Task 1: individual activity

Based on the first document “The phoneme: the same but different” by McMahon, A, develop
questions one and two from page 21.

A learner of English as a second language has the following pronunciations (note that [ʃ]
is the symbol for the first sound in ship, and [ð] for the first sound in the:

that [dat]
dog [dɒg]
head [hεd]
leather [lεðə]
leader [li‫׃‬ðə]
sing [ʃIŋ]
sat [sat]
loss [lɒs]
fish [fIʃ]
miss [mIʃ]
push [pus]

How might you explain these non-native pronunciations? How do you think this learner
would pronounce the bold-faced consonants in Daddy, either,loathe;ship,pass,dish,usher?

According to the IPA, each vowel or consonant has their own pronunciation, the mouth

and tongue movement it´s exceptional for each one. For a person who is studying any
language it is essential to be aware of this phonetics sounds so they will be able to
talk correctly.

Daddy: dædi
Either: i:ðər
Loathe: ləʊð
Ship: ʃɪp
Pass: pɑːs
Dish: dɪʃ
Usher: ʌʃə(r)

2. Do the following sounds contrast in English? Find minimal pairs to support your
hypothesis, ideally for initial, medial and final position in the word. Where minimal pairs
for all positions do not seem to be available, write a short statement of where the sound in
question can and cannot be found.
[m n ŋ p b t d k g l r]

Minimal Pairs [m] [n]

Minimal Initial Final

Might Simmer Sum
Night Sinner Son

Minimal Pairs [p] [b]

Minimal Initial Final

Pie tapped Rope
Buy tabbed Robe

Minimal Pairs [r] [l]

Minimal Initial Final

Rock Grow Steer
Lock Glow Steel

Minimal Pairs [b] [t]

Minimal Initial Final

Ball Babble Cab
Tall Battle Cat

Minimal Pairs [d] [n]

Minimal Initial Final

Deed Tidy Bad
Need Tiny Ban
 Minimal Pairs [p] [t]

Minimal Initial Final

Pie Topper Hip
Tie Totter Hit

Minimal Pairs [d] [l]

Minimal Initial Final

Die Tiding Pad
Lie Tiling Pal

Minimal Pairs [l] [n]

Minimal Initial Final
Line Mild Meal
Nine Mind Mean

From the second document, “Natural Language Processing & Applications Phones and Phonemes”
please answer questions 1 and 2

1. How many phonemes are there in (a) Keith (b) coughs?

/keith/ Has 4 phonemes: k/e/i/th
/Coughs/ Has 5 phonemes: c/o/u/gh/s

What are they in the IPA? In each case try to demonstrate the correctness of your answer by finding
words differing by only one of the phonemes you have identified.

Keith: /Kerθ/ - Eight /eɪt/

Coughs: /kɒf/ - trough /trɒf/
2. You are NOT expected to know the IPA symbols; the table given in the Appendix will be provided if
and when necessary. However it is useful to have some practice in using them. Study the following
phonetic transcription of a verse of Lewis Carroll’s poem The Walrus and the Carpenter. The
transcription corresponds to my ‘careful’ pronunciation. Write down the normal English spelling. If your
pronunciation differs from mine, write down an amended transcription in the IPA.

Original Transcription
[ðәtaɪm hæz kʌm] The time has come
[ðәwɑlɹәs sed] The walrus said
[tu tɑk әv mɛni θɪŋz] To talk of many things
[әv ʃuz ænd ʃɪps] of shoes and ships
[ænd silɪŋwæks] and ceiling wax
[әv ˈkæbәdʒәz ænd kɪŋz] of cabbages and kings
[ænd waɪ ðә si ɪz bϽɪlɪŋ hɑt] and why the sea is boiling hot
[ænd wЗðә pͪɪꞔz hæv wɪŋz] and whether pigs have wings

4. Based on text: “Meaning” chapter 8, pages 50 to 51, in ‘Linguistics Made Easy’ by J. Aitchison answer
the two following questions:
4.1 In chapter 8, we can see some classical phenomena related to ambiguous sentences; please consult in
other references and explain what amphibology is, give one example.

Amphibology is where there is ambiguity in the grammatical structure, often including mis
punctuation.

 King Harold walked and talked, ten minutes after he was dead. (should be King Harold walked
and talked. Ten minutes after, he was dead)
 Medical services here. You won't get better.
 Wanted: chair for a person with a wooden leg.

Reference for point 4.1

Changing Minds(2016) Amphibology. Recuperado de

http://changingminds.org/techniques/language
 4.2 In semantics to identify the meaning of a word, linguists created the notion of ‘semantic field
please, explain what is it? (hint: in your answer the concept of ‘structure’ is important).

They are a group of words that are related to one another be it thru their similar meanings,

or thru a more summary relation.

