AJc201 Phonetics and Phonology A

Faculty of Education
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
0/0/2. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Irena Headlandová Kalischová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Filip Pultar (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Světlana Hanušová, Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Supplier department: Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Prerequisites
The students are expected to have a basic understanding of the English sound system.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to raise the student's awareness of problems a Czech student (and future teacher) of English can have in the area of individual sounds. Potential problems are identified and intesively dealt with in the form of school and home drills based on the worksheets as well as the audio version which has been placed on the internet for the student's reference. The notion of phoneme is introduced and the phonetic alphabet presented and further practised on a regular basis in phonemic transcriptions which are checked and commented on thoroughly at the beginning of each lesson with special regard to the acoustic differences of sounds existing in both languages.
A midterm face-to-face consultation is required, when each student has to read a short English text aloud and subsequently they get immediate feedback and advice what they should improve and work on in terms of their English pronunciation.
Learning outcomes
The student will be able to 1. pronounce all 44 phonemes in British English correctly and describe how they are produced;
2. distinguish between Czech and English phonemes and explain the main differences between them;
3. use phonemic transcription in the following ways: transcription from dictation, transcription from a written text and reading from transcription;
4. put theory regarding the correct pronunciation into practice when teaching English at any level.
Syllabus
  • The following areas will be covered:
  • - introduction to phonetics and phonology, phonemic chart, phonetic alphabet
  • - the most frequent sound in English: the schwa /ə/
  • - English open /æ/ in contrast with the English /e/ and with the Czech "e"
  • - English vowels such as /ɪ/ x /i:/, /ʊ/ x /u:/, /ɒ/ x /ɔ:/ and /ʌ/ x /ɑ:/
  • - English diphthongs in words like "go" /əʊ/, "here" /ɪə/, "there" /eə/ and pure /ʊə/ and changes in their contemporary use
  • - pronunciation of endings (past tense, plural and the third person singular), voiced x voiceless consonants at the end of words
  • - aspiration
  • - English voiceless and voiced "th", i.e., /θ/ and /ð/
  • - English velar /ŋ/ (ng)
  • - /v/ versus /w/
  • - /r/ in British versus American English; silent /r/ in British English
  • - dark /ɫ/ versus clear /l/
Literature
    required literature
  • ASHTON, Helen and Sarah SHEPHERD. Work on your accent. First edition. London: Collins, 2012, iii, 151. ISBN 9780007462919. info
  • BAKER, Ann. Ship or sheep? : an intermediate pronunciation course. 3rd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006, xii, 224. ISBN 9780521606738. info
  • ROACH,P.English Phonetics and Phonology.Cambridge:Cambridge university Press,2000.ISBN 0-521-78613-14
    recommended literature
  • ROGERSON,P. Speaking Clearly.Cambridge:Cambridge university Press,1990.ISBN 0-521-31287-6
  • O'CONNOR,J.D. Sounds English.Longman,1991.ISBN 0-582-01439-5
Teaching methods
Pairwork and group work, homestudy, drills, listening & repetition, individual projects, one-to-one consultations.
Assessment methods
Requirements: Oral and written credit test (consisting of transcription from a written text and dictation; 70% pass mark) at the end of the semester.
Active participation / Continuous assessment during the semester includes:
- home practice and home assignments - mainly transcriptions
- taking all online quizzes in our Moodle course;
- a midterm one-to-one consultation;
- teaching practice task - how to introduce phonemes to lower primary pupils (Phonemic chart art project)
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: in blocks.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 24 hodin.
Teacher's information
http://moodlinka.ics.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=2447
The framework of the course is based on individual handouts/worksheets which are available for each lesson in the e-learning course at moodlinka.ped.muni.cz. These handouts are to be printed out and brought along to class, where they will be worked with.

You can also purchase all the handouts/worksheets mentioned above as a spiral bound booklet – size A4 at Mr. Liška’s Copy Centre at 13 Křížová Street, just round the corner from the Faculty (9 Poříčí) and opposite the tram stop Poříčí (next to a shoe shop), check:

http://www.kcliska.sweb.cz/oteviracidoba.php

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Some of the information above may change depending on the COVID-19 situation in the country.

The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2024, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/autumn2024/AJc201