2. Hello again, and welcome toACC4300-6:Pronunciation .
As working ESL teachers we are tasked with teaching the pronunciation of the
English language in the classroom. In ourACC TESOL teacher training courses we
simplify the task of pronunciation by focusing on the way in which sounds of
spoken words are produced. In this sixth learning module lecture of a series of eight
learning modules called “An introduction to ESL teaching in China and Korea”, our
particular focus is on how we use phonemes to teach the pronunciation of the English
language in the ESL classroom.
Although several languages are compiled with the twenty six letters of the Roman
alphabet, the actual sounds of each letter (phones) are not adequate to reflect the
sounds of those languages, as is the case with the sounds required in the
pronunciation of the English language. The idea of creating a phonetic alphabet to
cover the entire sonic range of the languages that use the Roman alphabet was first
proposed by Otto Jespersen (1860–1943) in 18661
, and the first version of the
phonetic alphabet with forty four phonemic symbols was first published in18881
,
using as many of the Roman alphabet symbols as possible as they were already
familiar sounds. Once mastered, the sounds reproduced from the IPAsymbols on the
Phonemic chart will produce the correct pronunciation of all words found in the
English language.
3. To be able teach English language pronunciation with the IPA, ESL teachers need to
fully understand how different combinations of the positions of the face muscles, the
mouth, the lips, the jaw, the tongue, the teeth, the alveolic ridge, soft and hard pallet,
the reach of the throat back to the epiglottis, the vocal chords, breath and the nose
contribute to each transmitted sound, There is no better teaching tool for
pronunciation than the Phonemic chart, (See, “Guided tour of the chart”,video by
Adrian Underhill, on found under the 'app' heading “Instructions” in the iPad
phoneme application, 'æ', published by Macmilian,)
In allACC TESOL teacher training courses we ensure English language
pronunciation studies include three key areas:
Articulation: the physical attributes of the face muscles, mouth and jaw when
forming sounds.;
Transmission: The physical properties of sounds as they travel from the mouth
to the ear
Reception: how the ear and the brain receive and respond to sound.
N.B. For ESL teachers who own an iPad, or an iPhone, there are two excellent
applications available for “The phoneme chart”, at Apple iTunes. One published by
the British Council, the other by Macmilian Publishing.
4. Once registered with the British Council (BC) ESL teachers can also download a
printable version of the phoneme chart from the BC web site, useful for display
alongside the classroom chalk board during lesson times. Carrying a printable .PDF
copy of the phoneme chart on a USB to make A3 printouts for each classroom wall is
not a bad idea. Laminated copies of the phoneme chart, posted in each classroom to
be visited in the school, creates the impression of a well organised ESL teacher.
What is actually on the BC classroom version of the phoneme chart?
The BC phoneme chart displays IPAcharacters for phonemes that represent, (1) the
short vowel sounds (monophthongs), these are represented by single IPAsymbols,
e.g. I; Ʊ, etc., (2) the long vowel sounds, accompanied by a colon (:), e.g. I:; U:, etc..
(3) Couples of pure vowel sounds (diphthongs) e.g. IƏ; ƏI, and (4) the sounds for the
consonants, some of which have special coupled symbols for certain hard and soft
sounds, e.g. ʤ; ŋ; đ; θ; ʃ; ʤ; Ʒ; ʧ. Diacritics and other symbols that describe any
variations from normal phonetic pronunciation are not included in this lecture.
Phoneme key for above examples:
Short vowels
I as in sit
Ʊ as in good
Long vowels
I: as in see
U: as in two
Hard and soft sounds in consonants are
5. ʤ as in general
ŋ as in hang
đ as in that
θ as in thin
ʃ as in ship
Ʒ as in measure
ʧ as in chin
Aversion of the IPAPhonemic Chart
short vowels
as in pit
e as in wet
æ as in cat
Ʌ as in. run
long vowels
I: as in see
ɑ: as in arm
ɔ: as in saw
u: as in too
Ʒ: as in her (UK)
Ʒ-:as in bird (US)
ɚ as in mother (US)
eə as in hair (UK)
υə as in poor (UK)
diphthongs
e as in day
a as in my
ɔ as in boy
əυ
oυ
aυ
as in low (UK)
as in low (US)
as in how
ɒ
υ
ə
i
as in hot (UK)
as in put -
as in ago
as in cosy
ə as in near (UK)
u as in influence
a ə as in fire
aυə as in sour
Consonant sounds
b as in bee
d as in do
f as in fat
g as in go
h as in hat
j as in yet
k as in key
l as in led
m as in map
modified from CambridgeAdvanced Learner's Dictionary
n as in nose
p as in pen
r as in red
d as in general
ŋ as in hang
e as in that
θ as in thin
ʃ as in ship
Ʒ as in measure
tʃ as in chin
s
t
t
v
as in sun
as in ten
as in better (US)
as in vat
w as in wet
z as in zip
Stress
Stress patterns show which parts of a spoken word should emphasised when the word
is spoken. Stress marks are placed in front of the part of the word that should be
emphasised. For example, in the word picture /1
pIk.tʃer/ emphasise is placed on the
first part, and in the word deny dInaiI/ emphasis is placed on the second part, e.g //
6. (the secondary stress symbol)
This symbol shows that it is the second part of the word that has the most important
emphasis. This is important when pronouncing a long word with three or
more syllables. For example, in the word submarine /sb.məri n/ the main
emphasis is on the last part of the word but there should also be a slight emphasis
on the first part of the word as well.
Syllables
Pronunciations marks show how many syllables a word has. The syllable mark is like
a full stop. It comes before each new syllable, e.g. in the word standard /stn.dəd/ the
syllable mark shows you that the word has two syllables. If stress marks are shown in
a word, they also show when a new syllables starts. So in a word like banana
/bənɑ.nə/ the stress mark and syllable mark show that there are three syllables in the
word.
Other symbols used in the pronunciations /ə/ this shows that the /ə/ as in sudden
/sdən/ can be pronounced or not pronounced /r/ this shows that the /r/ as in the word
teacher /ti tʃər/ is pronounced in UK English when followed by a vowel sound, but
not when followed by a consonant sound. In US English it is always pronounced.
Modified from CambridgeAdvanced Learner's Dictionary
Well that ends introductory ACC 4300-6 Learning unit: pronunciation, I hope you
7. enjoyed it, so bye for now, and I'll see you in the next learning moduleACC 4300-7
learning unit: Language teaching materials and resources.
N.B
If there are two possible pronunciations they are shown as separated by a comma.
Appendix:
Some modified pronunciation notes from the study pages of the
1. British andAmerican pronunciation
In the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary, where only one pronunciation for a word is
shown, it is accepted in both British andAmerican English. If a there is a difference
in the pronunciation of a word then, the British pronunciation is shown first,
followed by theAmerican pronunciation after the symbol U. Only the part of the
American English pronunciation which is different is shown, like this: storehouse
/stɔ.haυs/ U/stɔr-/
Bibliography
1. MasteringAdvanced English Language, Thorne, S., Palgrave Master Series,
1997
2. CambridgeAdvanced Learner's Dictionary (2004) CD edition, Cambridge
Press.
