English Lanaguage

1. Chapter 3
ENGLISH SPEECH

2. Lesson 1: Models of pronunciation
Standard Pronunciation Models
The development of English speech and language skills are not
independent but are fostered through social interactions, play,
observations, manipulating objects and listening and attention skills. Here
are some of the standard Pronunciation Models used in classrooms.

3. a. Good modelling
As a teacher, be a model in accurately and clearly pronouncing letters,
words, phrases, and sentences in the classroom. A model English teacher
praises a learner who may not pronounce a word correctly but tries.
Rephrasing a word or sentence is one strategy to provide corrective
feedback.

4. b. Symbolic sounds
Introduce easy words and sounds to the new learner. This is
done by using symbolic sounds. Symbolic sound is copying the
sound that is related to the word or the name of what produced
that sound.
Examples (-“moo” for a cow/ -“beep beep” for a car.)

5. c. Motivating sound games
Use of sound games always influences the learner.
Example: When students have a running game
On your marks… get ready…. GO!! (and off the runners run)
Say “On your marks…. get ready ….GO”, (and let the runners run.)
Doing this recurrently for sometimes, learners will automatically step in and say “GO”
Whenever you say “On your marks … get ready …

6. d. Listening and attention
Listening and attention skills are the basics to speech and language development.
The achievement of these skills is vital in being successful in the classroom. They
are enhanced by collaboration with others who have the same focus. Learners
comprehend knowledge in different degrees; some find these skills more difficult to
develop than others. Therefore, a teacher needs to do activities in the classroom that
all learners can enjoy and focus on and that allow all learners to perform at their
ability level while learning from others at higher ability levels.

7. e. Observation skills
Focusing on a particular task requires observation skills.
Learners should have a shared focus to help in developing their
observation skills. Shared focus implies looking at everyday
activities and discussing them together.

8. Improving observation skills
1. Look for details
2. Avoid distractions
3. Keep an observation journal
(Objects – People- Things you see, hear, touch, taste and smell.
4. Quantify things as you notice them
As you observe, try to be as specific as possible. A great way to do this is to avoid
generalization.

9. Dialects
Dialects are linguistic varieties that may differ in pronunciation,
vocabulary, spelling, and grammar. There are also regional
dialects. There are over 170 dialects in the English language that
are spoken around the world. These include: Received
Pronunciation (RP) and General American (GA)

10. 1. Received Pronunciation (RP)
This is commonly called Received Pronunciation or BBC
English Received Pronunciation. This is what we call today
British English. It is spoken English without any trace of an
identifiable regional dialect within the United Kingdom (or UK).

11. Characteristics of Received Pronunciation
i) “h-sound” (/h/) is pronounced in some languages and is silent
in others (such as in Portuguese). as opposed to other accents,
which do not.

12. Characteristics of Received Pronunciation

13. 2. General American (GA)
This is basically called American English and it is widely
spoken by the majority of Americans. It is also called Network
English or Newscaster Accent because it is commonly used in
media houses, movies, and audios within or developing
materials for U. S. audiences.

14. Characteristics of GA

15. Lesson 2: The speech organs
1. Active organ of speech
It includes the vocal cords, the posterior wall of the pharynx, the soft
palate with a small tongue, lips, and tongue. They constitute some
movements and in the process of forming sounds they inhabit one or
another position.

16. Lesson 2: The speech organs
2. Passive organ of speech
It comprises of teeth, alveoli, hard palate. They are static, they don’t
move or they are motionless.

17. Components of active speech organs
The major active speech organs responsible for formation of sounds
include:
1.Lips;
2.Lower jaw;
3.Tongue.
Diaphragm, lungs, pyramidal cartilage, vocal cords, and pharynx are parts of the active speech organs though
not the major ones.

18. Components of passive speech organs
Passive organs of speech help the active organs in forming sound. They
perform an auxiliary function. These are:
1. Teeth;
2. Alveoli;
3. Solid sky;
4. Upper jaw;
5. Oral cavity, nose, pharynx.

19. Broadcast articulation base of speech
Articulatory base of speech is the correct pronunciation of the
sounds of a particular language. When one articulatory base of
one language is transferred to the pronunciation of another
language, an accent is formed.

20. Phases of articulation base
There are three phases in articulation base of speech.
a) Excursion
It is the preparation of the organs of speech for the pronunciation of sound and
the initial movement of the organs of speech.
b) Excerpt
It is the position of the organs of speech at the moment of pronouncing.
c) Recursion
It is the return of the speech organs to their original position.

21. Sound pronunciation process
When pronouncing voiceless consonants, the vocal cords are not tense and they
spread apart.
When pronouncing voiced consonants, the vocal cords vibrate and become tense
coming together.
Thus, when the vocal cords are tense and closed, and the flow of air makes them
vibrate, a voice arises that we hear when pronouncing vowels, consonants, or
voiced consonants.

22. Lesson 3: Teaching Pronunciation
Pronunciation is the main module of spoken language and can
lead to precision and clarity in active communication.
Pronunciation is the product of speech that contributes to
conveying meaning of what is being said.

