Prosody - Analysis and Teaching - Coursework Example

Prosody: Analysis and Teaching Table of Contents Prosody: Analysis and Teaching 1 Table of Contents 1 Section I 2 Section II 6 Section III 8 References 10 Section I Prosodic features of a spoken language are not identified as discrete features. They are also known as suprasegmental or non-segmental features. In other words prosody refers to prosodic features of tone, stress, speech, intonation and others. Mostly three features are discussed when either comparing or contrasting between Arabic and English. This will also set background for and shed light on why Arab learners find it difficult to learn English from the prosody’s perspective. Firstly Arabic language will be discussed and then English. Arabic Three syllable types have been described in Arabic language. These are: Structure: CVCC and CVVC, which are known as heavy syllables. As can be seen one consonant is immediately followed by vowels; either one or two and then closed by a consonant. CVC and CVV, which are known as heavy syllables. As can be seen or two vowels follow a consonant. CV, which is a light syllable. In this case one consonant is followed by one vowel. This indicates there is regularity in the formation of syllables in Arabic language. Stress Arabic language has primary, secondary and weak stress levels. There is a regularity and predictability of stress in Arabic language. This is to say that in Arabic language it is easy to either predict or determine stress words. However, when the Arab learners learn English, they find it difficult to predict stress words. This difficulty in grasping the stress words, more often than not, makes it a norm with Arabic learners to alter the meaning of a word. Arabic stress has been observed as this: For any word containing one or more super heavy syllables, super heavy syllable at last will be stressed. In case of a word containing light and heavy syllables, stress will be on the heavy syllable preceding the final syllable. And in case a word contains light syllables, the first syllable will get the stress. Similarly, the first syllable will get the stress in case of a word either in past or in present verb. In case of an Arabic word denoting either feminine or masculine gender, the second syllable will have the stress. Intonation In contour and meaning, both Arabic and English languages have near identical intonations. Arabic stress has been summarized by Reima (2007) as below: The intonations fall at the end of declarative statements. The typical voice pattern is that it starts amid pitch, slowly goes up on the last stressed syllable and at the end drops to a low pitch. In commands, the stressed syllable gets high voice and then for rest of the sentence it falls quickly. Mostly, it is rinsing-falling intonation is used in Arabic language. This is truer of yes-no questions. In sentences depicting element of surprise or protest, there is no rise or any fall since the voice is flat. In case of vocatives, there is an optimal pause between slight rise and fall in intonation. Rhythm Language researchers have argued that it is the syllable structure, stress levels and vowel reduction which mostly determines different types of rhythm used in a language. There is stress-timing in Arabic language or its dialects (Barkat et al, 1999). One intriguing fact about Arabic listeners is that they can distinguish between speakers using speech rhythm. English Structure In English the stress can be predicted by setting up a distinction between heavy and light syllables. While the former contains a single short vowel, the latter contains either several consonants or a diphthong. Lighter syllables are not stressed as much as the heavier ones. There is a deep relationship between stress and syllables. Even as there are not any specific rules which govern the use of predicting stress placements particularly in words which are multisyllabic, however ample knowledge into the syllable structures (of that of being either light or heavy), solves the problem to some extent. Understanding syllables is the key to determining stress levels. This is because English words contain variable number of syllables; ranging from one to two and even up to four. Stress Stress in English language can be predicted and in order to accomplish this, a number of rules have been proposed (Chomsky and Halle, 1968). Christophersen (1996) has enumerated these rules as under: The stress is on the first syllable in a majority of two-syllable words. There are a number of words which follow two different stress patterns, and this makes them either nouns, verbs, or adjectives. The first syllable is stressed in adjectives and nouns. In verbs, the stress is on the second syllable. Deterding & Poedjosoedarmo (1998) has thrown light on derivational suffixes and classified the same into stress=preserving, stress-shifting and stress-affecting types. Stress-preserving type does not akter stress placement in certain words. One example could be of that of 'ful' in wonderful. If another example that of any employee is taken, then it fits into the primary stress type. "-ee" gets predominance over everything else like employ'ee. Shifting type stress can be explained by the word reflexive. Broken up to bring out the shifted stress, it can be written as re'flexive. Furthermore, in English language, compounding affects stress placement. The stress is on the first component in primary nouns; and on second component in compound verbs. last syllable gets the stronger stress in intensive-reflexive pronouns and there is only one stress in a majority of compounds. If a compound has tow nouns, double stress will have to be used. Generally these words are stress words: verbs, nouns, adjectives, demonstrative interrogatives and adverbs. "Melody of speech' or intonation, as Roach (2001) has remarked is difficult to define. Variations of pitch set the order for intonation and can be comprised of different utterance types like commands, questions, statements, emotions and attitudes. Rising or falling intonation in English language is generally used at the end. Rhythm This is important as failure to communicate in proper rhythm can change the very context of what is being communicated. In English words, as Gilbert (1984) has remarked, when syllables are stressed or unstressed a rhythm follows. Points of difficulty for learner of Arabic language It is not difficult for Arab learners to stress, rhythm and intonation in their native language. However, it becomes difficult for them to have a grasp of the same while learning English. This is because of the unpredictability of the stress in this language. When they read English they power it with staccato rhythm. This is because both language sentence rhythm is alike and they put in English the rhythm the way they would do the same in their native language. In case of intonation they tend to give it a low fall at the ends of sentences or phrases (Swan & Smith, 2001). Ryan & Meara (1999) have opined that the number of syllables in English words and stress-shifting syllables confuse Arab learners in this language. Section II The main aims of this Peter Norton lecture is the use of stress in English language. He says stress is more important than the pronunciation. In terms of intelligibility he says that stress is as important or as more important than the pronunciation of individual sounds, vowels and consonants. He does not discount the importance of teaching these but says both must be taught together. Learner background