Fonética y Fonología I

Tutora: Prof. Cecilia Zemborain

Unit 1
Ciclo Lectivo: 2024
English Pronunciation and
the Foreign Language
Speaker
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

INSTITUTO DE FORMACIÓN DOCENTE CONTINUA

¨LENGUAS VIVAS BARILOCHE¨

Materia: Fonética y Fonología I

Profesora tutora: Cecilia A. Zemborain

Ciclo Lectivo: 2024

Fundamentación de la asignatura

Un profesional de la lengua extranjera debe poseer un profundo conocimiento y

dominio de todas las habilidades lingüísticas: lectura, expresión escrita,
comprensión auditiva y expresión oral. Al tratarse de una lengua extranjera, estas
dos últimas habilidades requieren un estudio detallado de sus características
fonológicas. Los conocimientos teóricos, la transcripción fonética y la práctica oral
son imprescindibles para lograr mayor precisión en la expresión oral y solvencia
en la comprensión auditiva, dos aspectos básicos de la comunicación humana.

La pronunciación de una lengua extranjera es la carta de presentación con la que

cuenta el hablante a la hora de establecer un vínculo oral. Es por esto que los
contenidos que se trabajen en esta materia permitirán al alumno acercarse a la
pronunciación del hablante nativo. Los rasgos suprasegmentales -la entonación, el
ritmo y la acentuación- son elementos fundamentales en la comunicación ya que
aportan significado al mensaje. Es de imperiosa necesidad en la formación docente
de la lengua inglesa la familiarización con dichos aspectos. Se espera entonces que
el futuro docente pueda decodificar dichos rasgos para su propia producción y
para la correcta transmisión a sus alumnos.

El foco de la asignatura será, entonces, la creación de un espacio de análisis donde

el/la alumno/a observe la evolución de su interlengua fonológica mediante la
obtención de estrategias para el trabajo autónomo que lo/la acompañará no sólo
en esta materia, sino como contenido transversal a lo largo de su carrera y de toda
su vida profesional.

  

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Welcome to Phonetics and Phonology I!

When you ask learners of English which aspects of language learning they find
most difficult, invariably, the answer is listening, speaking and pronunciation. It is
our aim to help you in this area, to make you become aware of the sounds of
English and encourage you to open your ears -and your mind- to an advanced
form of producing and comprehending speech.

By understanding how sounds are produced, what ‘chemistry’ occurs when

different sounds get together, and how intonation shows the speaker’s intentions,
you will be able to comprehend native speakers thoroughly and – most important
of all- you will be able to help your students produce and understand the sounds of
English.

How are you going to acquire these sounds? You need to:

 Become aware of the differences between English and Spanish sounds.

 Recognize the subtle differences between English sounds.
 Learn to imitate the target sounds.
 Keep your sounds under control.
 Learn the phonemic symbols that you will use to represent speech.
 Learn to self-correct your speech.

You may be thinking that the achievement of so many and varied goals will be
demanding in terms of time and dedication. You are right. Acquiring correct
sounds is hard work but it is by no means impossible. We strongly suggest that you
devote at least 15 minutes every day to your pronunciation practice. Remember
that practice makes perfect!

Phonetics and Phonology is not just listening and repeating. There is a solid
theoretical background that you will be exploring too and that will help you
understand how things happen in terms of pronunciation.

We suggest that you get the books listed in the bibliography, as they are essential
in your training and you will resort to them often during this and the next course.

A virtual community requires participation of its members in different ways. In

Phonetics and Phonology permanent contact is necessary and your tutor will
provide you with feedback on your learning process. In order for this learning to
take place, you will have to send your unit assignments regularly.

Remember to make use of all our means of communication such as e-mails, chats
and forums. Bring up your doubts and your queries. You are not alone. We are here
waiting for your questions and we will not let you down.

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ɪf ət ˈfɜ:st / jʊ ˈdəʊnt səkˈsi:d / ˈtraɪ / ˈtraɪ / ən ˈtraɪ əˈgen 1

Basic aims of this course

The course aims to achieve the following:

1. to introduce students to the basic concepts in Phonetics;

2. to explore human articulatory capabilities;
3. to promote students’ awareness of the importance of phonetics in language
studies;
4. to study some of the differences between the English and Spanish sound
systems;
5. to enhance students’ ability to discriminate various English sounds;
6. to improve students’ pronunciation of English;
7. to develop their ability to read and write transcriptions in the International
Phonetic Alphabet;
8. to lay a solid foundation for higher courses, such as Phonetics and Phonology II.

Remember:

Your primary goal here is not merely to download materials and

submit assignments. Rather, you are here to acquire a solid education
to become the best teacher you can be.

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If at first you don't succeed, try, try, and try again!
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Unit 1: English Pronunciation

and the Foreign Speaker

 Speech vs writing
 Differences between spelling and pronunciation
 Levels of intelligibility
 The need for a high level of intelligibility (acceptability)
 The need for the choice of a pronunciation model
 Received pronunciation or "RP"
 The importance and usefulness of the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)
 The organs of speech
 The pronunciation dictionary: its usefulness and use.

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Introducing the subject

INTROSPECTING ABOUT YOUR OWN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Think about a foreign language that you have learned at school or while living
abroad. What pronunciation obstacles have you faced in learning this language? If
you have not achieved a target-like pronunciation, which of the following do you
feel help to account for this? Check the boxes that apply.

 I don’t know where my pronunciation problems lie. I don’t notice

them.

 I know that I transfer sounds from my native language.

 I can’t hear the difference between some of the target language

sounds and my first language sounds.

 I can’t produce the difference between some of the sounds in my

native language and similar sounds in the target language.

 It’s not important for me to improve my pronunciation. People

understand me without trouble.

 Even though I can produce some of the target language sounds, it

takes too much effort or concentration when I’m speaking.

 I like my own accent. I don’t want to be like a native speaker or

sound like one.

 Native speakers of the language comment that my foreign accent is

“cute” or “charming”. I don’t have any motivation to change.

 I haven’t had enough contact with native speakers. My pronunciation

would improve if I had more exposure.

 There wasn’t enough training or practice in pronunciation when I

learned the language.

 I learned the language too late. Only younger people can acquire a
foreign language without an accent.

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During this teacher training course, you will be asked to record and submit audio
files. You will have to record your speech and submit it for your tutor to analyze
how well you are doing and what you need to work on to improve your
pronunciation.

You will be able to keep track of how your fluency is improving by means of the
feedback your tutor will send you every time you submit an audiofile for
correction. You will be able to learn how your pronunciation practice is going, and
what needs to be improved. It's a good idea for students to write down what you
need to work on. This has to do with the autonomous work which is required in a
distance education programme.

