9. Descripción del sistema fonológico de la lengua inglesa. Modelos y técnicas de aprendizaje.

Percepción,
discriminación y emisión de sonidos, entonaciones, ritmos y acentos. La corrección fonética.

Unit 9: English Phonological System. Description, Models and Learning Techniques.

Perception, Discrimination and Sound Emission, Rhythm, Stress and Intonation.
Phonetic Correction.

The unit under consideration is unit number 9 whose title is...

In order to develop this unit, we will start with a general introduction related to the
English Area and we will mention the most important aspects of the unit.

After this introduction, we will deal with the concept of phonological system in English,
which consists of the segmental and the suprasegmental or prosodic elements.

We will focus on the segmental elements, looking at the vowel system in section num
2. After that, we will analyse the consonant system in section number 3.

Next, we will examine the suprasegmental or prosodic elements of stress, rhythm

and intonation in section number 4.

Then, in section number 5, we will analyse the models and techniques to teach and
learn pronunciation and the concept of phonetic correction.

To end up / to finish / to conclude, we will state a brief conclusion of the unit and we will
mention the bibliography including (or referring) the most relevant books that we have
consulted for the elaboration of this topic.

As far as the introduction is concerned, we will say that

1- according to the current laws in education LOE/LOMCE which coexist since we are in
a transition period and according to the FL curriculum of Primary Education specified for the
Community of Valencia, in the Decree108/2014 and 111/2007, there are many good reasons
for encouraging students to learn a FL.

2- The knowledge that they will gain of another language, English in this case, will
increase their opportunities to access to information and their communicative exchanges with
people from other places, since English has become a global language for communication
used world-wide.

3- During Primary Education, the objective of the English area is that students improve
the four communicative skills which are L, S, R and W.

4- These skills are required to acquire the communicative competence which is the
ability to use the language correctly in an appropriate and accurate way.

5- In order to be communicatively competent the students have to develop the five

subcompetences areas described by Canale and Swain; the grammatical, discourse,
sociolinguistic, strategic and sociocultural subcompetences. Interrelated

6- Furthermore, while learning the foreign language, students learn the culture of its
speakers, as culture and language always go together. This can help learners to become
aware of the fact that we live in a plural and multiculcultural world and to be tolerant and
respectful towards different cultures. Thus contributing to the development of the social and
civic competences.

Another aspect we should include in this introduction is the fact that according to the
Spanish Education Law, the teaching-learning process has to be focused on the students. It is

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important to bear in mind that not all the students are the same and heterogeneity is to be
found. For that reason, we need to be flexible and adapt our teaching to the different student´s
learning styles, characteristics, interests and needs.

In addition, cooperative learning is promoted since students are allowed to work

together.

Let us now focus on the topic under consideration about the phonological system in
English. In writing, we represent words and grammar through orthography. When speaking,
on the other hand, we construct words and phrases with individual sounds and we also use
stress, rhythm and intonation to convey different meanings. The ability to use these properly,
that is the phonological competence, is consequently essential for the oral skills and is a basic
part in the teaching-learning process. In this topic we analyse the English phonological
system, phonetic correction and learning techniques to the teaching of pronunciation.

When studying the phonological system, we differentiate between segmental features

and prosodic or suprasegmental features.

- Segmental features include vowel and consonant sounds, these are phonemes.

- Suprasegmental features deal with stress, rhythm and intonation.

Concerning the segmental features, Phonemes are the different sounds within a
language. Words and sentences are made up of sounds or phonemes which, on their own,
may not carry meaning but which in combination make words and phrases. Sounds can be

- voiced or voiceless, depending whether the vocal cords vibrate or not.

- At the same time, phonemes can be divided into two categories; vowel sounds and
consonant sounds. Let's look first at the vowel system. Here we can find 12 vowels and 8
diphthongs.

Vowels are voiced sounds produced when a stream of air is expelled with no obstruction
nor occlusion. The vocal cords vibrate in the larynx and the air stream is shaped using the
tongue and the lips to modify the shape of the mouth and consequently the vowel sound is
produced. In fact, the position of the tongue is a useful reference point to describe the
differences between vowels. We can find close, middle and open vowels depending on the
distance between the tongue and the roof of the mouth. Also front, centre and back according
to the height and parts of the tongue involved.

