This course introduces learners to the study of speech sounds and the analysis of sound systems in the world’s languages. It covers the sounds of speech, their description (phonetics), their organization (phonology), and interaction with morphology (morph phonology). Learners will develop skills in perceiving, articulating and transcribing vowel and consonant sounds using IPA symbols. They will also be acquainted with the distinguishing features of both consonants and vowels, as well as syllable structure and division. The course touches upon pronunciation differences between main English accents and provides useful examples from some world languages. The concept of stress is also tackled with view to its effect on rhythm. Furthermore, learners are familiarized with the main aspects of connected speech and their effect on pronunciation. The course also discusses the functions of intonation and the use of different intonation patterns, and touches upon the graphophonemics of spelling-pronunciation relations.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, students will be able to:
1.1 Define the main branches of phonetics.
1.2 Describe the movement and function of speech organs.
1.3 Describe English consonants on three dimensions.
1.4 List the dimensions used to describe different types of English vowels.
1.5 Identify the components of a syllable and list the rules used for syllabification.
1.6 Distinguish possible and impossible consonant sequences.
1.7 Recognize the features of stressed syllables and types of stress.
1.8 Classify words into content and function words.
1.9 Recognize various aspects of connected speech.
1.10 Identify different functions of intonation and recognize intonation patterns and their uses.
1.11 Discuss graphophonemic relations between English spelling and pronunciation.