You may feel awkward at first, but as you record more and more audio files
you will feel more confident and, together with your tutor's feedback, you
will realize how your pronunciation improves over time. Therefore you
must bear in mind that you are expected to speak freely, not to write a text
and read it aloud, since features such as intonation, rhythm, etc. cannot be
developed through reading.

Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when recording audiofiles:

 Plan what you want to say, but do not write it out and read it aloud or
memorize it. Remember you can record as many files as you want before
submitting your oral production.
 Before recording, you can practise your speech in front of a mirror or a
friend.
 Speak slowly and clearly.
 You can either use "Grabadora de sonidos" on your computer or online
resources such as "Vocaroo" (www.vocaroo.com). You must submit ONLY
.mp3, .wav or .wma files because of system compatibility issues.

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Speech vs Writing

READING TEXT

The reasons for the study of phonetics should be made clear at the
outset. This part is intended to set out the reasons why teachers need
phonetics as a tool for both professional growth and teaching.

Traditional education largely ignores spoken language; even in drama

and foreign language learning, little attention is paid to the details of
speech in an objective way. We, therefore, need a method of
describing speech in objective, verifiable terms, as opposed to the lay approaches
which typically describe sounds as 'hard', 'soft', 'sharp' and so on, which can only
be properly understood by the person using such descriptions. Such an approach
to any subject of study is totally subjective: since only the person carrying out the
descriptions can understand them, other people are expected to be 'on the same
wavelength' and clever enough to follow them. So, if we are to observe and
describe speech in any meaningful way, we need some kind of objectively
verifiable way of doing so.

What is speech exactly? The expression 'a lot of hot air' is rather a good starting
point. Speech is made by modulating air in various ways inside our bodies. The
organs of speech - the lungs, throat, tongue, nose, lips and so on, which we shall
discuss in detail in later units - can be moved into many different configurations to
produce the different sounds we perceive when listening to spoken language.

Another way in which untrained people describe and discuss speech is by means of
seeing it as a version of writing. Of course, it is equally possible to see writing as
another form of speech, but writing tends to be given central, superior status as a
means of linguistic expression. In such a view, letters represent the sounds that
people utter, in some unspecified way, and so spelling must be a reliable guide to
pronunciation. This view of speech took hold of all forms of linguistic description
in particular during the eighteenth century. Indeed, for many people, written
language has come to represent the 'real' language, a basis on which one is in a
position to determine all other aspects of a language. As a consequence, many
people believe that a language can be captured and set in stone in an authoritative
dictionary, for example, the Oxford English Dictionary. What belongs to English is
what is in the dictionary; what is not in the dictionary is not worth bothering with
in serious studies. This is an untenable position. Not only do we find considerable
variation across different written languages, but even within one language we find
variability in the representation of sounds in the orthographic (i.e., writing)
system; consider, for example, the different sounds represented by ch in English,

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French and German, and consider the different values of the letter c in receive,
conduct, indict and cappucino. It is also the case that in two important senses,
speech is prior to writing. First, when children acquire language naturally, it is the
spoken language that is acquired. Writing is artificial and has to be taught, as is
noted in the table below. Children will not acquire the ability to write with the
Roman alphabet (or any other kind) naturally with no adult intervention in the
form of teaching. Second, in the development of human beings, speech evolved and
then writing was invented much later when the social need arose. So, to
understand all the facets of language, we need to study both speech and writing.

The differences between speech and writing should be considered in some detail
here: for example, speech is transient, while writing is permanent; speech is
usually carried out face-to-face, whereas writing is designed for communication at
a distance in space or time. There have also been changes to the traditional types
of medium brought about by recent technology. In the first instance, both speech
and writing should be considered completely separate media; one is then in a
position to consider what the relationship between the two might be, a topic that
will not be elaborated in this subject, which focuses on the nature of speech. If we
are to examine the essence of the English language, we then must make our
approach through the spoken rather the written form, since it would be unwise to
base our judgements concerning the spoken language on prejudices derived from
the orthography. Why is this so? Because although a written form of English,
based on the Latin alphabet, has existed for more than 1,000 years, few basic
changes of spelling have been made since the fifteenth century. However, the
pronunciation of English has been constantly changing during this time. The
result is that written English is often an inadequate and misleading representation
of the spoken language of today. Our primary concern in this subject will be,
therefore, the production, transmission, and reception of the sounds of English, in
other words, the phonetics of English.

As a starting point, the following table gives a simplified list of several features of
speech and writing in a contrastive way.

SPOKEN LANGUAGE WRITTEN LANGUAGE

a. occurs in time a. occurs in space
b. evanescent occurrence in behaviour b. permanent inscription on material
c. sources of speech often conversational, c. source can be absent
face to face
d. can be transcribed from recordings d. is transcribed by definition
e. skills: speaking, listening - oracy e. skills: reading, writing - literacy
f. naturally acquired by about age 5 f. acquired by formal education
g. not taught, innate g. must be taught
h. acquired first naturally h. must be acquired second

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i. spontaneous i. allows detailed planning

j. usually comprehended in terms of j. allows complex interpretative
speaker's communicative intentions procedures, which may not relate to
(speaker has authority) speaker's intentions.
k. based on intonational groups k. based on sentences
l. continuous stream of speech l. segmental mode of transcription
m. continuous articulation m. space between words
n. accent variation n. standardized spelling
o. constitutes conversational and all other o. enables all practices involving
spoken uses of language - telling writing - literature, history, note-
narratives, jokes, etc. taking, letter-writing, etc.
p. performances include semi-sentences, p. sentence construction according to
repetitions, re-statements, corrections, conventions of writing
false starts and hesitations

From the moment that we abandon orthography as our starting point, it is clear
that the analysis of the spoken form of English is by no means simple. Each of us
uses an infinite number of different speech sounds when we speak English.
Indeed, it is true to say that it is difficult to produce two sounds which are precisely
identical from the point of view of the instrumental measurement: two utterances
by the same person of the word 'cat' may well show quite marked differences
when measures instrumentally. Yet we are likely to say that the same sound
sequence has been repeated. In fact, we may hear clear and considerable
differences of quality in the vowel of 'cat' as, for instance, in the London and
Manchester pronunciations of the word; yet, though we recognize differences of
vowel quality, we are likely to feel that we are dealing with a 'variant' of the 'same'
vowel. It seems, then, that we are concerned with two kinds of reality: the
concrete, measurable reality of the sounds uttered, and another kind of reality, an
abstraction made in our minds, which appears to reduce this infinite number of
different sounds as to a 'manageable' number of categories. In the first, concrete,
approach, we are dealing with sounds in relation to speech; at the second, abstract,
level, our concern is the behaviour of sounds in a particular language. A language
is a system of conventional signals used for communication by a whole community.
This pattern of conventions covers a system of significant sound units (the
phonemes), the inflexion and arrangement of 'words', and the association of
meaning with words. An utterance, an act of speech, is a single concrete
manifestation of the system at work. As we have seen, several utterances which
are plainly different on the concrete, phonetic level may fulfil the same function, i.e.
are the 'same', on the systematic language level. It is important in any analysis of
the spoken language to keep this distinction in mind. It is not, however, always
possible or desirable to keep the two levels of analysis entirely separate: thus, as
we will see later in the course, we will draw upon our knowledge of the
linguistically significant units to help us in determining how the speech continuum

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will be divided up on the concrete, phonetic level; and again, our classification of
linguistic units will be helped by our knowledge of their phonetic features.