Length is another parameter to classify vowels. In the English phonological system we

can distinguish 12 vowels, 5 are long vowels and 7 are short vowels.

- Long vowels: /i:/ feel, sleep, /u:/ fool, boot, /ɑ:/ car, farm, /ɔː/ board, four and /ɜː/ girl,
work.

- Short vowels: /ɪ/ fill, slip, /u/ full, put, /æ/ bad, apple, /ʌ/ come, blood, /ɒ/ dog, wash, /e/
leg, and the schwa /ə/ ago, paper.

As we see, in the English phonological system we can distinguish 12 vowels. In general,

this supposes difficulties to our students, as in Spanish there are only five vowel sounds.
Therefore, the vowel sounds in English are new to students, sometimes being confused.

In addition to this, we also find 8 diphthongs. These are sounds that begin with one
vowel and glide to another. In the same way as single vowels or monothongs, there is little or
no connection with the Spanish system and this can also bring difficulties to learners. They
can be taught by getting the students to say the two sounds together in a quick succession.

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 Diphthongs: /aɪ/ lie, buy, /eɪ/ say, waiter, /ɔɪ/ toy, voice, /aʊ/ now, /əʊ/ go, note, /ɪə/ here,
/eə/ there, fair and /ʊə/ poor, sure.

We move now on to look at the consonant system (22)+2 semiconsonants. As

opposed to vowels, Consonants are voiced or voiceless sounds produced when a stream of
air is expelled with some obstruction or occlusion. In fact, consonants can be classified in
voiced or voiceless, depending on the manner of articulation and depending on the place of
articulation, paying attention to how and where the air finds occlusion.

Looking at the first parameter, according to the use of the vocal cords, we can divide
consonants into

- voiced: /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /dʒ/, /ʒ/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /r/ and /ð/.

- voiceless: /p/, /t/, /k/,/f/, /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/, /h/ and /θ/.

Then, if we refer to the interaction between the various articulators and the air stream,
we can classify consonants according to the manner of articulation. Here we distinguish 6
categories:

- Plosives: occur when a complete closure is made somewhere in the vocal tract. Air in
then release explosively. /p/, /t/, /k/,/b/, /d/, /g/.

-Affricates: take place when a complete closure is made somewhere in the mouth and
the soft palate is raises. The air is released more slowly than in plosives /tʃ/, /dʒ/

- Fricatives: occur when two vocal organs come close enough together for the movement
of the air to be heard between them /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /r/, /θ/, /ð/, /h/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/.

- Nasals: here the air escapes through the nasal cavity /m/, /n/, /ŋ/

- Lateral: the air flows around the sides of the tongue. /l/

- Approximants also called semiconsonants or semivowels because they are made

without restriction to the airflow, unlike the other consonants. : /w/, /j/. water juice

With regard to the place of articulation, there are 7 main movements of the articulators,
thus consonants are classify as:

- Bilabial: moving and closing both lips /p/, b/, /m/.

- Dental: here the tongue tip is used either between the teeth or close to the upper teeth
/θ/, /ð/.

- Labio-dental: use the lower lip and the upper teeth /f/, /v/.

- Velar: the back of the tongue is used against the soft palate /k/, /g/, /ŋ/.

- Alveolar: The blade or tip of the tongue is used close to the alveolar /t/, /d/, /n/, /s/,/z/, /l/

- Palato-alveolar: the tip of the tongue is used just under the alveolar /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /r/

- Glottal: the gap between the vocal cords is used to make friction /h/.

Next, we examine the prosodic elements of stress, rhythm and intonation.

Starting with stress, this is the point in a word or phrase where pitch changes. English is
a stressed-accent language being stress vitally important when conveying meaning. Let's look
first at word stress.

