Academic Year

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2022/2023

English Phonetics and Phonology I

Code: 100227 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500245 English Studies OB 2 1
2501902 English and Catalan Studies OB 2 1
2501907 English and Classics Studies OB 2 1
2501910 English and Spanish Studies OB 2 1
2501913 English and French Studies OB 2 1

Contact

Name:
Juli Cebrian Puyuelo
Email:
juli.cebrian@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
english (eng)
Some groups entirely in English:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Teachers

Juli Cebrian Puyuelo
Jessica Ann Mcdaid

Prerequisites

C1 level (advanced) del Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. 


Students are discouraged from enrolling in this subject if they have not passed the first year Usos Bàsics course.

Objectives and Contextualisation

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SUBJECT

The main aim of this course is to provide an introduction to the principles of general phonetic description and taxonomy from an articulatory point of view. A description of the sounds of English will be provided and students will practice hearing and producing the linguistically relevant differences in English. Students will acquire working knowledge of phonological and phonetic transcription. The principles of phonological analysis will be presented. Students are introduced to the principles of articulatory description by means of class presentations by the teacher, together with the comments in class of readings done by the students at home. All this is complemented by extensive exercising throughout the semester. Students will practice transcription and reading during the whole course, both in class, in tutorials and at home.

 

Specific objectives.

Students will be able

1) to describe and to explain the production of speech sounds;

2) to classify and describe English sounds articulatorily;

3) to do phonological and phonetic transcription, and read words and phrases in transcription;

4) to carry out contrastive analysis and phonological analysis, and 

5) to detect and assess areas of English pronunciation that of particular difficulty for native speakers of Catalan and Spanish, and to attempt to perceive and produce English sounds accurately.

 

Competences

    English Studies
  • Describe synchronously the main grammar units, constructions and phenomena of the English language.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
    English and Catalan Studies
  • Describe synchronously the main grammar units, constructions and phenomena of the English language.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
    English and Classics Studies
  • Describe synchronously the main grammar units, constructions and phenomena of the English language.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
    English and Spanish Studies
  • Describe synchronously the main grammar units, constructions and phenomena of the English language.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
    English and French Studies
  • Describe synchronously the main grammar units, constructions and phenomena of the English language.
  • Develop critical thinking and reasoning and knowing how to communicate effectively both in your mother tongue and in other languages.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Applying the theoretical and practical aspects of the articulatory phonetics and processes involved in the production of speech.
  2. Communicating in the studied language in oral and written form, properly using vocabulary and grammar.
  3. Comprehending academic or professional texts in their own language or the another acquired in the degree.
  4. Define in detail the inventory of consonantal and vocalic phonemes in English and its most common allophonic realisations, as well as the principles of the organisation and combination of sounds in possible sequences.
  5. Defining in detail the inventory of consonantal and vocalic phonemes in English and its most common allophonic realisations, as well as the principles of the organisation and combination of sounds in possible sequences.
  6. Demonstrate sound knowledge of the topics within the study of Linguistics.
  7. Effectively communicating and applying the argumentative and textual processes to formal and scientific texts.
  8. Identifying the main difficulty areas in English pronunciation according to the mother tongue of the student, and work on the most problematic aspects.
  9. Issue appropriate critical assessments based on the comprehension of relevant information about social, scientific or ethical issues related to linguistics.
  10. Perceiving and producing the vocalic and consonant contrasts of English, as well as the accent, rhythmic, and intonation patterns.
  11. Students must be capable of comprehending advanced academic or professional texts in their own language or the another acquired in the degree.
  12. Students must be capable of precisely arguing ideas and opinions in their own language or another acquired in the degree.

Content

SYLLABUS

 

UNIT 1. Introduction to phonetics, phonology, transcription and the main standard varieties of English.

UNIT 2. Production of speech sounds, articulatory description and classification.

UNIT 3. The English consonant system: phonemes and main allophonic realizations. Contrastive analysis of English and Spanish/Catalan consonants.

UNIT 4. The English vowel system: phonemes and main allophonic realizations. Contrastive analysis of English and Spanish/Catalan vowels. 

UNIT 5. Modification processes and connected speech

UNIT 6.Contrastive analysis of phonological systems of different languages or different varieties of one language.

