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Introduction and Basic Concepts of English Phonetics:

1.1 Phonetics and Phonology; Sounds, Phonemes and Allophones; Minimal pairs; Accents and
Dialects.
1.2 Vowels and Consonants; Speech Organs and the Phonemic Chart.
1.3 Pronunciation: Importance and advice; Phonemic transcription and word stress
1.4 Tools and Resources.
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1. INTRODUCTION AND BASIC CONCEPTS OF ENGLISH PHONETICS.

This unit introduces what English phonetics is about, together with its relevance to
communicate and learn the language properly. Let’s begin by getting familiar with some basic
but important concepts:

• Letters and sounds. Letters are the written symbols of the alphabet; they are used to
spell words. In English there are 26 letters but there are many more sounds. This is
how the 26 letters are pronounced:

A [eɪ], B [biː], C [siː], D [diː], E [iː], F [ef], G [dʒiː], H [eɪtʃ], I [aɪ], J [dʒeɪ], K [keɪ], L
[el], M [em], N [en], O [oʊ], P [piː], Q [kjuː], R [ɑr], S [es], T [tiː], U [juː], V [viː], W
[ˈdʌbəl juː], X [eks], Y [waɪ], Z [zed, ziː(AE)].

• Phoneme. The smallest unit of speech sound, a sound that has distinctive meaning; a
fundamental unit of phonological structure: crucial to the idea of the phoneme is the
concept of phonological contrast. We know that certain sounds have meaning
because when we change this phoneme for another there is a change in meaning. The
number, identity and membership of phonemes differ from language to language. In
Standard English there are 44 distinctive sounds or phonemes (for this subject, we will
always use the IPA system: International Phonetic Alphabet). They are written between
slant bars / /. Another phoneme diagram without IPA symbols (there are several
systems, but REMEMBER, this class will only use the IPA).
• Minimal pairs. A pair of words which differ in only one sound, such as English pat and
pot, being this difference in the same environment. Minimal pairs provide a great
means to contrast different phonemes and to distinguish sounds that may confuse
English learners, like the /f/ and /v/ in fan and van, or the /e/ and /ɪ/ in desk and disk.
Some more examples:
Minimal Pairs /ɪ/ and /i:/ as in sit and seat, bin and bean, chip and cheap, his and he’s,
or it and eat.
Minimal Pairs /æ/ and /ʌ/ as in bat and but, batter and butter, cat and cut, match and
much, bad and bud, fan and fun, or ankle and uncle.
Minimal Pairs /b/ and /v/as in berry and very, ban and van, bat and vat, beer and veer,
boat and vote, bet and vet, bolt and volt, bow and vow, curb and curve, or dub and
dove.
Minimal Pairs /n/ and /ŋ/ as in thin and thing, band and banged, hand and hanged, sin
and sing, sun and sung, win and wing, wind and winged, gone and gong, kin and king,
ran and rang, or ton and tongue.
Minimal Pairs /s/ and /ʃ/ as in sea and she, seat and sheet, sock and shock, save and
shave, seal and she’ll, so and show, sofa and chauffeur, sort and short, fist and fished,
saw and shore, sell and shell, sign and shine, sit and shit, or ass and ash.
Another link for minimal pairs
• Homophones (= "same sound"). Words that sound the same but have different
spellings/meanings. For example write, right and rite are homophones in English.
Homophones in one accent of a language are not necessarily homophones in all
accents. In English there are many homophones, and it's important to try to learn and
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understand them. We use homophones all the time, even in everyday speech. They
are also a common source of humour in jokes, and frequently occur in riddles. Some
common examples, among many others:
cubical cubicle hear here
air heir curb kerb him hymn
aisle isle / I´ll currant current hole whole
allowed aloud cymbal symbol hour our
alms arms Czech/check cheque idle idol
ante- anti- daisies dazes in inn
aren´t aunt dam damn knight night
awe ore / or days daze knot not
eye i dear deer know no
bail bale descent dissent made maid
bait bate dew due mail male
bare bear die dye / Di meat meet
bald balled dire dyer morning mourning
ball bawl discreet discrete none nun
base bass doe / doh dough oar or
be bee dollar dolour one won
beach beech draft draught pair pear
bean been dual duel peace piece
beat beet ducked duct plain plane
berry bury earn urn poor pour
billed build elicit illicit pray prey
birth berth elusive illusive principal principle
blew blue ensure insure profit prophet
boar bore ewe / U yew /you real reel
board bored fair fare right/write rite/wright
bold bowled farther father root route
boos booze feat feet sail sale
bough bow few Phew sea see / c
boy buoy find fined seam seem
brake break fir fur sew so
breach breech flair flare shore sure
bread bred flaws floors sole soul
brows browse flea flee some sum
but butt flew / flu flue son sun
buy by / bye flour flower stair stare
cannon canon for / fore four stationary stationery
cast caste formally formerly steal steel
caught court foul fowl suite sweet
cell sell frees/ freeze frieze tail tale
sellar seller friar frier their there
cent/ sent scent gait gate to too
cereal serial gays gaze toe tow
cite / site sight gorilla guerrilla waist waste
coaled cold grate great wait weight
coarse course grays/greys graze way weigh
colonel kernel groan grown weak week
complement compliment guessed guest wear where
council counsel hall haul
coward cowered hangar hanger
creak creek hair hare
crews/cruse cruise heal heel

