Phonetics

Entry level language skills at least at B1+, no speech impediments or other anatomical/physiological barriers.

Choosing British or American pronunciation group, a student should be consistent with their already acquired accent if this is already set.

przedmiot obowiązkowy

Participation in classes and individual consultations (contact hours with the teacher) - 30 hrs each semester

Self-study hours:

- preparation for tests and completing homework assignements (recordings, transcription excercises) - 20 hrs

Altogether: 50 hrs = 2 ECTS

W1:The student knows phonological terms, phonetic symbols for English and phonetic transcription - K_W03

U1: The student can speak at B2 level without pronunciation errors causing misunderstanding and without interference from their mother tongue- K_U17

U2:The student can pronounce correctly words in the selected variety of English - K_U04

K1: The student is aware of their pronunciation skills in English and the need to systematically improve them based on individual feedback received K_ K01

Expository teaching methods: description

Exploratory teaching methods: practical, laboratory

Classes may also utilize a range of other TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) techniques, such as shadowing, repetition, reading aloud, dialogs, translation, drama, etc.

Moodle platform will the basic repository of class materials and channel through which homework will be submitted.

https://moodle.umk.pl/WHUM/course/view.php?id=1247

- drama
- pokaz

- opis

- ćwiczeniowa
- laboratoryjna
- obserwacji

The aim of the course is to improve students’ overall pronunciation skills in English. The main focus is on the pronunciation of vowels, diphthongs and consonants, and the necessary elements of connected speech.

The classes incorporate practical exercises in recognizing and producing the phonemes. Teaching is based both on published course material and on electronic material, such as interactive pronunciation dictionaries and audio and video recordings. Methods include doing focused exercises as well as imitation of native English speakers.

Content distribution (winter semester):

- Introduction (overview of the learning outcomes, class content, methods and assessment criteria, rules and regulations),

- individual and group diagnosis

- Introduction of individual log of progress

- Selected English consonants

- English vowels and diphthongs

- Exercises in transcription

- Individual reading consultations and remedial exercises

Literature (compulsory)

British accent:

Baker, Ann. 2009. Ship or sheep. Fourth edition. Cambridge: CUP.

Hewings, Martin. 2007. English Pronunciation in Use Advanced. Cambridge: CUP.

Wells, John C. 2008. Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Third Edition. London: Longman

American accent:

Arabski, J. 1987. Wymowa amerykańska. Warszawa: PWN.

Sawala, K. et al. Say It Right wersja 4.0. Multimedialny kurs wymowy i słownictwa angielskiego. Supermemo World sp. z o.o.

Additional sources

British accent:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish

http://accent.gmu.edu/

http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/index.html

http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/

American accent:

selected books by Dr Seuss: The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hatches the Egg, and Fox in Socks.

Moodle resources.

Moodle platform will the basic repository of class materials and channel through which homework will be submitted.

For British pronunciation group: PNJA: BA1 BrPhon2023/24 - on Moodle.

Assessment methods:

• Observation of participation, preparation and homework completion (e.g. recordings), documented in an activity log (U2, K1)

• Transcription tests (W1)

• End-of-semester pronunciation test (U2)

Assessment criteria:

fail – 0 – 59%

satisfactory - 60 – 69%

satisfactory plus - 70 – 75%

good - 76 – 85%

good plus - 86 – 90%

very good - 91 – 100%

The students are evaluated in accordance with the university regulations, and they must attend all course meetings. Informed participation in class discussions – based on completion of the assigned reading and supportive collaboration with classmates – is also required. Each class absence has to be excused in the first week after the lesson missed. The final grade percentage will be reduced by 10% for every unexcused absence.

Holistic assessment criteria for language competence

Very good:

The students' speech is clear and free of errors causing misunderstanding. Although a student may have a foreign accent, there is little NL interference.

Almost all segmental and suprasegmental features are correct. It is immediately clear which standard of English uses.

Good:

The students' speech shows features of descriptors for grades 3 and 5.

Satisfactory:

There is no problem with intelligibility but the NL accent is stronger. There may be occasional pronunciation errors particularly in less frequent words. There are occasional errors in suprasegmental features. Features of British and American English are often mixed.

Fail:

Student's speech is often unintelligible. Pronunciation errors cause misunderstanding. The student is impervios to correction and has no knowledge of the necessary theory or symbols.

N/A