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 Word stress is the system that makes a syllable stands out in a word. At the same time,
in some words, normally long words, we can find a primary and a secondary stress. In
phonetic transcriptions, the main stress is represented with a stroke on the upper part of the
stressed syllable and the secondary stress is represented by a vertical stroke on the lower
side of the syllable. On the contrary, in normal written language, the stress is not marked,
consequently learners of the foreign language do not have any hint to know where the stress
is placed in words at first sight and without having heard the word before. Furthermore,
syllables are not divided according to orthography but to pronunciation, for instance the word
"stretched" is just one syllable although it has 9 letters.

There are not fixed rules for the placement of stress in words. In spite of that, we can
find some rules although there are many exceptions.

Finally, stress is used to differentiate words that are verbs and nouns. Nouns place the
stress on the first syllable and verbs in the last one. For example, note the difference between
the noun 'present and the verb pre'sent, 'contrast and con'trast.

Secondly, we look at sentence stress. It is the system that makes a word stands out in
a sentence. In sentences, depending on which word we put the stress, we can determine the
meaning and intention that we wish to express. For instance, in I'd like a cup of herbal TEA is
a simple request, I'd like a cup of HERBAL tea means that not any other kind of tea while in I'd
like a CUP of herbal tea, means I want a cup and not a mug or normal glass.

Closely connected to stress, we find rhythm. This is formed by a combination of

stressed and unstressed syllables. Through rhythm it is possible to speed up or to slow down
the rate of speech, place emphasis or make the speech more poetic. Rhythm is variable in
speech in English, words can lose their stress in sentence, this does not happen in Spanish for
this reason rhythm should be worked and not ignored in class.

Regarding intonation, the music of speech, is a crucial factor when communicating

meaning. This is the way native speakers make their voice rise and fall during speech. We find
rising intonation in yes/no questions, requests, etc., falling intonation in statements, questions-
tags, wh-questions, commands, for example. Then we have fall-rise intonation and rise-fall
intonation to show disapproval, approval, great surprise, etc. put words in the foreground or
background. The main purpose of the use of intonation is to convey feelings, opinions,
attitudes, involvement, empathy, etc. Native speakers react to intonation, its correct use is
vital, so the learner must use it properly to avoid being misunderstood. Listeners can get
wrong meaning from intonation when foreign speakers use it in an idiosyncratic way,

Let's continue now with the next section about models and techniques to teach and
learn pronunciation and the phonetic correction.

Whereas in Spanish there seems to be a correlation between sounds and spelling, in

English this is not the case. As we know the English presents a lack of concordance between
the actual spelling and the way words are pronounced. English is highly non-phonemic. A
phonetic language is one that has a direct and predictable correlation between sounds and
spelling. This is to say that once you hear a word, you know exactly how to write it. Likewise,
seeing a written word suffices to know how to pronounce it correctly. Spanish in a fully
phonemic language, on the contrary English is largely non-phonetic language, with 26 letters
but 46 phonemes. Seeing a word is not sufficient to know how it is pronounced correctly. The
sound for instance can be released in a number of different spellings won, young, funny,
blood, different spellings producing the same sound. And vice versa, same spelling producing
different sounds such as the letter a: apple, car, say, team, cat, This apparent inconsistence is
one drawback our students have to face.

The learning of phonetics and pronunciation is sometimes seen as difficult specially by

adults learning English, since they are less likely to alter their points of articulation to comply
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with the FL phonological system. In our case, the advantage to teaching pronunciation to
children is that they are much more receptive to new sounds.

Students have to gradually build up these pronunciation skills through exposure

to the language and progressive practice. Children can be introduced to the sounds for
example using drills, songs or listening activities in which they have to recognise and
identify sounds, match them, classify, etc. Then, at a word level, they practise saying the
words to consolidate their pronunciation. After that, students can advance to sentence
level, and finally to text level.

In order to practise pronunciation, there are diverse activities that we can carry out in
the lessons. We can use minimal pairs, classification, repetition drills, songs, rhymes, reading,
listen and click, recordings, listening activities, etc. to learn pronunciation and sound
discrimination. For the learning of stress, rhythm and intonation, students can clap sentences
as they speak them, clapping when the stress occurs, reading poems, singing, for instance.
song who took the cookie practice intonation in this kind of functions.