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• Allophones. Allophones are different realizations of a phoneme in a particular
language. Even though they are different sounds, they DO NOT HAVE THE
CONTRAST that makes them different phonemes. These allophones or variants of a
phoneme are usually written in brackets [ ].
(a) For example, in English, the phoneme /L/ has two allophones, the light [l] and the
dark [ɫ].
(b) Native speakers of a language frequently ignore the difference between these
variants; they often have a hard time perceiving their contrast.
(c) These sounds appear in complementary (or non-overlapping) distribution, so that
the places one shows up, the other never shows up. Example: In English, [l] only
shows up before vowels, and [ɫ] never shows up before vowels.
(d) There are no minimal pairs distinguishing the two sounds. Example: In English it
would be impossible to have two words like [læmp] and [ɫæmp] with different
meanings. Similarly, pronouncing hill [hɪɫ] with a light L like [hɪl] sounds funny but can’t
change the meaning of the word.
(e) It is predictable which of the sounds will be used in a given context. Example: Given
the context [ æmp ], we know that if the phoneme /L/ is used, the pronunciation will be
[læmp], and not [ɫæmp]. Similarly, in the context [ hɪ ], it’s predictable that the
allophone [ɫ] will be used rather than [l].
• Homographs. Words with the same spellings, but with different or more than one
meaning or pronunciations. Those pronounced the same are homonyms (as bear, 1,
‘to carry or to support’ and bear, 2, ‘animal’) and those pronounced differently are
known as heteronyms or heterophones (For example, 1, lead /liːd/, ‘to guide’, and 2,
lead /led/, a type of metal). Some common examples:

o Attribute - (n) /ˈætrɪbjuːt/ a characteristic or quality; (v) /əˈtrɪbjuːt/ to think of as