Differences between spelling and pronunciation

READING TEXT 1

English, as you may have noticed, is not a phonetic language. In

other words, the pronunciation of a specific word is not simply
the sum of the isolated pronunciations of the individual letters
(in contrast to such languages as Spanish or German where, by
and large, it is). At the same time it is clear that there is some
relationship between spelling and pronunciation. So, if native
English speakers do not have to learn every single word
separately, how do they know how to pronounce a new word?

Letter combinations and analogy

In highly phonetic languages (such as Spanish) the sound of words corresponds

closely to the sum of the sounds of the letters. However, even in such languages
certain letters can combine to make distinct sounds. For example, -ch- or -ll- in
Spanish or -cci- in Italian are not pronounced as you would pronounce the
separate letters. In other words, the sum is different from the parts. In fact, most
learners readily accept this principle with consonant combinations in English. You
hear few complaints about -sh-, -ph- or -tr-. The problem is that English applies
the holistic approach2 to combinations of vowels (e.g. -ee-) and of vowels and
consonants (e.g. -aught).

English pronunciation is based on analogy. We know that a monosyllable ending

in -y is pronounced /aɪ/ from common words like 'by', 'cry' and 'my'. So, when we
come across a strange word like 'sty' or 'wry' we naturally pronounce them /aɪ/.
To illustrate this process we are going to look at a couple of common phrases.

Example 1: writing paper

a) writing /'raɪtɪŋ/

The letter 'w-' before '-r-' is always silent at the beginning of a word. In the
combination V (=vowel) + C (=consonant) + a final '-e', the vowel tends to 'say its
name', that is, '-a-' is pronounced /eɪ/, '-e-' is pronounced /i:/, '-i-' is pronounced
/aɪ/, '-o-' is pronounced /əʊ/, and '-u-' is pronounced /ju:/. This is also true of
other combinations after vowel + consonant, such as V + C + -ing; V + C + -ed; or V +

2 Method that sees letters as part of specific combinations as opposed to individual letters .

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C + -er. The effect is broken by doubling the consonant (compare 'writing',

/'raɪtɪŋ/ and 'written', /'rɪtən/). That explains the first syllable of both 'writing'
and 'paper'. The combination '-ing' at the end of a word is always pronounced
/ɪŋ/.

b) paper /'peɪpə/

We have already explained why the '-a-' is pronounced /eɪ/. In British English, the
'-er' is always pronounced /ə/ at the end of polysyllabic nouns and adjectives.

Example 2: think in English

a) think /θɪŋk/

'Th-' is always pronounced /θ/ at the beginning of content words3. The letter '-n-'
is always pronounced /ŋ/ before a /k/ sound.

b) in /ɪn/

The '-k' at the end of 'think' elides4 with 'in' because 'in' begins with a vowel sound.
In fact, the '-n' of 'in' will elide with the beginning of 'English', too. As a result, the
phrase sounds like /ˌθɪŋ kɪ'nɪŋ glɪʃ/, "thing kinin glish"!

c) English /'ɪŋglɪʃ/

'English' offers us our first real exception. There is no reason why the initial 'e-'
should be pronounced /ɪ/ apart from custom. This is one of the relatively few
English words you just have to learn. However, I do not think you will ignore that
the word is pronounced /'ɪŋglɪʃ/!

As we have seen, some groups of letters are pronounced in a specific way in

English, but how did this strange system emerge and why are there exceptions? In
the first place, English uses a borrowed alphabet (Latin letters), which replaced the
native alphabet (runes)5. The Latin alphabet did not contain some of the sounds of
Old English, so right from the start the fit between letters and sounds was
imperfect. Then, in the High Middle Ages Norman-French speaking scribes
modified the spelling of English words so, for example, logically spelt 'cwic' and
'wundor' became illogically spelt 'quick' and 'wonder'6. What's more, the spelling
of most English words became fixed in the 16th and 17th centuries, when English
sounds were still changing. Finally, English has the habit of keeping the spelling of
3 Lexical word such as a noun, a verb or adjective (as opposed to structure words such as articles, other determiners,
pronouns, conjunctions, pronominal adverbs).
4 Phonological material is lost from a word or phrase.
5 This happened at the beginning of the 7th century when the Saxons were converted to Christianity. Roman letters

were considered more Christian and prestigious than the runes.

6 The West Saxon spelling of Old English had been highly phonetic.

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words adopted from other languages and attempting to imitate their original
(foreign) pronunciation. This is helpful for those who want to know the etimology
of words but it does create exceptions to the rules of English pronunciation; and
remember, the English lexicon has borrowed massively from other languages.

Conclusions

Despite the notoriety of English pronunciation only three percent of everyday

English words are so irregular that they have to be learned separately, while over
80% follow some rule. The remaining of words can be grouped, though they break
the main rules.

How does all this affect the way you go about learning to pronounce English
words? For one thing, you should be aware of the combinations of letters that exist
in English and try to use the analogies that native speakers use. You will not be
right all the time -native speakers sometimes mispronounce new words that they
have read but not heard- but you will be making the same mistakes as the natives,
which in itself is an achievement.

You must remember that this affects not just the production, but also the
perception of sounds. For example, if you hear an initial 'th-' sound, you will
expect a vowel to follow, and of the vowels some are much more likely than others.
Native speakers distinguish such clusters as '-gl' and '-dl' in final positions, e.g. in
'beagle' and 'beadle'; but this distinction is not relevant initially, so that even
though 'dloves' is said, they understand 'gloves'. An utterance, therefore, will
provide a large complex of cues for the listener to interpret, but a great deal of this
information will be unnecessary, or redundant, as far as the listener's needs are
concerned.

You can begin to become aware of all this by seeing English words as clusters7 of
letters than sequences of individual letters; that's how native English speakers see
them.

