English Phonetics and Experimental Phonology
Code: 106316Credits: 6
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| English Studies | OP | 3 |
| English Studies | OP | 4 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Juli Cebrian Puyuelo
- Email :
- juli.cebrian@uab.cat
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
To enrol in this subject it is necessary to have passed English Phonetics and Phonology 1 (and English Phonetics and Phonology 2 for the English Studies Degree, or similar, if available, for Combined Degrees). An initial level of English of C2 (proficiency) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is required.
Objectives
The course aims to provide students with a solid knowledge of general and English phonetics and phonology, consolidating previous knowledge acquired in earlier phonetics and phonology courses. The subject introduces students to the basic notions of acoustic phonetics and speech analysis, and to the basic concepts in speech perception and second language speech learning and teaching. In addition, students completing this course should be able to analyse speech using specialized software (Praat), describe the sound system of standard English varieties and become familiar with other varieties, and to be able to predict and describe phonetic or pronunciation errors in the speech of non-native English speakers, particularly those whose first language is Spanish or Catalan.
Learning outcomes
- In an effective manner, organise the autonomous component to learning.
- Plan work effectively, individually or in groups, in order to fulfil the planned objectives.
- Locate specialised and academic information and select this according to its relevance.
- Incorporate ideas and concepts from published sources into work, citing and referencing appropriately.
- Gather and interpret relevant data to make critical judgements on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues.
- Analyse data and interpret these on the basis of linguistic models or theories.
- Express oneself in English, orally and in writing, in an academic register and using appropriate terminology in relation to the study of syntax, phonetics and phonology and the historical development of the language.
- Understand specialised academic texts on research in syntax, phonetics and phonology, language history and models of linguistic analysis.
- Produce written and oral academic texts at a higher-proficient-user level (C2) on the concepts and skills relevant to the advanced study of syntax, phonetics and phonology, the historical development of language and models of linguistic analysis.
- Describe and analyse the main phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic properties of English and its historical evolution at an advanced level.
- Identify and understand distinct models for the synchronic and diachronic linguistic analysis of English and apply these to varying levels of phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic analysis at an advanced level.
- Critically evaluate linguistic production in English from both a synchronic and diachronic perspective.
- Develop arguments applicable to the syntactic, phonetic, phonological and diachronic analysis of English at an advanced level.
- Use current techniques of linguistic analysis to empirically support current models.
Contents
- Review of basic notions in phonetics, phonology and transcription. Overview of the English phonological system. Comparisons to Catalan/Spanish.
- Introduction to acoustic phonetics and speech analysis. Spectrographic analysis. Phonetics and technology.
- Principles of phonological organization of natural languages in general, and English in particular.
- English phonotactics, phonological and morphophonemic alternations. Casual speech processes.
- The relationship between spelling and pronunciation.
- Geographical variation and sound change. Standard and regional varieties.
- Introduction to the acquisition and teaching of pronunciation. Pronunciation, online resources and modern technologies.
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homework and in-class exercises, study and test preparation | 40 | 1.6 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 14 |
| Assignments preparation and execution | 27 | 1.08 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14 |
| Lectures and practical sessions | 36 | 1.44 | 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14 |
Directed activities: Lectures, practical sessions and in-class demonstrations.
Supervised activities: Exercises, preparing assignments, correcting exercises, group discussions.
Autonomous activities: Readings of basic and recommended bibliography. Practical exercises (individually and in groups). Use of the Virtual Campus (Moodle).
Note: 15 minutes of a class will be reserved, within the timetable established by the centre/title, for the complementation by the students of the assessment surveys of the teaching staff's performance and the assessment of the subject.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homework, in-class exercises and participation | 15 | 32 | 1.28 | 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14 |
| Exam | 35 | 3 | 0.12 | 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13 |
| Assignments | 50 | 12 | 0.48 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14 |
Assessment
- This course is assessed through two or three assignments throughout the semester (50%) and a final exam at the end of the semester (35%), as well as continuous assessment in the form of exercises completed in class or at home, class participation, and other learning activities (15%).
- The deadlines for assignments and the exam will be specified in the course calendar, published on Moodle at the beginning of the semester. Any changes will be duly announced.
- Students will receive a grade of Not Assessed if they have not submitted more than 30% of the assessment activities.
- The level of English proficiency will be taken into account when grading written work and exams insofar as it affects the understanding of the content presented by the student.
- In the event of a justified absence on an exam day (for example, due to illness), students must provide appropriate documentation to justify their absence in order to be considered for a possible resit opportunity.
- This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.
- VERY IMPORTANT: If a student commits any irregularity (plagiarism and/or unauthorized use of Artificial Intelligence) that may lead to a significant alteration of the grade awarded for an assessment activity, that assessment activity will be graded as 0, regardless of any disciplinary measures that may be taken. If multiple irregularities occur, the final grade for the course will be 0 (fail). Assessment activities involving irregularities are not eligible for reassessment.
