2014 MELEd Conference

How Many Phonemes to Teach?

A Comparative Analysis of Phonetic Symbols in

Major Pronunciation Dictionaries and Textbooks

Vladimir Pavlov

University of Wisconsin-River Falls

vladimir.pavlov@uwrf.edu

Elena Stetsenko

University of Minnesota

stets002@umn.edu

Why are students confused?

Reason # 1: Dialects

William Labov, Sharon Ash and Charles Boberg. Atlas of North American English. www.atlas.mouton-content.com

William Labov, Sharon Ash and Charles Boberg. Atlas of North American English. www.atlas.mouton-content.com

Walt Wolfram. Integrating Language Variation into TESOL: Challenges from English Globalization. TESOL Webinar, October 13, 2011

There are two major shifts in the vowel systems of American English that are taking place. One is referred to as the Southern Vowel Shift…   That is compared to the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, and this is sort of one of the stunning aspects of American English dialects today, the fact that Northern dialects are actually becoming less like Southern dialects.  The reality is no, the Northern dialects are actually becoming more different…

William Labov, Sharon Ash and Charles Boberg. Atlas of North American English. www.atlas.mouton-content.com

Walt Wolfram. Integrating Language Variation into TESOL: Challenges from English Globalization. TESOL Webinar, October 13, 2011

William Labov, Sharon Ash and Charles Boberg. Atlas of North American English. www.atlas.mouton-content.com

Walt Wolfram. Integrating Language Variation into TESOL: Challenges from English Globalization. TESOL Webinar, October 13, 2011

Walt Wolfram. Integrating Language Variation into TESOL: Challenges from English Globalization. TESOL Webinar, October 13, 2011

There are two major shifts in the vowel systems of American English that are taking place. One is referred to as the Southern Vowel Shift…   That is compared to the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, and this is sort of one of the stunning aspects of American English dialects today, the fact that Northern dialects are actually becoming less like Southern dialects.  The Northern dialects are actually becoming more different…

Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 4th Edition, 2010

standard variety

also standard dialect, standard language, standard

the variety of a language which has the highest status in a

community or nation and which is usually based on the

speech and writing of educated native speakers of the

language. A standard variety is generally:

a used in the news media and in literature

b described in dictionaries and grammars

c taught in schools and taught to non-native speakers

when they learn the language as a foreign language.

Reason # 2: Confusing numbers

www.merriam-webster.com

Consonants: 19Vowels: 26

Total: 45

http://www.learnersdictionary.com

http://www.learnersdictionary.com

Consonants: 29

Vowels: 21

Total: 50

Consonants: 25

Vowels: 21

Total: 46

Jack Windsor LewisELT Journalhttp://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/53/3/225.extract

Consonants: 24

Vowels: (16*) 17

Total: 41

Consonants: 25

Vowels: 21

Total: 46

  Consonants Vowels TOTAL

Merriam-Webster Online 19 26 45

Merriam-Webster Learner’s 29 21 50

Teaching Pronunciation 25 21 46

Daniel Jones EPD 24 17 41

Longman Pronunciation 25 21 46

Reason # 3: Qualitative differences

Consonants

http://www.learnersdictionary.com

Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary

Consonants: 29

Phoneme

the smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish two words

Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. 4 ed., 2010

Phoneme

the smallest unit of sound in a language which can distinguish two words

Allophone

any of the different variants of a phoneme. The different allophones of a

phoneme are perceptibly different but similar to each other, do not change

the meaning of a word, and occur in different phonetic environments that

can be stated in terms of phonological rules.

Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. 4 ed., 2010

http://www.learnersdictionary.com Consonants: 24

Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary

Teaching Pronunciation

Teaching Pronunciation

Teaching Pronunciation

Teaching Pronunciation

/ y / = / j / Consonants: 24

Harley, H. (2006). English Words: A Linguistic Introduction. Malden: Blackwell.

Daniel Jones EPD

Consonants: 24

Longman Pronunciation Dictionary

Consonants: 25

Longman Pronunciation Dictionary

Consonants: 25

Longman Pronunciation Dictionary

Consonants: 24

Vowels

Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary

Vowels: 21

Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary

Vowels: 20

Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary

Vowels: 15

Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary

Vowels: 15

Teaching Pronunciation

Vowels: 21

Teaching Pronunciation

Vowels: 21

Teaching Pronunciation

/ y / = / j / Consonants: 24

International Phonetic Association http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/index.html

Teaching Pronunciation

Vowels: 21

Teaching Pronunciation

Vowels: 21

Not in M-W Learner’s!

Teaching Pronunciation

Not in M-W Learner’s!

Vowels: 17

Teaching Pronunciation

Longman Pronunciation Dictionary

Vowels: 21

Longman Pronunciation Dictionary

Vowels: 21

Longman Pronunciation Dictionary

Vowels: 16

Jones EPD

Vowels: 17

Merriam-Webster Learner’s ɪ ɛ æ ʌ ʊ ə i ɑ u eɪ oʊ aʊ aɪ oɪ ɚ  

Teaching Pronunciation ɪ ɛ æ ʌ ʊ ə i ɑ ɔ uw ey ow aw ay y ər ɜr

Daniel Jones EPD ɪ e æ ʌ ʊ ə i ɑ ɔ u eɪ oʊ aʊ aɪ ɔɪ ɚ ɝ 

Longman Pronunciation ɪ e æ ʌ ʊ ə i ɑ ɔ u eɪ oʊ aʊ aɪ ɔɪ ɝ 

Vowels: 17

Longman: ər = ɚ

Merriam-Webster Learner’s: bird /bɚd/

/ ɑ / and / ɔ / are used in cot and caught, lot and law

Consonants: 24

  Bilabial Labio-dental Dental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Plosive p b     t d     k g  Affricate         tʃ dʒ      Fricative   f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ     hNasal m     n     ŋ  Lateral approximant

      l        

Approximant w       r j    

Vowels: 17

Thank you!