Phonemic - Analysis and Teaching - Case Study Example

PHONEMIC: ANALYSIS AND TEACHING {Insert university’s name} {Insert instructor’s name} {Insert students name June 26, 2013, 2013. PHONEMIC: ANALYSIS AND TEACHING Language profile: phonemes Consonant sounds in English English has 20 consonants in letters and 24 consonant phonemes and they are made up of different kinds. This can be further explained through the following examples: Plosives /p/: example cup /kʌp/ and pass /pas/ /b/: example built /bɪlt/ /t/: example put /put/ /d/: example doctor /ˈdɒktə/ /k/: example cough /kɒf/ /g/: example go /goʊ/ Fricatives /f/: example fine /faɪn/ /v/: example vine /vaɪn/ /θ/: example thing /θɪŋ/ /ð/: example mother /ˈmʌðər/ /s/: example system /ˈsɪstəm/ /z/ example zip /zɪp/ /ʃ/: example she /ʃiː/ /ʒ/: example leisure /ˈlɛʒə/ /h/: example hat /hæt/ /r/: example rain /reɪn/ Affricatives /tʃ/: example chew /tʃuː/ /dʒ/: example juice /dʒuːs/ Nasals /m/: example man /mæn/ /n/: example neat /nit/ /ŋ/: example ring /rɪŋ/ Semi vowels /j/: example you /juː/ /w/: example wet /wɛt/ Laterals /l/: example tall /tɔːl/ Consonant clusters in English When two or more consonants are place together in a word without placing a vowel between them, is called consonant cluster or a consonant blend. For instant in the word [ˈbrɪljənt] consonant clusters are /br/, /lj/ and /nt/. Consonant clusters can occur anywhere in the word: beginning, middle or at the end. Most of the consonant clusters are not more than three words long; they are at the minimum of two in number. There are rare occasions when one encounters more than three words in a cluster, like /rsts/ in the word /fɜːst/.There is one exception, though, and that is found in the word /ˈrɪðəm/ this word is totally made of consonant cluster. Normally adverbs have long consonants, an example could be the word /ɪgˈzæktlɪ/. Some examples of initial consonant clusters are /ˈtʃæmpɪən/, [tʃɪə] and /tʃeɪndʒ/. Examples of final consonant clusters can be these: /ˈfɪnɪʃ/ and /biːtʃ/. In phonemes true consonant clusters hold a special importance and this is because they are not spelled the same way they are pronounced (Yates & Zielinski 2009). Vowel sounds in English The pronunciation takes place through an open vocal tract and in this process there is no air build up above the glottis. This feature separates a vowel from a consonant because in the latter pressure build up takes place in the tract. English has 6 vowels in letters and 12 phonemes of vowels. Examples of vowels /e/ in over /ˈəʊvə/, /ae/ marry /ˈmæri /. The joining of two vowels is called diphthongs. In English there are 8 diphthongs. For example /rəʊd/ and /greɪt/. Linking in English In spoken English linking is very important. When a sentence is formed, different words are linked with each other. When these sentences are spoken, words which would sound differently when spoken individually, sound differently when linked together. Linking has two primary sources. One it makes understanding of a language easier either as a speaker or a listener. Two types of linking are used: vowel linking and consonant linking. In consonant linking, words are linked when they end in consonant sound and begin with a vowel sound. In vowel linking this is just the opposite (Swan & Smith 2001). Consonant sounds in Arabic. There are 28 consonant phonemes in Arabic and they are similar to English consonant phonemes, for example, /bæri:d/ which means leaves, /zæjæt/ which means oil. Consonant clusters in Arabic Consonant clusters are forbidden by many languages and standard Arabic is one of them. This is particularly true of initial consonant lusters but there are consonant clusters in medial and final part of Arabic language for example /kerrara/ which means repeated (Westwood 2000). It is important to point out that Arabic language is particularly rich in pharyngeal, pharyngealized and uvular sounds. The emphatic sounds in the Arabic language are generally considered to be /s/, /t/, /d/ and /z/. Additionally, the syllabic structure of Arabic is that they may exist in clusters of two and not of three consecutive consonants like in the English language. Consequently, a cluster of two consonants at the beginning of Arabic word is preceded by an auxiliary vowel for example /alifal-was/ (Silver & Hagin 2002). Vowel sounds in Arabic In Arabic phonetics there are 6 vowels in all; three long and three short /i: i u u: a: a/.They are short father (a), short kasrah (i), and short dammah (u). For example /ladi:d/ which means delicious and /ihi:h/ which means beard. As is the case with English language that’s special letters are assigned to vowels, Arabic does not have any. Besides this there are two diphthongs, which are formed as a result of combinations of /j/ and /w/ (semivowels) such as /jwad/ which means he likes and /a/ Short vowel such as /sama/ which means sky (Ismail & Ahmad 2004). Linking in Arabic Nearly every Arabic sound can be joined to its neighbor from both sides to come up with a word. A general rule in Arabic sound linking is that an Arabic word