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Delta2 LSA 2 Background

This document provides a summary and analysis of pronunciation in the English language for language learners. It begins with defining phonetics and phonology, noting that phonetics deals with pronunciation at the phoneme level while phonology focuses on suprasegmental features. It then analyzes English phonemes, distinguishing between 24 consonant sounds based on voicing, place of articulation, and manner of articulation. It also examines 12 vowel sounds and diphthongs. Common learner challenges are discussed, such as first language influence and lack of phonemic awareness. Solutions proposed include developing phonemic awareness and distinguishing spelling-sound relationships in English.

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Phairouse Abdul Salam
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767 views

Delta2 LSA 2 Background

This document provides a summary and analysis of pronunciation in the English language for language learners. It begins with defining phonetics and phonology, noting that phonetics deals with pronunciation at the phoneme level while phonology focuses on suprasegmental features. It then analyzes English phonemes, distinguishing between 24 consonant sounds based on voicing, place of articulation, and manner of articulation. It also examines 12 vowel sounds and diphthongs. Common learner challenges are discussed, such as first language influence and lack of phonemic awareness. Solutions proposed include developing phonemic awareness and distinguishing spelling-sound relationships in English.

Uploaded by

Phairouse Abdul Salam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Helping Learners of English with


Relating Letters to Sounds
LSA 2 Background Essay

Word count: 2024

Table of Contents
1.

Introduction.......................................................................................................... 3

2.

Analysis of Pronunciation..................................................................................... 4
2.1.

Definition....................................................................................................... 4

2.2.

Phoneme Analysis.......................................................................................... 4

2.2.1.

Consonant Sounds...................................................................................5

2.2.2.

Vowel Sounds.......................................................................................... 8

2.3.
3.

4.

Phonemic Awareness..................................................................................... 9

Typical Learners Problems and Their Solutions...................................................10


3.1.

First Language Influence..............................................................................10

3.2.

Cognates...................................................................................................... 11

Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 12

Appendix A............................................................................................................... 13
Appendix B............................................................................................................... 14
Appendix C............................................................................................................... 15
Bibliography............................................................................................................. 16

1 Introduction
Throughout my years as a teacher, I have often seen second
language learners struggling with producing the right sounds to
communicate effectively. They are mostly influenced by their first
language phonetic system, and therefore sometimes lead to
misinterpretation. Weaknesses in this area of pronunciation can
prevent higher level learners from reaching fluency in English as a
second language, as their utterances, which could be
grammatically and lexically accurate, might lack intelligibility if
they fail to produce the correct sounds.
Working on developing the learners phonemic awareness, proves
to be relatively crucial for them to develop oral proficiency in
English as a second language (Kenworthy, 1987). This background
essay is focusing on developing the learners phonemic
proficiency, and helping them distinguish the spelling-sound
relationship in English.

1.

Analysis of Pronunciation

1.1. Definition

The study of pronunciation consists of two fields, phonetics and


phonology. Phonemes as Kelly (2000) defines them, are the
different sounds within a language, and as the units of sound
that we can analyze. Phonology on the other hand is primarily
concerned with how we interpret and systemize sounds (Kelly,
2000; p.17). Therefore, we can understand that phonetics deals
with pronunciation on the level of phonemes and sounds, while
phonology is more concerned with the suprasegmental features of
pronunciation such as stress and intonation. The focus of this
essay is on teaching phonemes to upper-intermediate learners. It
is at this critical part of language learning, when they have the
grammar and lexical proficiency to express themselves with ease,
but might fail to communicate intelligibly because of issues with
the phonemes they use.
1.2. Phoneme Analysis

In the English language, there are 44 phonemes. The set of


phonemes consists of two main categories; consonant sounds and
vowel sounds. However, there is no direct link between written

and spoken consonants and vowels in English. There are five


vowels in the written English alphabet compared to twelve vowels
in the spoken counterpart, for example. In written English, we use
letters to identify and decode words, while in spoken English, we
use phonemes (written in phonemic transcript and commonly
found in dictionaries). We will look further into how we can
successfully identify consonant sounds and vowel sounds in
English.
1.2.1. Consonant Sounds
There are twenty-four consonants in English, and each consonant
represents a different sound, as compared by the English written
alphabet where only 17 consonants are presented. Consonants
are mainly the sounds that require most of the organs in the
mouth and the respiratory tract to react in order to vocalize the
required phoneme. In Appendix A, we can find a labeled anatomy
of the mouth and throat to help clarify the organs responsible for
the production of spoken consonants.
Three notions need to be addresses when analyzing consonants,
voicing; place of articulation; and manner of articulation.

1.2.1.1.

Voicing

Consonants are of two types;


- Voiced consonants are the ones that require the engagement
and production of sound by the vocal cords with the air
coming out the mouth.
- Unvoiced consonants do not engage the vocal cords and
depends only on the air forced out.
1.2.1.2.

Place of Articulation

There are seven places of articulation in English, as described


below:
- Bilabial: which requires the engagement of the upper and
lower lips to produce the phoneme such as; /p/, /m/, and /b/.
- Labiodental: which engages the upper lip and the lower
teeth to produce sounds like /f/, and /v/.
- Dental: requiring both upper and lower teeth to produce
sounds like // and //.
- Alveolar: requiring the blade of the tongue to touch the
alveolar ridge to produce sounds like /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/ and /n/.
- Palate-alveolar: when the blade of the tongue is in contact
with the back of the alveolar ridge and closer to the hard
palate, to produce sounds like //, //, // and //.
- Velar: requiring the back of the tongue to be in contact with
the velum to produce sounds like /k/ and /g/.

- Palatal: when the front of the tongue is raised close to the


palate to produce sounds like /j/.
- Glottal: when there is a gap between the vocal cords to
make an audible friction to produce sounds like /h/.

1.2.1.3.

Manner of Articulation

- Plosive: is a complete closure made somewhere in the vocal


tract, and the soft palate is also raised. Air pressure
increases behind the closure, and is then released
explosively, producing sounds like /p/ and /b/.
- Affricative: is a complete closure made somewhere in the
mouth, and the soft palate is raised. Air pressure increases
behind the closure, and is then released more slowly than in
plosives, to produce sounds like // and //.
- Fricative: happens when two vocal organs come close
enough together for the movement of air between them to
be heard, to produce sounds like /f/ and /v/.
- Nasal: is a closure made by the lips, or by the tongue against
the palate, the soft palate is lowered, and air escapes
through the nose like /m/, /n/ and //.
- Lateral: is a partial closure made by the blade of the tongue
against the alveolar ridge. Air is able to flow around the sides
of the tongue like /l/.

- Approximant: when the vocal organs come near to each


other, but not so close as to cause audible friction, like /r/
and /w/.
Appendix B provides a table showing all three criteria of
consonants.
1.2.2. Vowel Sounds
In the English language, there are twelve spoken vowels as
compared to five in the written alphabet. Vowels are produced
when the airstream is voiced through the vibration of the vocal
cords in the larynx, and then shaped using the tongue and the lips
to modify the overall shape of the mouth. The position of the
tongue is a useful reference point for describing the differences
between vowel sounds. There are two representation of the vowel
space in the center of the mouth where the vowel sounds are
articulated:
Close, Mid and Open refer to the distance between the
tongue and the roof of the mouth.
Front, Center and Back and their corresponding vertical lines
refer to the part of the tongue.
Illustrations can be found in Appendix C.

However it is important to mention the distinction between single


vowels, as explained above and multi vowel sounds which are
also called diphthongs.
Diphthongs are gliding vowels, where two adjacent vowel sounds
occur within the same syllables. Diphthongs often form when
separate vowels are run together in rapid speech during a
conversation. A graphical representation of diphthongs in English
can be seen in Appendix C.
1.3. Phonemic Awareness

Although there are twenty-six letters in the English language,


there are forty-four phonemes. These phonemes are represented
in two hundred and fifty different spellings (like the phoneme /f/
can be spelled ph, f, gh and ff).
Smith et al. (1998) mention that the ability to hear and
manipulate phonemes plays a casual role in the acquisition of
beginning reading, listening and speaking skills. Phonemic
awareness requires learners to notice how letters represent
sound, especially in a second language context, when the
learners already come from a well grounded phonemic system in

their first language, which they tend to refer to in vague


situations related to pronunciation.

