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Tribhuvan University
Faculty of Education
M.Ed. in English Education

Course title: Phonetics and Phonology Nature of course: Theory

Course no: Eng. Edu. 515 Credit hours: 3
Level: M.Ed. Teaching hours: 48 hrs
Semester: FIRST

1. Course description
This course explores speech sounds as physical entities (phonetics) and as linguistic units (phonology). In
viewing sounds as physical elements, the focus is on articulatory description: How are speech sounds
made? What types of movements and configurations of the vocal tract are used to produce sounds in the
world's languages? In this part of the course, the goal is to equip students with the knowledge and skills
required to produce and analyze both segmental sounds and suprasegmental features of language in
general and English in particular. In the next part of the course, the focus is on dealing with different
theories of phonology and their importance, phonological processes in English and formulation of
different phonological rules. Moreover, great focus is given to English phonetics and phonology,
exclusively concentrating on English phonology. The last section focuses on the techniques and activities
of teaching English pronunciation in association with the problems which arise in the Nepalese teaching
English situations.
2. The General Objectives of the Course
The general objectives of the course are as follows:
 To make the students able to identify, describe, classify and produce the sounds of the languages
including English.
 To introduce the students to the major theories of phonology.
 To acquaint the students with phonological rules inherent in phonological processes in English.
 To equip the students with the techniques of teaching English pronunciation.
3. Course Outlines:
Specific objectives Contents Teaching Hours (48)
 Define phonetics and explain its Unit I: General Phonetics 10 hrs
branches 1.1 Introduction
 Explain different processes of 1.1.1 Definition of phonetics, and its branches:
speech production articulatory, acoustic and auditory
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 Produce IPA chart and cardinal 1.1.2 History of phonetics

vowels 1.1.3 Whys and wherefores of phonetics
 Properly use suprasegmental 1.1.4 Organs of speech
features 1.2 Process of speech production: airstream mechanism,
phonation process, oro-nasal process, articulatory
process
1.3 Production of consonants and vowels
1.3.1 IPA consonants
1.3.2 Cardinal vowels
1.4 Syllables and suprasegmental features
1.4.1 Syllables, stress, length, rhythm, intonation
and tone
 Define phonology and Unit II: General Phonology 12 hrs
differentiate it with phonetics 2.1 Definition phonology (Human: p. 1)
 Differentiate classical with 2.2 Distinction between phonetics and phonology
generative phonology (Hyman: p. 2-5)
 State different views of phoneme 2.3 Concepts of phone, phoneme and allophone
 Formulate different phonological (Giegerich: p. 31-33)
rules 2.4 Different views of the phoneme (Hyman: p. 59-74)
 Explain recent developments in 2.4.1 Phoneme as a phonetic reality
phonology 2.4.2 Phoneme as a phonological reality
2.4.3 Phoneme as psychological reality
2.5 Phonological process in English: Assimilation, ,
addition, deletion, neutralization, reordering
2.7 Phonological rules (Hyman: p.114-130)
2.7.1 Formulization of rules (rule writing)
2.7.2 Underlying representations
2.7.3 Types of derivational rules
2.7.4 Rule collapsing/combining rules
2.7.5 Rule ordering
2.6 Classical and generative phonology (Clark: p. 339-
341)
2.7 Recent developments in phonology (Clark: p. 344-
351)
2.7.1 Auto-segmental phonology
2.7.2 Metrical phonology
2.7.3 Lexical phonology
 Produce English consonants and Unit III: English Phonology 20 hrs
give their three term definitions 3.1 The consonant phonemes of English
 Produce and describe English 3.1.1 The basic inventory
vowels and diphthongs 3.1.2 Articulation in detail: place of articulation,
 Describe the phonological manners of articulation and voicing
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features and the basic vowel 3.2 Vowel systems of English

system 3.2.1 Monophthongs and diphthongs: descriptions
 Describe syllable and its and classifications
structures 3.2.2 A choice of reference accents
 Describe phonetic 3.2.3 Three inventories
representations and allophony in 3.2.3.1 The Southern British Standard
the obstruent system vowel phonemes
 Make phonological analysis of 3.2.3.2 The vowel phonemes of Scottish
the connected speech Standard English
3.2.3.3 The vowel phonemes of General
American
3.2.4 Vowels and /r/: Rhotic and nonrhotic accents
3.3 Phonological features: the classification of English
vowel phonemes
3.3.1 The role of features in phonology
3.3.2 Phonological features and the basic vowel
system
3.3.2.1 Major classes: [Sonorant],
[Continuant] and [Consonantal]
3.3.2.2 Pairs of vowels revisited: the feature
[Tense]
3.3.2.3 Tenseness and length
3.3.2.4 Tongue-body features: [Back],
[High] and [Low]
3.3.2.5 The feature [Round], and more on
redundancy
3.4 Phonological features : the consonant system
3.4.1 Why new features?: ‘Vowel features’ and
‘consonant features’
3.4.2 Replacing place features: [Anterior],
[Coronal] and [Strident]
3.4.3 [Round], [High], [Low] and [Back] revisited
3.4.4 Pairs of obstruents: [Voice] and [Tense]
3.4.5 [Nasal] and [Lateral]
3.5 Syllables
3.5.2 The structure of monosyllabic words
3.5.2.1 The onset
3.5.2.2 The coda
3.5.2.3 The peak
3.5.2.4 The rhyme
3.5.3 The syllable templates and phonotactics
3.5.3.1 Onset phonotactics
3.5.3.2 Rhyme phonotactics
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3.6 Word stress