- PLAGIARISM is the act of copying text from unidentified sources, whether a single sentence or more, and presenting it as one's own work (this includes copying sentences or excerpts from the internet and adding them to a text without modification while presenting it as original work), and it constitutes a serious academic offence. Students must learn to respect intellectual property, always acknowledge any sources used, and take responsibility for the originality and authenticity of their own work.
- If an Erasmus exchange student cannot be present on the date of a final exam due to a scheduling conflict related to their home university and wants to request an earlier examination date, they will need to submit a written document or letter from their home university in order to justify their request.
Review of grades: At the time of each assessment activity, the lecturer will inform students (via Moodle) of the procedure and date for reviewing grades.
Single Assessment: This course allows for a single-assessment option, consisting of the following components: 1) Exam (50%), 2) Assignments (submitted on the day of the exam; 50%).
Reassessment
The resit process for this course will consist of a maximum of two assessment items (the exam and one assignment, or two assignments), depending on which items remain to be passed. Reassessment will take place on the date and at the time established by the Faculty.
Reassessment of the course material will be possible when the following conditions are met:
- The student has a minimum course mark of 3.5/10.
- The student must have been assessed in activities worth at least 2/3 of the total continuous assessment weight.
Students who choose the single-assessment route must have completed all scheduled assessment activities in order to be eligible for re-assessment. The same reassessment method as the one described above for continuous assessment will be used.
Bibliography
Main readings
- Ladefoged, Peter. (2001). A Course in Phonetics (2005. 5th Ed.) Thomson/ Wadsworth Publishers / Ladefoged, Peter & Johnson, Keith. (2011). 6th edition. A Course in Phonetics. Cenage Learning.).
- Odden, David. (2006) Introducing Phonology. Cambridge University Press. Ch. 1: What is Phonology?
Readings on specific topics will be assigned periodically throughout the course.
Additional bibliography
- Bell, Masha. (2004). Understanding English Spelling. Pegasus Ed.
- Borden, Gloria .J., Harris, Katherine .S. & Raphael, Lawrence J. (1994). Speech Science Primer. Baltimore, London: Williams and Wilkins. 3rd edition.
- Brown, Adam. (2014). Pronunciation and Phonetics. A practical guide for English language teachers. Routledge.
- Bybee, Joan. (2001). Phonology and Language Use. Cambridge: CUP
- Carney, Edward. (1997). English spelling. London: Routledge.
- Cebrian, Juli. (2012). The Syllable. In C. A. Chapelle (general editor) and J. Levis & M. Munro (area editors). The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Vol. 9, pp. 5488-5495. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Celce-Murcia, Marianne; Donna Brinton, & Janet M. Goodwin. (1996). Teaching pronunciation: a reference for teachers of English to speakers of other language. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Clark, John, & Yallop, Colin. (1990, 1994). An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Oxford: Blackwell. Ch. 5: The phonemic organization of speech.
- Colantoni, Laura; Steele, Jeffrey, & Escudero, Paola. (2016). Second Language Speech. Theory and Practice. Cambridge University Press.
- Cruttenden, Alan. (2001). Gimson's pronunciation of English [6th edition]. London: Edward Arnold.
- Derwing, Tracey M. & Munro, Murray J. (2015). Pronunciation Fundamentals: Evidence-based Perspectives for L2 teaching and research. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
- Gick, Bryan, Wilson, Ian & Derrick, Donald. (2013). Articulatory Phonetics. Wiley-Blackwell.
- Giegerich, Heinz J. (1992). English Phonology. Cambridge: CUP.
- Hardcastle, William J.; Laver, John, & Givvon, Fiona E. (2010). The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences. Wiley-Blackwell.
- Johnson, Keith. (1997, 2002, 2012). Acoustic and Auditory Phonetics. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Kent, Raymond D. & Read, Charles. (2002). The Acoustic Analysis of Speech. Singular/Thomson Learning
- Kreidler, Charles W. (1989, 2004). The Pronunciation of English. A Coursebook. Oxford: Blackwell.
- Ladefoged, Peter. (2001). Vowels and Consonants. Oxford: Blackwell. (2nd ed. 2004)
- Ladefoged, Peter. (2003). Phonetic Data Analysis: An introduction to phonetic fieldwork and instrumental techniques. Wiley-Blackwell,
- MacKay, Ian R. A. (2023). Phonetics and Speech Science. Cambridge University Press.
- Reetz, Henning, & Jongman, Allard. (2009). Phonetics. Transcription, Production, Acoustics and Perception. Wiley-Blackwell.
- Rogers, Hank. (2000). The Sounds of Language. London: Longman.
- Wayland, Ratree. (2019). Phonetics. A Practical Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
- Wells, J. (1982). Accents of English. Cambridge University Press.
Online resources
See English Phonetics and Pronunciation in Barcelona (https://englishphoneticsbcn.com/) for an extensive and up-to-date list of online resources on general phonetics, English phonetics, and English pronunciation
Software
Praat (speech analysis software): www.praat.org
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE