Descripcin del sistema fonolgico de la lengua inglesa. Modelos
y tcnicas de aprendizaje. Percepcin, discriminacin emisin de
sonidos, entonaciones, ritmos y acentos. La correccin fontica.
Topic 9
Slide 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCCTION 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE
PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM. 1.1. Consonant system. 1.2. Vowel system. 1.3.
Suprasegmental features of pronunciation. 2. THE CHOICE OF A MODEL
OF PRONUNCIATION. 3. TEACHING AN LEARNING PRONUNCIATION. 4.
CORRECTION: PROBLEMS FOR SPANISH SPEAKERS.
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Phonetics is the science concerned with the study of speech
processes, including production, transmission and reception of
speech sounds from both acoustic and physiological point of view.
Phonology We assume a system that ignores the exact phonetic
details, but deals with the meaningful sound oppositions of the
spoken language of as many varieties as possible.
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In a more general sense, the main aim of phonology is to
discover the rules which organize sounds into a language system. To
use Pikes words phonetics gathers raw material and phonology cooks
it.
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PHONETICS is concerned with the physical properties of speech
sounds or signs their physiological production, acoustic
properties, auditory perception, and neurophysiological status.
PHONOLOGY, on the other hand, is concerned with the abstract,
grammatical characterization of systems of sounds or signs.
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1. Description of the phonological system of the English
Language. Phonetics vs. Phonology. From a phonetic point of view,
vowels and consonants are distinguished by their articulation and
the associated patterns of acousstic enerhy. Vowel sounds: the air
stream comes out unimpeded Consonant sounds: may meet a stricture
of Complete closure (plosives, nasals, affricates) Partial oral
closure (lateral) Close approximation (fricative)
Slide 7
From a phonological point of view, we distinguish vowels and
consonants in terms of their use in the structure of spoken
language. Vowels are syllabic Consonants are non-sylabic.
Slide 8
Our descriprion of the phonetic inventory of English will
correspond to the Received Pronunciation (RP) model. Wide
intelligibility in all English-speaking communities Represents no
regional characteristics Enjoys social prestige It have been
describes thouroughly
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1. DESCRIPTION OF THE PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM. SEGMENTAL FEATURES
are discrete units, which may be identifies in the stream of
speech. Their articulatory phonetic description can make reference
to sic main factors: Air stream the source and direction of the air
stream. Vocal folds the absence or presence of vibration (voiced
and voiceless sounds) Soft palate indicates if the sound is nasal
or oral. Place of articulation refers to the point in the vocal
tract as which the main closure is made (teeth, lips, etc.) Manner
of articulation refers to the type of constriction. The position of
lips rounded or spread. Soft palate
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1.1.The Consonant System The three basic criteria used in the
articulatory description of a sound are vocal cord vibration
(voicing), the place of articulation and the manner of
articulation.
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Slide 12
Chart of English consonants
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1.2. The Vowel System. The inventory of vowels in English can
be determined by three features: Height of the tongue: open or
close vowels. Tongue frontness/backness. It can be front, central
or back. Complexity of the vowel: its quality and quantity.
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In the following diagram you can see the organization of vowel
sounds in English depending on their articulation.
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The Vowel system. Short and long vowels. English has a large
number of vowels sounds. The first to be examined are short vowels.
The symbols for these vowels are: Short vowels are only relatively
short. Vowels can have different lengths in different contexts.
Each vowel is described in relation to the cardinal vowels.
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The Vowel system. Short and long vowels. The first to be
introduced are the 5 long vowels. These are the vowels which tend
to be longer in similar contexts. The symbols consist of one vowel
sound plus a length mark made of two dots. Thus we have:
Slide 17
The Vowel system. Diphthongs. BBC pronunciation has a large
number of diphthongs, sounds which consist of a movement or glide
from one vowel to another. A vowel which remains constant and does
not glide is called a pure vowel. The first part is much longer and
stronger than the second part The total number of diphthong is
eight. The easiest way to remember them is in terms of three groups
divided as in this diagram:
Slide 18
1.3. Suprasegmental features of pronunciation. The
suprasegmental features of pronunication are stress, rhythm and
intonation. Stress the prominence with which one part of the word
or of a longer utterance is a starter of pitch movement or has the
potential to be one. Rhythm the pattern formed by peaks of
prominence as they are distributed in an utterance. Intonation
association of relative prominence to a series of factors such as
pitch movement, loudness, rhytmicality and tempo.
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` STRESS Though the stresses are normally in a fixed position
in a word, their position is unpredictable. However there some
generalizations about endings in words stress and compound
accentual patterns: Abstract nouns ending in ion> syllable
preceding the ending. Stress before adjectival ic> phoneme
phonemic. Stress before nominal ity> un/animous una/nimity
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RHYTHM Variations in tempo provide this suprasegmantal feature.
It is possible to speed up and slow down de rate at which
syllables, words, and sentences are produced, to convey several
kinds of meaning. Pitch, loudness, and tempo together enter into
language's expression of rhythm.
