phonology – phriend or phoe ?
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Phonology – phriend or phoe ?. Ray Parker NALA Dublin, 2013. A few simple principles. English language teachers teach two languages not one! Spoken language is at least as systematic as any other part By focussing on important aspects of pronunciation we can score a double whammy! - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Phonology – phriend or phoe?
Ray ParkerNALA Dublin, 2013
A few simple principles
• English language teachers teach two languages not one!
• Spoken language is at least as systematic as any other part
• By focussing on important aspects of pronunciation we can score a double whammy!
• There’s nothing mysterious or complicated about phonology
3
Two Languages not One!
WritingGraphicPermanentConservativeDelivered in wordsHigh prestigeSecondaryLearned
SpeakingAcousticEphemeralProgressiveDelivered in utterancesLow prestigePrimaryAcquired
The size of the problem
• How many words?• 17,000?• How much grammar?• 400 structures?• How many phonemes?• 44
Elements of pronunciation
articulatory settingintonationstress timing utterance stress
strong & weak forms
csp’sclusters
phonemes
allophones
The possible components of the pronunciation element of a general English course
Pronunciation - our priorities
• Word stress• Delaying graphical interference• Stress timing• Modelling & correcting without
distortion
Word stress
1. You always get it right in speech2. Some people have problems identifying it.3. Physical violence is really helpful!4. We really have to be confident5. We really have to help learners6. Be consistent & make it routine
Word stress
1. Have a consistent board use strategy2. Share it with colleagues in your institution3. Use symbols which couldn’t possibly be
confused with normal writing4. Mine – and now that of many colleagues – is
the following
10
Misleading spellings
• bough• cough• though• through• thought• hiccough• enough• thorough
/baʊ//kɒf//ðəʊ//θru://θɔ:t//'hɪkʌp//ɪn'ʌf//'θʌrə/
Who is it?
ghoti
ghoti=
fish
ghoti
ghoti
Enough = /f/
ghoti
ghoti
enough = /f/
ghoti
women = / ɪ /
ghoti
nation = /ʃ/enough = /f/
ghoti
women = / ɪ /
• So what about this?
tchughce
21
onetwo
threefourfivesix
seven eightetc…..
Egyptian women manage businesses
Egyptian women manage businesses/ɪ'ʤɪpʃən 'wɪmɪn 'mænɪʤ 'bɪznɪsɪz/
Unhelpful spelling
Egyptian women manage businesses/ɪ'ʤɪpʃən 'wɪmɪn 'mænɪʤ 'bɪznɪsɪz/
Unhelpful spelling
So in our sample sentence these vowels represent the sound /ɪ/:
a e o u y i X
Delaying graphical interference
• Resisting bullying• Designating space on board and a specific time in
the lesson for adding written forms• Eliciting rather than presenting written form• Anticipating and focusing on potential
interference features – bizarre spellings– silent letters– redundant syllables
Components of pronunciation
28
articulatory setting
intonation
stress timing
sentence stress
strong & weak forms
csp’s
clusters
phonemes
allophones
The possible components of the pronunciation element of a general English course
Components of pronunciation
Top-down or bottom-up?
Utterance stress
What’s the system?
The good news:There is a system
Utterance stress
What’s the system?
The better news:The system is regular, reliable, predictable
Utterance stress
What’s the system?
The best news:It’s simple
Utterance stress
So which words are stressed in utterances and which ones
normally aren’t?
35
Stress in utterancesOpen classescontent words
(stressed in sentences)(one syllable if polysyllabic)
Closed classesstructure words
(normally not stressed in sentences)(except polysyllabics)
class examples Class examples
nouns book, Ray pronouns he, there (e.g. there is ....)
(lexical) verbs to speak, to love conjunctions and, but
adjectives intelligent, green auxiliary verbs was, must
adverbs nicely, well prepositions for, from
numbers five, third determiners his, the
stress-timing
Ti amo
stress-timing
1 2 3
Ti amo
stress-timing
Ti amo, tesoro
stress-timing
1 2 3 4 5 6
Ti amo, tesoro
stress-timing
Fish, chips, peas
stress-timing
1 2 3
Fish, chips, peas
stress-timing
It’s in the shed at the bottom of the garden
stress-timing
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
It’s in the shed at the bottom of the garden
Sentence stress
Dogs bark
The dogs bark
The dogs will bark
The dogs are barking
The dogs have been barking
The dogs will have been barking
45
“Unusual stressing of items which would normally not be stressed
• Have you done your homework?• (¿Has hecho tus deberes?)
• Have you done your homework?• (¿Es verdad que has hecho tus deberes?)
46
“Unusual stressing of items which would normally not be stressed
• Have you done your homework?• (¿Tu, has hecho tus deberes?)
• Have you done your homework?• (¿Has hecho tus propios deberes?)
Workshop task 1
After you’ve completed the listening task, pair up with the other letter.1. Correct each other’s work. (between you,
you have all the words2. Discuss the level of difficulty you
encountered. Was one version more challenging than the other?
3. How would your learners manage such tasks?
Task 1 Big messages
• In terms of developing accurate listening expectations, version B is immensely valuable.
• In terms of moving towards acceptable pronunciation, version B is immensely valuable.
Task 2 marking key
Australia is a country where some of the most unusual animals in the world live. They’re called marsupials and include animals such as the kangaroo and the koala. The mother animals have got pouches of skin like pockets and they keep their babies there for the first few weeks of their lives.
Big messages from the workshop
1. We should help learners with word stress
2. We should delay boarding of new words3. We should focus on a top-down
approach to phonology4. We need to help students with
utterance stress by helping them to focus on unstressed words
Techniques for achieving these aims
• Consistent but delayed written modelling
• Back-chaining when drilling utterances
• Specially focussed listening activities