WAJ3102 English Language Proficiency 1

TOPIC 5

English Sound System: Pronunciation, Enunciation, Stress and Intonation

This topic intends to assist course participants tobe aware of the English sound syste with e phasis on special features of English pronunciation such as long!short "owels# final consonants# consonant clusters# diphthongs and triphthongs$ Learning Outcomes Listen critically to "arious sounds and respond appropriately %pea& fluently#correctly and confidently for a "ariety of purposes Features of Pronunciation Phone es

Content

'onsonants %ingle "owels

(owels

(oiced

(oiceless

)iphthongs Triphthongs

%hort

Long

%upraseg ental *eature

+ntonation

%tress

,ising

*alling

Word

%entence

WAJ3102 English Language Proficiency 1

Phonology Phonology is the study of the sound syste %tudy the two charts below-

of a language$

lower lip

Fig. $: %peech &rgans

Fig. 2: Chart of the consonants used in English (R.P.), showing degree of voicing, place and manner of articulation. otice that the s!m"ols for voiceless sounds are alwa!s placed on the left side of the "o# and voiced sounds on the right.

./ogle# 10012

WAJ3102 English Language Proficiency 1

Why teach ronunciation! i$ English is not pronounced as it is written$ ii$ (owels and 'onsonants can often be pronounced in different ways$ iii$ +ncorrect pronunciation is one of the ain reasons for brea&down in co unication$ i"$ Pronunciation helps students to be ore confident when they spea&$ Task: List other reasons why pronunciation is taught $ Phone es are the different sounds within a language$ +n English# they co prise of two categoriesi$ "owels 3 all "owel sounds are "oiced 3 ay be single4 there are fi"e long "owel sounds4 and / i: / / u:/ / ! ! ! ! - ! se"en short "owel sounds ! ! ! u ! /5! /! /e! ! 6 ! /! 3 ay be a co bination of two "owels .diphthong24 there are eight diphthongs !e! !a! !!!6!!a! !e6! !6! !6! ay be a co bination of three "owels (triphthong) Three ost co on three triphthongs !a6! fire # riot !a6! power# shower !6! e ployer# foyer can be either "oiced or "oiceless .*igure 22

ii$

consonants 3

E"ercise # Transcribe the phone ic sy bols into orthography$ ,ead the words aloud$ b7ut6f.62l l" e&s6.r2sa: feb.62l &l68 l59wd p6tri fla6.r2 bs&t et6f6.r2 p6 da6r5 p&n& snt ;i &5lnd6.r2

WAJ3102 English Language Proficiency 1

n; ;& ed6.r2

;t fre: ntr6st

t6 r6 f:& &ns6.r2t

; 9 6dest& h5ns.62

E"ercise $ Transcribe these words other pencil island police teacher table correct stop

Su rasegmental Features Intonation is the way your "oice goes up and down in speech# or it is the usical sound of a language$ +t also e<presses gra atical eaning# e otions# attitudes = reactions$ There are two types of +ntonationi$ *alling intonation acco panies positi"e state ents or is at the end of declarati"e sentences usually signals confidence and authority is used to gain attention# to a&e state ents or to answer# in co ands and in so e types of >uestions in >uestions the spea&er e<pects an e<planation or agree ent in three >uestion types?uestion type 1 - Wh3>uestions .%ee&ing infor ation2 ?uestion type 2- Tag >uestions .%ee&ing agree ent2 ?uestion type 3- 'hoice ?uestions .%ee&ing between choices2 ii$ ,ising +ntonation Acco panies state ents e<pressing doubt# yes or no >uestions +ndicates uncertainty and so eti es politeness

WAJ3102 English Language Proficiency 1

+n three >uestion types?uestion Type 1- @es!Ao >uestions ?uestion Type 2- Echo >uestions .re>uest for repetition2 ?uestion Type 3- +nfor ational tag >uestion .see&ing for assurance ! infor ation2

Practice 1'onstruct two >uestions for each of the >uestion type under falling intonation and then practise the with a partner$ Practice 2'onstruct two >uestions for each of the >uestion type under rising intonation and then practise the with a partner$ Stress Two &inds of stress1$ word stress 2$ sentence stress A word stress stresses on certain syllables signalling their i$ %tress on first syllablerule Bost 23syllable nouns P,E%ent# ECport# 'D+na# Bost 23syllable ad7ecti"es P,E%ent# LE"ely# 'LE(er ii$ %tress on last syllable Bost 23syllable "erbs to pre%EAT to e<PE,T to de'+)E %tress on penulti ate syllable .penulti ate F second fro Words ending in %ic G,APDic# geoG,APDic# geoLEGic Words ending in %sion and %tion tele(+sion# re"eLAtion end2 eaning

iii$

i"$

'o pound words .words with two parts2 *or co pound nouns# the stress is on the first part /LA'Hbird# G,EEAhouse *or co pound ad&ecti'es# the stress is on the second part bad3TEBpered# old3*A%Dioned *or co pound 'er(s# the stress is on the second part to under%TAA)# to o"er*LEW

WAJ3102 English Language Proficiency 1

%entence %tress %entence stress is what gi"es English itsrhyth or IbeatI$ +t is accent on certainwords within a sentence$ Bost sentences ha"e two types of word content words structure words 'ontent words are the &ey words of a sentence$ They are the i portant words that carry the eaning or sense$/asically# stress words are considered 'EATEAT WE,)% such as3 nouns e$g$ pantry# %usan4 3 . ost2 principal "erbs e$g$prepare# tra"el4 3 ad7ecti"es e$g$ handso e# fantastic 3 ad"erbs e$g$ usually# carefully Aon3stressed words are considered *JA'T+EA WE,)% such as3 deter iners e$g$ the# a# so e# a few 3 au<iliary! odal "erbs e$g$ is# a # can# were 3 prepositions e$g$ behind# under# against 3 con7unctions e$g$ but# or# and 3 pronouns e$g$ they# she# us +f structure words are re o"ed fro a sentence# the sentence can still be probably understood$ Dowe"er# if the content words are re o"ed fro a sentence# the sentence ay not be understood$ The sentence has no sense or eaning$ *or e<a ple %ELL 'A, GEAE*,AA'E %ELL y 'A,+K"e GEAEto*,AA'E Willyou%ELL y'A,because+L"eGEAEto*,AA'EM Aot all words in a sentence are stressed$ +t is i portant to &now which word to stress$ When wrong words are stressed# speech can be difficult$ *or e<a ple Where do you prefer to go on holidayM The content words areWDE,E P,E*E, GE DEL+)A@ E<ercise 1 Loo& at these sentences$ Which words do you thin& are stressedM 1$ +Lll type the letters and send the to her$ 2$ *ati ah will call hi later$ 3$ +f +Ld &nown she was a "egetarian# +Ld ha"e prepared so ething special for her$ N$ The parcel should arri"e by %aturday$ O$ + lo"ed the eal but it was a bit costly$ 1$ @ouLd better ta&e an u brella$ +t loo&s li&e itLs going to rain$

WAJ3102 English Language Proficiency 1

)i(liogra hy /as&aran# L$ B$ .200O2$ A linguistic primer for Malaysians $ Huala Lu purJni"ersity Balaya Press$ /ogle# )$ .10012$ Practical phonology$ Edinburgh- Boray Douse +nstitute of Education$ Helly# G$ .20002$ How to teach pronunciation$ Esse<- Pearson Education Li ited$ Bar&s# J$ (2 !)" #nglish pronunciation in use$ 'a bridge- 'a bridge Jni"ersity Press$