| Competences |
| Type A | Code | Competences Specific |
| A5 | Dominar la llengua anglesa des d’un punt de vista teòric i pràctic i expressar-s’hi oralment i per escrit de manera fluida i precisa. | |
| Type B | Code | Competences Transversal |
| Type C | Code | Competences Nuclear |
| Learning outcomes |
| Type A | Code | Learning outcomes |
| A5 |
Coneix el sistema de transcripció fonètica. Se sensibilitza sobre la importància de la pronunciació en l’expressió oral i és capaç d’identificar i corregir mals hàbits adquirits. | |
| Type B | Code | Learning outcomes |
| Type C | Code | Learning outcomes |
| Contents |
| Topic | Sub-topic |
| UNIT 1. General description of consonants | 1.1 General issues 1.2 Limitations of broad transcription ····· comparison between English and Spanish/Catalan stops ····· inadequacy of broad transcription: it misses important aspects ····· need for more phonetic detail (narrow transcription) 1.3 Parameters for consonants (reminder) ····· voicing ····· nasality ····· laterality ····· manner of articulation ····· place of articulation |
| UNIT 2. American English stop consonants | 2.1 Introduction ····· VOT: coordination of laryngeal and supralaryngeal articulation ····· aspiration 2.2 General allophonic variation for English stops ····· interaction between VOT, syllable position and stress ····· special status of alveolar stops ····· flapping, glottalization and deletion 2.3 American English stops ····· phonetic/phonological description ····· spellings ····· distribution ····· allophonic variations ····· dialectal variations |
| UNIT 3. American English fricative and affricate consonants | 3.1 Fricatives ····· 3.1.1 noise generation ·············· one source for voiceless fricatives ·············· open glottis and supralaryngeal narrow constriction ·············· two sources for voiced fricatives ·············· vibration at the larynx and supralaryngeal narrow constriction ····· 3.1.2 sibilants ·············· grooved tongue and turbulence caused by the teeth ····· 3.1.3 /h/: a special case ·············· no actual friction necessary: can be considered as a voiceless vowel 3.2 Affricates 3.3 American English fricatives and affricates ····· phonetic/phonological description ····· spellings ····· distribution ····· allophonic variations ····· dialectal variations |
| UNIT 4. American English approximant and nasal consonants | 4.1 Approximants ····· 4.1.1 production ·············· wide opening at supralaryngeal constriction ·············· relationship between approximants and vowels ·············· classification of approximant ·············· central vs. lateral ·············· gliding vs. sustained ·············· only consonants that can appear between consonants 4.2 Nasals ····· 4.2.1 production ·············· stop consonants with open velopharyngeal port 4.3 American English approximants and nasals ····· phonetic/phonological description ····· spellings ····· distribution ····· allophonic variations ····· dialectal variations |
| UNIT 5. Rhythm and timing | 5.1 Stress and rhythm ····· the role of stress in longer utterances: phrases and sentences 5.2 Timing in languages ····· syllable-timed languages ····· stress-timed languages ····· isochronism 5.3 Principles of English rhythm ····· alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables ····· stressed syllables are louder, longer, with clearer vowels ····· unstressed syllables are most often reduced 5.4 Content vs. function words ····· content words are usually stressed ····· function words are usually unstressed 5.5 Weak and strong forms |
| UNIT 6. Pausing and linking | 6.1 Phrasal and sentential rhythm 6.2 Pausing ····· necessary to maintain rhythm in longer stretches of spoken language ····· knowledge of grammatical units essential ····· where to pause ····· intervals in pausing will vary depending on speed 6.3 Linking ····· necessary to produce fluent speech across word boundaries ····· what to link ····· final consonants plus initial vowels ····· voicing assimilation ····· flapping ····· final vowels plus initial vowels: glides ····· final consonants plus initial consonants ····· unreleasing and glottalization ····· palatalization and affrication with /j/ ····· final vowels plus initial consonants ····· aspiration and devoicing of consonants |
| UNIT 7. Movable stress. Stressing and destressing | 7.1 Moveable stress ····· stress clash 7.2 Stressing and destressing ····· breaking the rules ····· stressing function words ····· unstressing content words ····· numerals and acronyms |
