EN 1107: Practical Phonology I
Sounds of English: consonants, vowels, diphthongs
· Focus: Be familiar
with different sounds of English
· Types of tasks:
English has 24 consonants, 12 vowels, and 8 diphthongs. Practice writing them
in phonetic script giving examples. Practice producing them.
Received pronunciation: standard English
· Introduction to
RP.
· Why study RP? It will
help a student to realize what sounds he uses when he speaks. We also need to
recognize that there must be some model for listeners and speakers to work
towards. RP is easily understood in many countries.
Standard Sri Lankan pronunciation and pronunciation
problems of Sri Lankan speakers
· What is standard
Sri Lankan English? (Discussion)
· Pronunciation
problems and the reasons
- Absence of particular vowel and consonant sounds
- Consonant clusters: school, street etc.
- Changing of meaning / word class according to
stress
- Intonation patterns
Pronunciation exercises: reduced and full forms
· Focus: Function
words (articles, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions) which serve to express
grammatical relationship in a sentence, can have a full vowel sound or a
reduced form according to the context.
· Types of
activities:
- The words underlined have the sound, but they have
a full vowel sound when they come at the end of the sentence. Practice saying
them.
e.g.
Is it for you?
What’s it for?
I’ve bought some bread. Can I have some?
- Complete the sentences with given words. Mark the
words that have the sound
Pronunciation practice: Initial and final clusters
· Write words with
initial and final clusters and practice them.
e.g. schools,
tricks, bricks