Intelligibility

The place of pronunciation in language learning and teaching

A major difficulty facing almost any foreign language learner is the achievement of
acceptable pronunciation which marks his success in mastering the language.
Many EFL learners master such aspects of language as syntax, semantics,
morphology, and even pragmatics to the point of native-like competence, but fail to
7 Group of elements that appear together.

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master phonology. This is partly because of the physiological constraints that

make the pronunciation of a foreign or second language sound different from that
of the native language of the speakers, and partly due to the lack of appropriate
training.

Reflection

Read the statements in the box and tick the ones you agree with. Put a cross next
to the ones you disagree with. If in doubt, put a question mark and go back to the
statement later on.

English pronunciation is very difficult for Spanish speakers.

I think teachers don’t give enough pronunciation practice.

I think learners of English don’t want to be corrected every time

they make a pronunciation error.

Grammar and vocabulary are more important than pronunciation

and intonation.

Pronunciation practice in the classroom is a waste of time.

Pronunciation and intonation are essential in communication.

Only British pronunciation is correct, teachers should only use

British English in the classroom.

We aren't usually in touch with native speakers, therefore it is

highly unlikely that we will develop good pronunciation.

READING TEXT

How does this affect the teaching and learning of English pronunciation?

Pronunciation has traditionally been taught with a goal of “speaking

like a native speaker,” but this is not practical. In fact, it is a recipe for
discouragement both for teachers and for students. This has been
referred to as “the perfection trap” (Morley 1992). A more practical
approach is to aim for “listener-friendly pronunciation” (Kjellin
1998). This aim makes sense to a student who hopes to achieve
something through conversations with native speakers, whether in

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the social or business sense. If the listener finds that it takes too much effort to
understand, the speaker loses out. So, mastering the basics of English
communication -that is, developing intelligible pronunciation- is sensible.
Refinements can come later if the student wants to put more effort and time into
learning nuances of spoken English.

There are also psychological factors that affect the learning of pronunciation in
ways that are not so true of studying grammar or vocabulary. For one thing, the
most basic elements of speaking are deeply personal. Our sense of self and
community are bound up in the speech-rhythms of our first language (L1). These
rhythms were learned in the first year of life and are deeply rooted in the minds of
students. Therefore, it is common for students to feel uneasy when they hear
themselves speak with the rhythm of a second language (L2). They find that they
“sound foreign” to themselves, and this is troubling for them. Although the
uneasiness is usually unconscious, it can be a major barrier to improved
intelligibility in the L2.

A teacher can help overcome this psychological barrier and other challenges by
thinking of the goal of pronunciation instruction not as helping students to sound
like native speakers but as helping them to learn the core elements of spoken
English so that they can be easily understood by others. In other words, teachers
and students can overcome the frustrations, difficulties, and boredom often
associated with pronunciation by focusing their attention on the development of
pronunciation that is intelligible. After all, English pronunciation does not amount
to mastery of a list of sounds or isolated words. Instead, it amounts to learning and
practising the specifically English way of making a speaker’s thoughts easy to
follow.

Some teachers argue that people naturally learn pronunciation as they go along.
Although some do, many simply fossilize pronunciation before they reach a
threshold level of intelligibility. The disappointment and embarrassment that
frequently results from efforts to use what English they have learned can cause
students to simply retreat, assuming they are “too old” or “too stupid” or that the
other people are rude, impatient, or mean. All of these quite common conclusions
result in students who give up. A discouraged student is hard to teach, and giving
up guarantees a lifetime handicap.

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READING TEXT

The following text is an excerpt from the book ‘Teaching Pronunciation’

by Celce-Murcia, Brinton and Goodwin, 2010, CUP.

Key Words8

Communicative Approach –threshold level- native/nonnative speakers –

intelligibility – the teacher as a model – input –lingua franca- goal-
intelligible/unintelligible speakers of English

PRONUNCIATION TEACHING TODAY

The Communicative Approach, which took hold in the 1980s holds that since the
primary purpose of language is communication, using language to communicate
should be central in all classroom language instruction. The focus on language as
communication brings renewed urgency to the teaching of pronunciation, since
both empirical and anecdotal evidence indicates that there is a threshold level of
pronunciation for nonnative speakers of English; if they fall below this threshold
level, they will have oral communication problems no matter how excellent and
extensive their control of English grammar and vocabulary might be.

Joan Morley suggests that there are currently at least four groups of English
language learners whose oral communication needs mandate a high level of
intelligibility and therefore require special assistance with pronunciation:

1. foreign teaching assistants – and sometimes foreign faculty- in colleges and

universities in English-speaking countries.
2. foreign-born technical, business, and professional employees in business and
industry in English-speaking countries.
3. international business people and diplomats who need to use English as their
working lingua franca.
4. refugees (adults and adolescent) in resettlement and vocational training
programs wishing to relocate in English-speaking countries.

To Morley’s four categories we should at least add one more group:

8 Key Words anticipate the topics in the text you are about to read. It is important that you understand the meaning of
the key words very well. Key words also belong to the specific lexis that we use in Teaching and Teacher-Training.
Make sure you incorporate these new words in your future contributions.

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5. people in non-English speaking countries working as tour guides, waiters, hotel

personnel, customs agents, and the like, who use English for dealing with visitors
who do not speak their language.

The goal of teaching pronunciation to such learners is not to make them sound like
native speakers of English. With the exception of a few highly gifted and motivated
individuals, such a goal is unrealistic. A more modest and realistic goal is to
enable learners to surpass the threshold level so that their pronunciation
will not detract from their ability to communicate.

But what about learners who plan to become teachers of English as a foreign
language? In this case, these individuals, who are not native speakers of English,
expect to serve as the major model and source of input in English for their
students, so intelligibility is not enough. Therefore, they will want to
approximate a native accent and, depending on their future teaching situations,
may want to be familiar with several of the major accents of English in the world.
For English language teachers, conscious knowledge of English speech sounds, of
their production, properties and perception, is of course essential. They need to
know which organs and mental processes are involved in speech production; they
need to know which unconscious knowledge native speakers of English have (and
learners of English need to acquire) about the sound system of English; they need
to know about the organs and mental processes involved in the perception of
speech. Naturally, this is a higher level of intelligibility (often called
"acceptability") than the one other kinds of learners are expected to achieve. It is
obvious that language teachers will not be able to support language learners
adequately until they understand what exactly is entailed in the articulation and
perception of speech and also have the means to describe and evaluate differences
between the pronunciation of English language learners and that of native
speakers. This last concept is essential for the prospective teacher to grasp, since
the main disadvantage of non-native speaking teachers is that they tend to lack
confidence in their own model. They often don’t realize that native speaker
teachers have quite a different disadvantage: they are unaware of what kinds of
elements are difficult. Native speakers tend to assume that all aspects of spoken
English (e.g., the uses of pitch and timing) are simply a natural part of human
language, so they sometimes hurry over important matters. Non-native speakers,
on the other hand, know from their own experience what aspects of spoken
English require extra care and are more aware of what students should do to
achieve comfortable intelligibility.