23. Importance of pronunciation
Understanding pronunciation plays a key role in clear communication.
Pronunciation
1. develops spoken language that is easy for listeners to understand.
2. develops spoken language that can communicate effectively.
3. enhances confidence, establishes and creates a positive self-image.
4. enables students to develop clarity, communication, and confidence outside the
classroom.

24. How to teach pronunciation
In order to achieve efficient communication capacity in
classroom, each pronunciation sequence should contain the
following sections:

25. 1. Intonation
Changes in intonation can convey vital information about the
speaker’s attitude and emotions. Intonation also indicates
whether a sentence is a statement or question. Changes in
intonation also tell your listener if you have finished speaking or
if you are going to add additional information to the sentence.

26. 2. Stress and rhythm
“Stress” means the emphasis you put on the specific syllable of
the word. “Stress”, in English is also an important variable in
sentence making or speaking. At the sentence level, the wrong
stress placement can change the whole meaning of the sentence,
and that’s something English language learners need to be very
careful about. Stress helps the rhythm.

27. 3. Consonants and vowels
Learners need to know all the consonants in the language they
learn. Consonants may look similar in different languages, but
they are recognized differently. The teacher should ensure that
the learner does not replace the appropriate consonant with
another, and the student does not omit some consonants.

28. Lesson 4: English Stress
Word Stress: means pronouncing one syllable of a multisyllabic word (word
with more than one syllable) with greater emphasis (stress) than the other
syllables in the word. Inaccurate word stress will result in:
1. Difficulty in understanding native English speakers
2. Difficulty in Native English speakers understanding non-native speakers
3. The native speaker is forced to listen to every word, which is boring, difficult
and tiring.

29. Rhythm
Rhythm has two elements, namely the syllables and the stress.
Word stress occurs when a sentence, word or syllable is pronounced louder
and more clearly than the nearby sentences, words or syllables. Stress in
English affects the rhythm of the words in a sentence. If you place the
wrong stress on one of the words in the sentence, the whole meaning of the
sentence will be altered.

30. Stress-Example:
1. Incorrect: Asha is preSENT in the program. (Present here is a
noun.)
2. Correct: Asha is PREsent in the program. (Present here is a
verb.)

31. Stress in English placement
One word, one syllable
Every word in English language has only one stress no matter the length of the
sentence. Generally, in English you do not place stress on consonant sounds.
For example
Words like “present,” “management,” and “international” have one stress each.

32. Stress in English placement
stress syllable picture

33. Basic Sentence Stress Rules
Sentence stress is the pattern of stressed and unstressed words
across a sentence.

34. 1. New Information:
When new information is being communicated, then stress the word
that conveys the new information.
A: Are we going to the restaurant?
B: Yes, we’re going to the Italian restaurant.
A: I thought we were going to the YEMENI restaurant.

35. 2. Ideas that contrast
Stress the words that are being contrasted.
Example:
Halima likes sports, but she doesn’t love them.
The black shoes are nice, but the red shoes are better.
I said Wednesday not Thursday.

36. 3. Negation
Always stress the negative word in a sentence.
1. I will NOT answer that question.
2. He’s NOT coming.
3. She DOESn’t care for Sushi.
4. There’s NO WAY I’m touching that spider.

37. 4. Clarification
Always stress the word that needs clarification.
1. Did you say FORty?
2. No, I said WEDNESday.
3. So, it’s not sixTEEN?

38. Intonation
This is the tonal variation (intonation) when speaking language.
In other words, it is the pitch variation and pace one uses when
speaking sentences.

39. Types of Intonation
Keep in mind that the English language has a rising and falling
intonation. How does this resemble or different from Somali?

40. 1. Falling Intonation
The falling intonation describes how the speech falls on the last
syllable of the last word. This tone is often used in the Wh-
questions: - what, where, when, why (and how).
In addition, we also use falling intonation if we want to
emphasize things or we want to be definite or clear with our
words or intentions.

41. Falling Intonation
1. When giving commands.
a. Put the cup down. (The voice falls on the word “down”).
b. Stand against the tree. (The voice goes down on “tree”).
2. In exclamation sentence.
a. That is brilliant!

42. Rising Intonation
The rising intonations can be placed at the end or on the last syllable of the word
in a sentence. This is common in Yes- no questions.
1. In questions
When does the meeting start? (The voice rises up when saying “start.”) Would
like a cup of milk? (The voice rises up when saying “milk.”)
2. When listing items
I would like some eggs, some bread, some oil and some sugar.

43. Falling-rising intonation
The falling-rising intonation shows how the speaker’s voice falls and then rises at
the same time in the same sentence. We use it if we are indefinite or not sure with
our words or ideas presented and when asking questions related to asking
permission, request, or an invitation to someone. It sounds politer than others.
Example:
1. Ex^cuse /me – Is this al^ri/ght?
2. Do you ^need /something?

44. End-C3