Examples of semantic Fields

 Chair, table, bed, stools. Come under, heading of furniture

 Brother, sister, uncle, aunt, grandmother. All belong to at least one sematic field of relations.
 All the animals form one semantic field.
 The music gadgets of all kinds make one semantic field.

5. Here is a scenario of a pronunciation lesson gone wrong. The teacher repeatedly demonstrates a pair of
similar sounds (e.g., “rrrr” and “llll”). However, the students still fail to perceive the difference between
the two. The thing is that students have difficulty distinguishing between pairs of sounds when these are
taught in isolation. Pronunciation lessons are infinitely more effective when students are taught to
distinguish between words (e.g., light/right), instead of just individual sounds. Design a mini lesson that
presents the [l] and [ɹ] sounds within the context of minimal pairs. (Option, you can select any other
minimal pairs to design the mini lesson). (Adapted from Gordon T. 2012)

In my lesson I will guide the students on a way to produce those pair of sounds individually, and

then display minimum pairs to teach them how to distinguish one from other.

Class planner
This didactic planning unit is programmed for one session with a block of 70 minutes. Covering listening
and Speaking.

Signature: Phonemes Professor: carolina Acevedo

Topic: How to say /l/ and /r/

Dimension:
- cognitive

Vocabulary:
 Hear /l/ and /r/
 Name that sound
 Hear that sound and reply
  Practice saying minimal pairs
 Reverse the sound
Abilities:
- Identify
- Express
- Relate

Objetives:
This lesson can be helpful to students who are having difficulty pronouncing /l/ and or /r/ or differentiating among
them.
Resources: Print Material
Lesson: L vs R/Frog on rock Frog on rock.jpg
Lesson: L vs R/Lock and key Lock and keys.jpg
Video: English Pronunciation - R & L
Game: fabulous, fancy game to practice tricky sounds: /l/ and /r/

Stage Learning Activities Time

Introduction for students
60 MIN
 We will focus on the difference between /l/ and /r/
 Students will learn to hear the difference 5min
 This will help them learn to pronounce these sounds clearly
and distinctly
 This lesson trains their ears so that they can use their ears to
train their voices themselves
What’s the sound Activity Students repeat some minimal pairs after you to try /l/ and /r/ out on 15 Min
/l/ and /r/ their ears and tongues:
Initial Position
 lock rock
 lamp ramp
 light right
 lent rent
 lies rise
 load road
 lack rack
 loot root
Medial Position
 flog frog
 plowed proud
 climb crime
 gloom groom
 bloom broom
 elect erect
 gold gourd
 bowling boring
 hold hoard
Final position
 dial dire
 tool tour
 pole pour
 deal dear
 real rear
 heal here
 We will use an illustration of the oral cavity to help pointing out the
following details, while we ask and discuss the following questions 20min
with the students:
How to say /l/ and /r/
 Does the tip of your tongue touch your gum ridge when you
pronounce /l/ in "lock"?
 Does the tip of your tongue touch the back of your front teeth
when you pronounce /l/ in "lock"?
 Does the tip of your tongue touch your gum ridge when
pronouncing /r/ in "rock"?
 Do you raise the tip of your tongue and curl it back without
letting it touch the top of your mouth when you pronounce /r/
in "rock"?
Hear /l/ and /r/ This activity is called Tell me which sound you hear. We guide the
Name that sound students through a list from words, we encourage the class to read 10 min
loud the words and then say "L" when you hear /l/. Say "R" when you
hear /r/.

lock ("L"); rock ("R")

lent ("L"); rent ("R")
tour ("R"); tool ("L")
lamp ("L"); lamp ("L")
 lies ("L"); rise ("R")
leak ("L");  reek ("R")
 near ("R"); kneel ("L")
peel ("L"); peer ("R")
 road ("R"); load ("L")
 light ("L");  right ("R")
ramp ("R"); ramp ("R")
 Say /l/ and /r/ During this activity students repeat after the teacher. We are going to 10min
Practice saying minimal cue them two words at a time, in minimal pairs.
pairs We will develop this activity by call individual random students.

T
We will ask the student to repeat after us:
 lack rack
 lamp ramp
 lent rent
 lies rise
 light right
 liver river
 load road
 lock rock
 long wrong
 loot root
 row low
 bloom broom
 climb crime
 gloom groom
 flog frog
 plowed proud

Then we will follow with these words that are not minimal pairs
because the vowel is changed due to the R.

T
We will ask the student to repeat after us:
 gold gourd
 bowling boring
 hold hoard
 tool tour
 pole pour
 deal dear
 real rear
 heal here
Reverse the sound This final activity is an Opposite drill — mixed recognition and 10 min
production

 We will encourage the students to repeat after us, the idea is
that when I say "rock," you say "lock", and when I say "lock," you
say "rock."

Teacher Students
rock lock

lock rock

ramp lamp

lent rent

right light

load road

rack lack

boring bowling

plowed proud

bloom broom

hoard hold

bold board

dear deal

leer real