Having established that intelligible pronunciation is one of the necessary

components in oral communication for our students to achieve, the next issue is

16
Phonetics and Phonology I
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methodological: how can teachers improve the pronunciation of unintelligible

speakers of English so that they become intelligible? In order to help our
students, first we need to become learners ourselves, and you will be given
the tools to do so all through this subject.

QUICK CHECK 1

Decide whether the following statements are true or false. Correct the ones you
consider false.

1. The Communicative Approach holds that the most important purpose of language
is communication.___

2. If your English grammar and vocabulary are excellent , you will have no problems
in oral communication.___

3. Intelligible pronunciation is not important for the users of English who belong to
the six groups mentioned in the text above.___

4. The goal of teaching pronunciation is to make learners sound like native

speakers.___

5. Intelligibility is one of the basic components in oral communication.___

Now check your answers with the key at the end of the unit.

17
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

The choice of a pronunciation model: Received

Pronunciation (RP)

READING TEXT

Towards the choice of a pronunciation model

An important aspect in the teaching of the pronunciation of

English is the choice of the accentual variety or “model accent”
which will serve as the model for teaching. We should, however,
start by saying that there have always been language teachers
who believe that no accent should be chosen as a model in
pronunciation teaching, suggesting that no policy is necessary in
this respect. Some believe that elementary teaching could accept
any foreign accent as appropriate; students could modify their accent in the future
in the direction of the accent of the English speakers with whom they have contact,
and in whom they have interest. Defenders of the “no-model” view claim that the
way a person speaks gives native speakers valuable information about his/her
background and personality. Native speakers, they argue, can then place the
student within proper national categories, draw appropriate inferences (e.g. about
the student’s knowledge of native speakers’ culture and language) and react
appropriately (e.g. adapt their language to the level of the foreign speaker). Despite
these reasonable assumptions, defenders of the no-model view usually miss the
fact that a foreign accent may hinder communication even when the redundancy of
language often enables speakers to understand what is said despite a strange and
unfamiliar pronunciation. Furthermore, as Trim notes (ibid), over time, the native
speaker may tire of hearing a distinct accent, begin to feel nervous, and stop
making allowances for the foreign accent. In addition, the no-model view misses
the fact that L2 students may wish to learn about the pronunciation of English and
may not be satisfied with not knowing the details of English pronunciation that
they may have noticed in advance or be interested in. Consequently, we believe
that it is preferable to select some pronunciation model or models in
teaching English as a foreign language.

The most realistic and immediate solution for the teaching of English is probably
the selection of representative local accentual varieties that take into account the
specific context in which pronunciation teaching and learning will take place. In
this respect, we face two possible choices: a single local variety or more than one.
Traditionally, the choice of a single variety has been the most common one due to
practical reasons, the tradition of the institution, the lack of didactic written
and/or audio materials on other varieties, or the teachers’ unfamiliarity with the

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Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

materials. A less frequent option is to utilize two or more accentual varieties in the
classroom. The problems that this option may give rise to are predictable: alleged
“confusion” created in students who already find it “hard” to master one variety,
extra work for the teacher, etc. However, at a time when the communicative and
formative needs of students make it desirable that they should be familiar with at
least the most representative accentual varieties of English, we believe these needs
should be met. After all, most students are tacitly aware of some of the differences
between American and British accents. They have been constantly exposed to them
through the songs by their favourite singers and bands, films featuring their
favourite actors and actresses, personal exchanges with native speakers of
different origins on holiday in their country, short visits to different English-
speaking regions, watching of satellite television, local and/or national pay
channels which offer access to multiple English channels and, of course, explicit
formal EFL instruction. In addition, an aspect that is emphasized by practically all
authors devoted to the issue of pronunciation models is that students should be
offered the chance to listen to as many accentual varieties as possible in
order to weaken potential difficulties caused by accentual features alone.

We believe that a practical and useful solution is to choose a reference accentual

variety for pedagogically-oriented descriptions and explanations as well as
production and reception practice. In addition, several comparison accentual
varieties should be systematically referred to when differences between them and
the reference variety are particularly salient. These should be presented aurally in
order for the students to become familiar with them. There is such a wide variety
of standard accentual varieties of English that some sort of criteria is required in
order to determine which varieties should be selected and which role (i.e.
reference or comparison) should be assigned to each of them.

The fact that a given variety is chosen as a reference pronunciation model does not
imply that students should sound like native speakers. The supposed “perfection of
accent” which leads many authors to propose an international model accent (e.g.
Jenkins 2000) and/or reject local ones (e.g. Brown 1991; Walker 2002) is
independent of the choice of a local variety. It is realistic to assume that most
students never achieve a native-like accent, but this does not imply that local
varieties are invalid as pronunciation models. In life, as in pronunciation teaching,
there are many ideal targets that people seldom reach at a 100% level, but this
does not mean that such ideals should not be set up as targets. We agree with most
authors that intelligibility and the ability to understand different accents (at least
the main national standards) should be the main objective in pronunciation
teaching. Choosing a local accent is compatible with the fact that intelligibility must
be the main goal of pronunciation teaching and with the fact that some elements of
pronunciation may be more important than others because they are common to

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Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

most varieties of English, or because an insufficient command of them seriously

hinders intelligibility and should therefore receive special attention.

What is Received Pronunciation or RP?

Received Pronunciation (RP) is the proper term to describe the regionally neutral
accent used by many middle-class speakers in England. It is widely used as a
reference point in dictionaries and as a model for teaching English as a foreign
language. Popular terms for this accent, such as ‘The Queen’s English’, ‘Oxford
English’ or ‘BBC English’ are all a little misleading. The Queen, for instance, speaks
an almost unique form of English, while the English we hear at Oxford University
or on the BBC is no longer restricted to one type of accent.

RP is an accent, not a dialect, since all RP speakers speak Standard English. In

other words, they avoid non-standard grammatical constructions and localised
vocabulary characteristic of regional dialects. RP is also regionally non-specific,
that is it does not contain any clues about a speaker’s geographic background. But
it does reveal a great deal about their social and/or educational background.

RP is probably the most widely studied and most frequently described variety of
spoken English in the world.

As well as being a living accent, RP is also a theoretical linguistic concept. It is the

accent on which phonemic transcriptions in dictionaries are based, and it is widely
used (in competition with General American) for teaching English as a foreign
language. RP is included here as a case study, not to imply it has greater merit than
any other English accent, but because it provides us with an extremely familiar
model against which comparisons with other accents may be made.

