Phonetics and Phonology: A Focus on American English Sounds for Brazilian Learners
Phonetics & Phonology
John Corbett: USP-CAPES International Fellow
Session 14: Review and roundup
Course topics
revisited
Segmentals: Consonants of English
Segmentals: Vowels of English
Suprasegmentals: Elision, assimilation, stress & rhythm, weak
forms
Contrastive linguistics: English versus Portuguese
Teaching pronunciation: Games and drama activities
English as a lingua franca: the lingua franca core
Today’s
session
An overview of a pronunciation textbook for Brazilians
Samples of learning activities
Your thoughts?
From the
Preface (p.7)
The
emphasis
is in the
original text.
The body of the text focuses on the sounds of American English
(vowels and consonants), and this variety was chosen as it is most
commonly the one Brazilian students are interested in learning.
[…]
Brazilians in general have good pronunciation
when learning
a foreign language. However, according to our personality and
characteristics, we want to go
beyond intelligibility
, as most
people want to sound as native-like as possible. This book provides
enough practice
in foreign accent reduction
, introducing
students to the pronunciation of English in North America as it is
spoken by educated native speakers in fluent speech.
Unit 4 – final /l/
Does Portuguese have a final /l/? Do Brazilians in general
pronounce it? What happens in English?
How do you pronounce these words?
we
ll
tab
l
e
cold
rea
l
simp
l
e
fa
l
se
Did your tongue touch the area just behind your upper front teeth
every time you pronounce /l/? Were your lips rounded?
Unit 4 – final /l/
Exercise: Repeat these words looking at your teacher’s mouth or
at yourself in the mirror. Be careful not to round your lips.
ki
ll
– ca
ll
– Brazi
l
– te
ll
possib
l
e – bicyc
l
e – jung
l
e – unc
l
e
she
l
f – mi
l
k – twe
l
ve - o
l
d
Exercise: Repeat these phrases after the model:
a
ll
possib
l
e – sma
ll
bicyc
l
e – in the midd
l
e of the tab
l
e
in a litt
l
e whi
l
e – he
l
p o
l
d peop
l
e – doub
l
e troub
l
e
who
l
e artic
l
e – fi
ll
the bott
l
e – ki
ll
a bu
ll
Unit 4 – final /l/
Exercise: Repeat the linking sounds. [Note that the /l/ sound is
transferred to the beginning of the final word, eg
Bra-zi-
liz
.]
Brazi
l is
peop
le are
beautifu
l attractions
trave
l on
amp
le environment
wi
ll enjoy
carefu
l about
wi
ll always
Unit 4 – final /l/
Exercise: Listen to the recording and circle the words you hear.
A or B?
1.
The woman
sewed/sold
the old clothes.
2.
John put the
bow/bowl
on the table.
3.
I like the
coat/colt
.
4.
Get the first
row/role
.
5.
Do you have a
code/cold
?
Work in pairs. Student A reads out a sentence choosing one of the
words , and Student B has to identify which word was used,
A or B
.
Unit 4 – final /l/
Exercise: Match the transcriptions with the definitions
1.
/
sku:l
/
a. the place where you go when you are sick
2.
/
´dʒu:əl
/
b. complete
3.
/
t
ʃ
a
ɪ
l
d
/
c
.
y
o
u
u
s
e
i
t
t
o
s
e
w
4.
/
’
l
ɔ
ɪ
ə
l
/
d
.
n
o
t
b
i
g
5.
/
smɔl
/
e. a precious stone
6.
/
’
n
i
:
d
l̩
/
f
.
t
h
e
p
l
a
c
e
w
h
e
r
e
y
o
u
s
t
u
d
y
7.
/
’
h
ɑ
s
p
ɪ
t
l̩
/
g
.
n
o
t
a
n
a
d
u
l
t
8.
/
h
o
ʊ
l
/
h
.
u
s
e
d
t
o
d
e
s
c
r
i
b
e
a
d
o
g
Unit 4 – final /l/
Fun time. Do you know this famous Abraham Lincoln quote? In
pairs, fill in the blanks with the words in the box. The first pair to
complete the quote correctly gets 10 points! Each word
pronounced correctly is worth 2 points. Good luck!
fool – people - all
“ You can ___ ___ the ___ some of the time,
and some of the ___ ___ of the time,
but you cannot ___ ___ the ___ ____ of the time.”
How was it for
you?
Final, unvocalised /l/ is NOTpart of the lingua franca core.
How important is it to teach?
Is it worth spending classroom time teaching this feature?
Would you do it?
Part C, Unit 2
/ɛ/ as in <get>
/æ/ as in <cat>
Think about it.
Discuss these questions
.
Do you pronounce man and men in the same way?
Do you think Brazilians have problems differentiating these
sounds? Why (not)?
How is the sound /æ/ as in
cat
usually spelled?
