UNDERGRADUATE COURSE

BBA

SECOND YEAR
THIRD SEMESTER
UNIT-IV

COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS
REMO INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE PREPARED BY: - MS.S.ARCHANA.,
ASSISTANT P
BBA

II-YEAR (III-SEM) COMMUNICATION SKILLS

COURSE WRITER

Ms.Badru Nisha N
Assistant Professor
Remo International College
Chennai- 600 016
 LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS

Features of Pronunciation

Despite there being just 26 letters in the English language there are approximately
44 unique sounds, also known as phonemes. The 44 sounds help distinguish one
word or meaning from another. Various letters and letter combinations known as
graphemes are used to represent the sounds.
The 44 English sounds fall into two categories: consonants and vowels. Below is a
list of the 44 phonemes along with their International Phonetic Alphabet symbols
and some examples of their use. Note that there is no such thing as a definitive list
of phonemes because of accents, dialects and the evolution of language itself.
Therefore you may discover lists with more or less than these 44 sounds.

What is phoneme?
A phoneme is a speech sound. It’s the smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one
word from another. Since sounds cannot be written, we use letters to represent or
stand for the sounds.

A grapheme is the written representation (a letter or cluster of letters) of one sound.

It is generally agreed that there are approximately 44 sounds in English, with some
variation dependent on accent and articulation. The 44 English phonemes are
represented by the 26 letters of the alphabet individually and in combination.
Phonics instruction involves teaching the relationship between sounds and the
letters used to represent them. There are hundreds of spelling alternatives that can
be used to represent the 44 English phonemes. Only the most common sound /
letter relationships need to be taught explicitly. The 44 English sounds can be
divided into two major categories – consonants and vowels. A consonant sound is
one in which the air flow is cut off, either partially or completely, when the sound is
produced. In contrast, a vowel sound is one in which the air flow is unobstructed
when the sound is made. The vowel sounds are the music, or movement, of our
language. The 44 phonemes represented below are in line with the International
Phonetic Alphabet.

1.Vowels: These are the sounds which are pronounced without

any obstruction.
Short Vowels

If a word contains only one vowel, and that vowel appears in the middle of the

word, the vowel is usually pronounced as a short vowel. This is especially true if the

word is very short.

There are 7 ‘short’ vowel sounds, although children are usually only introduced to

the 5 which are most commonly heard in simple CVC (consonant, vowel,

consonant) words:

● /a,(æ)/ cat, ant

● /e,(e)/ peg, egg

● /i,(I)/ pin, pig

● /o,(ɒ)/ hot, orange

● /u,(ʌ)/ hut, bus

The other two ‘short’ vowel sounds are:

● /oo(u),(Ʊ)/ bull or could

 ● /uh,(ǝ or schwa)/ zebra, doctor, corner

LONG VOWELS

The long vowel sound is the same as the name of the vowel itself. Follow these

rules:

​ Long A sound is AY as in cake.

​ Long E sound is EE an in sheet.

​ Long I sound is AHY as in like.

​ Long O sound is OH as in bone.

​ Long U sound is YOO as in human or OO as in crude.

Long vowel sounds are often created when two vowels appear side by side in a

syllable.

● /i:/ week /wi:k/, feet /fi:t/, media /ˈmiː.di.jə/

● /ɑ:/ hard /ha:/, park /pa:k/, article /ɑː.tɪ.kəl/

● /ɔ:/ fork /fɔ:k/, walk /wɔ:k/, August /ɔːˈɡʌst/

● /ɜ:/ heard /hɜ:d/, word /wɜ:d/, surface /ˈsɜː.fɪs/

● /u:/ boot /bu:t/, group /gru:p/, beautiful /ˈbjuː.tɪ.fəl/

DIPHTHONGS

Diphthong” comes from the Greek word diphthongs. It literally means “having two

sounds.” More specifically, diphthongs deal with vowels. Every vowel has its own

short sound and long vowel sound. However, diphthongs come into play whenever

a vowel makes a new and different sound, usually because it’s working in

conjunction with another vowel.

/aɪ/
This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /i/, /igh/, and /y/ to form

sounds similar to “eye.” Here are a few more examples:

● Cry

● My

● Like

● Bright

● Lime

/eɪ/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /ey/, /ay/, /ai/ and /a/ to form

sounds similar to “great.” Here are a few more examples:

● Bake

● Rain

● Lay

● Eight

● Break

/əʊ/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /ow/, /oa/ and /o/ to form

sounds similar to “boat.” Here are a few more examples:

● Go

● Oh

● Slow

● Loan

● Though
/aʊ/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /ou/ and /ow/ to form

sounds similar to “ow!” Here are a few more examples:

● Bound

● House

● Brown

● How

● Now

/eə/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /ai/, /a/, and /ea/ to form

sounds similar to “air.” Here are a few more examples:

● Pair

● Lair

● Stare

● Care

● Bear

/ɪə/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /ee/, /ie/ and /ea/ to form

sounds similar to “ear.” Here are a few more examples:

● Career

● Here

● Near

● Year
 ● Pier

/ɔɪ/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /oy/ and /oi/ to form sounds

similar to “oil.” Here are a few more examples:

● Boy

● Coy

● Toy

● Foil

● Coin

/ʊə/

This diphthong uses letters and letter combinations like /oo/, /ou/, /u/, and /ue/ to form

sounds similar to “cure.” Here are a few more examples:

● Fur

● Sure

● Lure

● Pure

● Manure

CONSONANTS

A consonant is a sound made with your mouth fairly closed.Consonants require

more precise articulation than vowels, which is why children find them harder to

learn, and often end up in speech therapy after having become so cross at not being

understood that they’ve started hitting people.

