Nuray Alagözlü Vedat Kıymazarslan

Ankara 2020

AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE FOR LISTENING AND

PRONUNCIATION FOR TURKISH

ELT STUDENTS

AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE FOR LISTENING AND PRONUNCIATION FOR TURKISH ELT STUDENTS Nuray Alagözlü Vedat Kıymazarslan

©Tüm Hakları Saklıdır. 2020. Bu kitabın Türkiye’deki basım, yayın, satış hakları Anı Yayıncılık Eğitim ve Danışmanlık San. Tic. Ltd. Şti.‘ne aittir. Anılan kuruluşun izni alınmadan kitabın tümü ya da bölümleri herhangi bir bilgi depolama ve erişim sistemiyle, mekânik, elektronik, fotokopi, manyetik veya başka yöntemlerle çoğaltılamaz, basılamaz, aktarılamaz, dağıtılamaz.

Yayıncı Sertifika No : 16003 e-ISBN : 978-605-170-353-4 Kapak Tasarımı : Kezban KILIÇOĞLU Mizanpaj : Göksel ÇAKIR

KÜTÜPHANE BİLGİ KARTI ALAGÖZLÜ, Nuray - KIYMAZARSLAN, Vedat AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE FOR LISTENING AND PRONUNCIATION FOR TURKISH ELT STUDENTS Anı Yayıncılık, Ankara/ Türkiye 2020, 1. Baskı, viii+120 Sf., 16x24 cm e-ISBN: 978-605-170-353-4 Yabancı Dil Eğitimi, İngilizce Öğretimi, Dinleme, Sesletim Phonetics, Allophones, Phonemes, Consonants, Vowels, Articulation, Phonology, Speech Phonology, Intonation, Attitude, Grammar, Rhythm, Phonetic Transcription, Pronunciation, Speech Sounds, Language Teaching, Listening, Speaking, Singing, Sesbilgisi, Sesbilim Anı Yayıncılık Kızılırmak Sokak 10/A Bakanlıklar/Ankara Tel: 0 312 425 81 50 pbx e-posta: aniyayincilik@aniyayincilik.com.tr http://www.aniyayincilik.com.tr A harfinin evrimi

With this textbook at hand, the author aims to provide an essential guide

for the standardization of the content of Listening and Pronunciation courses whose

syllabi are determined on individual basis by the instructors in charge in the English

Language Teaching (ELT) Departments in Turkey. Listening and Pronunciation cour-

ses are taught as elective courses to improve and support pronunciation skills and

listening comprehension of the pre service language teachers, which has been gene-

rally neglected in language teacher training. Therefore, this book is intended to

serve as a practical guide for Listening and Pronunciation courses to be used at

English Language Teaching (ELT) Departments.

Listening and pronunciation appear as two primary challenges before lan-

guage learners. The challenge is two-way: One relates to the individual as a learner.

S/he need to take the responsibility to improve his/her pronunciation and use cor-

rect pronunciation to be understood better and communicate properly in English.

S/he also need to develop himself/herself as a language teacher. S/he has to be

ready and well-equipped to teach the target language effectively.

In general, the coursebook offers opportunities to develop listening com-

prehension and theoretical basis underlying as well as oral production skills in Eng-

lish. Therefore, it focuses on English language sounds, the nature of speech, and

pronunciation skills of the students. It also responds to a need of pre-service ELT

teachers to grasp the connection between Phonetics and Phonology and pronuncia-

tion skills as well as language teaching.

Specifically, the coursebook aims to provide knowledge about phonemes

and sound patterns in English. It helps to describe consonants and vowels in English

in terms of their features of articulation to produce them properly. Intonation,

stress, pitch and juncture patterns in English are also included in the coursebook to

help pronounce language correctly by applying appropriate stress and intonation.

All in all, it makes learners aware of the English language sounds and their

characteristics along with listening activities to enable them to pronounce better

and to improve their listening skills by combining theoretical basis and listening

practice.