Pronounce /ɛ/ as in
get
and /
æ
/ as in
cat
. Now pronounce
é
in
Portuguese. Pay attention to how much you open your mouth to
pronounce these three sounds. Now place /ɛ/ and /
æ
/ and
é
in this
scale
a)
___ less open
b)
___ in between
c)
___ more open
Part C, Unit 2
/ɛ/ as in <get>
/æ/ as in <cat>
Think about it.
Discuss these questions.
Do you pronounce man and men in the same way?
Do you think Brazilians have problems differentiating these
sounds? Why (not)?
How is the sound /æ/ as in
cat
usually spelled?
Pronounce /ɛ/ as in
get
and /
æ
/ as in
cat
. Now pronounce
é
in
Portuguese. Pay attention to how much you open your mouth to
pronounce these three sounds. Now place /ɛ/ and /
æ
/ and
é
in this
scale
a)
/ɛ/
less open, as in
egg
b)
é
in between, Portuguese
pé
c)
/
æ
/
more open, as in
cat
Part C, Unit 2
/ɛ/ as in <get>
/
æ
/ as in <cat>
Exercise: Work in pairs. Articulate one of the words below silently.
Your friend will have to identify /
æ
/ or /ɛ/ just by looking at your
mouth and saying ´long’ or ‘short’. Note that if you move your
muscles correctly and pay attention to duration, you don’t actually
have to hear the sound to identify it.
Part C, Unit 2
/ɛ/ as in <get>
/æ/ as in <cat>
Work in pairs. Choose one of the possibilities in each question and
ask a classmate. He/She has to listen up and give an appropriate
free response that shows he/she has identified the sound.
Example:
What do you use a
pedal
OR
paddle
for?
To make a bike go. OR To row a boat.
1.
Do you know why he
left/laughed
?
2.
Why do you need a
pen/pan
?
3.
Why did the
man/men
run away?
4.
Who is going to marry
Ellen/Alan
?
5.
Where did you find that wonderful
gem/jam
?
Part C, Unit 2
/ɛ/ as in <get>
/æ/ as in <cat>
Fun time. In groups, complete the chart with words with /ɛ/ and
/æ/.
The first group to finish is the winner!
Month
/ɛ/
Country
/ɛ/
/æ/
/æ/
Animal
/ɛ/
Part of the house /ɛ/
/æ/
/æ/
Food
/ɛ/
Color
/ɛ/
/æ/
/æ/
Object
/ɛ/
Place in town
/ɛ/
/æ/
/æ/
Reflections
The
/æ/
and
/ɛ/
phonemes are contrastive in English but accents
vary a lot, and if you are consistent in your use, then intelligibility
may not be compromised, even if you do not use these vowels in a
‘native-like’ way.
“However, according to our personality and characteristics, we want
to go beyond intelligibility, as most people want to sound as native-
like as possible.”
Do you agree?
Topics in
phonetics
Probable topics...
More IPA transcription practice
Accents of English (NS and NNS)
Recognising and teaching intonation
patterns
???
Please do the course survey!
Have a good recess!!
This session reviews key aspects of phonetics and phonology, specifically focusing on segmentals and suprasegmentals of English, with an emphasis on the pronunciation of American English sounds. The goal is to help Brazilian learners improve their pronunciation skills to sound more native-like. Topics covered include contrastive linguistics, pronunciation teaching strategies, and English as a lingua franca. Practical exercises and activities are provided to enhance learning.
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Presentation Transcript
Phonetics & Phonology John Corbett: USP-CAPES International Fellow Session 14: Review and roundup
Segmentals: Consonants of English Segmentals: Vowels of English Suprasegmentals: Elision, assimilation, stress & rhythm, weak forms Coursetopics revisited Contrastive linguistics: Englishversus Portuguese Teaching pronunciation: Games anddrama activities Englishas a linguafranca: the linguafranca core
Anoverview ofa pronunciationtextbookfor Brazilians Samplesoflearningactivities Yourthoughts? Today s session
The body of the text focuses on the sounds of American English (vowels and consonants), and this variety was chosen as it is most commonlytheoneBrazilianstudents are interested inlearning. Fromthe Preface(p.7) [ ] Brazilians in general have good pronunciation when learning a foreign language. However, according to our personality and characteristics, we want to go beyond intelligibility, as most people want to sound as native-like as possible. This book provides enough practice in foreign accent reduction, introducing students to the pronunciation of English in North America as it is spokenby educated nativespeakers influent speech. The emphasis isin the original text.
Does Portuguese havea final /l/? Do Braziliansin general pronounceit? Whathappensin English? Howdo youpronouncethese words? Unit 4 final /l/ well real table simple cold false Didyour tonguetouchthearea just behind your upperfront teeth every time youpronounce/l/? Were your lipsrounded?