having two or more sounds links to its neighboring sounds until such word confronts a non-normal or final sound in the word. In Arabic, a word may have more than one cluster. Arabic vowels plays a great role in sound linking. This is because they are they are the most prominent and central sound of a syllable. The vowels assist in joining letters together so as to come up sounds and hence words. Points of difficulty for Arabic learners in English. Non-English speaking students have numerous learning difficulties in as far as English learning is concerned. The first point of difficulty for Arab speakers is that they cannot distinguish between /p/ and /b/ because b is the major one and the /p/ is the kind of its variation (Yates & Zielinski 2009). For example Arab learners might pronounce pubs like pubs and pepsi like bebsi. Also, Arabic learners confuse between/f/ and /v/ sounds, they may pronounce very like ferry. Another point of difficulty is that English has about three times as vowel sound as Arabic language. Thus, Arabic learners cannot distinguish between /ʃɪp/ and /ʃiːp/ (Gupta, 1999). Analysis of DVD The DVD is an impeccable presentation by Susan Boyer who is an exponent in English language teaching. In the lesson she presents nuances of spoken language and pronunciation in a tailored manner. She introduces the lesson by talking about the issues in pronunciation especially in classrooms since the learners come from variety of language backgrounds. The main point of the lesson is how to teach pronunciation with motivation and addressing the learners’ needs. The best part of the lecture is that she relates to what she speaks personally to the practical needs of both teachers and students. Positive points of the lesson The positive points of the lesson are that the teacher explains the context by nearly creating situations that befit the environment in which a word is spoken. The lesson does not follow a rigid plan which could have made the whole work monotonous but follows a too spoken like path that is strewn with excellent examples, which are easier to understand and assimilate. The best part is that the lesson conveys a feel to the listener which should actually be the one that must be prevalent in the classroom teaching. As an undercurrent it gives an expression on how English language in general and phonemes in particular must be taught in a classroom setting. This lesson has to be understood in its entirety and approach so as to get across the point to ones thought. It is evident that the lecture has introduced the phonemes with reference to phonetics and linguistics, as well as giving a good overview of the representations, research, methods and theories. The lesson further provides an overview and gives the learners an opportunity to handle conversational and spoken language. The lesson further provides a step-by-step account of how structures of vowels and consonants makes the learners to be in a position to use language. Lastly, the teacher provides the learners with an opportunity to listen to some words pronunciation from experts and repeat the same. This enable them to improve in the pronunciation. Creation and analysis of the activities The activities below are on phonemes and are meant for English learners. The activities are designed such that they make learning easier and enjoyable even for learners who hail from backgrounds as that of Arabic. It is designed in form of games to make the learning material more accessible. Learner background The learner with be Saudi Arabia high school students whom English is a second language. They will be a group of 16, aged between 13 to 16 years. Their level of English is intermediate. The lesson content The lesson will entail three activities, the first activity will be about sound recognition whereby the learners will be provided with pre-texts. The second activity will be about identification of English phonemes whereby the learners will be provided with a pair of words or sounds in order to identify the phonemes. The third activity will be about phoneme/grapheme correspondence. Activity 1. Sound recognition I will give the students a pre-texts with an aim of teaching them sound recognition. The pre-text will consist of two sections: sound production and sound recognition. The sound recognition pre-test will consist of 40 items that will test the ability of the students to recognize certain consonants (1-36) with three items (37-39) that will test the ability to recognize Arabic vowels and the last question (question 40),will entail selecting the level of difficulty of the test on a scale of 1 to 5. Each of the first 36 items that will be presented to the students will be a minimal pair that contrasted two close sounds in Arabic. The minimal pairs will be selected in a manner that will test the students’ abilities to recognize the three consonants mainly in three positions namely: word initial, word medial and word final. The students will be asked to click on a speaker icon next to the minimal pair. Only one word will be recorded. Then they will