THE SOUND SYSTEM OF
ENGLISH
PHONOLOGY
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
PHONEMES
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
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/phono.h
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
InEnglish 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
RHYTHM
Englishhas a characteristic rhythm or
stress pattern
Inconnected 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
Inan 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
http://www2.nkfust.edu.tw/~emchen/Pron/stres
INTONATION
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 focused
instruction
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 different
ways
3. Books on tape
4. Language arts software
5. Choral reading
6. Minimal pairs
….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.
TERMINOLOGY
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
Auditory training
Phonics training – teaching the connection
between sounds and letters
Training with print
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-3