Exercise: Repeatthesewordslookingatyour teachers mouthor atyourselfin themirror. Be careful notto round your lips. kill call Brazil tell possible bicycle jungle uncle shelf milk twelve - old Unit 4 final /l/ Exercise: Repeatthesephrasesafter themodel: allpossible smallbicycle in the middle ofthe table in a littlewhile help oldpeople double trouble wholearticle fillthebottle killa bull
Exercise: Repeatthelinkingsounds. [Note that the/l/ soundis transferredtothe beginningofthefinal word, egBra-zi-liz.] Brazilis peopleare Unit 4 final /l/ beautiful attractions travel on ampleenvironment willenjoy careful about willalways
Exercise: Listentothe recording andcirclethe wordsyouhear. A or B? 1. The woman sewed/soldthe oldclothes. 2. John put the bow/bowlonthetable. Unit 4 final /l/ 3. I likethecoat/colt. 4. Get the first row/role. 5. Do you havea code/cold? Workin pairs. Student A reads out a sentencechoosingoneofthe words, andStudent B hastoidentifywhichwordwasused, A or B.
Exercise: Match thetranscriptionswiththe definitions 1. /sku:l/ 2. / d u: l/ 3. /t a ld/ 4. / l l/ 5. /sm l/ 6. / ni:dl / 7. / h sp tl / 8. /ho l/ a. the placewhereyougo whenyouare sick b. complete c. youuse it tosew d. notbig e. a precious stone f. theplacewhere youstudy g. not an adult h. used todescribe a dog Unit 4 final /l/
Fun time. Do youknowthisfamousAbraham Lincoln quote? In pairs, fillin theblanks withthe wordsin the box. The first pairto complete the quote correctly gets 10 points! Eachword pronouncedcorrectly is worth2 points. Goodluck! Unit 4 final /l/ fool people-all Youcan___ ___ the___ some ofthetime, andsome ofthe ___ ___ ofthetime, but youcannot___ ___ the ___ ____ ofthetime.
Final, unvocalised/l/ isNOTpartofthe linguafranca core. Howwasit for you? Howimportantis it toteach? Isit worthspendingclassroomtime teachingthisfeature? Wouldyoudo it?
Thinkaboutit. Discussthesequestions. Do you pronouncemanandmen in the sameway? Do you thinkBrazilianshaveproblemsdifferentiatingthese sounds? Why(not)? Howis thesound/ / as in catusuallyspelled? Pronounce/ / as in get and/ / as in cat. Nowpronounce in Portuguese. Payattentiontohowmuchyouopen your mouth to pronouncethese three sounds. Nowplace/ / and/ / and in this scale PartC, Unit 2 / / as in <get> / / as in <cat> a) ___ less open b) ___ in between c) ___ more open
Think about it. Discuss these questions. Do you pronounce man and men in the same way? Do you think Brazilians have problems differentiating these sounds? Why (not)? How is the sound / / as in cat usually spelled? Pronounce / / as in get and / / as in cat. Now pronounce in Portuguese. Pay attention to how much you open your mouth to pronounce these three sounds. Now place / / and / / and in this scale PartC, Unit 2 / / as in <get> / / as in <cat> a) / / less open, as in egg b) in between, Portuguese p c) / / more open, as in cat
Exercise: Workin pairs. Articulateoneofthewordsbelow silently. Yourfriend willhaveto identify/ / or / / just by lookingatyour mouth andsaying long or short . Note that ifyoumove your muscles correctlyandpayattentiontoduration, youdon t actually havetohearthe soundtoidentify it. PartC, Unit 2 / / as in <get> / / as in <cat> / / (short) / / (long) ten tan pen pan men man said sad bed bad send sand
Work in pairs. Choose one of the possibilities in each question and ask a classmate. He/Shehas to listen up and give an appropriate free response that shows he/she has identified the sound. Example: What do you use a pedal OR paddlefor? To make a bike go. OR To row a boat. Part C, Unit 2 / / as in <get> / / as in <cat> 1. Do you know why he left/laughed? 2. Why do you need a pen/pan? 3. Why did the man/menrun away? 4. Who is going to marry Ellen/Alan? 5. Where did you find that wonderful gem/jam?
Fun time. In groups, complete the chart with words with // and //. The first group to finish is the winner! Month / / Country / / / / / / Part C, Unit 2 / / as in <get> / / as in <cat> Animal / / Part of the house / / / / / / Food / / Color / / / / / / Object / / Place in town / / / / / /
The // and// phonemesare contrastivein Englishbut accents varya lot, andifyouare consistentin your use, thenintelligibility maynotbe compromised, even ifyoudo notuse thesevowelsin a native-like way. However, according to our personality and characteristics, we want to go beyond intelligibility, as most people want to sound as native- like as possible. Reflections Do you agree?
Probable topics... More IPA transcription practice Accentsof English (NS and NNS) Recognising and teaching intonation patterns ??? Topicsin phonetics Please do the course survey! Have a good recess!!