Nuray Alagözlü

Mart 2020

Preface

Preface ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iii

1-Phonetics ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Auditory Phonetics --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Acoustic Phonetics --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

Articulatory Phonetics ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2

2-Basic Terms in Phonetics --------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

Phones ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4

Allophones ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4

Free Variations -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5

Complementary Distribution --------------------------------------------------------- 5

3-Phonemes: Consonants and Vowels ------------------------------------------------------ 6

Consonants ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

a. Voicing --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

b. Place of Articulation ---------------------------------------------------------------- 6

c. Manner of Articulation ------------------------------------------------------------ 7

Vowels ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8

4-Phonology ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11

Phonological Processes -------------------------------------------------------------- 11

Assimilation ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12

Dissimilation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12

Elision/Deletion ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12

Insertion/Linking ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 13

Juncture --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14

5-Suprasegmental Features in Speech Phonology -------------------------------------- 15

Word Stress ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15

Sentence Stress ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 15

Intonation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16

Intonation and Attitude ------------------------------------------------------------- 17

Intonation and Grammar ------------------------------------------------------------ 18

Rhythm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18

Stress Timed Languages ------------------------------------------------------------- 19

Syllable Timed Languages ----------------------------------------------------------- 19

Contents

vi / An Essential Guide for Listening and Pronunciation for Turkish Elt Students

6-Phonetic Transcription ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 20

Texts and Transcriptions ------------------------------------------------------------ 25

British Accent -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25

American Accent ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 25

British Accent -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25

American Accent ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 26

7-Why Teach Speech Sounds: Phonetics and Phonology in Language

Teaching -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27

For an Awareness of Sound Systems --------------------------------------------- 27

For a Contrastive Look at the Sound Systems of Two Languages --------- 28

8-How to Teach Pronunciation in Language Teaching --------------------------------- 29

Some Issues ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29

Overt or Covert Instruction --------------------------------------------------------- 29

Accuracy or Intelligibility: Attitudes toward Foreign Accents -------------- 30

Research Based or Traditional Approach ---------------------------------------- 31

Which Accent as a Model: British or American? ------------------------------ 31

Immediate Explicit Correction or Delayed Feedback ------------------------- 32

Reformulations ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 33

Explicit Correction --------------------------------------------------------------------- 33

Recast ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 33

Prompts ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34

Metalinguistic Feedback ------------------------------------------------------------- 34

Clarification Request ----------------------------------------------------------------- 34

Elicitation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 34

Listening and Pronunciation -------------------------------------------------------- 35

Speech Perception and Comprehension ---------------------------------------- 35

Comprehension Models ------------------------------------------------------------- 36

Methodology in Teaching Pronunciation ---------------------------------------- 39

Speaking and Pronunciation -------------------------------------------------------- 40

Factors that Affect Correct Pronunciation -------------------------------------- 41

Ideas for Teaching and Improving Learners’ Pronunciation ---------------- 43

Minimal Pairs -------------------------------------------------------------------- 43

Tongue Twisters ---------------------------------------------------------------- 43

Read Aloud ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 44

Singing ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44

Communicative Meaningful Activities ------------------------------------ 45

Contents / vii

9-Sesbilgisi ve Sesbilim -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 47

Sesbilgisi (Phonetics) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 47

Sesbilim/Sesdizimi (Phonology) ---------------------------------------------------- 54

10-Listening Tube -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 63

Preface ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 63

Methodological Information ------------------------------------------------------- 64

Easy and Advanced Talks (CD Supported) --------------------------------------- 65

Glossary ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 109

List of Figures ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 116

List of Tables ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 116

List of Websites --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 116

References --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 117

Phonetics, one of the subfields of Linguistics simply refers to the study of speech

sounds and targets the description, classification and perception of speech sounds

with respect to world languages. Particularly, it is related to the physical characte-

ristics of the sounds of languages, how these sounds are articulated and how the

hearer perceives them. Although major topics seem to include speech sounds of

world languages, the anatomy of the speech organs, phonetic transcription in a

given language, as well as the classification and representation of speech sounds, it

has three main sub-branches: Auditory Phonetics, Acoustic Phonetics and Articula-

tory Phonetics.

Auditory Phonetics

Auditory phonetics is the study of the perception of speech sounds. It stu-

dies the way in which human beings perceive sounds through the medium of the

ear. This branch of Phonetics explores how humans hear, a complex process. It be-

nefits from the findings of the study fields of physiology, psychology, and acoustics.

