PHONETICS

Phonetics



Phonetics

Introduction

When talking about pronunciation in language learning we mean the production and perception of the significant sounds of a particular language in order to achieve meaning in contexts of language use. This comprises the production and perception of segmental sounds, of stressed and unstressed syllables, and of the 'speech melody', or intonation. Also, the way we sound influenced greatly by factors such as voice quality, speech rate and overall loudness.

Pronunciation plays a vital role in both our personal and our social lives: as individuals, we project our identity through the way we speak, also indicate our membership of particular communities. At the same time, and sometimes also in conflict with this identity function, our pronunciation is responsible for intelligibility: whether or not we can convey our meaning. The significance of success in L2 (second language) pronunciation learning is therefore, far-reaching, complicated by the fact that many aspects of pronunciation happen subconsciously and so are not readily accessible to conscious analysis and intervention.

All this may explain why teachers often regard pronunciation as overly difficult, technical or plain mysterious, while at the same time recognizing its importance. The consequent feeling of unease can, however, is dispelled relatively easily once a basic understanding has been achieved.

Phonological Analysis

Although sometimes referred to as the 'Cinderella' of foreign language teaching, pronunciation actually stood at the very beginning of language teaching methodology as a principled, theoretically-founded discipline, originating with the late-nineteenth-century Reform Movement. Closely connected with this movement was the founding of the International Phonetic Association (IPA) and the development of the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is still the universally agreed transcription system for the accurate representation of the sounds of any language. In the IPA's declaration of principles of L2 teaching, which can be seen as marking the beginning of the modern era, the spoken language is held to be primary, and training in phonetics is important for both teachers and learners (Ferris 2003, 9-169).

The legacy of the Reform Movement can be discerned in approaches that developed in the past: between roughly the 1930s and 1960s pronunciation had high priority in both audio-lingualism in the United States and the oral approach and situational language teaching in the United Kingdom, which introduced the spoken before the written language and aimed at the formation of 'good pronunciation habits' through drills and dialogues (Clark, Yallop & Fletcher 2007, 25-256).

Phonetic Alphabet for Keyboards

This Phonetic Alphabet will help the EFLs in improving the pronunciation as well as their accent.

Research on Second-Language Writers and Their Texts

It is important to note that the texts of second-language writers can vary greatly from one writer to the next. Language proficiency levels, writing expertise in first language, and the kinds of writing tasks (contexts, genres, etc.) all greatly influence the texts that second-language writers produce. As the CCCC Statement of Second Language Writers and Writing states, most second-language writers are still in the process of acquiring syntactic and lexical competence—a process that will take a lifetime. These differences are often a matter of degree, and not ...