be asked to select the word that they have heard (Awais & Habib-ur-Rehman 2003). Identification of phonemes Apart from the sound recognition activity, I will use minimal pairs for the purpose of the students being in a position to identify the phonemes. Thus I will present the learners with group of minimal pairs such as [pit] and [beat] to make them realize that [b] and [p] represent distinct phonemes in English. I will provide the learners with an exercise as represented below. Identify a minimal pair that indicates that they represent different phonemes. [k]- [g] [θ] - [ð] [a]- [æ] [l]- [r] [n]- [ŋ] [w] - [j] [aɪ]- [au] [f]- [dʒ] [f]-[s] [i] - [ɪ] [aɪ]- [oɪ] [tʃ]- [dʒ] [s]- [ʃ] [ɛ]- [æ] [tʃ]- [s] [k]- [ŋ] The activity is important for phoneme learning particularly for Arabic students learning English as a second language because it assist to redress the problem of phoneme identification. The pairs of the words also assist the learners to be in a position to demonstrate that pairs of sounds are used in English language to distinguish different words from each other. Activity 3: phoneme/grapheme correspondence According to Schwarz, Matejka & Cemocky (2006) vowel blindness is a major problem to L1 Arabic learners of English, nonetheless vowel deafness need to be recognized. In addressing the problem of students not being in a position to link spoken and written forms of English. Hence, I will teach grapheme/phoneme correspondence and hence I will single out short vowels for the purpose of extensive practice. I will use posters, tables, pictures, board work, games as well as matching and manipulation activities so as to provide the required visual elements. I will use color to highlight key features such as vowels. I will make the students to learn the phonemic coding by repeating the sounds as well as auditory discrimination by be in a position to contrast them, for instance a pair of words such as pen/pin, man/men will be provided to the learners. Additionally, I will use chants, alliteration and rhymes like the fish is in the tin and the tin is in the bin so as to provide enjoyment and enhance learning (Mayreh 2003). Positive points of the lesson By using the activities above, the lesson will be enjoyable and interesting. Some of the activities are designed as form of games which make it easier for students to recognize and learn the phonemes and will remain in their minds. It is clear that in the lesson students will have a chance to recognize the number of phonemes in a given word as well as combine the phonemes to come up with a word. Additionally, by the end of the lesson, the students are likely to have a wider background about phonemes segmentation and how to write phonemic script correctly. Moreover the pre-texts as well as the immediate feedback from the teacher has its effectiveness in improving the teaching environment. Points which could be changed in future It is evident that the lesson may be useful but it ignores an important point that the Saudi learners face difficulty in the segmentation of phonemes and how they use the phonetic script. Thus, the lesson should concentrate only in one part first: the recognition of phonemes in order to lessen the burden on students. The mentioned will enable the students to understand as well as give them more time for practicing. References AI-Sayegh, S. & Abed EI-Kader, A. (2004). Arabic phoneme recognizer based on neural network, In Proceedings of International cent Intelligent Knowledge Systems (lKS-20M), August 16-20,2004. Alotaibi, Y. Selouani, S. & O'Shaughnessy, D. (2008). Experiments on Automatic Recognition of Nonnative Arabic Speech, EURASIP. Journal on Audio, Speech, and Music Processing, Vol. 2008, pp.1-6, 2008. Awais, A & Habib-ur-Rehman. (2003). Recognition of Arabic phonemes using fuzzy rule base system", In Proceedings of 7th Int. Multi Topic Conf. INMIC-2003, pp.367-370, 8-9 Dec. 2003. Gupta, V.B. (1999). Manual of developmental and behavioral problems in children. New York: Dekker. Ismail, S. & Ahmad, A. (2004). Recurrent neural network with back propagation through time algorithm for Arabic recognition, In Proceedings of the 18th ESM Magdeburg, Germany, 13-16 June 2004. Mayreh, M. (2003). Completion of the Consonant Inventory of Arabic. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing research 46,517-529. Silver, A. A. & Hagin, R.A (2002). Disorders of learning in childhood. (2nd ed). New York: Wiley. Swan, M & Smith, B. (2001). Leaner English, Second Edition: A Teacher’s Guide to Interference and other Problems. Cambridge University Press. Schwarz, P. Matejka, P. & Cemocky, J. (2006). Hierarchical Structures of Neural Networks for Phoneme Recognition, In Proceedings of IEEE Int. Coof. Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processs. ICSP-2006, 14-19 May 2006. Westwood, P.S. (2000). Numeracy and learning difficulties. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research. Yates, L & Zielinski, B. (2009). Give it a go: teaching pronunciation to adu1ts. AMEP Research Centre. Macquarie University Sydney. Read More