3.6.1 Stress and syllable structure
3.6.2.1 Final stress
3.6.2.2 Nonfinal stress
3.7 Phonetic representations: the realizations of
phonemes
3.7.2 Allophony: the principles
3.7.2.1 Complementary distribution of
allophones: clear and dark [l]
3.7.2.2 Parallel distribution of allophones:
unreleased stops
3.7.3 Allophony in the obstruent system
3.7.3.1 The allophony of voiceless stops:
aspiration and glottalisation
3.7.3.2 Allophony of voiced obstruents:
devoicing
3.7.3.3 Glottal stops, taps and some problems
3.8 Phrases, sentences and the phonology of connected
speech
3.8.1 Stress beyond the single word
3.8.1.1 Phrasal stress
3.8.1.2 Compound stress
3.8.2 The phonology of rhythm
3.8.2.1 Stress-timing in English
3.8.2.2 Metrical structure and the foot
3.8.2.3 Eurhythmy: the rhythmic
adjustment of stress patterns
 Teach English pronunciation Unit IV: Teaching English Pronunciation 6 hrs
using appropriate activities 4.1 Why pronunciation teaching
4.2 Problems and approaches in teaching English
pronunciation
4.3 Techniques and activities of teaching pronunciation

4. Instructional Techniques:
Class sessions will consist of lectures, discussion, explanation and illustration and phonetic practice of
phonological data sets.
5. Specific Instructional Techniques
Unit Activity and Instructional Techniques Teaching Hours (30)

Unit I Mini-project (theoretical survey of fundamental concepts of 6

phonetics, and phonetic symbols)
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Instructor-guided self study, open class discussion

Unit II Mini-project (survey of phonological theories, and formulation of 8

different phonological rules)
Instructor-guided self study, open class discussion

Unit III Mini-project (preparing the inventory, compare and contrast chart) 12
Demonstration and production of English sounds
Instructor-guided self study, open class discussion

Unit III Instructor guided lesson plan preparation/peer teaching 4

6. Evaluation:
6.1 Internal Evaluation 40%
Internal evaluation will be conducted by the instructor based on the following activities:
Attendance 4 points
Participation in learning activities 6 points
First assignment/midterm exam 10 points
Second assignment/assessment (1 or 2) 10 points
Homework assignments will be due nearly every class period. If students miss class, they will make sure
to 1) get their homework to the instructor by class time some other way and 2) find out what assignment
is due and complete it before the next class meeting so that they can turn their homework in on time.
6.2 External Evaluation (Final Examination) 60%
Examination Division Office of the Dean, Faculty of Education will conduct final examination at the end
of the semester.
1. Objective type questions (10 x 1) = 10 points
2. Short answer questions (6 x 6) = 36 points
3. Long answer questions (2 x 12) = 24 points

7. Course Reading:
Unit I: General Phonetics
Suggested books for this unit:
 Maharjan, L.B & Dawadi, Saraswoti. (2010). Phonetics and Phonology: Sunlight Publications,
Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal.
 Ladefoged, P. (2006). A Course in Phonetics. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth.
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 Clark, J. Yallop,C.& Flether, J (2006). An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. New York: Blackwell.
 Vashney, RL. (2008). Introductory Textbook of Linguistics & Phonetics. Student Store, Bareilly
Unit II: General Phonology
Suggested books for this unit:
 Maharjan, L.B & Dawadi, Saraswoti. (2010). Phonetics and Phonology: Sunlight Publications,
Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal.
 Hyman, L.M. (1975). Phonology: Theory and Practice. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Unit III: English Phonology
Suggested books for this unit:
 Maharjan, L.B & Dawadi, Saraswoti. (2010). Phonetics and Phonology: Sunlight Publications,
Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal.
 Giegerich, H. J., (2009). English Phonology: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Unit IV: Teaching English Pronunciation
Suggested books for this unit:
 Kelly, G. (2000). How to Teach Pronunciation. London: Longman
 Kenworthy,J. (1987). Teaching English Pronunciation. London: Longman.

Note: Students will consult the other books as well as suggested by the instructor.