belonging to or originating in some person, place or thing.
o Axes /ˈæksɪz/- the plural of axe /æks/ (a tool with a blade on a handle), or the plural
of axis /ˈæksɪs/ (an imaginary line about which a body rotates).
o Bass /beɪs/, a deep or low voice, tone or instrument and /bæs/, a kind of fish or
perch.
o Bat /bæt/, a piece of sporting equipment used in baseball, or a winged animal
associated with vampires.
o Bow /baʊ/, to bend at the waist or the front of a boat, and /bəʊ/ or /boʊ/, a pair of
tied loops or a weapon for shooting arrows.
o Compound - (v) /kəmˈpaʊnd/, to mix or combine, and (n) /ˈkɒm.paʊnd/, something
consisting of two or more different parts.
o Content /kənˈtent/, happy or satisfied, and /ˈkɒn.tent/, all that is contained inside
something.
o Contract (n) /ˈkɒntrækt/, an agreement, and (v) /kənˈtrækt/, to get, acquire or incur.
o Coordinate (v) /kəʊˈɔːdɪneɪt/, to bring into proper place or order, and (n)
/kəʊˈɔːdɪnət/, a set of numbers used to calculate position.
o Desert (v) /dɪˈzɜːt/, to leave (also dessert /dɪˈzɜːt/ = the sweet course eaten at the
end of a meal), and (n) /ˈdezət/, a hot, arid region.
o Does (n) /dəʊz/ female deer (plural of doe), and /dʌz/, present, third person singular
form of the verb “to do”.
o Down /daʊn/, (prep.) in a lower position, and (n), soft, furry feathers.
o Entrance (n) /ˈentr(ə)ns/, the place of entry, and (v) /ɪnˈtrɑːns/ or /enˈtrɑːns/, to
bewitch, delight or enrapture.
o Evening /ˈiːv(ə)nɪŋ/, (n), late afternoon, and (v), making or becoming flat or smooth.
o Fine /faɪn/, (adj.), good, sharp, keen, delicate or subtle, and (v) and (n), a sum of
money paid as a penalty to settle a matter.
o Frequent /ˈfriːkw(ə)nt/, (adj.), occurring regularly, and (v) /frɪˈkwent/, to visit a place
with regularity.
o Incense /ˈɪn.sens/, (n), a substance that produces a pleasant odour when burned,
and (v) /ɪnˈsens/, to infuriate or make very angry.
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 o Minute /ˈmɪnɪt/, (n), 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour, and (adj.) /maɪˈnjuːt/ or
/maɪˈnuːt/, extremely small.
o Object /ˈɒbdʒekt/ or /ˈɒbdʒɪkt/, (n), a noun that receives the action of a verb, a thing
you can see or touch, a goal; and (v), /əbˈdʒekt/, to be opposed to.
o Perfume /ˈpɜː.fjuːm/, a liquid with a pleasant smell; and (V), /pəˈfjuːm/ or
/ˈpɜː.fjuːm/, to use a fragrance or to add it to something.
o Proceeds /prəˈsiːdz/, (v), advances or continues on, and (n), /ˈprəʊsiːdz/, the money
or profit gained from some sale or venture.
o Produce /prəˈdjuːs/, (v), to create or make, and (n), /ˈprɒdjuːs/, fresh fruits and
vegetables or the result of a person’s work or effort.
o Project /ˈprɒdʒekt/, (n), a plan or proposal, and (v), /prəˈdʒekt/, to throw or direct
something forwards, to cause a shadow or image on a surface, to stick out etc.
o Number /ˈnʌmbə/, (n), a numeral, (v), to count, (adj.), more numb or asleep.
o Refuse /ˈrefjuːs/, (n), waste or garbage, and (v), /rɪˈfjuːz/, to reject or decline to
accept.
o Row /rəʊ/, (v), to propel a boat forward using oars, and (n), a number of people or
things in a line, but (n) /raʊ/, a fight or quarrel (also v., to have a quarrel).
o Second /ˈsek(ə)nd/, (n), 1/60th of a minute, or ordinal number after the first, and (v),
to support an idea or opinion; but (v), /sɪˈkɒnd/, to transfer someone temporarily to
another position or employment.
o Subject /ˈsʌbdʒekt/ or /ˈsʌbdʒɪkt/, (n), a person or thing that is being discussed,
described, or dealt with, a topic, or the noun in a sentence about which something is
said in the predicate; (adj.), under some authority or control, likely or prone to be
affected by something; but /səbˈdʒekt/, to bring under authority or control.
o Tear /teə/ (v), to pull apart or to rip, and /tɪə/ (n), a drop of water from the eye.
o Wind /wɪnd/, (n), moving air, but (v), /waɪnd/, to turn or cause something to turn.
o Wound /wuːnd/, (n), an injury and (v), to damage some part of the body or to hurt
someone; but /waʊnd/, past simple and past participle of ‘to wind’ /waɪnd/.
• Voicing/ phonation/ voice: Voice, with its very widespread use in everyday language,
does not really have an agreed technical sense in phonetics. When we wish to refer
simply to the vibration of the vocal folds we most frequently use the term voicing (also
known as phonation), but when we are interested in the quality of the resulting sound
we often speak of voice (for example in “voice quality”). In that sense, voice is the
quality of sound produced by the vibration of the vocal cords. In the training of
singers, it is always “the voice” that is said to be trained, though of course many of the
sounds that we produce when speaking (or singing) are actually voiceless.
• Voiced vs voiceless/unvoiced sounds: They are respectively produced with or
without accompanying vocal fold vibration. Vowels, nasals and approximants (i.e.
sonorants) are voiced, though in particular contexts the voicing may be weak or
absent. Sounds such as voiceless fricatives and voiceless plosives are the most
frequently found sounds that do not have voicing. Let’s see the contrast between some
examples of minimal pairs:
VOICELESS /p/ VOICED /b/ reference reverence
pig big figure vigour
simple symbol belief believe
cap cab fairy vary
crap crab fast vast
pace base ferry very
pack back few view
pair bare leaf leave
park bark off of
patch batch proof prove
path bath safe save
pea bee
peach beach
VOICELESS /f/ VOICED /v/
fan van
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 VOICELESS /Ɵ/ VOICED /ð/ price prize
thigh thy race raise
loth loathe sip zip
mouth mouth
wreath wreathe
sheath sheathe VOICELESS /ʃ/ VOICED /ʒ/
sooth soothe Aleutian allusion
teeth teethe Confucian confusion
mesher measure
VOICELESS /t/ VOICED /d/
Asher azure
tear dear
dilution delusion
incite inside
ate aid
bat bad
beet bead VOICELESS /ʧ/ VOICED /ʤ/
beetle beadle batch badge
bet bed chin gin
cart card choice Joyce
cite side choke joke
coat code chunk junk
great grade etch edge
tense dense rich ridge
tide died search surge
ton done
town down
VOICELESS /s/ VOICED /z/ VOICELESS /k/ VOICED /g/
advice advise ankle angle
ass as back bag
bus buzz came game
decease disease cap gap
dice dies card guard
face phase clock clog
false falls clue glue
fuss fuzz coal goal
hence hens coast ghost
hiss his coat goat
lace laze lack lag
loose lose leak league
once ones pick pig
peace peas vicar vigour
place plays