What’s in the name?

RP is a young accent in linguistic terms. It was not around, for example, when Dr
Johnson wrote A Dictionary of the English Language in 1757. He chose not to
include pronunciation suggestions as he felt there was little agreement even within
educated society regarding ‘recommended’ forms. The phrase Received
Pronunciation was coined in 1869 by the linguist A J Ellis, but it only became a
widely used term used to describe the accent of the social elite after the
phonetician, Daniel Jones, adopted it for the second edition of the English
Pronouncing Dictionary (1924). The definition of ‘received’ conveys its original
meaning of ‘accepted’ or ‘approved’ — as in ‘received wisdom’. We can trace the
origins of RP back to the public schools and universities of nineteenth-century
Britain — indeed Daniel Jones initially used the term Public School
Pronunciation to describe this emerging, socially exclusive accent. Over the

20
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

course of that century, members of the ruling and privileged classes increasingly
attended boarding schools such as Winchester, Eton, Harrow and Rugby and
graduated from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Their speech patterns -
based loosely on the local accent of the south-east Midlands (roughly London,
Oxford and Cambridge) — soon came to be associated with ‘The Establishment’
and therefore gained a unique status, particularly within the middle classes in
London.

Broadcaster’s choice

RP probably received its greatest impetus, however, when Lord Reith, the first
General Manager of the BBC, adopted it in 1922 as a broadcasting standard - hence
the origins of the term BBC English. Reith believed Standard English, spoken with
an RP accent, would be the most widely understood variety of English, both here in
the UK and overseas. But since RP was the preserve of the aristocracy and
expensive public schools, it represented only a very small social minority. This
policy prevailed at the BBC for a considerable time and probably contributed to the
sometimes negative perception of regional varieties of English.

There’s more than one RP

A speaker who uses numerous very localized pronunciations is often described as

having a ‘broad’ or ‘strong’ regional accent, while terms such as ‘mild’ or ‘soft’ are
applied to speakers whose speech patterns are only subtly different from RP
speakers. So, we might describe one speaker as having a broad Glaswegian accent
and another as having a mild Scottish accent. Such terms are inadequate when
applied to Received Pronunciation, although as with any variety of English, RP
encompasses a wide variety of speakers and should not be confused with the
notion of ‘posh’ speech. The various forms of RP can be roughly divided into three
categories. Conservative RP refers to a very traditional variety particularly
associated with older speakers and the aristocracy. Mainstream RP describes an
accent that we might consider extremely neutral in terms of signals regarding age,
occupation or lifestyle of the speaker. Contemporary RP refers to speakers using
features typical of younger RP speakers. All, however, are united by the fact they
do not use any pronunciation patterns that allow us to make assumptions about
where they are from in the UK.

RP today

Like any other accent, RP has also changed over the course of time. The voices we
associate with early BBC broadcasts, for instance, now sound extremely old-
fashioned to most. Just as RP is constantly evolving, so our attitudes towards the
accent are changing. For much of the twentieth century, RP represented the voice
of education, authority, social status and economic power. In recent years,
21
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

however, as a result of continued social change, virtually every accent is

represented in all walks of life to which people aspire — sport, the arts, the media,
business, even former strongholds of RP England, such as the City, Civil Service and
academia.

REMEMBER

As a teacher the model to use in the classroom will usually be close to the language
used in the real world outside the classroom. However, language teachers need to
be aware of variations and differences, and the more knowledge one has with
regard to different accents and varieties of English, the more informed one´s
teaching is likely to be. In addition, teachers should expose their students to a wide
range of varieties and accents while allowing them to choose their own target
model as long as it is widely comprehensible. The best advice for teachers is to
teach what they know and use, and be as informed as they can be about other
varieties.

FURTHER READING

You will find further comments on RP, Phonetics

and Phonology in the Introductory Chapter of the
book ‘English Phonetics and Phonology’ by
Peter Roach.

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Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

READING TEXT

The British author George Bernard Shaw once said that 'fish' could be
spelled 'ghoti'. How is this possible?

Have a look at the following:

 <gh> as in 'laugh' /f/

 <o> as in 'women' /ɪ/
 <ti> as in 'nation' /ʃ/

Therefore, ghoti = fish /fɪʃ/!!

Here's a question for you:

How do you pronounce the 'a' in 'banana'?

Don't rush, take your time before you come up with an answer!

Well, the answer may not be that simple, because it depends on which 'a' we are
talking about. The first and the third 'a' are pronounced /ə/, whereas the second is
pronounced /ɑ:/.

A further question:

How many ways are there to spell the sound /ʃ/?

Here's an example: shoe /ʃ/

Write your answers in the space provided before you look at the key:

............................................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................

Now check the answer to the question with the key at the end of the unit.

23
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

As we said earlier in this unit, English spelling or orthography is the traditional

way that words are written in English, using the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet.
This system is very complex and does not represent very well how English words
are spoken today. Sometimes the same sound is spelled many different ways, and
sometimes different sounds are written the same way. More than one letter often
represents a single sound. The Latin alphabet has only 26 letters (5 vowel and 21
consonant letters), but English has at least 44 different sounds (20 vowels and 24
consonants).

The phonetic alphabet is a writing system in which each symbol corresponds to a

different sound in the language. A word that is written in the phonetic alphabet
will always be pronounced exactly the way that it is written, since the same sound
is always represented by the same symbol. Have a look at the following table:

ENGLISH SPELLING PHONETIC ALPHABET

a. The same sound is spelled different a. The same sound is spelled the same
ways: way:

to, too, two /tu:/

one, won /wʌn/
there, their, they're /ðeə/

b. Different sounds are spelled the b. Different sounds are spelled

same way: different ways:

to /tu:/
son /sʌn/
not /nɒt/
cost /kɔ:st/
doctor /'dɒktə/
woman /'wʊmən/
women /'wɪmɪn/

In conclusion:

In the case of English, the use of a phonetic alphabet is especially important

because the language has no simple sound-symbol correspondence system,
that is, one letter of the alphabet does not represent the same sound all of the
time, nor does a specific sound always find its representation in one letter of
the alphabet.

24
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

What is the international phonetic alphabet (IPA)?

Whether you are a speech pathologist, a language teacher, a linguist, an actor, or

any other student of speech, you need to be able to represent the sounds of speech
by using a conventional way that can be understood worldwide. In order to do so,
we use the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). This is the
accepted way of recording observations of what people say. Ordinary spelling does
not allow you to represent all the subtle variations that occur when different
people talk. Learning to use the IPA symbols is an essential part of phonetics.

