Photo from flickr Bob Gaffney CC BYNCND L

Photo from flickr Bob Gaffney (CC BY-NC-ND) L 6 EN 10 Introduction to Phonetics and Pronunciation monika. mondor@sprak. gu. se 1

Lectures and workshops - outline • Pronunciation 1: Introduction • Pronunciation 2: Consonants • (Hand in pronunciation test – Monday noon) • Pronunciation 3: Vowels • Pronunciation 4: Stress and Intonation • Examination Lectures: Monika Mondor Workshops: Monika Mondor & David Sandboge 2

To have read for today • To read for lecture 1: • Chapter 1: Introduction • Chapter: 2: The phonemes of RP and GA In Basic English Phonetics compendium 3

Lecture 1 • Outline – lectures and workshops • Relevant aims in the syllabus • Course materials and examinations • Phonetic symbols • Phonetics vs. phonology • Phonemes and allophones • How to target pronunciation in the classroom • The multi-lingual classroom – guess the accent 4

Relevant aims in the syllabus • To describe basic properties of the English phonetic/phonological system • To use English for communicating in a linguistically acceptable way, with special focus on oral communicative ability • Apply your knowledge of phonetic principles in order to be able to teach pronunciation and intonation 5

See material available on Canvas • Study guide with reading assignments • Mobärg text compendium – read assigned chapters before lectures • Compendium with exercises – exercises for workshops • Sample exam – invigilated sit-down exam – sign-up through Ladok • Pronunciation test – assessed during oral presentations • Make-up task instructions - hand in through GUL • Extra transcription exercises • Sound practice 6

A contrastive approach • We will use a contrastive approach, with the main focus on English/Swedish differences. • However, since children in Sweden may come from many different language backgrounds, we will consider pronunciation systems from a wider typological perspective. • Understanding English phonetics in a larger context provides a tool for being able to better understand creatively help children with different backgrounds. 7

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Examples in context 9

English vowels https: //old. liu. se/ikk/english/files/Course%20 Webpages/english 3/1. 206147/Compendium. Vowels. Consonantsof. English. pdf 10

Examples in context https: //old. liu. se/ikk/english/files/Course%20 Webpages/english 3/1. 206147/Compendium. Vowels. Consonantsof. English. pdf 11

Word stress CATHolic IC-rule exception ARabic IC-rule exception athletic historic scientific ther. MOmeter Antepenultimate syllable rule Acaí [ah-sigh-EE] Foreign words? 12

Intonation https: //www. britishcouncil. org/voices-magazine/how-english-learners-canimprove-intonation 13

What is the point of phonetic symbols? Words where the vowel is spelt the same but pronounced differently: Tool, Book, Blood, Door, Brooch Words where the vowel is spelt differently but pronounced the same: Tough, Cut, Love, Blood, Does Conclusion: letters do not directly represent sounds 14

Phonetics versus Phonology • Phonetics = the study of sound in human language How speech sounds are produced: www. uiowa. edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english_main. html • Phonology = the study of the selection and patterns of sounds in a single language 15

Phonemes and allophones • A phoneme is an abstraction of a sound unit. If two different sounds do not change word meaning in a minimal pair, they are not distinct phonemes in that language: Minimal pairs rice – lice bit - beat • An allophone is the actual articulation of a phoneme • While a phoneme is a stable abstract unit, the allophones of a phoneme may vary depending on accent and phonetic environment 16

So why is this important? Languages select from all possible sounds in order to form their specific phonological system. • Phonemes which exist in one language often do not exist in another. • Sounds which are allophones in one language may be phonemes in other languages. These are some of the main causes of pronunciation difficulties! 17

Reasons for difficulties How do you pronounce lose and loose in English? Ice vs. eyes? Peace vs. peas? Beer and bear? Why do these distinctions pose problem for many learners with Swedish as their L 1? Other explanations? 18

Time for a break Photo from flickr 19

RP vs. GA: Main differences 1. vowel in cour age, wor r y 2. vowel in dance, ask 3. more open vowel in caught 4. more open vowel in hot 5. diphthongs – coat 6. R in far -- but not in all varieties of American English (New England, New York) 7. dark l 8. t-voicing between vowels – a voiced realization of /t/ better 10. yod-dropping ju: - u: tune, new 11. distinction w - wh: witch - which 20

Knowledge requirements in the sixth grade Grade A ”I muntliga och skriftliga framställningar av olika slag kan eleven formulera sig enkelt, relativt tydligt och relativt sammanhängande. ” ”I muntlig och skriftlig interaktion kan eleven uttrycka sig enkelt och tydligt med ord, fraser och meningar samt i någon mån anpassat till syfte, mottagare och situation. Dessutom kan eleven välja och använda sig av flera olika strategier som löser problem i och förbättrar interaktionen. ” 21

How to target pronunciation in the classroom? • • Stay curious and look words up when you are not sure React to opportunities Tongue twisters, song lyrics, nursery rhymes and poetry Minimal pairs, e. g. peace - peas Reading out loud Listen and imitate Identifying difficulties in words/texts for homework – with viusal aids Prepreparing texts for pronunciation practice – highlighting different parts • Listen and describe differences and similarities • Preprepared exercises – online and printed sources. 22

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Should we aim for ’native-like’ pronunciation? • The first and primary aim is always to reach intelligible English. • Although many phonetic deviations will not cause communicative breakdown one by one, too many such deviations at the same time could. • ’Intelligible’ English may not be so intelligible in a noisy environment. • Trying to imitate native pronunciation or playing with different types of native and non-native accents can in itself be enjoyable and motivating. • In some situations, a ‘native-like’ pronunciation could be useful or lead to personal advantages – as learners we don’t know what we will use English for! • Improving your own (teacher) pronunciation is likely to affect students’ perception of you as a role model, and therefore their motivation. 24

What’s the point of understanding phonetics? • Attention-raising, to become aware of differences between languages in order to help you to improve your own pronunciation • To gain a deeper understanding of English pronunciation difficulties that your pupils (from various backgrounds) may have • To be able to recognize these difficulties in the speech of your pupils, in order to focus on these problems at an early stage • For young learners, pronunciation teaching should mainly consist of zooming in on problems by integrated listening/imitation exercises • However, in those cases where your pupils ask for direct instruction and explanation, you must be able to help them! 25

Guess the accent The Speech Accent Archive: http: //accent. gmu. edu/index. php • http: //accent. gmu. edu/searchsaa. php? function=detail&speakerid=577 • http: //accent. gmu. edu/searchsaa. php? function=detail&speakerid=1025 • http: //accent. gmu. edu/browse_language. php? function=detail&speakerid =422 • http: //accent. gmu. edu/searchsaa. php? function=detail&speakerid=428 • http: //accent. gmu. edu/searchsaa. php? function=detail&speakerid=971 • http: //accent. gmu. edu/searchsaa. php? function=detail&speakerid=171 • http: //accent. gmu. edu/searchsaa. php? function=detail&speakerid=454 26

Thank you! CC BY-NC-ND Monika Mondor 27