Phonology in English Language Teaching

An International Approach

Martha C. Pennington

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317893172
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Filología
• Subtopic: Lingüística

Phonology in English Language Teaching is an introductory text, specifically directed at the needs of language teachers internationally. Combining an overview of English phonology with structured practical guidance, this text shows how phonology can be applied in the classroom.An introductory chapter provides the philosophical framework, followed by separate chapters on the phonology of consonants, vowels and prosody. As well as presenting core material on English phonology, the book explores the relationship of orthography to the English sound system from a historical and a present-day perspective. The final chapter focuses on lesson design and provides practical advice to teachers on diagnosing and responding to students' pronunciation difficulties.As central themes, the book examines English seen from the perspective of international usage and considers the relationship of phonology to communication and the broader language curriculum. Consistent with its practical and communicative orientation each chapter concludes with pedagogical exercises and ideas for classroom and community research projects.

1 Introduction to phonology in language teaching

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Phonology in the context of language teaching

What is phonology?

This is a course in English, the language which developed in England and has been spreading in the last three centuries as a medium for communication around the globe. It is also a course in phonology, as viewed from at least three different perspectives. In this book, the term phonology is used in the senses of:

(a) the sound patterns of language;

(b) the pronunciation patterns of speakers;

(c) the study of (a) and/or (b).

In one sense, we speak of the phonology of a language or language variety (e.g. a dialect) as the system of sounds, or sound patterns, of that language or language variety. In other words, English phonology is a description of the sounds of English and their relationships and contrasts with each other. More concretely, we can view the phonology of English – or of any language or language variety – as the pronunciation patterns of those who speak it. Additionally, phonology can be described as the study of the sound patterns of languages or of the pronunciation patterns of speakers.

The subject of phonology, when viewed from these different perspectives, addresses questions such as the following:

(1) How do the sound patterns of languages change over time?

(2) What are the similarities and differences in the sound patterns of languages?

(3) How do individual speakers differ in their pronunciation patterns?

(4) How do people learn the pronunciation patterns of a language?

This is a course in English phonology for current or prospective language teachers. The course does not require any background in linguistics or teaching methodology, although those who have such backgrounds may have a slight advantage. On the other hand, the perspective of the book and much of the content, particularly in its practical aspect, will probably be new even for those who have already had coursework in English phonology or related areas. The teaching ideas which are included in the book are generally not available in other texts and so are likely to be new for most or all readers.

Types of meaning conveyed by phonology

Although the course is designed for language teachers, some readers may have reservations at the outset about the need for instruction in phonology or for attention to this aspect of language in their own present or future classes. Yet phonology is one of the most all-encompassing, pervasive phenomena of language. Phonology provides the basis for all other aspects of language, in that all higher units (e.g. words, phrases, sentences) are ultimately analyzable as sounds. Moreover, phonology is associated with a wide variety of symbolic functions in human interaction such as different types of linguistic meaning, personal and group identity, and affect (mood or emotion).

As Stevick (1978) observes: “Pronunciation is the primary medium through which we bring our use of language to the attention of other people” [italics in original] (p. 145). It is also a primary medium for communication of information about ourselves as individuals and as representatives of different groups. Since it opens the way to a better understanding of how language works and how the different aspects of linguistic and social meaning are interrelated, an understanding of the phonology of a language is a necessary basis for fully effective teaching of a spoken language.

Since sounds are the basis of all higher linguistic units, phonological differences can signal differences at several levels of language, e.g. differences in:

• lexical meaning;

• grammatical meaning;

• utterance meaning.

The difference between pin and pen and that between pen and pan are lexical differences signaled by the difference in pronunciation of the central sound of the words, i.e. the vowel sounds. Analogously, the contrast in meaning of the lexical items tin and sin and of sin and shin is in each case signaled by the difference in one sound – in these cases, the initial consonant sounds.

As an example of a grammatical difference signaled by phonology, consider the difference between the verb use and the noun use. This is signaled by a difference in the last sound of the word. The same contrast of final sounds differentiates advise and advice. To take a different sort of example, the difference between the noun and verb forms of object is signaled by the amount of energy expended to produce the first part of the word, the prefix ob-, as compared to the stem part, -ject. In the noun form of object, the prefix is more forcefully pronounced than the stem; in the verb form, the stem is more forcefully pronounced than the prefix. The same contrast in pronunciation of noun-verb pairs recurs in a large group of words in English.

Differences in sentence-level or utterance-level meaning can also be signaled by phonology. For example, the difference between a statement and a question can often be indicated by a falling voice at the end of an utterance, as in (a), whereas a rise, as in (b), indicates questioning.

Besides these differences in meaning, phonology may indicate something about the speaker's;s personal or group identity, or his/her temporary affective state.

Personal identity is signaled by the general phonological properties of a person's voice, i.e. the person's unique voice quality (voice set). While people in the same family will often sound similar, particularly if they are the same sex, it is generally an easy matter to tell any two people apart by overall voice quality after only a very short exposure to their voices.