The learners in this class are Level 1 and Level 2 students, particularly in English Second Language settings. He picks up four syllables from this sentence and builds up on these to explain the stress points in the sentence. Positive points of the lesson Then positive aspect of this interactive lecture is that he uses a “Da Di Di Da” concept to explain the stress points further. In order to elaborate the point, Peter Norton uses one simple sentence: “What is his address?” Beginning with stress as being 'Loud' and 'Clear' he explains the use of stress in context of personal information, which involves asking questions and providing answers. Peter Norton it is important to chose and work with sentences which have a regular or a usual stress patterns rather than sentences which having varying degrees of stress according to different contexts or situations. Points that could be changed or improved For Level 1 and II students this is true but this point stands chances of further improvement. It is because in day-to-day conversations single types of sentences could not be guaranteed as situation even on a given day keep varying and so should the speaker’s or listener’s response to the same. This is true on both factual and observational level. Learner background The learners are students for whom English is the second language; in all a little less than a dozen students. Most of them seem to be in the age group of 16-24, except one, probably a Saudi Arabian woman, who would be either in later twenties or early thirties. The relationship between teacher and students Even though the lecture seems to be short and ending on an unexpected note, the 'comfortable' relationship between the teacher and students is palpable. All the students seem to be at ease with each other and with the teacher. The teacher is clearly focussed on stress and intonation and does not deviate from the same; he makes the activity (of match-making between green and yellow slip) so simple that students who do not fare well do not seem to be minding their lack of clear understanding. This is art of good teaching; teacher in the lecture seems to be 'one of them' but 'greater qualified". He acts as a friend to the class. The teacher uses a visual aid to transmit text over to the white board and does not use any audio help. He makes a passing mention of some researchers and studies but does not divulge any more details than that. The teacher's focus is teaching stress at suprasegmental level. He uses the matching phase of the activity purposeful as this gives both the teacher and the students firsthand feel of whether or not they have been able to grasp the same. Peter Norton uses this activity because this is the way of knowing level of each student and threshold of the class. When the whole class has been able to make hundred percent match between the stress on the given sentence, it can be said learning in the class is complete on this part of lesson. There are some basic sentences which he chosen to get across to the students. For example, “When did you come to Australia?”. “What was your job in China?”. “Are you married or single”. Do you have any children?" My husband is a teacher.” Section III Peter Norton referred to "intelligibility" in his lecture. Stress is important aspect of intelligibility, and beginning at the level of a syllable, it attains a suprasegmental property. It should be noted that the intonation risen when stress is placed on certain parts of sentences. The intonation is on then higher side on both volume and duration. For example, population will be popuLAtion when proper stress is placed. Goldfish will be GOLDfish and Minnestoa will be MinneSOta. As said above nouns, verbs and adjectives have high stress placement since they are laden with more information in a single context. For example, The BIG BOXER was THROWN in the RING. Also, as new information is added to one already given, the stress patterns change according. The utterances differ. A small activity can be undertaken here to explain this: Activity We take a word 'pizza' (Minnetesol.org, nd). Now someone likes pizza, this will be the sentence and one below it showing stress placement. Sentence: I like pizza. Stress placement: i LIKE PIZza. The person like his hot pizza, so the new sentence will be: Sentence: I like it hot. Stress placement: i LIKE my PIZza HOT. Now, we add pepperoni to the second sentence, we have: Sentence: I like my pepperoni pizza hot. Stress placement: i LIKE my PEPperoni PIZza HOT. Each time a new word is added, the stress placement changes: For example, the following: Sentence: I like my cheesy pepperoni pizza hot. Stress placement: i LIKE my CHEEsy pepperoni pizza HOT. There is a functional shift in the way stress is placed on each word in different contexts. It is important to learn word level stress first. Murphy (2004) has explaiend that it is the stepping stone towards expansion stress placement capability to phrases or sentences or even large discourses. There is one noteable thing to remember. One word would notn have more than one stres placement. If, by chance, two are heard, that means there are two words. Vowels are stressed, and the best part is that it is normally the first syllable from a two-syllable words that receive stress. Activity We will pick up two random words and see how stress is palced in them when in combination with either a prefix or a suffix. Word: Six Two cardinal numbers from six: sixty and sixteen Stress placement in each: Sixty = SIXty Sixteen: SixTEEN Word: Self Two pronouns (reflexive): Himself and Themselves Stress placement on each: Himself= himSELF Themselves: themSELVES As mentioned above the functionality of a word communicates its stress placement. The first syllable in a noun gets stress placement, while as the second syllable ion a verb gets stress placement. Activity We take three nouns and see how each behaves as a nouns and as a verb: Insult, Rebel, and Record. As nouns: INsult. REbel. REcord. As verbs: inSULT. reBEL. reCORD. It is clear from these activities that elements of intonation, rhythm and stress form the top priorities of intelligibility which Peter Norton has talked about in the lecture. References Barkat, Melissa, John Ohala, & Francois Pellegrino. 1999. Prosody as a distinctive feature for the discrimination of Arabic dialects. Eurospeech 99. 395-398. Chomsky, Noam & Morris halle. 1968. The Sound Pattern of English. NY: Harper & Row. Deterding,D. and G. Poedjosoedarmo (1998) "The sounds of English: Phonetics and phonology for English teachers in Southeast Asia." Prentice Hall: Singapore. 298 pp. Gilbert, J. B. (1984). Clear speech: Pronunciation and listening comprehension in American English. New York: Cambridge University Press. Murphy, J. (2004). Attending to word-stress while learning new vocabulary. English for Specific Purposes, 23, 67-83. Minnetesol.org. (nd). The rap on stress: Teaching patterns to English language learners through rap music. Available http://minnetesol.org/journal/26articles/6_article_fischler.htm. Accessed April 28, 2013. Peter Norton Lecture: Stress at the Suprasegmental Level. DVD Reima, Al-Jarf. (2007). Word Order Errors in English-Arabic Translation. META, 52, 2, 299–308. Ryan, A., & Meara, P. (1991). The case of the invisible vowels: Arabic speakers reading English words. Reading in a Foreign Language, 7, 531–540. Swan, M. & Smith, B. (Eds.). (2001). Learner English. A teacher’s guide to interference and other problems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More

