION of Intonation: - distinguish OLD from NEW information SECOND FUNCTION: - separate THOUGHT GROUPS

Prosody - Judy Gilbert ‘Prosody often distorts sounds so much that they are unrecognisable from the sounds of a word when it is said in isolation.’

The Thought Group Can be a: Short sentence Clause Phrase

The Focus Word Every THOUGHT GROUP has one Most important word in the group Usually CONTENT words Each focus word has a stressed syllable, or PEAK VOWEL

The Focus Word ‘How do you spell easy?’ easy? = content word How do you spell.. = structure words Emphasis and de-emphasis

Emphasis How is it created? ‘How do you spell eeaasy?’ The peak vowel can have: CONTRASTIVE VOWEL LENGTH CONTRASTIVE VOWEL CLARITY PITCH CHANGE GREATER VOLUME

Starts Early ‘We all learn rhythmic structure of speech in babyhood and it becomes a natural aspect of our speech from that point on. When this rhythm is unconsciously transferred to a new language, it can seriously affect communication. Clarity in spoken English depends on systematic variation of the length of syllables, so students need lots of practice hearing and producing this variation. ’

De-emphasis The schwa is not in print – you cannot spell it energy, opportunity, illicit System of de-emphasis to stress the peak vowel Moderate vowels tend to slide towards the schwa

De-emphasis Moderate vowels tend to slide towards the schwa Understanding of (an ear for) the schwa is essential for decoding rapid, native-speaker English

Resistance Some students resistant to diminishing vowel sounds – they think it is INFORMAL, sloppy But.. de-emphasis is inherent in spoken English No elongated vowel sounds in Japanese, Spanish, etc

What does Judy Gilbert suggest? Quality drilling – choral repetition of a TEMPLATE SENTENCE Because: ‘The neurons that fire together, wire together.’ Physicalise the language - rubber band - Kazoo; uses in video

What does Judy Gilbert suggest? 3. Listen to short lectures and mark (/) at the peak vowels in thought groups (chunking) -read them back to class and test stress patterns with group 4. Write ‘Focus Word?’ and ‘Focus Syllable?’ on the board and point..

Judy Gilbert – Prosody Pyramid ‘think in terms of chunks of thought, not just individual words’ (Gilbert 2008)

References Gilbert J, 2008, Teaching Pronunciation Using the Prosody Pyramid, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Gilbert J, 1999/2000, Speak Out! 25, Pronunciation SIG Gilbert J, 2011, Lecture to The New School, (date?), viewed on20 October, 2016, <https://www.tesol.org/connect/tesol-resource-center/search- details/teaching-tips/2013/11/06/teaching-pronunciation-using-the- prosody-pyramid

References Victoria University, 2016, EAP 3 Workbook, Victoria University, Melbourne (Thanks to Jane Morgan for her help in thins project – INSERT WINE BOTTLE EMOJI)

Notes The neglected side of pronunciation Pronunciation is not all about speaking It’s also about aural decoding (listening) Chinese sts copying down every word in a lecture, while L1 speakers p/u stress markers Resistance due to perception that de-emphasis is sloppy http://www.english-at-home.com/pronunciation/noun-and-verb-syllable- stress/

Must mention her advocacy of repetition – neurons quote – QUALITY REPETITION JANE: The schwa does need to be a focus and that this is all about decoding rapid native speech and overcoming communication breakdowns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSScV6Rt_6s Mark Powell – Presenting in English, Sound scripting, 2004 Michael Hoey – chunk = tone unit (1 or 2 prominent syllables)