1.1. PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY; SOUNDS, PHONEMES AND ALLOPHONES; MINIMAL

PAIRS; ACCENTS AND DIALECTS.

What is phonetics? Phonetics is the systematic study of speech and the sounds of language.
Traditionally phoneticians rely on careful listening and observation in order to describe speech
sounds. In doing this, a phonetician refers to a classificatory framework for speech sounds
which is based on how they are made and on aspects of the auditory impression they make…
… Phonetics is often defined with respect to phonology. Both disciplines are concerned with
the sound medium of language, and it is not useful to draw a hard and fast line between them.
The centre of gravity of the two fields is, however, different. In general, phonology is
concerned with the sound patterns in a language (and in language in general), and is thus
comparable to areas of linguistics such as syntax and morphology which deal with structural
elements of language at other levels. Phonetics is more centred on the way those structural
elements are "realised" in the world, through movements of the speech organs which create
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 the acoustic signal. Phonetics therefore has important links not only to linguistics but to natural
sciences such as physics and anatomy.
Phonetics has always had applications. Traditionally it has been important for language
teaching, and for speech and language therapy. Nowadays it contributes to speech
technology, and increasingly to forensic science (in cases, for instance, where speaker
identification is at issue). (http://www.baap.ac.uk/phonetics.html)

Accent A variety of pronunciation of a language, for example, Received Pronunciation (RP) or

American English (AE). The term accent is usually confined to differences in pronunciation,
unlike the term dialect, which may refer to syntactic and lexical aspects.

RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION:

Why should anyone want to learn the speech sounds for a British accent that is spoken by less
than 3% of the population of that country? And, Britain itself provides only a minority of the
English-speaking peoples of this world.
The reason is mainly to do with a legacy of history. Throughout the last century and throughout
the early part of this century, Received Pronunciation (RP) was very much the language of the
ruling and educated classes. A vicious circle was then instituted: those who could afford an
education went to the private schools and to university where they learnt RP; the teachers for
the next generation were then drawn from this class of people to teach the next generation of
the ruling elite. Thus, the educators were instructed in RP to teach RP. Therefore, most of the
early phonetics work was carried out by RP speakers using their own accent as the 'standard'
from which all other varieties were measured.
RP does have the advantage of being a regionless accent although many of these speakers
are concentrated in the southeast of England. This is partly to do with its circulation amongst
the educated and elite, but it was also the variety that was exported through the colonies
during the time of the British Empire. Consequently, the ruling elites of many of these countries
also adopted RP as their 'standard'.
One of the problems of RP is that its association with the ruling elite has meant that it is
regarded as being a classist accent. Snobbishness is a characteristic often associated with RP
speakers.
The legacy of history has meant that RP is the closest that British English has towards a
standard variety. It has been subjected to a great deal of academic scrutiny, it is the choice of
many broadcasters and it is an accent that many parents aspire for their children to emulate.
The main advantage of learning and using RP is that it is an accent that all English speakers
can understand, wherever they are in the world. It may have many problems attached to it, but
it is still the most widely understood and respected of the British English varieties.

1.2. VOWELS AND CONSONANTS; SPEECH ORGANS AND THE PHONEMIC CHART.
EPSS (English Pronunciation for Speakers of Spanish) Multimedia Lab
RP phonemes: pronunciation tips (BBC learning English) (1:23:28)
All about phonemes, phonetics and spelling

PURE VOWELS (12)

• Pure vowels are also called simple vowels or monophthongs.
• A vowel is a sound without detectable change in quality from beginning to end.
• It results from changing the shape and the position of the tongue and lips.
• Simple vowels can be compared in terms of duration, tongue position and lip shape:

1. Duration:
- Short vowels (7): ɪ ʊ e ə æ ʌ ɒ
- Long vowels (5): i: u: ɜ: ɔ: ɑ:

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 2. Tongue position:

front centre back

close

half-close
Vertical distance
between the tongue
and hard palate
half-open

open

Part of the tongue which is highest

3. Lip shape:

spread neutrally open open rounding close rounding

Complex vowels or DIPHTHONGS (8)

• There are altogether 8 complex vowels in English, also called diphthongs.

• They have continually moving tongue shape and changing sound quality.
• They are represented by two vowel symbols but counted as one unit.
• The two symbols represent the beginning and the end of the sound quality.
• The jaw, tongue and lips make a gliding movement from the first element of the
diphthong to the second.
• The first part is much stronger than the second part.
• They can be classified as either closing (5) or centering (3):

Vowels Diphthongs
i: ɪ ʊ u: eə aɪ aʊ

sleep sit book boot bear high how

e ə ɜ: ɔ: ɪə eɪ əʊ

ten after bird horse beer say go

æ ʌ ɑ: ɒ ʊə ɔɪ

cat up arm hot fewer boy

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CONSONANTS (24)

• A class of sounds where there is some obstruction to the flow of air.

Consonants

p f t θ tʃ s ʃ k

pen fan tea thin church sea sheep key

b v d ð dʒ z ʒ g

bee eleven day the judge zoo leisure get

h m n ŋ r l w j

hat man now sing rabbit lip was yet

• Consonants are described according to:

1. Manner of articulation (HOW are they produced?)
2. Place of articulation (WHERE does the obstruction take place?)
3. Breath force (Do they require more or less breath force in their production?) and
Voice (Do the vocal cords vibrate or not?)
In these charts, the red consonant symbols are VOICELESS. The rest are
VOICED. Whereas voiceless consonants are fortis, voiced consonants are lenis.

THE PHONEMIC CHART: Interactive, downloadable chart where you can listen to the
English sounds.

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 Here, the consonants in the first line of
the chart are voiceless (without
vibration in the vocal cords) and those
of the second line are their voiced
counterparts:
- Voiceless consonants: /p, f, t, θ, tʃ, s, ʃ,
k/
- Their voiced counterparts: /b, v, d, ð,
dʒ, z, ʒ, g/
All the rest of the consonant phonemes
are voiced too, the same as all the vowel
phonemes and diphthongs.

Another table:

Vowels Keyword Transcribed Consonants Keyword Transcribed

i key ki p pea pi
ɪ pit pɪt b bee bi
e pet pet t toe təʊ
æ pat pæt d doe dəʊ
ɑ hard hɑd k cap kæp
ɒ pot pɒt g get get
ɔ raw rɔ f fat fæt
ʊ put pʊt v vet vet
u coo ku Ɵ thin Ɵɪn
ʌ hut hʌt ð then ðen
ɜ cur kɜ s sack sæk
ə about/mother ə'baʊt/'mʌðə z zoo zu
eɪ bay beɪ ʃ ship ʃɪp
aɪ buy baɪ ʒ measure 'meʒə
ɔɪ boy bɔɪ h hide haɪd
əʊ go gəʊ m man mæn
aʊ cow kaʊ n no nəʊ
ɪə peer pɪə ŋ sing sɪŋ
eə pair peə l lie laɪ
ʊə poor pʊə r red red
j year jɪə
w wet wet
ʧ chin ʧɪn
ʤ judge ʤʌʤ

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ORGANS OF SPEECH

Development of real-time MRI that can be used to image the articulators during speech, 2010.:

Human speech is produced by vocal organs presented below. When speaking, the air flow is
forced through the glottis between the vocal cords and the larynx to the three main cavities of
the vocal tract, the pharynx and the oral and nasal cavities. From the oral and nasal cavities,
the air flow exits through the nose and mouth, respectively. The v-shaped opening between
the vocal cords, called the glottis, is the most important sound source in the vocal system. The
vocal cords may act in several different ways during speech. The most important function is to
modulate the airflow by rapidly opening and closing, causing buzzing sound from which vowels
and voiced consonants are produced. The fundamental frequency of vibration depends on the
mass and tension and is about 110 hz, 200 hz, and 300 hz with men, women, and children,
respectively. With stop consonants, the vocal cords may act suddenly from a completely
closed position, in which they cut the airflow completely, to a totally open position producing a
light cough or a glottal stop. On the other hand, with unvoiced consonants, such as /s/ or /f/,
they may be completely open. An intermediate position may also occur with for example
phonemes like /h/