Rhythm Language researchers have argued that it is the syllable structure, stress levels and vowel reduction which mostly determines different types of rhythm used in a language. There is stress-timing in Arabic language or its dialects (Barkat et al, 1999). One intriguing fact about Arabic listeners is that they can distinguish between speakers using speech rhythm. English Structure In English the stress can be predicted by setting up a distinction between heavy and light syllables. While the former contains a single short vowel, the latter contains either several consonants or a diphthong.

Lighter syllables are not stressed as much as the heavier ones. There is a deep relationship between stress and syllables. Even as there are not any specific rules which govern the use of predicting stress placements particularly in words which are multisyllabic, however ample knowledge into the syllable structures (of that of being either light or heavy), solves the problem to some extent. Understanding syllables is the key to determining stress levels. This is because English words contain variable number of syllables; ranging from one to two and even up to four.

Stress Stress in English language can be predicted and in order to accomplish this, a number of rules have been proposed (Chomsky and Halle, 1968). Christophersen (1996) has enumerated these rules as under: The stress is on the first syllable in a majority of two-syllable words. There are a number of words which follow two different stress patterns, and this makes them either nouns, verbs, or adjectives. The first syllable is stressed in adjectives and nouns. In verbs, the stress is on the second syllable.

Deterding & Poedjosoedarmo (1998) has thrown light on derivational suffixes and classified the same into stress=preserving, stress-shifting and stress-affecting types. Stress-preserving type does not akter stress placement in certain words. One example could be of that of 'ful' in wonderful. If another example that of any employee is taken, then it fits into the primary stress type. "-ee" gets predominance over everything else like employ'ee. Shifting type stress can be explained by the word reflexive.

Broken up to bring out the shifted stress, it can be written as re'flexive. Furthermore, in English language, compounding affects stress placement. The stress is on the first component in primary nouns; and on second component in compound verbs. last syllable gets the stronger stress in intensive-reflexive pronouns and there is only one stress in a majority of compounds. If a compound has tow nouns, double stress will have to be used. Generally these words are stress words: verbs, nouns, adjectives, demonstrative interrogatives and adverbs.

"Melody of speech' or intonation, as Roach (2001) has remarked is difficult to define. Variations of pitch set the order for intonation and can be comprised of different utterance types like commands, questions, statements, emotions and attitudes. Rising or falling intonation in English language is generally used at the end. Rhythm This is important as failure to communicate in proper rhythm can change the very context of what is being communicated. In English words, as Gilbert (1984) has remarked, when syllables are stressed or unstressed a rhythm follows.

Points of difficulty for learner of Arabic language It is not difficult for Arab learners to stress, rhythm and intonation in their native language. However, it becomes difficult for them to have a grasp of the same while learning English. This is because of the unpredictability of the stress in this language. When they read English they power it with staccato rhythm. This is because both language sentence rhythm is alike and they put in English the rhythm the way they would do the same in their native language.

In case of intonation they tend to give it a low fall at the ends of sentences or phrases (Swan & Smith, 2001). Ryan & Meara (1999) have opined that the number of syllables in English words and stress-shifting syllables confuse Arab learners in this language.

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