Voiced Consonants Voiceless Consonants

(Vocal cords moving) (Vocal cords not moving)

/b/ back, above /p/ pencil, drop

/d/ day, need /t/ two, wait

/g/ gold, rug /k/ candy, awake

/v/ very, give /f/ find, before

/ð/ the, this /ɵ/ thin, with

/z/ zone, has /s/ see, city

/ʒ/ measure, /ʃ/ she, dish

beige

/dʒ/ jeans, enjoy /tʃ/ change, rich

/m/ make, same

 /n/, no, town

/ŋ/ sing, pink

/l/ look, believe

/r/ red, car

Voiced Consonants

Your vocal cords, which are actually mucous membranes, stretch across the larynx

at the back of the throat. By tightening and relaxing as you speak, the vocal cords

modulate the flow of breath expelled from the lungs.

Voiceless Consonants

Voiceless consonants do not use the vocal cords to produce their hard, percussive

sounds. Instead, they're slack, allowing air to flow freely from the lungs to the

mouth, where the tongue, teeth, and lips engage to modulate the sound.

/p/ pet /pet/ paper /ˈpeɪ.pə/ top /tɒp/

/b/ bet /bet/ trouble /ˈtrʌ.bəl/ rub /rʌb/

/t/ Tim /tɪm/ better /ˈbe.tə/ hot /hɒt/

/d/ dim /dɪm/ order /ˈɔː.də/ bad /bæd/

/k/ came /keɪm/ talking /ˈtɔː.kɪŋ/ back /bæk/

/g/ game /geɪm/ bigger /ˈbɪ.gə/ bag /bæg/

/f/ fine /faɪn/ offer /ˈɒf.ə/ off /ɒf/

/v/ vine /vaɪn/ saving /ˈseɪ.vɪŋ/ of /ɒv/

/s/ seal /si:l/ missing /ˈmɪ.sɪŋ/ face /feɪs/

/z/ zeal /zi:l/ crazy /ˈkreɪ.zi/ phase /feɪz/

/ʃ/ show /ʃoʊ/ pushing /ˈpʊ.ʃɪŋ/ rush /rʌʃ/

/ʒ/ measure /ˈme.ʒə/ vision /ˈvɪ.ʒən/ asia /ˈeɪ.ʒə/

/ʧ/ choke /ʧoʊk/ watching /wɒ.tʃɪŋ/ catch /kætʃ/

/ʤ/ joke /ʤoʊk/ damage /ˈdæ.mɪdʒ/ large /lɑːdʒ/

/θ/ thin /θɪn/ method /ˈme.θəd/ both /boʊθ/

/ð / then /ðen/ other /ˈʌ.ðə/ with /wɪð/

/l/ love /lʌv/ follow /ˈfɒː.loʊ/ well /wel/

/m/ mail /meɪl/ humour /ˈhjuː.mə/ some /sʌm/

/n/ nail /neɪl/ funny /ˈfʌ.ni/ fine /faɪn/

/ŋ/ sing /sɪŋ/ singer /ˈsɪ.ŋə/

/h/ heal /hi:l/ perhaps /pəˈhæps/

/r/ real /ri:l/ correct /kəˈrekt/

/j/ you /ju:/ beyond /biˈjɒnd/

/w/ we /wi/ showing /ˈʃoʊ.wɪŋ/

STRESS

Stress, in phonetics, intensity given to a syllable of speech by special effort in

utterance, resulting in relative loudness. There are two types of stress word stress

and sentence stress

WORD STRESS

In phonetics, stress is the degree of emphasis given a sound or syllable in speech,

also called lexical stress or word stress.

1. Primary Stress: The syllable with the Primary Stress is the loudest and longest

syllable in a word. It has a very noticeable change in pitch on the vowel. In

one-syllable words, that one syllable gets the primary stress. Primary stress is

indicated by a high vertical line (primary stress mark: ˈ)

Examples:

“blue” = /BLUUU/

The only exceptions to this rule are a handful of function words like “the” which are

usually unstressed or reduced.

2. Secondary Stress: These are the syllables that are stressed, but not as much

the primary stress, so they are loud and long with a change in pitch, but not as loud

or as long as the syllables that get the primary stress. The change in pitch on the

vowel is not quite as noticeable. Secondary stress by a low vertical line (secondary

stress mark: ˌ)

Example:

“disappear” = /DIH-suh PEEER/ (syllable with secondary stress is underlined)

3. Level 3 is the completely Unstressed Syllable: These are the syllables that

have no stress at all so we rush through them and shorten them so much that the

vowel in the syllable is almost completely gone. The change in pitch on the vowel

is barely noticeable, but it is there.

