1. Phonology (Additional) Diploma Skills for Life ESOL/ Literacy
Canterbury Christ Church University
2010
Jo-Ann Delaney

2. Phonology and Pronunciation
Has your own accent changed during your life?
Have you ever had your pronunciation corrected? If so, how did you feel?
When learning another language, was pronunciation important for you? Why? / Why not?
Why is it useful for Literacy/ESOL teachers to have some knowledge of the theoretical aspects of phonology?
Do your students talk about accent and pronunciation?
Jo-Ann Delaney

3. Objectives By the end of the session you should be able to:
Describe the production of sounds in English
Describe the main features of connected speech in English
Use this knowledge to help support Literacy / ESOL learners in the classroom
Jo-Ann Delaney

4. Some definitions
Intonation the rise and fall of the voice when speaking
Phoneme the smallest element of sound in a language which is recognised as making a difference in meaning
Stress the greater emphasis of some syllables or words over others during speech
Jo-Ann Delaney

5. Some definitions
Phonetics the study of speech sounds and sound production in general
Sound system the different phonemes that make up a language’s phonology
Rhythm the regular repetition of stress in time
Phonology the study of how speech sounds are produced and used and distinguished in a specific language
Jo-Ann Delaney

6. Some definitions
Vowel a phoneme that is produced when the airstream is not blocked in the mouth or throat. The sound is formed by the position of the tongue and lips
Consonant a phoneme produced when the airstream from the lungs is blocked or restricted in the mouth or the throat
Jo-Ann Delaney

7. The phonemic alphabet (chart)
Go through the sounds and ‘sound out’. Use the example words given to help you. ronunciation/phonemic-chart
Jo-Ann Delaney

8. Consonants – manner of articulation
Plosive
Fricative
Nasal
Affricate
Jo-Ann Delaney

9. Consonants – place of articulation
Bilabial
Labiodental
Alveolar
Dental
Palatal
Velar
Jo-Ann Delaney

10. Palatal (post-alveolar) /ʃ/ /ʒ/ / ʧ / / ʤ / / ŋ /
Manner 
Place 
Plosive
Fricative
Affricate
Nasal
Bilabial
/p/ /b/
/m/
Labiodental
/f/ /v/
Dental
/ θ / / ð /
Alveolar
/t/ /d/
/s/ /z/
/n/
Palatal (post-alveolar)
/ʃ/ /ʒ/
/ ʧ / / ʤ /
/ ŋ /
Velar
/k/ /g/
Jo-Ann Delaney

11. Spelling errors:  
Can you explain the spelling errors below, based on your knowledge of how consonants are produced?
boyz
fought (thought)
readin
efer (ever)
blug (plug)
killt (killed)
Jo-Ann Delaney

12. sp__ gp__ st __ pl __ fr__ nl___ kf___
 Which of the following initial word digraphs are possible in English?
sp__
 gp__
 st __
 pl __
 fr__
 nl___
 kf___
Can you suggest a reason why this is the case?
Jo-Ann Delaney

13. Vowels Lip position (rounded / not rounded)
Vertical tongue position (high / low, closed / open)
Horizontal tongue position (front / back)
Length
Jo-Ann Delaney

14. Application – awareness
How many different spellings can you come up with for the sounds:
/eɪ/ /i:/
Jo-Ann Delaney

15. Suggested different spellings:
mate, came, wait, bay, grey, grade, great, eight, age, lake, change, case, space
meat, meet, scene, piece
Jo-Ann Delaney

16. Connected speech – what happens to sounds
Weak forms – see dialogue
Assimilation
Elision
Linking
Jo-Ann Delaney

17. Connected speech Elision
This is mostly /t/ and /d/ omission. For example:
/t/ /d/
Post the letter old man
Next please sandwich
Assimilation
A phoneme changes in quality due to the influence of a neighbouring sound. For example:
Great Britain white gloves
brown belt red carpet
Linking
To ease pronunciation and extra /j/ or /r/ is sometimes added. For example:
I am Australia all out drawing
Jo-Ann Delaney

18. Spelling You should of come Partikly You mus tell me Wha ya gonna do?
Jo-Ann Delaney

19. Implications for teaching
Spelling errors – awareness of letters that ‘are not there’ or are ‘added’ in spoken language
Weak forms: e.g. ‘of’ and ‘have’
Models of language should be realistic and contain weak forms and other features of connected speech.
Jo-Ann Delaney

20. Mark the stress
a green house eccentric record a greenhouse information atomic explanation
Jo-Ann Delaney

21. Intonation
Thank you
Jo-Ann Delaney

22. Pitch and prominence What is intonation?
English has a much wider pitch range than many other languages.
Jo-Ann Delaney

23. Any questions?
Jo-Ann Delaney