Phonetics and Phonology: Course outline

 

Weekly Plan for Phonetics and Phonology

Week 1: Basic Definitions

• Phonetics, Articulatory, Auditory & Acoustic Phonetics, Phonology, Phoneme, Vowels, Consonants, Diphthongs, Triphthongs, Voicing, Aspiration, Minimal pairs

Week 2: Organs of Speech

• Understanding the role of the lips, tongue, teeth, and vocal cords in speech production

Week 3: Phonemes - Consonants (place and manner of articulation)

    Consonant sounds

• Learning the classification of consonants by their place and manner of articulation
• Quiz 1
• Transcription Practice

Week 4: Phonemes - Vowels (vowel trapezium/quadrilateral)

      English Vowel sounds

     Worksheet 1

    Worksheet 2

    worksheet 3

    Assignment 1

• Understanding the vowel quadrilateral and the articulatory features that distinguish different vowels

Week 5: Phonemes - Monophthongs

       Transcription worksheet

• Studying the different monophthongs in English and their articulatory characteristics

Week 6: Phonemes - Diphthongs

• Exploring the different diphthongs in English and their articulatory characteristics

Week 7: Phonemes - Triphthongs

• Examining the three-sound vowel combinations known as triphthongs

Week 8: Rules - Rules of Voicing

• Understanding the changes in voicing that can occur in certain consonant sounds

Week 9: Rules - Rules of /r/

• Learning the rules for pronouncing the English "r" sound in different contexts
• Worksheet
• Worksheet solution

Week 10: Rules - Rules of /ŋ/

• Understanding the pronunciation rules for the consonant sound "ŋ" in English

Week 11: Practice phonemic transcription

• Practicing the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to transcribe English words phonemically

Week 12: Definitions - Homophones, Homographs, Homonyms, Homophenes

• Understanding the different types of words that are spelled or pronounced the same way but have different meanings

Week 13: Fluency Devices - Assimilation

• Studying the phenomenon of assimilation, where sounds in a word change to be more similar to nearby sounds

Week 14: Fluency Devices - Elision

• Learning about elision, the omission or slurring of sounds in connected speech

Week 15: Fluency Devices - Weak Forms/Strong Forms and Linking

• Understanding the concept of weak and strong forms of words and how they are linked together in connected speech

Week 16: Stress in Sentences

                Stress in words

                Intonation

• Studying the role of stress and intonation in English, and their effects on meaning and communication

This 16-week plan provides a comprehensive and structured approach to learning the fundamentals of phonetics and phonology in English. It covers basic definitions, phonemes, rules, fluency devices, and practical exercises in a phonemic transcription. The plan culminates in studying stress and intonation, which are essential for effective English communication.

Related Links

• Phonetics and Phonology: Course outline
• Phonetics and Phonology: Transcription Practice
• Phonetics and Phonology: English Vowel Sounds
• Phonetics and Phonology: Description of Consonant Sounds
• Phonetics and Phonology: Organs of Speech
• Phonetics and Phonology: Assignment 1
• Phonetics and Phonology: Basic Definitions
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• Introduction to Psycholinguistics: Language Development
• Psycholinguistics: The Foundation of Language
• Discourse Analysis Course outline
• Discourse Analysis: An Introduction
• Discourse Analysis: What is discourse analysis?
• Discourse Analysis: Grammatical Analysis of discourse
• Discourse Analysis: Pragmatic Analysis of Discourse
• Discourse Analysis: Assignment 1