ETA 2005 Combining Teaching Linguistics and Listening Skills through Technology Johanna Katchen ( 柯安娜 ) National Tsing Hua University

ETA 2005 The Course  Varieties of English ( 英語方言 ), elective linguistics course for English majors in their third/fourth year of undergraduate study.  In this type of linguistics course, it is necessary to listen to the different varieties as one of the most salient differences among varieties is their pronunciation and to some extent intonation.

ETA 2005  In this one-semester course we will look at English as it is spoken in different parts of the world. We begin with some varieties you may be most familiar with regional and ethnic varieties of American English and also Canadian.  We then spend a short time on the Englishes of the British Isles where English began: RP, Cockney, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, and then see how this English was transported to Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

ETA 2005  After this, we look at how English is spoken in West Africa and among Blacks in South Africa and observe the relationship of these varieties to English as it is spoken on various islands of the Caribbean.  Finally we move to Asia and hear the British-based Englishes of India and Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong; and the American-based, Spanish- influenced English of the Philippines. We conclude with a sample of some nonnative varieties of English.

ETA 2005  Our goals for this course are threefold. First, you should learn something about how the different varieties of English developed and the historical and sociological factors that influenced that development.

ETA 2005  Second, you should learn something of the linguistic features that characterize the varieties we look at and the underlying linguistic principles involved in the linguistic changes we will observe.

ETA 2005  Third, you should become better listeners, by becoming both more sensitive to the little details of the language you hear around you every day and also more tolerant of and less disturbed by the differences exhibited by different varieties and even by different individuals.

ETA 2005 Materials  Trudgill, P., & Hannah, J. (1985). International English: A guide to varieties of Standard English. Second Edition. Edward Arnold.  McCrum, R., MacNeil, R, & Cran, W. (1986). The Story of English. BBC Books.  McArthur, T. (2002). Oxford Guide to World English. OUP. (reference)

ETA 2005  Much material will also come from the teacher's personal audiotapes and videotapes. We will be starting with the video American Tongues, and continuing with excerpts of videos that accompany The Story of English. For British English we will use the video Talking Proper.

ETA 2005  Lectures will be illustrated with audio and video excerpts of the variety under study to point out various linguistic features.  Classroom materials will be available for review on the university's e-learn system.  Videotaped copies of The Story of English are also available in the self-access lab.

ETA 2005 Calendar  Weeks 1 – 5Varieties of American English (Boston, New York, Mid-Atlantic, Canadian, Appalachian, Midwest, Southern, Black English). Materials: American Tongues, and Chapters 6, 7, excerpts 3, 4, 5 from The Story of English; Chapter 1 from International English; tape- recorded excerpts.  Week 6TEST ONE

ETA 2005  Weeks 7 – 9Varieties of the British Isles. Materials: Talking Proper; Chapters 3, 8 The Story of English; Chapters 2, 3, 4 from International English; other video excerpts.  Week 10 TEST TWO

ETA 2005  Weeks 11-12, Australian, New Zealand, White South African. Materials: Chapter 8 The Story of English; Chapters 5 from International English; other video excerpts.  Weeks 13, 14(Black) African and Caribbean varieties. Materials: parts of Chapters 1, 6, 9 The Story of English; Chapter 6 International English; other video excerpts.  Week 14 TEST THREE

ETA 2005  Weeks 15, 16, 17 English of India, Pakistan, Malaysia/Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines; Nonnative varieties. Materials: Chapter 9 The Story of English; Chapter 6 International English; other video excerpts.  Week 18TEST FOUR

ETA 2005 The Story of Arthur the Rat  This story was created by linguists to elicit contrasts in the different varieties of American English.  For the full text click Arthur the Rat.pdf Arthur the Rat.pdfArthur the Rat.pdf  Click to hear examples from Boston.mp3, New York.mp3, and South Carolina.mp3 Boston.mp3New York.mp3 South Carolina.mp3 Boston.mp3New York.mp3 South Carolina.mp3

ETA 2005 Features of Indian English  Syllable timing  Purer vowels  Non-rhotic  Bright [l]  Retroflex consonants ([t], [d], [n] made on the roof of the mouth)  th as [t] and [d]  Exchange of [w] and [v]  Special intonation pattern  Special grammatical use (e.g., progressive terms, standard tag “is it?”; “only” as an intensifier)  Special vocabulary

ETA 2005 Example from Indian English  View the text The Perfect Murder text excerpt.htm The Perfect Murder text excerpt.htmThe Perfect Murder text excerpt.htm  Listen to the audio The Perfect Murder excerpt.mp3 The Perfect Murder excerpt.mp3The Perfect Murder excerpt.mp3

ETA 2005 Student Comments  I want to let you know that your course is one of those enjoyable courses I have ever enrolled in. You have the magic to turn dreary subjects into interesting ones by supplying multimedia materials. And I am very fond of them.

ETA 2005  I watched the movie--Drumline yesterday, twice. The actors and actresses are all black people, except one, I think. I could hear some features of Black English, for example, post-vocalic [r] dropping and final consonant cluster simplification. That was interesting. Maybe to watch a movie is a good way to listen to different English varieties, as long as you know where an actor or an actress comes from. Anyway, thank you for the whole semester, the course was very interesting!

ETA 2005  I joined a drum and bugle corps, in the summer vacation, we flew to the US to join the 2005 DCI Summer Music Games. In the tour, I met some people from other teams. There was one of them came from Wisconsin, I noticed that he did not open his mouth very much, and I sometimes could not understand what he had said! Some of them came from South Africa, I noticed the unaspirated p, t, k when they spoke English. I also heard they were speaking Zulu and Afrikaans. That was interesting.

ETA 2005  The varieties covered in the course were very helpful. I was really glad to learn a bit about the Indian and African varieties since they are rather foreign to Taiwanese students. I met a person from India online the other day, and my knowledge of a bit of the Indian variety they use seemed to have pleased him.