Example:

“prepare” = /pruh-PAIR/ (unstressed syllable is underlined)

Sentence Stress

Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Like word stress, sentence stress

can help you to understand spoken English, even rapid spoken English.

Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat". You remember that word

stress is accent on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is accent on certain
words within a sentence.

Most sentences have two basic types of word:

● content words

Content words are the keywords of a sentence. They are the important

words that carry the meaning or sense—the real content.

● structure words

Structure words are not very important words. They are small, simple words

that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the sentence its

correct form—its structure.

If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still

understand the sentence.

If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not understand the

sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning.

Imagine that you receive this telegram message:

This sentence is not complete. It is not a "grammatically correct" sentence. But you

probably understand it. These 4 words communicate very well. Somebody wants

you to sell their car for them because they have gone to France. We can add a few

words:

The new words do not really add any more information. But they make the message
more correct grammatically. We can add even more words to make one complete,

grammatically correct sentence. But the information is basically the same:

In our sentence, the 4 keywords (sell, car, gone, France) are accentuated or

stressed.

Why is this important for pronunciation? It is important because it adds "music" to

the language. It is the rhythm of the English language. It changes the speed at

which we speak (and listen to) the language. The time between each stressed

word is the same.

In our sentence, there is 1 syllable between SELL and CAR and 3 syllables

between CAR and GONE. But the time (t) between SELL and CAR and between

CAR and GONE is the same. We maintain a constant beat on the stressed words. To

do this, we say "my" more slowly, and "because I've" more quickly. We change the

speed of the small structure words so that the rhythm of the key content words

stays the same.

I am a proFESsional phoTOgrapher whose MAIN INterest is to TAKE SPEcial,

BLACK and WHITE PHOtographs that exHIBit ABstract MEANings in their

photoGRAPHic STRUCture.

To Stress

Content words include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Negative words such

as not or never also get stressed because they affect the meaning of the sentence.

Modals, too, can change the meaning of a sentence. Here is a list of words to stress

in an English sentence:

● nouns (people, places, things)

● verbs (actions, states)

● adjectives (words that modify nouns)

● adverbs (words that modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or entire

sentences)

● negative words (not, never, neither, etc.)

● modals (should, could, might, etc., but not will or can)

● yes, no, and auxiliary verbs in short answers (e.g., Yes, she does.)

● quantifiers (some, many, no, all, one, two, three, etc.)

● Wh-Question words (what, where, when, why, how, etc.—note that what is

often unstressed when speaking quickly because it’s so common)

Not to Stress
Some words don’t carry a lot of importance in an English sentence. Short words

such as articles, prepositions, and conjunctions don’t take stress. Pronouns don’t

usually get stressed either because the context often makes it clear who we’re

talking about. The Be verb and all auxiliary verbs don’t carry much meaning—only

the main verb does. Here is a list of words that shouldn’t be stressed in an English

sentence:
 ● articles (a, an, the)

● prepositions (to, in, at, on, for, from, etc.)

● conjunctions (and, or, so, but, etc.)

● personal pronouns (I, you, he, she, etc.)

● possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, etc.)

● Be verb (am, is, are, was, were, etc.)

● auxiliary verbs (be, have, do in two-part verbs or questions)

● the modals will and be going to (because they’re common, and the future

tense is often clear from context)

● the modal can (because it’s so common)

Examples
Model the following examples for your students and have them repeat after you.

The words (or syllables when the word has more than one) that should be stressed

are in bold.

● The kids are at the park.

● Do you have any brothers or sisters?

● Why aren’t you doing your homework?

● He bought a red car for his daughter.

● I am Brazilian.

● We are not familiar with this new computer program.

● The athlete ran quickly and won the competition.

● She does not know the answer.

● I don’t know the answer, either.

● We aren’t sure.

● I’ve never heard of that before, but it makes sense.

● They’ll ask the teacher for help.

 ● Some people prefer Macs, but many others prefer PCs.

● She is going to study tonight.

● I can speak French.

● I can’t speak Japanese.

● Yes, I can. / No, I can’t.

INTONATION

Intonation describes how the voice rises and falls in speech. The three main
patterns of intonation in English are: falling intonation, rising intonation and fall-rise
intonation.

RISING INTONATION

Rising intonation invites the speaker to continue talking. It is normally used with

yes/no questions, and question tags that are real question.

FALLING INTONATION

It is commonly found in statements, commands, wh-questions, confirmatory

question tags and exclamations

CIRCUMFLEX/ FALL-RISE INTONATION

We sometimes use a combination of rising and falling intonation in the same

sentence. The combination is called Rise-Fall or Fall-Rise intonation. We use

rise-fall intonation for choices, lists, unfinished thoughts and conditional sentences.
The main function of fall-rise intonation is to show that the speaker is not certain of

the answer they are giving to a question, or is reluctant to reply. It is also used in

polite requests or suggestions.