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INTONATION Different levels of pitch (tone) are used in
particular sequences to express a wide range of meaning. Intonation
performs a wide range of functions: Emotional: works with
attitudinal meanings, form excitement to boredom. Grammatical:
helps to identify major units, such as clauses and sentences, some
contrasts/questions and statements/ may rely on intonation.
Information structure: conveys a great deal about what is already
known in an utterance. Psychological: helps to organize a language
into chunks. Indexical: helps to identify people as belonging to
different social groups and occupations.
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The most important tunes students should know are the
following: TUNE 1. FALLING TONE This tone is usually regarded as
neutral. The fall tone gives the impression of finality. It is used
in: statements, tag questions, commands, wh-questions, dual
questions. TUNE 2. RISING TONE This tone conveys an impression that
something more is to follow: A (whishing to attract attention):
Excuse me. B: yes It is used in: yes/No questions, Polite requests,
echo questions. TUNE 3. FALLING-RISING TONE This intonation is used
a lot in English. We will consider only one fairly simple one:
limited agreement or response with reservations. A: I've heard that
it's good school. B: yes. Bs reply would be taken to mean that he
would not completely agree with what A said.
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2. THE CHOICE OF A MODEL OF PRONUNCIATION. There are two
standard, widely accepted pronunciations: Received Pronunciation
and General American. British RP or General British is a form of
pronunciation of the English language which has been the prestige
British accent. In the UK it is used as the standard for English in
most books on phonology and represented in the pronunciation
schemes of most dictionaries. It is also known as BBC English
because it was traditionally used by the BBC.
Slide 24
General American Pronunciation (or American Broadcast English)
is the accent of American English perceived by Americans to be most
neutral and free of regional characteristics. The General American
accent is not thought as a linguistic standard, but its speakers
are perceived as accentless by most Americans.
Slide 25
In the last decades, our educational system has asserted the
value of British RP. The use of RP has been considered a mark of
education. The lowest requirement when teaching pronunciation: -
MINIMUM GENERAL INTELLIGIBILITY (to possess a set of distinctive
elements which correspond to the inventory of the RP phonemic
system and which is capable of conveying a message efficiently). -
At the other extreme we have HIGH INTELLIBIBILITY (a form of speech
so high that the native listener may not identify it as
non-native).
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3. TEACHING AN LEARNING PRONUNCIATION. 3.1. Perception and
discrimination. We must first make our pupils aware of the English
pronunciation features. They must be able to perceive and
discriminate. Our pupils should be aware that the sounds they are
hearing or producing are English. We must first ear-train them.
Some exercises: Listening for a specific word Write the word you
hear Same or different? Which order? Which sound? Odd one out?
Slide 27
It is important to give our pupils training also in
suprasegmental features. English word stress patterns importance
may be demonstrated: teaching names of class members or the names
of well-known places and people. Once they recognize word stress we
may begin with rhythm and intonation. English is a stress-times
language. We can show this by clapping the string betas in songs,
rhymes and jazz chants. Intonation awareness can be developed by
telling students to hum rather than say dialogues.
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3. TEACHING AN LEARNING PRONUNCIATION. 3.2. Production and
assesment. Once our students are able to perceive and discriminate,
we can ask them to produce those features so that assessment can
take place. The integration of pronunciation in English lessons
must be consistent and planned, and it requires that students
integrate pronunciation in their learning. Students must make acts
of monitoring and self- evaluation an integral part of work inside
and outside the classroom by: recording or asking for a repetition
of a speaking activity, introducing oral homework, and tracking
students progress.
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4. Correction: problems for Spanish speakers. 4.1. Consonant
Sounds. Some English phonemes have equivalents in Spanish but
others are distinctive sounds. z/ / / / / / h have no real match in
Spanish. High priority problems: /b/ and /v/ are confused Spanish
words never start with an s sound, and words which are similar to
English tend to have an initial es sound instead, as in
escuela/school. / / and /d/ are confused /g/ must be always plosive
not fricative /s/ and /z/ are confused /p,t,k/ are not aspirated in
initial position /t/ is dental in Spanish Consonant clusters in
general
Slide 30
4.1. Vowel sounds. Spanish has 5 vowel sounds and English
has.12. The other problem is that the length of the vowel sound is
not an important feature which leads to classic misunderstandings.
High priority sounds: /i/ and /i:/ are confused /a:/, / /, // are
all confused. / /, / :/, / / are confused. / :/ is replaced by its
spelling.
Slide 31
4.3. Stress In Spanish vowels instead of syllables are
stressed. Spanish students are not used to accentuate 3 and 4
syllable words on their first syllables. English derivatives do not
always follow the patters of their roots: / p sn / /p s n f ke n /
No secondary stresses in Spanish. /,refj'i/ /,vln't/
Slide 32
4.4. Rhythm It is a musicality of the language. Spanish is a
syllable timed language. The number of syllables determines the
length of time to say something. English is a stressed timed
language. The time it takes something to say in English depends on
the number of stressed syllables or words, not on the number of
syllables. COMPARE YO-QUIE-RO-SER-TU-MR-JOR-A-MI-GO
I-WANT-to-BE-your-BEST-FRIEND
Slide 33
4.5. Intonation We tend to use a very narrow pitch. Our falling
pitch movement is not low enough. We do not use rise-fall
tunes.