It mainly looks into the process of hearing emphasizing that each part of the ear;

the outer ear, the middle ear, the inner ear has specific a purpose to detect and

interpret the sound.

Acoustic Phonetics

Acoustic Phonetics is the study of the physical production and transmission

of speech sounds. The term sound is generally used as something restricted to air-

borne vibrational waves. In physics, similar vibrations in liquid or solid media are

also involved. Acoustic Phonetics examines the sound waves which are physical

ways in which sounds are transmitted through the air from one person to the anot-

her. Humans hear whenever vibrations of frequencies between about 15-20 000

hertz (unit of frequency – one cycle per second)

To examine the sound waves, an instrument called “Spectograph” is used

to record the speech waves and to divide the sounds into parts experimentally.

PHONETICS

2 / An Essential Guide for Listening and Pronunciation for Turkish Elt Students

Sounds can be played back and forth as well to determine which features suffice to

identify the sounds of the language. The instrument also detects the pitch (the audi-

tory sensation of the height of the sound), intensity (the power of the sound wave)

and the quality of the speech sounds.

Articulatory Phonetics

Articulatory Phonetics describes the articulation of the speech sounds

(phonemes). It deals with the positions and activities of the parts of the human

body that produce speech sounds (the organs of speech), with the shift from one

position to another, and with the qualities and route of the air stream that is given

out when a person speaks. Accordingly, speech sounds are classified and given na-

mes. The differences between speech sounds (phonemes) and letters in written

language. With phonetic transcription, speech sounds are represented with special

symbols. For phonetic transcription, a widely used set of symbols has been prepared

by International Phonetics Association (IPA).

The speech is produced and perceived by the operation of highly complica-

ted biological systems: auditory and visual channels from sensory organs to the

brain and motor pathways from the brain to the vocal tract and the hand-arm sys-

tem.

The brain gives a command to the lungs to start an airstream which must

pass through or by the larynx, pharynx, tongue, teeth, lips, and nose. All can modify

the airstream in various ways. The larynx contains the vocal cords. These cords can

be closed to stop the advance of the air. Furthermore, they can be made to vibrate

or made tense. At the very back of the mouth, a tube called the pharynx is placed.

This is the point where the throat begins (Kelly, 2000) (see Figure 1.).

Phonetics / 3

Figure 1. Vocal tract (Roach, 1983)

The Vocal Tract

Nasal cavity

Palato

Alveolar ridge

Velum

Uvula

Pharynx

Oral cavity

Teeth

Laryngeal pharynx

Tongue Lips

Vocal cords

Pharyngeal

Larynx

Adam’s apple

Epiglottis

Trachea

Esophagus

Oral pharynx

Nasal pharynx

Phones

Phones can be described as the smallest, discrete, and perceivable speech units

(Kelly, 2000).

/p/ /t/ /k/ /e/

Phonemes

They are the smallest meaningful sound units (Demircan, 1996, Kelly, 2000).

Phonemes are meaningful in a given language. Generally they do not express ideas,

but meaningful in words. In speech, to label a sound as a “phoneme” we must check

if that sound changes the meaning of the word when it is exchanged with another

sound. Therefore, minimal pairs are usually used to test the contrast in meaning.

Minimal pairs are the words that differ only in one sound as shown below Turkish

and English word pairs.

Pin Bin

Cot Cut

Bat Rat

Allophones

They are the family of the phonemes which are perceived similar. The members

of the family are called the phonetic variants. Allophones are the variants of the

same phoneme. For instance, in English, [pH] aspirated and unaspirated are two

variants of the phoneme /p/. Similarly the phonemes [t] ve [th] are the allophones

of the phoneme /t/. The first consonant is pronunced with an extra effort and an

exhalation of air from the lungs. In IPA (International Phonetics Alphabet), which is

the standard that most phoneticians use, this sound characteristics is shown with

the diacritic “h” (Roach, 1983, Kelly, 2000, İmer, Kocaman, Özsoy, 2011).

BASIC TERMS IN PHONETICS

Basic Terms in Phonetics / 5

Free Variations

If a phoneme does not cause any change in meaning in the same environment

when it is exchanged with another phoneme, they are said to be in free variation.