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 L Lips

T Teeth

Alveolar ridge, convex part of the

TR
mouth, immediately behind the teeth

Hard palate, concave part of the roof

H
of the mouth

S Soft palate in lowered position

Uvula, the loose hanging end of the

U
soft palate

P Pharynx

Blade of the tongue, including the tip,

BL
According to the place of articulation, the part opposite the teeth ridge
consonants are classified into:

• Bilabial Front of the tongue, the part opposite

F
• Labiodental the hard palate
• Dental
• Alveolar
Back of the tongue, the part opposite
• Palato-alveolar B
• Palatal the soft palate
• Velar
• Glottal Epiglottis; this is drawn over the
E
windpipe when swallowing

W Windpipe (trachea)

FP Food passage (esophagus)

V Vocal cords or vocal lips

The upper extremity of the windpipe

Larynx (Adam’s apple) which contains and
protects the vocal cords

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1.3. IMPORTANCE OF PRONUNCIATION AND ADVICE.

The importance of pronunciation teaching

(http://www.profesor.pl/mat/pd6/pd6_m_kot_20060914_1.pdf):

It is common knowledge that many learners ignore pronunciation in language learning.

Unfortunately, a large number of teachers also ignore it. However, the reasons for this
negligence vary greatly.
According to Szynalski and Wójcik (www.antimoon.com), almost all learners of English
claim that they do not need to study pronunciation. Many of them are convinced that it is
simply a waste of time. They just want to communicate in English and, as long as they are
understood, little else matters. It is obvious that the main purpose of teaching and learning any
foreign language is to enable students to communicate in the target language. If this is the
case, the meaning of the word ‘communication’ is worth explaining. In brief, it means to
understand and be understood. A considerable number of learners think that they can
communicate in English because they can converse with their teacher and other students.
However, they err in their thinking. First of all, as Szynalski and Wójcik (www.antimoon.com)
argue, a teacher can understand his students much more easily than an average person
because his ear is used to ‘bad English’. Secondly, other students are often speakers of the
same language, have similar pronunciation patterns and make the same mistakes so it is easy
for them to understand each other. Thirdly, the classroom situation is not ‘real’; it takes place
at school and students generally do not have an opportunity to talk to native speakers. In this
connection, it is beyond doubt that going to a foreign country and talking to ordinary people, is
the best way to practise speaking skills. If they can understand a learner, then he can rightly
say that he is able to communicate in English. Unquestionably, it is a significant achievement.
Unfortunately, numerous teachers are not aware of the importance of pronunciation. In
the first place, they emphasize the role of grammar and vocabulary learning in the acquisition
of a foreign language. The overwhelming majority of English language teachers help students
become competent above all in listening and reading (Harmer, 2001: 183). Secondly, many of
them think that pronunciation study is too difficult and worse, boring for young learners.
Besides, teachers complain about the lack of high quality and suitable teaching and learning
materials and about the lack of time to practise pronunciation. According to Harmer (2001:
183), ‘they feel they have too much to do already and pronunciation teaching will only make
things worse.’ Moreover, Harmer adds (2001: 183) that there are teachers who claim that
students acquire quite good pronunciation in the course of their studies without specific
pronunciation teaching.
However, the acquisition of reasonable pronunciation by some students without any
effort from the side of the teacher depends on a number of factors. Kenworthy (1987: 4-9)
specifies some of them, in particular the phonetic abilities of learners, integrative motivation
and ‘achievement motivation.’ Equally, it appears that the number of students who appreciate
the importance of good pronunciation is limited. Taking these facts into account, teachers
ought to convince their students of the need to study pronunciation rigorously and help them to
learn how to pronounce English sounds correctly. What is more, it is tempting to suggest that
the very first English lesson should deal with pronunciation. If students do not have an
opportunity to practise good pronunciation at the beginning of their learning, they may build
their habits in the wrong way. For this reason, learning words without pronunciation during
beginning lessons is potentially damaging to their overall success.
It is generally recognised that pronunciation is the first and most important thing native
speakers notice during a conversation. Knowing grammar and vocabulary is important but
useless if the speaker is unable to pronounce those structures or words correctly. Additionally,
native speakers are more likely to understand someone, even in spite of grammatical errors, if
this person uses correct pronunciation. When mispronounced, the simplest words will prevent
the speaker from communicating effectively in English.
In order to emphasize the importance of this problem, I would like to present one
anecdote about poor pronunciation. After returning from a vacation in the USA, a friend of
Tom’s said the following (Szynalski-Wójcik, www.antimoon.com), ’Whenever I spoke to a
person in America, they kept asking me “What? What?”. I would repeat my sentence again
and again. Finally, they would say “Ah-ha!” and then say my sentence, using exactly my