| UNIT 8. Introduction to intonation. Notation | 8.1 Main issues in intonation ····· separation between form and function in intonation ····· what is intonation? ····· fundamental frequency and pitch 8.2 Tonal and intonational languages ····· tonal languages: pitch differences are phonological, Chinese ····· intonational languages: pitch differences are not phonological independently of the segmental material, English 8.3 Notation ····· usually indicated within a range ····· range is represented as in a musical staff ····· within the staff lines represent stressed syllables and dots represent unstressed syllables 8.4 The intonation group (tone unit) ····· relationship between intonation group and grammatical structures ····· sentence stress (tonic syllable) ····· sentence stress and word order |
| UNIT 9. Intonation. Form | 9.1 Form in English intonation: basic patterns ····· 9.1.1 fall (high to low) ·············· jump on sentence stress, then fall down to low on following unstressed syllables ·············· if only one syllable, then glide instead of jump down ····· 9.1.2 rise (low to high) ·············· low or mid on sentence stress, then rise gradually to high and keep rising on following unstressed syllables ·············· if only one syllable, then glide on same syllable ····· 9.1.3 low-rise (low to mid) ·············· begin low and rise slightly to about mid at the end of the intonation group ·············· similar to the rise, but shouldn't end as high ····· 9.1.4 fall-rise (high to low to mid) ·············· combination of fall and low rise |
| UNIT 10. Intonation. Function | 10.1 Function in English intonation: what each of the main patterns is used for ······· 10.1.1 fall (high to low): indicates finality, completion, certainty, confidence & politeness ·················· main uses: ····················· factual statements ····················· commands ····················· wh-questions ····················· when reading aloud before period, colon or semi-colon ·················· common mistakes ······· 10.1.2 rise (low to high): indicates expectation for a response, doubt, interest ·················· main uses: ····················· yes/no questions ·················· common mistakes ······· 10.1.3 low-rise (low to mid): indicates unfinished utterance, more coming ·················· main uses: ····················· list elements except for last ····················· mid sentence pause ····················· dependent clause ····················· long subject ····················· before commas and 'and', 'or' ····················· direct address, polite ·················· common mistakes ······· 10.1.4 fall-rise (high to low to mid): similar in meaning to low rise ·················· main uses: ····················· after introductory adverbs / adverbial expressions ····················· as a touch of politeness in direct address or wh-questions over the phone ·················· common mistakes |
| UNIT 11. Intonation. Special Patterns: contrast and emphasis | 11.1 Breaking the rules in intonation 11.2 Contrastive stress ······· moving sentence stress to a syllable other than last content word ······· can fall on any word in a sentence for emphasis ······· can be even moved to words that are normally unstressed ······· follow same pitch contour pattern after new sentence stress ······· make up for lack of word order flexibility ······· used to establish contrast with previous utterance or with context 11.3 Emphatic stress ······· shift the focus of the sentence ······· move sentence stress to an unexpected position ······· when used? ······· for what effect? ······· comparisons 11.4 Mismatch form/function ······· changing the pitch pattern ······· rise on statements ······· rise on wh-questions ······· low fall ······· rise fall |
| UNIT 12. Intonation. Special Patterns: echo and tag questions | 12.1 Echo questions ······· sentence stress moves to the wh-word ······· steady rise from wh-word until end of intonation unit ······· adds the meaning 'please repeat what you just said' 12.2 Choice questions ······· questions that ask about an option using the conjunction 'or' ······· 12.2.1 type I ·················· you're expected to choose only one item ·················· rising intonation on the first item and falling on the second ·················· expected answer is one or the other ······· 12.2.2 type II ·················· general meaning ·················· same intonation pattern as a yes/no question: expected answer is yes or no 12.3 Tag questions ······· 12.3.1 type I ·················· falling intonation ·················· not a real question; expected agreement ······· 12.3.2 type II ·················· rising intonation ·················· unsure about the answer ······· 12.3.3 tags without reversed polarity ·················· falling intonation ·················· used in sarcastic or ironic situations ·················· not a real question, thus, no real answer expected |
| Planning |
| Methodologies :: Tests | ||||||||||
| Competences | (*) Class hours |
Hours outside the classroom |
(**) Total hours | |||||||
| Introductory activities |
|
2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
| Lecture |
