Phonology – phriend or phoe? Ray Parker NALA Dublin, 2013

A few simple principles English language teachers teach two languages not one! Spoken language is at least as systematic as any other part By focussing on important aspects of pronunciation we can score a double whammy! There’s nothing mysterious or complicated about phonology

3 Two Languages not One! Writing Graphic Permanent Conservative Delivered in words High prestige Secondary Learned Speaking Acoustic Ephemeral Progressive Delivered in utterances Low prestige Primary Acquired

The size of the problem How many words? 17,000? How much grammar? 400 structures? How many phonemes? 44

Elements of pronunciation

articulatory setting intonation stress timing utterance stress strong & weak forms csp’s clusters phonemes allophones The possible components of the pronunciation element of a general English course

Pronunciation - our priorities Word stress Delaying graphical interference Stress timing Modelling & correcting without distortion

Word stress 1.You always get it right in speech 2.Some people have problems identifying it. 3.Physical violence is really helpful! 4.We really have to be confident 5.We really have to help learners 6.Be consistent & make it routine

Word stress 1.Have a consistent board use strategy 2.Share it with colleagues in your institution 3.Use symbols which couldn’t possibly be confused with normal writing 4.Mine – and now that of many colleagues – is the following

10 Misleading spellings bough cough though through thought hiccough enough thorough /baʊ/ /kɒf/ /ðəʊ/ /θru:/ /θɔ:t/ /'hɪkʌp/ /ɪn'ʌf/ /'θʌrə/

Who is it?

ghoti

= fish

ghoti

Enough = /f/ ghoti

enough = /f/ ghoti women = / ɪ /

ghoti

nation = / ʃ/ enough = /f/ ghoti women = / ɪ /

So what about this? tchughce 21

one two three four five six seven eight etc…..

Egyptian women manage businesses

Egyptian women manage businesses / ɪ'ʤɪpʃən 'wɪmɪn 'mænɪʤ 'bɪznɪsɪz/

Unhelpful spelling Egyptian women manage businesses / ɪ'ʤɪpʃən 'wɪmɪn 'mænɪʤ 'bɪznɪsɪz/

Unhelpful spelling So in our sample sentence these vowels represent the sound / ɪ/: a e o u y i X

Delaying graphical interference Resisting bullying Designating space on board and a specific time in the lesson for adding written forms Eliciting rather than presenting written form Anticipating and focusing on potential interference features – bizarre spellings – silent letters – redundant syllables

Components of pronunciation 28

articulatory setting intonation stress timing sentence stress strong & weak forms csp’s clusters phonemes allophones The possible components of the pronunciation element of a general English course

Components of pronunciation Top-down or bottom-up?

Utterance stress What’s the system? The good news: There is a system

Utterance stress What’s the system? The better news: The system is regular, reliable, predictable

Utterance stress What’s the system? The best news: It’s simple

Utterance stress So which words are stressed in utterances and which ones normally aren’t?

35 Stress in utterances Open classes content words (stressed in sentences) (one syllable if polysyllabic) Closed classes structure words (normally not stressed in sentences) (except polysyllabics) classexamplesClassexamples nounsbook, Raypronounshe, there (e.g. there is....) (lexical) verbsto speak, to loveconjunctionsand, but adjectivesintelligent, greenauxiliary verbswas, must adverbsnicely, wellprepositionsfor, from numbersfive, thirddeterminershis, the

stress-timing Ti amo

stress-timing Ti amo

stress-timing Ti amo, tesoro

stress-timing Ti amo, tesoro

stress-timing Fish, chips, peas

stress-timing Fish, chips, peas

stress-timing It’s in the shed at the bottom of the garden

stress-timing It’s in the shed at the bottom of the garden

Sentence stress Dogs bark The dogs bark The dogs will bark The dogs are barking The dogs have been barking The dogs will have been barking

45 “Unusual stressing of items which would normally not be stressed Have you done your home work? (¿Has hecho tus deberes?) Have you done your home work? (¿Es verdad que has hecho tus deberes?)

46 “Unusual stressing of items which would normally not be stressed Have you done your home work? (¿Tu, has hecho tus deberes?) Have you done your home work? (¿Has hecho tus propios deberes?)

Workshop task 1 After you’ve completed the listening task, pair up with the other letter. 1.Correct each other’s work. (between you, you have all the words 2.Discuss the level of difficulty you encountered. Was one version more challenging than the other? 3.How would your learners manage such tasks?

Task 1 Big messages In terms of developing accurate listening expectations, version B is immensely valuable. In terms of moving towards acceptable pronunciation, version B is immensely valuable.

Task 2 marking key Australia is a country where some of the most unusual animals in the world live. They’re called marsupials and include animals such as the kangaroo and the koala. The mother animals have got pouches of skin like pockets and they keep their babies there for the first few weeks of their lives.

Big messages from the workshop 1.We should help learners with word stress 2.We should delay boarding of new words 3.We should focus on a top-down approach to phonology 4.We need to help students with utterance stress by helping them to focus on unstressed words

Techniques for achieving these aims Consistent but delayed written modelling Back-chaining when drilling utterances Specially focussed listening activities