In concern with phonetic correction, mistakes that may produce difficulties in

understanding a word or sentences need to be corrected, but in a way not to discourage
students to continue speaking English. We the teachers can model the problematic words or
sounds or students themselves can practise them using digital software and activities in which
they listen, repeat and record themselves on the computer, for example. The student has to be
made to realise that mistakes are a natural part of the learning process and we learn from
them. The point is to create a supportive atmosphere in which students can make errors
without fear of embarrassment. This will reinforce their self-confidence as language users and
willingness to continue using English in the oral mode.

There are some specific sounds that normally bring problems to Spanish speakers, let's
look at some of them here.

Beginning with vowels,

- the difference between long and short vowels can cause confusion both when
producing and understanding the words. We can advise the students to make the long vowels
really long. To avoid misunderstanding, it is even preferable to exaggerate long sounds.
Vowels that does not exist in Spanish like /ɜː/ bird, world, /æ/ bad, apple, /ʌ/ come, blood, and
the schwa /ə/ ago, paper are difficult to pronounce and to distinguish for instance between hat
/æ/ for the head or hut /ʌ/ to sleep in the country. cat cut

Secondly, the more problematic consonants to Spanish speakers are:

- the liquid /s/ at the beginning of words,

- the /h/ aspirated sound,

- the distinction between the voiced /v/ and voiceless /b/

- and the pronunciation of the final consonants.

Spanish speakers tend to add an /e/ before the liquid /s/ at the beginning of words like
stop, spider, speaking, etc. we can recommend a trick to our students that is linking the last
letter of the previous word mentioned to the liquid /s/, that is linking the two words quickly to
avoid stopping and adding the incorrect /e/ sound. For instance: The black spider.

The phoneme /h/, is pronounced by Spanish speakers very strongly, like a normal /jota/
in Spanish. The trick is to make it very soft, almost unnoticed or like the Andalusian way to
pronounce the jota sound.

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 The pronunciation of the final consonants is difficult for Spanish speakers because in
Spanish there are no words ending in /p/, /d/, /k/ or /ŋ/, and when speaking English these can
be omitted, for example some past simple endings. Talked, closed

Also, the distinction between the voiced /v/ and voiceless /b/ can be produced by making
the vocal cords vibrate, putting the teeth near to the lower lips to pronounce the /v/ voiced
sound.

To end this section about phonetic correction, we highlight that Pronunciation, as well as
the prosodic patterns, should be practised in a continuous process from an early stage. At the
same time, language exposure in class and plenty of opportunities to use the language are
essential in this continuous process to achieve a correct phonological subcompetence. We as
teachers are the language model for our students and must provide correct input. Finally, it is
important to create a supportive atmosphere that allows them to make mistakes without fear of
embarrassment. This will contribute to their self-confidence as speakers and to their motivation
to learn more and willingness to speak.

As far as the conclusion is concerned, we will finish this unit by saying that

1- learning a foreign language is full of situations where learners are active and have
plenty of opportunities to use and understand linguistic and non-linguistic structures.

2- Here the role of teacher is that students become communicatively competent taking
an active part in their own learning process experimenting, discovering and learning by doing.

3- The students will feel more motivated to study a foreign language if they feel they are
learning to do something useful with the language that they are studying and we allow them to
express themselves and communicate. 'A language is better learnt when it is used to learn'.

In this unit we looked at the phonological system of English, its segmental and
suprasegmental features, how to teach and learn pronunciation and the phonetic correction to
do on the most problematic sounds to Spanish students. We can conclude by saying that the
teaching of pronunciation plays a vital role in the teaching-learning process. We as teachers
must know all the elements of the phonological system and we must teach them from the
beginning for the student to become accustomed to the phonological system (phonemes) in
English, as well as the use of stress, rhythm and intonation, for the students to be able to
convey meaning.

To finish, we refer to the most important books consulted

Alcaraz Varó and Moody Bryn. Fonética Inglesa para Españoles. Marfil 1999.

Kelly Gerald. How to Teach Pronunciation. Pearson Education Limited. 2000.

Brewster, J. The Primary English Teacher's Guide. Penguin. 1992.

Ellis, R. Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Oxford, 1986.

Harmer, J. How to Teach English. Longman,

Harmer, J. The Practice of Teaching English. Longman, 1997.