|
15 | 7.5 | 22.5 | ||||||
| Problem solving, classroom exercises |
|
24 | 28.5 | 52.5 | ||||||
| Problem solving, exercises |
|
4 | 16 | 20 | ||||||
| Assignments |
|
8 | 22 | 30 | ||||||
| ICT practicals |
|
1 | 11 | 12 | ||||||
| Personal tuition |
|
1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| Objective short-answer tests |
|
1.5 | 1.5 | 3 | ||||||
| Practical tests |
|
3 | 3 | 6 | ||||||
| Oral tests |
|
0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | ||||||
| (*) On e-learning, hours of virtual attendance of the teacher. (**) The information in the planning table is for guidance only and does not take into account the heterogeneity of the students. | ||||||||||
| Methodologies |
| Description | |
| Introductory activities | – Explanation of course structure – Explanation of course syllabus – Presentation of course schedule – Description of the type of class: theory and practice – List and explanation of course objectives – List and explanation of course methodologies – Explanation of course assessment – List of teaching materials: workbook, recorded exercises and pronunciation dictionaries – Relation of course to the rest of the degree program – Presentation of the virtual environment for pronunciation practice – Instructions to carry out exercises and assignments – Feedback on work done and tests taken |
| Lecture | – Power-point supported sessions – Brief summary of session – Main objectives of session – Links to previous units – Explanation of main concepts – Exemplification – Audio and video illustrations – Question and answer session – Recapitulation |
| Problem solving, classroom exercises | – Pronunciation exercises: group and individual – Transcription exercises – Perception and discrimination exercises |
| Problem solving, exercises | – Self-correction transcription exercises |
| Assignments | – Pronunciation exercises recorded on digital media |
| ICT practicals | – Listening exercises – Pronunciation exercises |
| Personal tuition | – Solve doubts concerning course contents, mechanics or evaluation – Provide additional support with pronunciation issues – Make suggestions for improvement concerning pronunciation – Check on student progress |
| Personalized attention |
| Description |
| – Solve doubts concerning course contents, mechanics or evaluation – Provide additional support with pronunciation issues – Make suggestions for improvement concerning pronunciation – Check on student progress |
| Assessment |
| Methodologies | Competences | Description | Weight | ||||
| Problem solving, classroom exercises |
|
– Class attendance – Participation |
20% | ||||
| Assignments |
|
– Recorded pronunciation exercises | 20% | ||||
| Objective short-answer tests |
|
- Short questions aimed at checking knowledge of theoretical contents | 20% | ||||
| Practical tests |
|
- Transcription exercises - Distributional and combinatorial exercises |
25% | ||||
| Oral tests |
|
- Pronunciation |
15% | ||||
| Others |
| Other comments and second exam session | |||
|
No late assignments will be accepted. 60% = Passing grade for Convocatòria 1 & Convocatòria 2 Convocatòria 1: Convocatòria 2: "El professor podrà establir a la Guia Docent aquelles mesures que consideri oportunes per al bon desenvolupament de les activitats avaluatives. Les mesures podrien incloure limitacions pel que fa a l'ús o tinença de dispositius de comunicació i transmissió de dades durant la realització de les proves i seran d'obligat compliment per part de l'estudiantat" (art. 21 NAM Grau i art. 20 NAM Màster). |
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| Sources of information |
| Basic |
ROMERO, Joaquín, Pronunciation Exercises, , 2012
, Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, ,
VAN RIPER, C. G. and SMITH, D. E., An Introduction to General American Phonetics, , 1992
DAUER, R. M., Accurate English: A Complete Course in Pronunciation, , 1993
KENYON, J. S. and KNOTT, T. A., A Pronouncing Dictionary of American English, , 1953 |
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| Complementary | |||||||||
| Recommendations |
| Subjects that continue the syllabus | ||
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| Subjects that are recommended to be taken simultaneously | ||
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| Subjects that it is recommended to have taken before | |||||||||
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| Other comments | |
| IMPORTANT: Strong advice: Do not take this course if you have not previously taken the course El Sistema de Sons de l'Anglès I (12274113) |
(*)The teaching guide is the document in which the URV publishes the information about all its courses. It is a public document and cannot be modified. Only in exceptional cases can it be revised by the competent agent or duly revised so that it is in line with current legislation.