As we said above, the IPA is a way of transcribing speech as it’s pronounced, which
means it can be used to transcribe any language (so long as there are symbols for
the sounds spoken in that language). Because there is a one-to-one
correspondence between symbols and sounds in IPA, there are no problems with
weird, ambiguous spelling, silent letters, etc. such as we often find in written
English.

In phonetics and phonology, we use IPA to represent data sets of sounds from
different languages. Using words written in IPA, we can focus on the sounds of a
language without having to learn the writing systems of different languages—
many of which don’t have any writing system at all, or have one that isn’t based on
sounds (such as Chinese).

The IPA was developed by the International Phonetic Association, an international

organization for the study of phonetics, founded in France in 1886 by a group of
European phoneticians, linguists and language teachers under the leadership of
the French linguist Paul Passy and known until 1897 as the Phonetic Teachers’
Association. The first and best-known work of the organization was the creation of
the International Phonetic Alphabet, proposed by the Danish linguist Otto
Jespersen and first published in 1888, and frequently modified since, the most
recent revision being that of 1996.

The IPA aims to provide visually distinctive symbols for all speech sounds which
are phonologically distinct in any language; preferring to keep the use of diacritics9
to an irreducible minimum, it has introduced a large number of specially designed
characters such as [∫] and [ŋ]. In spite of the resulting inconvenience in printing,
the IPA is now almost universally used in phonetics and linguistics, except in the
United States, where it is only slowly gaining ground from the competing American
transcription; it is also increasingly used in serious dictionaries. The IPA does not,
however, provide the means for a prosodic transcription, i.e. it cannot indicate

9
a set of symbols provided by IPA which can be added to the letter-symbols to make finer distinctions
than the letter-symbols alone.
25
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

suprasegmental features like rhythm or intonation. Apart from a mark to indicate

stress, there is no generally agreed system for writing down the prosody of speech.

While some IPA symbols have been specially devised, quite a few of them look like
ordinary Roman letters. They have probably
been included for purely practical reasons,
such as the facilitation of the printing process,
but their inclusion has one serious
disadvantage: the Roman letters used in the
IPA may be misleading because they do not
always represent the sounds that a speaker of
English or German would expect. When
memorising the symbols of the IPA and the
corresponding sounds, it is therefore not
advisable to be guided by your knowledge of
the conventional ABC. Learn every symbol as though you had never seen it before!

Words written using the IPA are in phonetic transcription. Once you know how to
pronounce all the letters in the phonetic alphabet, you can look up English words
in a dictionary and be able to pronounce them. You will also be able to write down
in phonetic transcription any English word that you hear so that you can
remember the word and ask someone its meaning.

EXERCISE 1

We mentioned above that in speech there are consonant sounds and vowel sounds.
We are going to use the initials C for consonants and V for vowels (diphthongs
are vowel sounds too).

You are now going to describe the words given below in two forms: number of
letters in writing and number of sounds in speech.

Example:

DUCK

In writing 4 letters: D-U-C-K

In speech 3 sounds :CVC (consonant sound-vowel sound-consonant sound)

Your Turn:

26
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

DOG

In writing 
In speech 

NIGHT (the diphthong is to be counted as a single vowel)

In writing 
In speech 

TOO

In writing 
In speech 

BEAST

In writing 
In speech 

WEIGH

In writing 
In speech 

TWO

In writing 
In speech 

WAY

In writing 
In speech 

Can you find two pairs of homophones among the words given?

Now check your answers with the key at the end of the unit.

27
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

THE PHONEMIC CHART

The 44 sounds of English have been arranged in different displays. The model
below is the chart designed by Adrian Underhill10.

The chart is divided into three large fields and a small box:

 top left vowel sounds (monophthongs)

 top right vowel sounds (diphthongs)
 bottom  consonant sounds
 top-right hand corner box  stress and intonation symbols

The sounds in the phonemic chart

Check the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOyA6JRf3IU

and explore the 44 sounds of English as well as some of the most

usual English words.

10 Underhill, Adrian. 2005 Sound Foundations (Macmillan Heinemann)

28
 Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

Learning new sounds is not just listening and repeating, it is also

very important to ‘see’ the face and posture of the speaker. The
position of the lips and jaw are particularly important.

The phonetic symbols have been designed to act as visual aid. It is very difficult to
know how a word is pronounced just by looking at its written orthographic form,
but if you learn the phonetic symbols, you will always be sure of the pronunciation
of a word by looking it up in a dictionary.

Learning the symbols is not as difficult as it seems. To begin with, 19 symbols have
the same sound and shape as the letters of the alphabet. Besides, there is a limited
number of symbols; once you have learned the symbols on the chart , you have
learned them all.

EXERCISE 2
Match the words in phonemic script with their corresponding orthographic
versions. The phonetic representation of words is shown between slanting bars //.

Example:

/wʌn/ why

/weɪ/ won

/waɪ / well

/wel / way

Your Turn

/bɪd/ bed

/bæd/ bid

/bed/ bud

/bʌd/ bad

29
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

/kɑ:/ cake

/ki: / Ken

/keɪk/ car

/ken/ key

 There are no capital letters or punctuation marks in phonemic script.

 The symbol /k/ represents the sound, not the spelling of a word, ‘car’, ‘key’ and
‘ache’ all have the sound /k/.

Now check your answers with the key at the end of the unit.

Below is the complete IPA chart, featuring all the symbols used in phonetic
transcriptions. We will be working with them as from Unit 2, but don't worry
because we won't need all of the them in our transcriptions.

You will see the RP English symbols highlighted in the pdf file uploaded to our
virtual classroom.

You may also access an interactive version of the chart, with recordings at
https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/inter_chart_2018/I
PA_2018.html

30
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

*The highlighted symbols correspond to the RP phonetic system.

31
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

The Pronunciation Dictionary: its usefulness and use

It is probably only the English language, with its complex and unpredictable
spelling system, that needs a special kind of dictionary to tell you how to
pronounce words which you know how to write. With a pronouncing dictionary,
the user looks up the required word in its spelling form and reads the
pronunciation in the form of phonetic or phonemic transcription. Normally,
several alternative pronunciations will be offered, with an indication of which is
the most usual and possibly some information on other accents (e.g. a dictionary
based on the BBC accent, or "Received Pronunciation", might also give one
American pronunciation for a word).

The importance of pronouncing dictionaries has declined in recent years as most

modern English-language dictionaries now include pronunciation information in
phonemic transcription for each entry, but they are still widely used. Yet,
pronouncing dictionaries are essential for both trainees and teachers since they
list all kinds of words, including proper names (e.g. surnames, place names, etc),
and even abbreviations and acronyms.