 

Methodology

Directed activities

  • Lectures

General phonetics

Description of the articulation of English consonants and vowels and their classification

  • Practical exercises

Classroom correction of homework. Pronunciation practice

Improvement of production and perception of English sounds           

 

Supervised

Individual assignments, preparation of assignmetns and pronunciation practice 

Dealing with theroetical contents 

Identification of difficult aspects of English pronunciation

Phonetic transcription

 

Autonomous    

  • Personal study

Mastering the main notions of phonetics and phonology and apply them to the English language. 

Describing the consonantal and vocalic phonemes of English and their realisations

  • Practical exercises and pronunciation practice

Autonomous practice (including self-correction) 

Identifying and working the difficult aspects of English pronunciation

 

Assessment      

  • Exercises and assignments

Classroom correction of exercises 

  • Exams

Understanding and explaining the basic theoretical notions of phonetics and phonology and their application to English phonetics and phonology, as well as a contrastive analysis between English and Spanish and Catalan.

Practice of phonological and phonetic transcription. 

Acurate production of English sounds  

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures and practical classes 50 2 1, 12, 4, 5, 2, 8, 10
Type: Supervised      
Assignments 20 0.8 1, 8
Type: Autonomous      
Study, test preparation and homework 55 2.2 1, 11, 5, 8

Assessment

The teaching methodology and the evaluation proposed in the guide may undergo some modification subject to the onsite teaching restrictions imposed by health authorities.

Assessment

  • 80% of the final mark will correspond to two written exams and an oral exam. The written exams consist of a midterm test towards the middle of the term (20%) and a final exam at the end of the semester (35%). The oral exam will take place at the end of the semester (25%). The minimum mark to pass the final written exams is 5/10. In order to pass the oral exam, students must obtain a score of at least 60% of the total score (60% = pass = 5 out of 10 in the calculation of the final mark).
  • 10% of the final mark corresponds to one or two assignments that students will carry out individually. in principle, these will consist in a "mock oral exam" (4%) and a transcription test in class (6%).
  • The remaining 10% corresponds to homework exercises, class attendance and participation. This 10% will be assessed mostly through in-class exercises based on previously assigned homework exercises.

 Note:

1) The assignments and the oral and written tests are compulsory.

2) To pass the course, the following conditions need to be fulfilled:

- The final oral exam and the final written exam need to be passed.

- The course average needs to be a pass (at least 5 out of 10).

3) Students will obtain a “Not assessed/Not submitted” course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items.

4) The level of English will be taken into account when correcting exams and in the assessment of the final grade.

5) VERY IMPORTANT: Partial or total plagiarism will immediately result in a FAIL (0) for the plagiarised exercise. Repeated instances of plagiarism will result in a FAIL (0) of the whole subject. PLAGIARISING consists of copying text from unacknowledged sources -whether this is part of a sentence or a whole text- with the intention of passingitoff as the student's own production. It includes cutting and pasting from internet sources, presented unmodified in the student's own text. Plagiarising is a SERIOUS OFFENCE. Students must respect authors' intellectual property, always identifying the sources they may use; they must also be responsible for the originality and authenticity of their own texts.

6) In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

7) In the case of a justifiable absence on the day of an exam, assignment or any other important task (for example, because of illness), the student must present the pertinent documentation in order to justify the absence. In that case, an alternative evaluation date may be offered, or a possible redistribution of the marks may be considered, if approved by the course coordinator.

 

Exam review

After each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedure and of the time and place for the exam/grade review.

 

Reassessment

At reassessment, only the oral exam and the final written examcan be retaken. In order to qualify for reassessment, the following conditions must apply:

- All the obligatory assessment items must have been carried out (see point 1 above). This means that if a student does not reach a pass average because some obligatory item or items have not been completed, the studnet won't have a chance to go to reassessment (for example, with a 5 in the written and the oral exams, and a 0 in the assignments that have not been completed, the average course makr would be a fail and there would be no opportunity of reassessment). 

- The minimum overall course mark should be at least 3.5/10.

- The only written exam that can be retaken is the final exam. If a student fails the course because of a low mark in the midterm, the only way to reassess the exam is by retaking the final written exam.

- Students must submit at least 50% of the homework exercises for the ongoing assessment mark to be considered, otherwise the mark for this component (10%) will be 0.