2.

Typical Learners Problems and Their

Solutions
Many learners express difficulties when acquiring English
pronunciation, especially on the phonemic level, as research
highlights that lack of phonemic awareness can lead to reading
difficulties and unintelligible verbal production (Smith et al. 1998).
Phonemic awareness is also an important factor in developing
learners oral fluency in English (Kenworthy, 1987). In addition
Jannuzi (1998) suggested that second language students:
"must: (1) learn and / or acquire an adequate
interlanguage phonology that compensates for the lack
of native competence and THEN learn and/or acquire
the phonemic awareness... Indeed, it could be logically
concluded that effective phonemic awareness training
cannot precede the development of a sufficient,
internalized interlanguage phonology" (p. 8).

2.1. First Language Influence


It is evident that transfer occurs with second language learners
even in early stages of second language acquisition.

Pronunciation in English is based on sounds, not spelling. This can


prove difficult for learners whose first language is Arabic, as it is a
language with a direct letter sound relation. Some sounds in
English (v for example for Arabic learners and r for Japanese
learners) do not exist in other languages. Errors in these areas
can make it difficult to be understood by native English speakers.
To overcome this issue, it is important to raise phonemic
awareness among learners and work on substituting the
phonemes that do not exist in their first language and extensively
drill them so that the learner can have a good chance to practice
and listen at the same time.

2.2. Cognates
Cognates, also known as false friends, can also present a
challenge for learners of English, as they tend to pronounce them
the same way as they do in their first language. This issue, if not
dealt with as early as possible, can lead to fossilization of such
cognates and would result in sometimes unintelligible words that
would impede fluency of the learners.
To overcome this issue, the teacher has to be very sensitive to the
issue of cognates and act on that as soon as possible, during any

lessons, teachers can use a reactive approach to teaching


pronunciation and allow a few minutes to drill and practice these
cognates with the proper pronunciation in English.

3.

Conclusion

Throughout this essay, the issue of teaching phonemes to second


language learners of English has been investigated. Raising
phonemic awareness among higher level learners is a crucial
component in oral fluency and reading fluency. Learners would
benefit greatly if the teacher can provide them with constructive
practice on areas in pronunciation where they might experience
issues, or have pertaining influence from their first language.
Unfortunately, teaching pronunciation is an unexplored area in
the classroom, and that directly results in graduating learners
with high written fluency and great proficiency in grammar and
lexis. On the other hand, we find that these same learners might
produce unintelligible speech segments, which is directly linked to
the lack of practice that was available in the classroom when they
were still learning.

It is highly recommended that teachers themselves work on


researching any pronunciation issues that they might encounter
with their learners in class and work on exploring them in class,
even if the focus of the class is not dedicated to pronunciation. A
few minutes would be sufficient for drilling the learners issues
and providing mini production and recognition tasks to
consolidate that the learners have noticed their errors in
pronunciation, and can avoid it in the future.

Appendix A

Adopted from Kelly, G. (2000). How to Teach Pronunciation.


Harlow: Pearson

Appendix B

Adopted from Kelly, G. (2000). How to Teach Pronunciation.


Harlow: Pearson

Appendix C

Adopted from Roach, P. (2004). British English: Received


Pronunciation. Journal of the International Phonetic Association,
34(02), 239-245.

Bibliography
Jannuzi, C. (1998). Key concepts in FL literacy: Phonemic
awareness. Literacy Across Cultures, 3(1), 7-12.
Kelly, G. (2000). How to Teach Pronunciation. Harlow: Pearson
Kenworthy, J. (1987). Teaching English pronunciation (Vol. 11).
New York: Longman.
Roach, P. (2004). British English: Received Pronunciation. Journal
of the International Phonetic Association, 34(02), 239-245.
Roach, P. (2010). English Phonetics and Phonology Fourth Edition:
A Practical Course. Ernst Klett Sprachen.
Smith S. B., Simmons, D. C., & Kame'enui, E. J. (1998).
Phonological awareness: Instructional and curricular basics
and implications. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Underhill, A. (1994). Sound foundations: Living phonology.
Heinemann.

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