For the sake of consistency, in this subject we are going to use J. C. Wells'
Pronunciation Dictionary, published by Longman.

Getting to know your pronunciation dictionary

This is a sample entry from the Longman Pronunciation Coach CDRom. Except for
the interactive features, the rest of the information can be found in the paper
edition of the dictionary as well.
additional features

phonetic
transcription/s
(British and
American English)

'Listen
'Listen and
and
transcription British and repeat' feature
repeat' feature
of plural American
ending pronunciations

32
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

Dictionary practice 1

What symbol does your dictionary use for the highlighted letters in the words
below?

Example:
ate: /e/11

1- eat: ............ 9- murder: ...........

2- it: ........... 10- yes: ...........

3- ever: ........... 11- thought: ...........

4- apple: ........... 12- this: ...........

5- odd: ........... 13- show: ...........

6- boat: ........... 14- measure: ...........

7- good: ........... 15- child: ...........

8- that (strong form): ........... 16- jump: ...........

that (weak form): ...........

Dictionary practice 2

Look up the following words in your pronunciation dictionary and write down
their pronunciation using phonetic symbols.

Example:
car: /kɑː/12

1- although: .................................

2- asthma: .................................

3- athletic: .................................

4- child: .................................

5- headache: .................................

11 When we transcribe English sounds using the phonetic alphabet, we use // to show this is the phonetic
representation of the sound, e.g. /ʊ/
12 Remember that for the sake of consistency, we are going to deal with RP sounds in our transcriptions.

33
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

6- journal: .................................

7- know: .................................

8- knowledge: .................................

9- muscle: .................................

10- muscular: .................................

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR PRONUNCIATION

 Develop an interest in watching British films and TV programmes. BBC radio is
also a great source of listening material.

 Download film scripts and concentrate on a particular scene. Imitate the actors’
speech as you say their part. Pay attention to mouth movement, sound quality
and intonation.

 Do not rush! Speak slowly until you become confident with the texts. Speaking
fast does not compensate for poor pronunciation.

 Listen to yourself. Record yourself reading parts of scripts and then compare your
reading with a native speaker’s. Keep an open mind to be able to detect
differences.

 Read aloud. Speak in a loud voice. Sounds are all great in our heads but what
happens when they are actually spoken? You need to exercise your speaking
‘muscles’ just as you would do with any other muscle in your body.

 Study the sounds of English and their IPA symbols. Learn to recognize all the
sounds. Recognition is important because it lets you learn pronunciation from
spoken English. In order to learn the correct pronunciation of a word, you need to
know what sounds you hear — for example, whether you just heard /dɒk/ or
/dʌk/. You have to be able to tell the difference.

 Get in the habit of checking the pronunciations of words in a dictionary. When

you’re speaking and you’re not 100% sure how to pronounce something, don’t
guess — if possible, check the correct pronunciation before you say it. If not, then
at least check it soon afterwards. While you’re reading in English, keep asking
yourself: “Do I know how this word is pronounced? Can I transcribe it with
phonetic symbols?”. If you’re not sure, look it up in a dictionary. This should
happen very frequently when you’re a pronunciation beginner.

34
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

Self-assessment

We have come to the end of Unit One, in which we

have dealt mainly with the theoretical foundations
of our subject matter.

How well do you know the topics in Unit One?

Tick the boxes that apply.

I know this topic I know this topic I need to revise

TOPIC very well quite well this topic
The differences
between spoken
and written
language
The differences
between spelling
and pronunciation
Intelligibility and
acceptability
The need for the
choice of a
pronunciation
model
RP as a
pronunciation
model
A general idea of
the Phonemic
Chart
The usefulness of
the pronunciation
dictionary

In Unit Two, we will be dealing with 'hardcore’ topics, such as the differences
between phonetics and phonology, phonemes, allophones, etc. There will be more
practice and we will start transcribing short texts in phonemic script. Apart from
that, you will be given instructions to start building your personal portfolio.

See you in Unit 2!

35
Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

KEY TO UNIT 1

The IPA

There are fourteen ways to spell the sound /ʃ/. Here are them (you can check
yours with a pronunciation dictionary):

shoe
sugar
issue
mansion
mission
nation
suspicion
ocean
nauseous
conscious
chaperon
schedule
schilling
pshaw

Quick Check 1

1- True.

2- False. If your oral English falls below the intelligibility level, there will be
communication breakdown and you won’t be able to continue the conversation.

3- False. Intelligible pronunciation – that is, pronunciation that can be easily

understood by native speakers- is especially important for the six groups of people
mentioned in the text, as they will have direct influence on native speakers or
students of English.

4- False. Many learners work hard to get native-like pronunciation and a few of
them actually achieve it, however, a much more realistic goal is expected from
learners and it is that they can communicate easily and comfortably with other
speakers of English, be these native or nonnative.

5- True.

The Phonemic chart

EXERCISE 1

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Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

DOG
In writing  3 letters
In speech  3 sounds: CVC

NIGHT (the diphthong is to be counted as a single vowel)

In writing  5 letters
In speech  3 sounds: CVC

TOO
In writing  3 letters
In speech  2 sounds : CV

BEAST
In writing  5 letters
In speech  4 sounds: CVCC

WEIGH
In writing  5 letters
In speech  2 sounds : CV (the diphthong counts as one vowel)

TWO
In writing  3 letters
In speech  2 sounds: CV

WAY
In writing  3 letters
In speech  2 sounds: CV

Can you find two pairs of homophones in the words given?

The homophones are: too/two

way/weigh

EXERCISE 2

/bɪd/ bed

/bæd/ bid

/bed/ bud

/bʌd/ bad

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Phonetics and Phonology I
Unit 1

/kɑ:/ cake

/ki: / Ken

/keɪk/ car

/ken/ key

Quick Check (3) Sample answers

1. When we want to say something, the first organ we use is the brain.

2. The organs of speech are involved in the production of sounds. Their movements
are studied by Articulatory Phonetics at physiological level.

3.The transmission of the message through the air is studied by Acoustic Phonetics
at physical level.

4. At the end of the speech chain we find the listener.

5. How the message is perceived by the listener is studied at physiological level.

6. How the message is interpreted by the listener is studied at psychological level.

Quick Check (4) – The Journey of the Voice

The air-stream coming out of the pharynx then goes into the resonators:
mouth cavity-for oral sounds- or nasal cavity for nasal sounds. 3

The air coming from the lungs goes through the trachea. 1

The articulators give the final shape to the sounds. 4

The next ‘station’ in the journey of the voice is the larynx, which contains
the vocal folds. The vocal folds are responsible for the transformation of the air-
stream into speech sounds. 2

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