Phnotactics The linguistic term for possible phoneme combinations Teachers who are awere of the demands of learning English for their ELLs and the specific linguistic needs based on students primary language are more effective during second langauge instruction.

1. Language Development
for ELL Students
By Gabby Villamagua

2. • The linguistic term for possible phoneme
combinations
• There are sounds that only appear at the end of
a syllable but never at the beginning
• English speakers have trouble with the
phoneme (ng) at the beginning of a word. For
example: Vietnamese name Nguyen

3. • Knowledge of sound distribution or
phonotactics: decide /glark/ ok but not /tlark/
• In English a number of consonant blends are
possible at the beginnings of words but never
but some combinations never occur

4. • First must be /s/
• Second must be a voiceless stop
• Third phoneme must be a liquid or a glide
(vowels)
• For example (see page 67)
• S + p + l (splah) S + p + l (spray)
• S + t + l (o) s + t + r (street)

5. • Any kind of vowel can go at the
beginning or middle of a syllable, only
long vowels and reduced vowels can end
a syllable
• No word or syllable in English end in
/a/ for example
• Acquired vs. Learned

6. Peggy Babcock,
Peggy Babcock,
Peggy Babcock,
...

7. • Peggy Babcock Analysis:
difficulty comes from physical
• Movement of the tongue but also
from mixed patterns the brain
has to deal with

8. • Front/back movement of the
tongue
• On/Off pattern of the voicing
(voiceless/voiced)

9.  Language production is complex
 Process seems to occur
“automatically”

10.  Tongue twisters show upper limits
on the capacity to produce
language “naturally”
 Insights from linguistics in the area
of phonology ca help educators in
the areas of teaching reading and
second language
Implications