英语语音教案.doc

Teaching Points:
Ⅰ Basic Concepts:
IPA= International Phonetic Alphabet
RP=Received Pronunciation = Standard Pronunciation = The Queen’s English
Phonology: thestudy of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages.
Phoneme:In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest seglental unit of sound employed to form -meaningful contrasts between ut4erances.
Phonetics: a branch oflin'uistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech..

Ⅱ Constitution:
The pure vowels: the front vowels, the back vowels, the central vowels;
The diphthongs: the closing diphthongs, the centering diphthongs;
The consonants: the plosive consonants, the frica4ive consonants, the affricate consonants, the nasal consonants, the lateral consonants, the semi-vowels.

Ⅲ The pure vowels:
Vowels are sounds in which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips. There are 20 vowels in English, among which 12 are pure vowels and 8 are diphthongs. The English pure vowels can be classified according to
1) the height of the raised part of the tongue;
2) the part of the tongue raised, and
3) the position of the lips, i.e. whether they are rounded or unrounded.

ⅰ The Front Vowels:
There are four front vowels in English. When they are pronounced, the tongue body is shifted forward, causing the vowels to be produced in the front of the mouth. In addition, the front vowels may be subdivided into those that are high (or close), middle and low (or open). For the two vowels in the high front space, the tongue is close to the hard palate. Likewise, for the low vowel, the tongue is nearly flat and the lower jaw more open than for the other front vowels.
/i:/ & / i /,
/i:/ is a very common sound in the world's languages. It is made by raising the body of the tongue from its rest position and shifting it forward. The / i / sound is made by lowering the tongue slightly from the high-front position for /i:/. Besides, /i:/ is a much more tense sound than / i /. The fact that English has these two high front vowels, differentiated by muscle tension in the root of the tongue, sets it apart from Chinese and many languages of the world. Both /i:/ and / i / can occur in initial, medial, and final position in words.
Very little difficulty should be encountered by the Chinese learners in the pronunciation of /i:/, but /i/ is a problem sound. It is easy for the learners to detect the difference in length. What counts here, however, is the difference in quality. It is therefore important to point out the fact that to pronounce a correct /i/, you need to
1) lower you tongue a little bit from the position for /i:/, and
2) make it a lax sound instead of a tense sound like /i:/.
The importance of correct pronunciation of / i/ lies in the fact that it is the second most frequent vowel in English.
/e/ & /æ/
/e/ is also an English vowel with high frequency of occurrence. The tongue body is shifted forward in the mid-plane. /æ/ is produced by shifting the body of the tongue forward from its relaxed state, and lowering it from the position for /e/. It is the lowest of the front vowels. /e/ and /æ/ do not occur in final position in English words.
/e/ and /æ/ are not really problem sounds for the Chinese learners, but many of them fail to make a clear distinction between the two in their speech. The difficulty is that they have to make the clear distinction consistent.

ⅱ The Central Vowels:
There are three central vowels in English: /з:/, / ә /and /Λ/. When they are pronounced, they tend to be produced at a point midway between the front and back vowels and between the high and low vowels.
/з:/ & /ә/
/з:/ and / ә/ are central vowels. /з:/ is made with the tongue in the approximate middle of the mouth. It occurs only in stressed syllables. / ә / is also called a schwa. It is made similarly to /з:/, but with less tension. / ә / is the most frequently used vowel in English. Both /з:/ and / ә / may occur in all three word positions.
Most learners do not have problems in the pronunciation of /з:/ and / ә /, still we need to give special attention to the schwa. The problem with the schwa may not generally be in production, but in knowing when to use the sound.
/ Λ /
/ Λ/ is made with the tongue in the approximate middle of the mouth, perhaps shifted back slightly. It is lower than the other central vowels /з:/ and / ә/. The lip position is neutral.

