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Communicating Beyond Words (First Week)

these are suprasegmental features slides

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19 views36 pages

Communicating Beyond Words (First Week)

these are suprasegmental features slides

Uploaded by

Saheefa Hussain
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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COMMUNICATING BEYOND WORDS: THE

SUBTLE SUPREMACY OF
SUPRASEGMENTAL FEATURES
Dr. Muhammad Ilyas Chishti
AGENDA
1 What is a quality spoken expression?
Why is it so significant to produce a quality
2 spoken expression?
What factors impede or enhance the
3
acquisition of a quality spoken expression ?

4 What are suprasegmental features?


What are the tips on a reasonably good
5
quality spoken expression?
1 What is a quality spoken expression?

A lofty goal
sound like native speakers

A modest, realistic goal


to develop a clear, understandable pronunciation
with appropriate intonation and stress
2 Why is it so significant to produce a quality
spoken expression?
Intelligibility
is the most sensible goal.
Intelligibility
is being understood by a listener in a given
situation

Poor, unintelligible speech will make your attempts


at conversing frustrating and unpleasant both for
yourself and for your listeners.
3 What factors impede or enhance the
acquisition of a quality spoken expression ?

1. The learner’s native language


2. The learner’s age
3. The learner’s exposure
4. The learner’s innate phonetic ability
5. The learner’s attitude and motivation.
6. The learner’s speech habit.
4 What are suprasegmental features

Suprasegmental features are aspects of


speech that go beyond individual sounds
(segments) like consonants and vowels.
They are crucial for conveying meaning,
emotion, and emphasis, and they play a
significant role in effective communication.
Intonation: The rise and fall of pitch
across phrases or sentences.
Stress: Emphasis placed on certain
syllables or words.
Rhythm: The pattern of stresses and
timing in speech.
Pitch: The perceived highness or
lowness of the voice
5 What are the tips on a reasonably good quality
spoken expression?

One needs to be sensitized to the major


differences between one’s native
language and the second language.

Also, one has to be mindful of the special


features of English as second language
that are most difficult for the novive
learners.
5 What are the tips on a reasonably good quality
spoken expression?
Word Stress

Example:
PREsent preSENT
CONduct conDUCT
CONtest conTEST
OBject obJECT
PROject proJECT
REcord reCORD
5 What are the tips on a reasonably good quality
spoken expression?
Sentence stress

In a normal English sentence certain


words are stressed and certain words are
unstressed.
Normally stressed are content words.
Normally unstressed are form words.
Some intriguing examples!
Examples:
1. Janet has gone to the Baker’s.
2. I saw your brother yesterday.
3. Would you like a glass of milk?
4. I must be going. My wife’s waiting
for me at the corner of the street.
Rhythm

Stress gives a natural rhythm


to spoken English.
Rhythm
The rhythm of spoken English is
determined by the occurrence of stressed
syllables. Stressed syllables occur at more
or less equal intervals in English. The other
syllables in a sentence are reduced or
blended to accommodate the regular beat
of the stressed syllables.
1.As a general rule English
tries to avoid having stresses
too close together.

2. English stresses tend to


recur at regular intervals.
5 What are the tips on a reasonably good quality
spoken expression?
Stress patterns

Example:

1. Sing a song.
2. I’d love to.
3. I’ve heard of it.

4. I want to know.

5. She asked me to go.

6. I think it will be fine.


5 What are the tips on a reasonably good quality
spoken expression?
Intonation
Function 1: It indicates grammatical meaning, in
much the same way as punctuation does in the written
language.
What a fascinating idea! What time are you available?
Please close the door. She cleaned the kitchen.
Function 2: It can also indicate the speaker’s
attitude.
1. Really?
2. What’s your name?
5 What are the tips on good English pronunciation?

Four basic tune movements

Fall
Rise
Fall-rise
Rise-fall
Example:
1.His name is Peter. (a straightforward statement)
2.His name is Peter. (a polite question)
3.His name is Peter. (I don’t believe you.)
4.His name is Peter. (to convey certainty)
Speech-flow

Stress,rhythm and intonation should


really be considered as a whole, for
they are very closely connected
elements of a single aspect of the
language that we might call Speech-
flow.
Speech-flow
Broadly speaking, a reasonably
correct speech-flow is more
important for intelligibility than
correct sounds.
Practice, practice and practice

Practice 1:
Rain
The rain is raining all around,
It falls in field and tree.
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.
--Robert Louis Stevenson
Practice, practice and practice
Practice 2: Bed in Summer
In winter I get up at night,
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see,
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet,
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?
--Robert Louis Stevenson
Practice, practice and practice
Practice 2: Bed in Summer
In winter I get up at night,
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see,
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet,
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?
--Robert Louis Stevenson
Practice 3:

Learning a foreign language was one of the most difficult


yet most rewarding experiences of my life.
Although at times, learning a language was frustrating, it
was well worth the effect.

My experience with a foreign language began in junior


middle school, when I took my first English class. I had a
kind and patient teacher who often praised all of the
students. Because of this positive method, I eagerly
answered all the questions I could, never worrying much
about making mistakes. I was at the top of my class for two
years.
Some Other Features of the Spoken
Language

Shortended Forms
Contraction
Elision
Ellipsis
Contraction
a reduced form often marked by an
apostrophe in writing

e.g. can’t = cannot


I’ll = I will
Elision
the omission or slurring (eliding) of
one or more sounds or syllables

e.g. gonna = going to


wanna be = want to be
wassup = what’s up
Ellipsis
the omission of part of a
grammatical structure

e.g. “You bored?” “A bit”


“Exhausted?” “Not Really!”
“Annoyed?” “Very much!”
Features that result from the
limited processing time

False start
Repairs
Fillers
False Start
when a speaker stops after
beginning an utterance and then
either repeats or reformulates it.
e.g. right well let's er --= let's look
at the applications -- erm - let me
just ask initially this...
Repairs
an alteration suggested or made by
the speaker, the addressee or the
audience to correct or clarify a
previous conversational
contribution.
Turn-taking
a typical, orderly arrangement in
which participants speak with
minimal overlap and gap between
them.
Short-turns: one or two sentences;
long turns: can be an hour’s lecture.
Organizational features

Back-channeling
Turn-taking
Feedback for a speaker, meaning “I
understand you” or “I’m listening”.

e.g. “I see”, “really”, “uh huh” or “oh”


Accent: the ways in which words are
pronounced. Factors: age, region
or social class, e.g. RP
Dialect: The distinctive grammar and
vocabulary associated with the
regional or social use of a language.
Some Additional Resources!
https://books.google.com.pk/books?hl=en&lr
=&id=DYT7GSNMdhAC&oi=fnd&pg=PA225&
dq=Suprasegmental+Features&ots=m9KEjm
h1M1&sig=Ei9ucEA_rmSl3KPbh0NRPR66BaI&
redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Suprasegmental
%20Features&f=false
https://www.shs-
conferences.org/articles/shsconf/abs/2018/03
/shsconf_gctale2018_00048/shsconf_gctale20
18_00048.html
Thank you!

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