Identification with or membership in various types of groups is also signaled by phonology. Group identity as symbolized by phonology may be primarily geographical or primarily social. The general principle in both cases is that people who have a great deal of contact with each other and/or who identify closely with each other's values will tend to talk in much the same way. Accordingly, children pick up the speech patterns of their relatives and playmates.

People who come from the same country or region will have similar pronunciation patterns, while those coming from different countries or regions will differ in their phonology to a greater or lesser degree. After only a brief exposure, one can notice great differences in national and regional accents.

These national and regional accents are generally associated with some sociocultural differences among people in the geographical areas where they occur, and with traditional views or stereotypes of such sociocultural differences. As a result of these perceived sociocultural differences, national and regional varieties carry social meaning. The differences in perception may be based on the listener's interpretation of linguistic differences between groups of speakers in relation to stereotypes of how those groups behave. Speakers from some areas may, for example, characteristically speak more slowly or with a greater range in voice quality as compared to speakers from other regions. In such cases, it may be that these differences in tempo, or speech rate, and voice quality come to symbolize stereotyped differences in the behavior of the different groups of people.

In big cities throughout the world, speakers who live in different neighborhoods often have noticeably different accents. In general, these differences in local accent are not merely geographical but signify social differences, both perceived (e.g. stereotyped behaviors or traits) and actual (e.g. economic level), between the residents of the different neighborhoods as well. In fact, various types of social group – including many cases in which people belong to the same social grouping but do not reside in the same geographical area – are identified by their phonology and other speech characteristics.

When people adjust their pronunciation style towards that of another speaker or social group, i.e. when their pronunciation converges on that of the other speaker or group, they are said to be accommodating themselves to a greater or lesser degree to those speakers and their style of pronunciation. In the opposite case, that of non-accommodation, a person diverges from the pronunciation of the other speaker or group (Giles and Powesland 1975). On the whole, people adopt the pronunciation of a certain social group less through conscious choice and more through unconscious initation based on such feelings as empathy or admiration.

To take one recurrent example of the way in which socially defined groups residing in different geographical areas can be identified by their phonology, different ethnic groups, even in the same geographical community, often maintain distinctive pronunciation patterns. For example, residents of Greek, Italian and Northern European descent in Sydney, Australia, each have recognizably different pronunciation patterns (Horvath 1985). Conversely, speakers of the same ethnic group who live in different cities or regions of the same country may have recognizably similar phonology, which distinguishes their speech to some degree from that of their neighbors belonging to different ethnic groups. For example, Black speakers in different parts of the US sometimes share a cluster of phonological and grammatical features which are not common among speakers of other groups (Wolfram 1991: 106–11). What this means is that the signaling of ethnic group identity by phonology can supersede a geographical accent.

Other kinds of social identity such as socioeconomic class or gender may be signaled to some extent by phonology. People who can be classified into different socioeconomic categories (e.g. those with and without a university education, or those in the upper, middle and lower income brackets) generally have somewhat different pronunciation patterns. Males and females – even those who belong to the same ethnic group, who live in the same geographical area and who belong to the same socioeconomic class – will generally orient their pronunciation somewhat differently. Thus, the pronunciation patterns of males and females are to some extent divergent. In all such cases, different groups of speakers maintain a distinctive identity to some extent through linguistic means, including their pronunciation. (They may also use some differences in syntax, lexical items, expressions, or the meaning of words or grammatical patterns for the same purpose.)

Differences in phonology that signal differences in group identity are not only differences in overall voice quality, but also differences in the pronunciation of individual sounds. A pronunciation of a certain sound that signals membership in a particular group is termed a phonological marker of identity in that group. Use of phonological markers thus signals a speaker's conscious or unconscious desire to accommodate to and to be identified with the values and social roles of a particular group.

A good example of differences in pronunciation patterns across groups of speakers is the pronunciation of the English vowel termed short–a, which occurs in a large group of words, e.g. in class, bath, plan, sad, at, and, can, daddy. The pattern of a person's pronunciation in a representative sample of short–a words has been shown to be a fairly reliable indicator of geographical region – e.g. in different parts of North America and the British Isles – and of socioeconomic class within that region. Pronunciation patterns in short–a words also show some systematic differences among different ethnic groups, between males and females, and between older and younger speakers.

The style of phonology that is adopted also signals affective information about the speaker's momentary mood, emotions or attitude towards the listener or to some aspect of the topic of conversation. For example, a speaker who is depressed generally shows this in a depressed style of phonology, i.e. weak (indistinct or mumbled) pronunciation of individual sounds and weak (low) tone of voice or colorless (unvarying) voice quality. A speaker likewise shows heightened emotion, whether intentionally or unintentionally, through heightened phonological characteristics, such as exaggerated length of consonant and vowel sounds, loudness and high voice. If t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Applied Linguistics and Language Study
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Series List
• General Editor's Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Author's Preface
• To the Reader
• 1 Introduction to phonology in language teaching
• 2 Consonants
• 3 Vowels
• 4 Prosody
• 5 Phonology and orthography
• 6 Pronunciation in the language curriculum
• Appendix A. Hierarchical analysis of student pronunciation
• Appendix B. Pedagogical classification of pronunciation errors and problems
• Appendix C. Sample unit plan for teaching the /r/–/l/
• References
• Index