ⅲ The Back Vowels:
There are five back vowels in English. The back vowels are produced by shifting the body of the tongue back from its central position. The tip of the tongue remains at the level of the lower teeth. The front and back vowels have several features in common as well as some differences. Unlike the front vowels that are made with a fairly neutral lip posture, four of the back vowels are rounded. The back vowels may also be subdivided into those that are high (/u:/ and /u/), mid (/ɔ: / and / ɒ/), and low (/ a:/).
/u:/ and /u/
/u:/ and /u/ are both high, back, rounded vowels. The /u:/ marks the highest boundary for the back vowels, as /i:/ does for the front vowels. Therefore, the tongue is retracted from its rest position and raised toward the soft palate. Along with /u:/, /u/ completes the vowels in the high back space on the vowels chart. Its corresponding front vowel is / i /. When making the sound, the tongue is retracted as for /u:/ but not elevated to the same extent. In addition, the /u/ vowel is not made with as much tension in the root of the tongue as /u:/. The same tense/lax contrast is also seen for /i:/ and / i /. This sound is not found very frequently as a phoneme in the languages of the world, certainly not in Chinese Putonghua. In English, it is not very common despite the fact that it appears in some frequently used words, such as should, good, and book. /u:/ occurs at all the three positions of a word while /u/ occurs only in the middle position of a word, like book and hook To ensure correct pronunciation, it is important to make the following distinction between /u:/ and /u/:
1. /u:/ is the highest back vowel, so the raised part of the tongue for /u:/ is higher than that for /u/;
2. the part of the tongue raised for /u/ is not as back as that for /u:/;
3. /u:/ has quite strong lip rounding while the lips are only slightly rounded for /u/.
/ɔ:/ & /ɒ/
/ɔ:/ is a mid-back vowel. For its production, the tongue is retracted and almost flat in the mouth. The vowel is almost fully back and has quite strong lip-rounding. /ɒ/ is a low vowel. The lips are slightly rounded. /ɒ/ is a difficult vowel for the Chinese learners. Many of them use a shortened version of / ɔ: / as its substitution. To ensure correct pronunciation, it is important to make the following distinction between these two vowels:
1. /ɒ/ is a low vowel while / ɔ: / is a mid vowel, so the mouth is more open for /ɒ/,
2. /ɔ:/ has quite strong lip rounding while the lips are only slightly rounded for /ɒ/.
/a:/
The /a:/ is made by lowering and flattening the tongue in the oral cavity. It is a low vowel, but not as back as other back vowels in English.

Ⅳ The diphthongs:
There are eight diphthongs (also gliding vowels) in English. Diphthongs are sounds which consist of a movement of glide from one vowel to another. Perhaps the most important thing to remember about all the diphthongs is that the first part is much longer and stronger than the second part.
The closing diphthongs have the characteristic that they all end with a glide towards a closer vowel. Because the second part of the diphthong is weak, they often do not reach a position that could be called close. The centring diphthongs all glide towards the [ә ] (schwa) vowel, as the symbols indicate.
Most Chinese EFL learners have little problem with most of the diphthongs, but the following two are particularly important to ensure correct pronunciation.
a. Make sure that you have a correct starting point.
b. Make sure that the diphthongs end with a glide.

* The Triphthongs:
a monosyllabicvowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement of the articulator from one vowel quality to another that passes over a third.

Ⅴ The Rules of Reading of English Vowel Letters
ⅰ relative concepts
Syllables: A syllable is a word part and the basic unit of English rhythm. English words can have one, two, three or even more syllables. (a letter or a combination of letters uttered together, or at a single effort or inpulse of the voice.)
Stressed Syllables: Stressed syllables are those that are marked in the dictionary as stressed.( Stressed syllables in English are usually longer, louder, and higher in pitch.)
* Stressed syllables are strong syllables. Unstressed syllables are weak syllables.
Stressed syllables:
- are long
- have a pitch change
- have full vowel sounds.
Unstressed syllables:
- are short
- often have a reduced vowel sound.
Open Syllables:A syllable ending in a vowel sound.(also called free syllables). It
contains the absolute open syllables(in a syllable, nothing comes
after the vowel letter) & the relative open syllables(in a syllable,
thevowel letter is followed by a consonant letter and a mute vowel
letter).
Closed Syllables: A syllable ending in a consonant. (also called checked syllables)
Stressed Closed Syllables: in a monosyllabic word, the vowel letter is followed by one or more consonant letters.(short vowel)

ⅱ The length of the vowels
1. Long vowels and diphthongs are longer in stressed syllables than when followed by an unstressed syllable or syllables.
eg.the vowel /ɔ:/ is longer in call /kɔ: l/ than in calling /kɔ: liŋ/, the vowel /au/ in house /haus/ is longer than in houses /'hauziz/.
2. Long vowels and diphthongs are longer in stressed syllables than in unstressed syllables:
eg. the /ɔ:/ in record /ri'kɔ:d/ is longer than the /ɔ:/ in record /'rәkɔ:d/. Similarly the /ai/ in idle /'aidl/ is longer than the /ai/ in idea /ai'diә/.
3. Short vowels are longer before voiced consonants than before voiceless consonants.
eg. the /i/ in pig /pig/ is longer than in pick /pik/.
4. Short vowels /ә/, /i/ are longer and more distinct in an unstressed ending syllable than they are at the beginning of a word or in the middle of an unstressed syllable.
eg. the /ә/ in better /'betә/ is longer and more distinct than it is in along /ә'lɔŋ/ or in forget /fә'get/. Similarly the /i/ in happy /'hæpi/ is longer and more distinct than it is in exam /ig'zæm/ or in college.
5. The short vowel /æ/ is quite long when followed by voiced consonants, especially in the adjectives ending in “ad”, bad, sad, glad, etc. and in some nouns, man, bag, jam, etc. Back, that at the end of a sentence are often pronounced with long /æ/.

ⅥThe Consonants:
Consonants: a speech sound made by completely or partly stopping the flow of air being breathed out through the mouth.
ⅰ The Plosive Consonants
The plosive (stop) consonants are made by completely stopping the airflow at some point in the mouth and then, for most productions, releasing it into the sound that follows.
There are six plosive consonants in English: /p/ and /b/ are formed by the lips, /t/ and /d/ are made on the gum ridge behind the upper teeth, and /k/ and /g/ occur at the back of the mouth where the tongue makes a weal with the soft palate. /p/, /t/, /k/ are voiceless stops as they are not accompanied by vibration from the larynx, while /b/, /d/, /g/ are the voiced stops.
/p/ and /b/
You pronounce the /p/ and /b/ by stopping the airstream with you lips, building up pressure and suddenly releasing the air. They can be used at the beginning, middle and end of words.
/t/ and /d/
The /t/ sound is one of the most frequent in English and occur in all three positions at the word level. It has many variations and is a very interesting and productive sound in the language. /d/ is not as frequent in English nor does it have the number of varieties that /t/ has. You pronounce them by blocking the airstream with the tongue and upper gum ridge, building up air pressure and suddenly releasing it.
/k/ and /g/
You produce /k/ and /g/ by blocking the breath-stream with the back of the tongue and soft palate, building up the pressure, and suddenly releasing it. The "hard-c", as in cat, and the letter "k" account for most of the spellings of /k/, but there is also a silent-k in words such as know and knight. The spelling of /g/ is consistent in English, although there is a silent version in words such as gnash and gnat. Both /k/ and /g/ can occur at the beginning, middle, and end of words in English.
*The English stops do not generally cause an intelligibility problem among the Chinese EFL learners but some learners may devoice final position voiced stops so that tab may be pronounced as tap, code as coat and /li:g/ as /li:k/. Lengthening the vowel before the voiced stops will aid in the perception of a voiced final stop. /i:/ in need, for example, is usually a little bit longer than /i:/ in neat when they are in similar phonetic contexts. Another difficulty with the Chinese EFL learners is the pronunciation of the stops in consonant clusters.

ⅱ The Fricative Consonants
If the stops completely block the airstream for a time in the pronunciation, the fricatives only partially block it, thus causing the friction-like noise characteristic of these sounds. There areten fricative consonants, forming the largest set of consonants in English.
/f/ and /v/
/f/ and /v/ are labio-dental sounds. /f/ is voiceless and /v/ is voiced. They are fricative sounds that you produce by forcing the breathstream between you upper teeth and lower lip. They can be used at the beginning, middle and end of words.
/f/ is not a problem sound for most of the students but /v/ may sometimes cause problems. It may substitute for another bilabial such as /w/, or a bilabial /b/ may be substituted for /v/. There is also a tendency to devoice /v/, especially at the ends of words.
/ ϑ / and/ ð /
/ ϑ / and / ð / are interdental sounds. They are fricatives that you produce by squeezing the breath stream between your tongue and teeth. /ϑ/ is voiceless and /ð/ is voiced. These sounds tend to appear relatively late in the speech of children and cause considerable stress for both native and non-native speakers of English. Although the spelling seems to be highly consistent in English, the fact is that the "th" combination is used for both / ϑ / and / ð /. They can be used at the beginning, middle and end of words.
The problem with /ϑ/ are many and varied. A dentalized [t] occurs when there is insufficient breath support. With a /f/ or /s/ substitution, the problem is not with airflow but with placement. This sound will require considerable effort to stabilize in all contexts. The problem with /ð/ is quite similar. With insufficient airflow, a dentalized [d] will occur. Placement difficulties result in a /v/ or /z/ s