To exemplify, in English Word-final aspirated plosives and unaspirated plosives are

in free variation. The use of one instead of another does not change the meaning.

Both give the same meaning.

[hQt|] ‘hot’

[hQtH] ‘hot’

In the same way, in the word “data” the vowels /ei/ ve /a:/ are in free variation

since the exchange of the phonemes does not affect the meaning of the words.

[deitə ] ‘data’

[da:tə] ‘data’

Complementary Distribution

Phonetically similar sound units are in a special reciprocal relation. Where one

sound appears, the other does not as the function is fulfilled (or the meaning is

transmitted) with the sound used. In English,

Aspirated /pH/ and unaspirated [p] sounds are complementary distribution as in

the words “pot”, “pat”, “park”, with /p/ in word initial position. In such an environ-

ment unaspirated [p] never appears. In the words like “spot”, “spit” ve “spark” have

unaspirated [p] sound.

Consonants

Together with vowels, consonants are one of the two major distinct groups of

speech sounds. Vowel-consonant distinction is in the way that they are produced

despite the cases of uncertainty or disgreement in deciding if a particular sound is a

consonant or a vowel. To produce consonants, the tongue works together with the

other parts of the mouth to make partial or complete closures, either forcing the air

through a narrow constriction (tightness and pressure) (as in the pronunciation of

[ð] in “breath”) or stopping its progress altogether (as with the sound [d] in

“breed”). Consonants are generally classified according to the vibration of the vocal

cords (a), where the sounds are produced (b) and how they are produced (c).

a. Voicing

Voicing is the sound produced by the vibration of the vocal folds: Voiced conso-

nants are produced with the vibration of the vocal folds while voiceless ones are

generated with no vibration of the vocal folds. For example, during the production

of the following consonants, vocal cords vibrate as in [d] in “dill”, [g] in “girl”, [ð] in

“then”, [ʒ] in “measure”, [dʒ] in “judge”, [m] in “simmer”, [n] in “sinner”, [ŋ] in

“singer”, [r] in “reek”, [l] l in “look”, [j] in “you”. [p] and [f] are voiceless, vocal cords

are inert and silent. Examples are /t/ as “till”, /k/ as in “kill”, and /θ/ as in “thin”.

Voicing of a sound can be easily felt by touching Adam’s Apple at the front of one’s

neck, which is visible and protruding part of the pharynx in the front neck. The

vowels of most languages are voiced, though voiceless vowels are present, as in

whispered speech.

b. Place of Articulation

Consonants are also described with respect to their place of articulation in the

vocal tract, the whole system where the speech sounds are articulated. Consonants

are produced either by obstructing or by constricting the air flow through the vocal

tract coming from the lungs. There are number of places where these obstructions

or constrictions take place in the oral cavity. These places are known as the articula-

tors. Broadly speaking, articulators are lips, teeth, tongue, alveolar ridge, palate

(soft, hard), throat (Glottis), pharinx and larynx. Consonants are discriminated ac-

PHONEMES: CONSONANTS AND VOWELS

Phonemes: Consonants and Vowels / 7

cording to their point of contact in the vocal tract. Latin words for the articulators

are used to refer to the consonants. For example, consonants produced with the

help of lips are “labial” consonants from the word “labia” (lip) When two lips are at

work, they are termed “bilabial consonants”. Consonants produced in the velum are

“velar” sounds. If both lips and teeth work together to produce the sounds, they are

labio-dental consonants. Consonants in English according to the place of articulation

can be listed as follows:

a) Bilabial Consonants /p/, /b/, /m/ /w/

b) Labio-dental Consonants /f/, /v/

c) Alveolar Consonants /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/, /r/

d) Inter-dental Consonants /θ/ ve /ð/

e) Palatal Consonants /j/, / ʒ/ , /ʃ/, / tʃ͡/, /d ʒ/

f) Velar Consonants /k/, /g/, /η/

g) Glottal Consonants /h/

Figure 2. Place of articulation of consonants (Roach, 1991 p.8)

c. Manner of Articulation

Consonants are additionally categorized in terms of their manner of articulation,

which relates to the degree of closure; partial or complete in the vocal tract. Two

basic groups exist: