IA Session Two Phonetics v phonology Describing the sounds of English Teaching pronunciation

Adrian Underhill’s Phonemic Chart 1.How useful do you think this chart is for describing the sounds of spoken English? 2.Have you used this chart in a classroom? 3.Should knowledge of this chart be a prerequisite for English language teachers? 4. Do you have any sympathy for this point of view?

Underhill, A Sound Foundations : Learning and Teaching Pronunciation. 2 nd Edn. Macmillan

Phonetics & Phonology

Phonetics is concerned with the way we make, transmit, and receive speech sounds. There are three main branches of phonetics: articulatory, acoustic, and auditory. Phonology relates to the sound systems of languages and concerns itself with the way sounds relate to meaning in a given language.

Phonetics v Phonology Phonetics: “the study of the production of speech sounds by speakers, their perception by hearers and their acoustic properties” Phonology: “the branch of linguistics which investigates the ways in which speech sounds are used systematically to form words and utterances” Katamba, F. (1989) An Introduction to Phonology Longman. p.60

Phonetics & Phonology 1.What’s the difference between a VOWEL and a CONSONANT? 2.How many VOWELS are there in English? 3.How many CONSONANTS?

Underhill, A Sound Foundations : Learning and Teaching Pronunciation. 2 nd Edn. Macmillan vowels consonants continuants / sonorants

Underhill, A Sound Foundations : Learning and Teaching Pronunciation. 2 nd Edn. Macmillan

An experiment…

Four Vowels When the following vowels are produced, what happens to the position of the lips, jaw, and tongue? i: u: æ ɑ :

Four Vowels i: u: æ ɑ : æ ɑ:ɑ: u: i:

Another experiment…

Cardinal vowels Roach, P English Phonetics and Phonology : A Practical Course. 4 th Edn. Cambridge University Press. p.12

Do speakers of British English produce cardinal vowels? Roach, P English Phonetics and Phonology : A Practical Course. 4 th Edn. Cambridge University Press. p.12

Vowels in British English Roach, P. (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology : A Practical Course. 4 th Edn. Cambridge University Press

Vowels in British English

Yet another experiment -on a blank piece of paper, can you draw a human mouth in 10 seconds? -now – in the same amount of time – can you draw the inside of a human mouth?

In how much detail could you label these two diagrams?

uvula houses the glottis

The consonants

uvular labiodental dental alveolar / post-alveolar bilabial velar palatal glottal Let’s see if anyone’s still awake! Look at these words for 10 seconds:

Terms used to describe place of articulation: 1.both lips 2.lips and teeth 3.teeth 4.alveolar ridge 5.hard palate 6.soft palate (velum) 7.glottis 8.uvula bilabial labiodental dental alveolar / post-alveolar palatal velar glottal uvular

uvula Are any of these terms useful for your students?

Underhill, A Sound Foundations : Learning and Teaching Pronunciation. 2 nd Edn. Macmillan

My attempts at visual representations in the classroom

uvula

Tactile experiences?

Manner of articulation

Place and manner of articulation : an experiment How would you describe the difference between the way it feels to produce each of the following pairs of phonemes? 1./m/ and /n/ 2./p/ and /m/ 3./v/ and /ð/ 4./t/ and /s/ 5./l/ and /n/ 6./ ʃ / and /t ʃ / 7. /ŋ/ and /n/ 8. /ŋ/ and /g/ 9. /w/ and /m/ 10. /h/ and /s/ 11. /j/ and /w/ 12. /j/ and /r/

A complete closure in the vocal tract causes a build up of air pressure which is then released explosively A complete closure in the mouth leads to air escaping through the nose Like plosives but with a slower release of air. Friction is audible after an initial ‘explosive’ sounds Partial closure, with air escaping around the sides of the closure Two vocal organs move closely together so as to create audible friction as air passes between them Could be described as “semi-consonants” or “semi-vowels”. These sounds are phonetically like vowels as they are made without audible friction, but linguistically, they are like consonants because of the way they are distributed (i.e. they occur at the margin of syllables). /l/ and /r/ : approximants / frictionless continuants /w/ and /j/ : semi-vowels fricativesaffricatesplosivesnasalslateralsapproximants

A complete closure in the vocal tract causes a build up of air pressure which is then released explosively A complete closure in the mouth leads to air escaping through the nose Like plosives but with a slower release of air. Friction is audible after an initial ‘explosive’ sounds Partial closure, with air escaping around the sides of the closure Two vocal organs move closely together so as to create audible friction as air passes between them Could be described as “semi-consonants” or “semi-vowels”. These sounds are phonetically like vowels as they are made without audible friction, but linguistically, they are like consonants because of the way they are distributed (i.e. they occur at the margin of syllables). /l/ and /r/ : approximants / frictionless continuants /w/ and /j/ : semi-vowels fricatives affricates plosives nasals laterals approximants

Place and manner of articulation : an experiment Does the terminology we just looked at make description easier for you? Do you think it also makes it easier for the learner? 1./m/ and /n/ 2./p/ and /m/ 3./v/ and /ð/ 4./t/ and /s/ 5./l/ and /n/ 6./ ʃ / and /t ʃ / 7. /ŋ/ and /n/ 8. /ŋ/ and /g/ 9. /w/ and /m/ 10. /h/ and /s/ 11. /j/ and /w/ 12. /j/ and /r/

Place and manner of articulation Roach, P English Phonetics and Phonology : A Practical Course. 4 th Edn. Cambridge University Press. p.52

1./m/ and /n/ 2./p/ and /m/ 3./v/ and /ð/ 4./t/ and /s/ 5./l/ and /n/ 6. /ʃ/ and /tʃ/ 7. /ŋ/ and /n/ 8. /ŋ/ and /g/ 9. /w/ and /m/ 10. /h/ and /s/ 11. /j/ and /w/ 12. /j/ and /r/

In the classroom

How are you? I’m fine thank you. There are brown cows all around. Why are we doing this strange exercise?

Phonemes in the classroom from The Centre for Independent Language Learning (

Minimal pairs in the classroom from Mark Hancock’s Pronunciation Games

Minimal pairs in the classroom (example minimal pairs taken from Key: 1.ship 2.sheep 3.ten 4.tin 5.bet 6.bat 7.cat 8.cut 9.want 0. won’t

References and further reading Crystal, D How Language Works. Penguin Culpeper, J. et al (eds) 2009 English Language: Description, Variation and Context. Palgrave Macmillan Field, J “Promoting perception: lexical segmentation in L2 Listening”, ELT Journal 57/4 Katamba, F An Introduction to Phonology. Longman Roach, P English Phonetics and Phonology : A Practical Course. 4 th Edn. Cambridge University Press Roca, I. and Johnson, W A Course in Phonology. Blackwell

Related journal articles

SPEECHANT 1.What, according to the authors, are the advantages of using Speechant? 2.Does Speechant seem like a system that you could use effectively in your own teaching? 3.Can you see any potential disadvantages to using the Speechant system? VOICE-SETTING PHONOLOGY 1.What, according to Scott Thornbury, was ‘wrong’ with the teaching of pronunciation when he wrote this article (back in 1993)? 2.What suggestions does he make to remedy this? 3.What do you think about his suggestions? Can / would you implement them in your own teaching?

IA901 Essay Assignment

TUTORIALS Please me to book a tutorial when you have chosen an essay question (but don’t rush your essay choice). Feel free to book a tutorial if you are having difficulty choosing a question. I will happy to continue to respond to questions by and see you for tutorials, but the support that I can offer will be constrained by time. I can’t be particularly helpful if you send me questions on the 2 nd of December!