- The maximum mark that can be obtained at reassessment is 5 (pass).

- The re-assessment dates are assigned by the university and will not be changed to suit individual students' needs.

- Lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the date and place of the reassessment exams.

 

Evaluation activities excluded from reassessment.

The following activities are not eligible for reassessment: the midterm written exam, the assignments and homework exercises. The midterm exam can only be reassessed by retaking the final exam (see Reassessment section).

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assignments 10% 5.5 0.22 1, 5, 9, 7, 2, 8, 10
Final exam 35% 1.5 0.06 1, 12, 3, 11, 4, 5, 6, 9, 7, 2, 8
Homework, class exercices and participation 10% 16 0.64 1, 12, 3, 11, 4, 5, 2, 8, 10
Midterm exam 20% 1.5 0.06 1, 12, 3, 11, 4, 5, 6, 9, 7, 2, 8
Oral exam 25% 0.5 0.02 1, 5, 2, 8, 10

Bibliography

Main readings:

  • Abercrombie, David 1965. Studies in Phonetics and Linguistics. Oxford: OUP.  Ch. 2
  • Ashby, Patricia 1995. Speech Sounds. London: Routledge. (Chapter on Airstream mechanisms).
  • Carr, Philip. 1999. English Phonetics and Phonology: An Introduction.Oxford: Blackwell. Ch. 5
  • Denes, Peter B. & Pinson, Elliot N. 1963. The Speech Chain. New York: Freeman. Ch. 1
  • Finch, Diana F. & Ortiz Lira, Hector. 1982. A course in English phonetics for Spanish speakers. Heinemann Educational Books (currently out of print). Ch. 1-7 + Exercises
  • Kreidler, Charles W. 1997. Describing Spoken English. An Introduction. London: Routledge. Ch. 7
  • O’Connor, J.D. 1973. Phonetics. Harmondsworth: Penguin. (Vowels)
  • O’Connor, Joseph D. 1980. Better English Pronunciation. Cambridge: CUP. 
  • Roach, Peter 1983. English Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge: CUP.

Recommended bibliography

  • Baker, Ann. 2006 (2nd edition). Tree of Three? An Elementary Pronunciation Course. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Baker, Ann. 2006 (3rd edition). Ship or Sheep? An Intermediate Pronunciation Course. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Carley, Paul; Mees, Inger M.; Collins, Beverly. 2018. English Phonetics and Pronunciation Practice. Routledge.
  • Estebas, Eva. 2009/2014. Teach yourself English pronunciation. A Coruña: Netbiblo/Madrid: UNED.
  • Gilbert, Judy. 2012.(4th edition). Clear Speech. Cambrigde University Press.
  • Gómez González, María de los Ángeles & Sánchez Roura, Teresa. 2016. English Pronunciation for Speakers of Spanish. From Theory to Practice. Mouton de Gruyter.
  • Hancock, Mark. 2003. English pronunciation in use. Cambridge: Cambridge Univeristy Press.
  • Ladefoged, Peter. 1982 (1993, 2005 with CD-Rom). A Course in Phonetics. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich/Thomson Wadsworth. (Ladefoged, Peter & Johnson, Keith. (2015) A Course in Phonetics. Cengage Learning.)
  • Mott, Brian. 2000. English Phonetics and Phonology for Spanish Speakers. Barcelona: Edicions Universitat de Barcelona.
  • Rafael Monroy-Casas, Inmaculada Arboleda-Guirao (eds.) 2014. Readings in English phonetics and phonology. Valencia: Universitat de Valencia.
  • Rogers, Henry. 2000. The Sounds of Language. An Introduction to Phonetics. London: Pearson Education Ltd.

Online resources on English phonetics and transcription

Online resources on English pronunciation

See the website English phonetics at UAB (https://blogs.uab.cat/englishphoneticsuab/) for an extensive and up-to-date list of online resources on general phonetics, English phonetics and pronunciation practice.

Software

Software used in class demonstrations (optional for students): Praat (www.praat.org), https://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/

See also the website English phonetics at UAB (https://blogs.uab.cat/englishphoneticsuab/) for an extensive and up-to-date list of online resources on general phonetics, English phonetics and pronunciation practice.