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words! It was very humiliating. My words and grammar were good, but nobody would
understand me, just because of my pronunciation. I am very motivated to learn English now.’
This example demonstrates that correct pronunciation guarantees communicative efficiency.
Such experiences emphasize that pronunciation is an integral part of communication. One
may conclude that without proper pronunciation nobody can say that he or she knows the
English language.
Harmer (2001: 183) also argues convincingly that it is thanks to pronunciation teaching
that students not only become aware of different sounds and sound features, but can also
improve their speaking immeasurably. Subsequently, he claims that (Harmer, 2001: 183),
‘concentrating on sounds, showing where they are made in the mouth, making students aware
of where words should be stressed – all these things give them extra information about spoken
English and help them achieve the goal of improved comprehension and intelligibility.’
Some teachers claim that pronunciation teaching is discouraging because very few
learners achieve native-like pronunciation. But it is worth emphasizing the fact that native-like
pronunciation may be a goal only for some, and not all learners. According to Kenworthy
(1987: 3), ‘for the majority of learners a far more reasonable goal is to be comfortably
intelligible’. Even though in this case pronunciation is not ideal, strong phonetic interference
from the native language is not present and we are able to understand a learner. Harmer
(2001: 184) also maintains that ‘perfect’ pronunciation is achieved extremely rarely by
students. What is more, some of them do not want to sound like native speakers. Frequently,
they prefer retaining their foreign accent, which is a part of their identity.
Taking everything into account, it appears that native-like pronunciation is an
inappropriate aim for most learners. Achieving pronunciation which is good enough for
students to be always understood should be one of the main goals of foreign language
learners. To sum up, I would like to present a list of realistic goals of pronunciation
teaching that need to be addressed in order to develop communicative competence.
According to Morley (after Wrembel, 2002: 175), these are the following,
- ‘functional intelligibility - developing spoken English that is easy to understand for
listeners;
- functional communicability - developing spoken language that serves communicative
needs effectively;
- increased self-confidence - developing a positive self-image;
- speech-monitoring abilities and speech-modification strategies that will allow students
to develop intelligibility, communicability and confidence outside the classroom.’
The overall aim is for learners to develop spoken English that will serve their individual needs
and allow them to form a positive image of themselves as speakers of a foreign language.

References:
Harmer, J. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London: Longman
Kenworthy, J. 1987. Teaching English Pronunciation. London: Longman
Wrembel, M. 2002. New perspectives on pronunciation teaching. In W. Sobkowiak and E.
Waniek-Klimczak [eds.] Dydaktyka Fonetyki Języka Obcego na Poziomie Licencjackim,
Neofilologia II: Zeszyty Naukowe PWSZ w Płocku, 173-183.
Why You Should Study English Pronunciation
(http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronuncwhy.htm)
Opracowanie: mgr Marzena Kot

ASPECTS OF PRONUNCIATION:

It is necessary to know theoretical context (phonetics and phonology) to understand the

principles regulating the use of sounds in spoken English. Because of the notoriously
confusing nature of English spelling, it is particularly important to learn to think of English
pronunciation in terms of phonemes rather than letters of the alphabet. In phonetics we use
special symbols to represent speech sounds so, for example the word ”enough” in phonetics
would be written as /ɪ'nʌf/ .

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The best way to improve your English pronunciation is to try to learn the different sounds of
English. In order to learn them, it is very useful to learn each different symbol that represents
each sound. In writing English, we use 26 letters of the alphabet but there are more than 26
phonemes (distinctive sounds) in English. In fact, there are approximately 44 phonemes.

There is a system of phonemic transcription that uses a group of symbols to help us

pronounce a word well. Some of these symbols have the same letters (ex.: spelling: pet;
pronunciation: /pet/) and some are different (ex.: spelling: knowledge; pronunciation: /'nɒlɪdʒ/).
The transcriptions are written between slashes. Some words look very different when we see
their spelling and their transcription. So, if you want to improve your pronunciation, it is very
useful to learn the symbols and their sounds. Paying attention only to the spelling is not good
enough.

