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

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

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

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

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

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

The phonemic alphabet (chart) Go through the sounds and ‘sound out’. Use the example words given to help you. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/resources/p ronunciation/phonemic-chart Jo-Ann Delaney

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Intonation Thank you Jo-Ann Delaney

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

Any questions? Jo-Ann Delaney