the sound system of english

The study of the sounds of language Everyone speaks with an accent The phonological system of a language consists of its individual speech sounds, as well as its stress, rhythm, and in

The Sound System of English

Education 453:10

The study of the sounds of language

Everyone speaks with an accent

The phonological system of a language

consists of its individual speech sounds,

as well as its stress, rhythm, and

intonation patterns

The smallest unit of sound that can affect meaning in a language

Though the English alphabet has 26

letters, English speakers produce more than 40 sounds

International Phonetic Alphabet

Most technical books for language

teachers and dictionaries use phonetic

symbols to represent English sounds and

to describe difficulties (Our text: p 56, 57)

The International Phonetic Alphabet can

be used to transcribe any language

(handout)

Pronunciation Difficulties

Interference from the first language

The sounds of the first language are

imprinted very early in the child’s

development; however, most children are born with the vocal equipment to produce the sounds of any language

Problems in English

 Homographs (read and read)

 Homophones (red and read)

 Differs from language to language

www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/phono.html

Individual Sounds

Especially difficult sounds are th in think and its unvoiced equivalent th in then

Consonant clusters – spl, sks, etc.

Some languages have no consonant

clusters; other languages use consonant clusters differently

Stressed and Unstressed Syllables

 The degree of force with which a syllable is

uttered

 In English words of more than one syllable, one

of the syllables is uttered with stronger stress or emphasis than others (text p 59)

 Stress patterns are different in other languages

 English has a characteristic rhythm or stress

pattern

 In connected English speech the stresses or

beats are spaced evenly through sentences… John speaks French….

 Unstressed syllables are compressed or

de-emphasized whereas in many languages, equal stress is placed on all the syllables in words

Sentence Stress

 In an English sentence, the words that carry the

most information are stressed – content words

– and the less important or grammatical function

or form words are unstressed

 ESL students may have trouble understanding speech even if they recognize words in

isolation… What do you mean? Next month or necks month

_exB.htm

English has characteristic patterns of rise and fall in pitch, and three basic levels of tone: High, Mid, and Low

ESL students and ELLs need focused

instruction on English intonation

patterns…

Purposes of English Intonation

1. Communicate meaning

2. Communicate emotions or moods

3. Stress for emphasis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=-toSnwSqqz0

Teaching Pronunciation

Younger children who are learning English seldom need a great deal of help with

pronunciation

Learners older than 11 or 12 are more

likely to have trouble with specific words, sounds, intonation patterns… require

When to Teach Pronunciation

1. A student confuses or distorts specific

sounds that may interfere with

comprehension

2. Uses pronunciations that are

stigmatized… tree for three

3. Distorts the pronunciation of words by

stressing the wrong syllable

4. Uses inappropriate intonation

How to Teach Pronunciation

1. Read aloud often

2. Read the same statement several

….How to Teach Pronunciation

7 Practice producing sounds

8 Make up sentences

9 Create posters or booklets for certain sounds

10 Allow pronunciation practice

11 Use pronunciation guides with older students 12.Rehearse, read aloud, short passages

13 Be creative…skits….

Basic Principle

• Understanding of sounds precedes understanding of the written word

Phonological Awareness – the ability to

break down speech into smaller segments

Phoneme – the smallest unit of sound

Phonics – a method of teaching reading

that emphasizes the association of sounds with letters

Classroom Considerations

Phonological awareness training –

teaching the sound structure of words

Classroom Considerations

 It is important to first develop oral

language skills

 Phonological awareness skills should be

taught orally without print

 Phonological awareness training helps

children learn vocabulary and reading

skills

Classroom Considerations

Phonological awareness training improves reading, vocabulary, and syntactic skills

Phonological awareness training can be

implemented in the classroom

ESL students benefit from PA training

Teaching Pronunciation Abroad

http://www.authorstream.com/presentation/Demetrio-39388-tup2007-Improve-English-Pronunciation-Five-Questions-Stress-gives-natural-rhythm-spoken-as-Education-ppt-powerpoint/