The pronunciation of a language has many facets. Understanding more about these facets of
spoken English, will help you to improve your pronunciation.

The smallest units of information when pronouncing a language are speech sounds which
are consonant and vowel phonemes. British English has twenty vowel sounds and twenty-four
consonant sounds. Some of these sounds exist in your native language, but the other sounds
may prove challenging for you.

Accurate pronunciation at the word level requires that you understand and accurately use
word stress, which is stressing the appropriate syllable of a word. Stressing a syllable is
saying the vowel in the syllable slightly longer, louder and higher than the other syllables. In
transcription, stress is shown by an apostrophe before the stressed syllable (ex. /'nɒlɪdʒ/). It is
important that you develop your listening skills so that you can identify the stressed syllable. In
your speaking skills, you should accurately produce word stress consistently.

But words are not said in isolation. They are connected and influenced by each other. So,
there are some features in connected speech that appear when words come in a sequence.
Linking is the part of pronunciation which involves linking the ends of words with the
beginnings of the following words. Linking words together allows the speaker to say parts of
the phrases faster, which affects the rhythm of the statements. Elision or missing sounds is
another characteristic: some sounds simply disappear to make speech run more smoothly
and, finally, assimilation makes sounds take the characteristics of neighbouring sounds. All
these aspects make rhythm easier.

The rhythm of a language is an important consideration when speaking. Rhythm, stressing

the important words of your statements and reducing the less important words (using weak
forms), has a profound effect on how easily people understand you when you speak. This is
because native speakers of the language expect the material to be presented in a certain way
and when your stress and rhythmic patterns meet the listener's expectations, everything is
fine, but when you don't, people are distracted or misunderstand you.

Another aspect of pronunciation at the statement level is intonation. Producing the rising and
falling tones of the language allows us to reveal our meaning more precisely and to speak
more efficiently. We differentiate certain questions and statements using intonation. In
addition, we separate parts of statements with intonation. Of course, our ability to produce
short questions and responses accurately depends on our use of intonation.

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1.4. TOOLS AND RESOURCES.

- What is good English pronunciation?

- Learning English pronunciation. Some advice.
- Why it’s important to learn about the sounds of English
- The sounds of English and the International Phonetic Alphabet
- The sounds of English. These charts will help you remember English sounds as they are
associated to pictures.
- Introduction to phonetic transcription
- Demonstration of phonetic transcription
- Phonetic Flash This group of exercises is intended for anyone who wishes to improve their
knowledge of phonetic symbols.
- Phonemic chart: Interactive, downloadable chart where you can listen to the English sounds.
- Worldwide Accents of English
- Received Pronunciation
- Dictionary HOWJSAY English pronouncing talking dictionary, free online.
- Cambridge learner’s dictionary. It provides phonemic transcription.
- Speech Internet dictionary. It provides concise definitions of technical terms used in phonetics,
phonology, speech and hearing science and allied discipline.
- Educational Resources in Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences

- What is Wrong with English Spelling?

- how crazy English spelling is
- Masha Bell’s website: information about spelling rules and pronunciation correspondences

- English Pronunciation for Spanish Speakers

- Common problems for Spanish speakers
- Consonant clusters: Lots of examples of consonant clusters.
- Lists by John Higgins: minimal pairs, homographs and homophones…
- All about phonemes, phonetics and spelling
- Phonemic Chart Keyboard
- http://www.tedpower.co.uk/phonetics.htm
- Authentic American Pronunciation

- EPSS (English Pronunciation for Speakers of Spanish) Multimedia Lab is the companion website
to Gómez González & Sánchez Roura’s (2016) book English Pronunciation for Speakers of
Spanish. From Theory to Practice (EPSS) (Boston/Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter). It is aimed at meeting
the needs of speakers of Spanish who want to learn or teach English phonetics and phonology at
universities and teacher-training institutes, or otherwise wish to improve their English pronunciation
and their skills in transcribing English phonetically. In addition, EPSS Multimedia Lab may be useful
to anyone interested in gaining insight into the differences and similarities that exist between English
and Spanish pronunciation to prepare the ground for more advanced and extensive reading in the
field.

- Ann Baker, (2006) Ship or Sheep? Student's Book, Third edition, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, 13 978-0-521-60673-8,

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