TEFL Gervais Oregon

Phonetics/Phonology (4) Phonetics is defined in the english dictionary as the science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and reception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription. It can also be defined as the symbols used to represent the speech sounds of a language. Phonology on the other hand can be defined as the study of the distribution and patterning of speech sounds in a language and of the rules governing pronunciation, thus, how a language sounds. The popularity of english is growing against a fast rate. For this reason more people are taking up the challenge of learning and teaching english as a foreign language. The role of phonetics and phonology play a profound role in tefl. teachers need to know how words are pronounced and formed because this is a great help in teaching english as a foreign language. The way we speak brings a language to life and gives meaning to speech. A popular method of learning english is to group all of the english sounds into easy to read symbols. This system is called the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The idea behind this is to make words much easier to pronounce and therefore improve the learner's level of english much faster. Knowledge of the phonetic sounds helps to speed up the process of learning english. This is especially true when english is taught as a second language because it helps with the pronunciation of unfamiliar words if you look it up in the dictionary. The reason for phonetic code is because some letters have more than one sound and because some letters when joined together in a word actually create a new sound of their own. The problem with phonetics is that it doesn't take into account the different accents and dialects of the regions that use english. In my opinion it is best to teach a standard form of english. Also, the student's native language may not always have all the sounds needed to speak english. For this reason it should be taught. teachers can use an easy sketch to point out which part of the mouth they need to use to produce a sound (like below). Another method is when the teacher shows the students how to produce the sound and they can see or feel it for themselves. Students often have trouble with the following sounds: th = teeth, tongue, teeth. f = top teeth against the bottom lip -> If you hold your hand in front of your mouth almost know air can be felt. p = lip, lip -> If you hold your hand in front of your mouth you small blast of air. b = lip, lip -> If your hold your hand in front of your mouth, no air. l and r = Need to point out that the tongue is moving from behind the teeth for an l to the hard palate for the r. (Especially in Korea). Phonetics is also the key to reading and learning how to read. When a student is taught how to read the student must learn the sounds represented by written letters and how to blend the sounds together to make words. There are 26 letters in the alphabet, but they make 44 sounds all together. Students learn how to read through Synthetic Phonics which means that students are taught what each letter sounds like and then they start to blend the sounds together to form words. Intonation can be defined as the variation of the spoken pitch that is not used to distinguish words. Students need to learn that tone is very important in language and that the way you say a word can change the meaning of it. For example the word “Hurray” can be used to express joy and excitement; it can also be used as a sarcastic remark, and as a question depending on how you say it. This essay only covers a few of the important reasons why phonetics and phonology are important in the learning process of english as a second language. Communication is the main reason for learning a second language. To be understood by others and to get your message across when communicating in english is it important that words are pronounced correctly. Phonetics and phonology is the basic foundation for this and thus very important factors in the learning of a new language.