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This unit is on the teaching of pronunciation and phonology. a- Pronunciation: This is said to be the most neglected aspect of English language teaching. Then there is the fact that many native English speakers find it difficult to hear certain features such such as the fall or rise of speech, particularity at the end of sentence. b- Phonology: This is the study, analysis, and classification of the physical properties of the sounds. In the following text, we shall deal with the areas of STRESS, RHYTHM, and INTONATION, as well as concentrating on international phonetics Alphabet. - Intonation; that is the variation in volume and pitch in a whole sentence. The first normal pattern of intonation in a statement is the rise/fall intonation examples include; - For the pitch - For short sentences - For a falling intonation - For straightforward questions - For positive and negative statements The second common intonation pattern is the fall/rise intonation; Here, the speaker wants the person speaking with to respond or confirm. Again, we can have a kind of level intonation which is basically flat. Finally, intonation pattern can be powerful predictors of the nature of forthcoming information. Techniques for indicating and teching intonation include; - Nonsense words - By gestures - Human or singing - The board - Stress Some stress words which are different each time include; - He didn?t mean to kick the dog - He didn?t mean to kick the dog - He didn?t mean to kick the dog - He didn?t mean to kick the dog etc Here are two very simple rules about word stress to start which include; - One word has only one stress - We can only stress syllables, not individual vowels or consonants Lack of stress: In normal speech there are more syllables without stress, or unstressed, than with stress. Techniques for indicating and teaching stress: - Contrastive stress - By gesture - Choral word - The board - Stress marks Sounds joining: - Linking - Sound dropping (t,d) - Extra lettering Linked speech: How it sound How it is written Where dja wanna go Where do you want to go? Whatcha wanna do? What do you want to do? I?m no? too sure I am not too sure I?leave it to you I will leave it to you etc The phonetic alphabet Hints on pronunciation for foreigners; Here, We can use an educated script like the poem we have in this unit. A dictionary can be very helpful as it not only states the meaning of a word, gives it?s class (noun/adjective/verb etc)and sometimes gives example sentences but also it provide the pronunciation . Phonemic symbols: a- Some consonants (voiced); - /n/ nun /n?n/ - /b/ big /big/ - /m/ my /man/ - /d/ do /du:/ Some consonants (unvoiced); - /h/ hot /hot/ - /s/ sun /s?n/ - /f/ fish /fi?/ - /t/ tea /ti?/ Some vowels - /I:/ see /si:/ - /I/ sit /sit/ - /u:/ blue /blu:/ - /e/ ten /ten/ - /u/ put /put/ Some Diphthongs - /ei/ game /germ/ - /ai/ wine /wain/ etc This area is explored in more details in the following sections; Articulation: - The speech organ; The human speech is an enormously complex area of study. - Place of Articulation; linguistics use this weight phrase to describe the physical location of a phoneme?s production. - Velar; the soft palate is also known as the velum. - Palatal; The central part of the tongue comes in close contact with the central roof of your mouth - Palatal-alveolar; used to make the sound - Al veolar; The front or tip of the tongue is raised towards the alveolar ridge - Dental ; The teeth are involved here - Labia-dental; lips are involved here - Bilabial ; Here two lips are involved - Glottal; The opening between the vocal cord - Manner of Articulation ; Here the lips are put together Plosive: a- Prepare to make a sound b- Now make the sound c- Do the same for /t/ d- Now release the /t/ sound e- Do the same for the following sounds ; /b/, /d/ etc Fricative: a- Take a deep breath b- Make the /f/ sound c- Do same for sound /v/ d- Now try the /s/ sound - Nasal - Lateral - Affricate - Approximant Teaching techniques for the pronunciation of individual sounds: - Peer dictation - Your own mouth - Visuals - Phonemes - Tongue twisters When to teach pronunciation: - Whole lesson - Lesson slots - As and when required Going through this unit, I have personally learnt about the teaching of pronunciation and phonology, different intonation and stress patterns, techniques of pronunciation and manner of Articulation in teaching especially phonemic symbols which are needed in the teaching of pronunciation.
