On Pronunciation Teaching and Semiotics (Extra 15% on Test 1)

Hello class!

Pronunciation was defined by McArthur (1992, p. 810) as:

 “The act or result of producing the sounds of speech, including articulation, intonation, and rhythm”.

This paper aims at emphasizing the importance of semiotic elements in pronunciation teaching and suggests ways to implement it appropriately in language classrooms. Then, it describes a lesson plan of a pronunciation class for pre-intermediate level preparation class in detail.

Please click on the link, download the Pdf. article, and read it:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815046091

After reading the paper, choose three questions from below and answer each one of them in no less than a 100-word paragraph.

Please note that all of them are opinion-based, so mind your own answers and be original with your responses.

There are NO right or wrong answers, just be as professional and objective in your judgement as you can.

1. State your opinion on Kelly's (1969) position on calling pronunciation the "Cinderella area of EFL."
2. What is intelligibility and how do you think it depends on both the speaker and the listener?
3. What are the elements of semiotics? Why is it so important for English teachers to use them in the language classroom?
4. How are language and culture strictly interwoven? Why is it impossible to talk about a language without mentioning its culture?
5. Explain the ultimate relationship between semiotics, culture, and language. How can we effectively bring them to the language classroom?

Please read the whole article, take the time to write good and complete answers, and double check them before submitting them.

Deadline: Sunday, August 05th, at 11:59pm.

Contextualizing Language

Hello class!

Contextualization is the meaningful use of language for real communicative purposes. It helps students understand how language users construct language in a given context. Language learning in context in the classroom can be expressed in such ways as:

• Working with real or simulated situations.

• Paying attention to the physical setting of exchange.

• Knowing the purpose of the exchange.

• Using language that accounts for the roles of the participants.

• Using socially acceptable norms of interaction.

• Paying attention to medium, tone, genre, and register.

Teachers can contextualize language instruction by organizing the content of the language curriculum according to themes or topics. These themes or topics work best when they are threaded throughout the course of study.
After watching the video, choose three questions from below and answer them. Please note that all of them are opinion-based, so mind your own answers and be original with your responses.

There are NO right or wrong answers, just be as professional and objective in your judgement as you can.

1. How were you able to identify the language context (topics, themes, situations)? What did you pay attention to in order to do this?
2. How are the activities that you saw related to each of the contexts (the content areas)?
3. What kind of language naturally evolved as an extension of the activities and context?
4. How might the activities be adapted for different ages? Different topic areas? Levels?

Please watch the whole video, take the time to write good and complete answers, and double check them before submitting them.

Deadline: Tuesday, July 31st, at 11:59pm.

Whole Group Phonics Lesson in Kindergarten

Hello class!

This time you are in charge of analyzing a whole group phonics lesson at kindergarten and answer the questions below. Please note that all of them are opinion-based, so please mind your own answers, watch the video, and be original with your responses. There are NO right or wrong answers, just be as professional and objective in your judgement as you can.

1. What are five good things about the teacher?
2. What are five good things about the class?
3. Please mention three things that you think are not done in a right way, according to the level.
4. Which three things would you do differently in the lesson?
5. Is kindergarten a level you would teach? Why? or why not? Explain.

Please watch the whole video, take the time to write good and complete answers, and double check them before submitting them.

Deadline: Tuesday, July 31st, at 11:59pm.

Phonemic Chart

Hello class!

The International Phonemic Alphabet (IPA) helps by providing a way to write words as they are pronounced. The normal alphabet only has 26 characters but there are 44 different sounds that are used to pronounce words. As well as that, most words in English originate from other languages like Greek, Latin and French, to name just a few and in many cases the the language of origin influences how the word is pronounced.

The IPA provides a symbol (phoneme) for each sound so the correct pronunciation can be written or printed in dictionaries.

This video helps language learners to hear the correct pronunciation and also to know how to produce the sound of each phoneme.

Please watch this interesting video that explains the phonemic chart and classifies sounds in a very useful way.

After watching, please answer the following:

1. Name at least 7 sounds that you are certain to know how to pronounce and how to write its corresponding phoneme. (If you do not have seven, that is more than o.k., just write the ones you know.)
2. Name at least 7 sounds that you neither know how to pronounce nor how to write its corresponding phoneme. 
3. Explain in no less than 150 words how this will be useful for your teaching and how you are planning to use it.

Please watch the whole video, take the time to write good and complete answers, and double check them before submitting them.

Deadline: Tuesday, June 26th, at 11:59pm.

English Phonemes

Hello class!

As you can see on Table 8, there are nearly 40 phonemes of English, while there are only 26 letters in the alphabet.

Please use the chart of phonemes as a reference and write a comment with two famous English quotes about any topic into phonemic transcription.

Then, wait for other classmates to post their own phonemic transcriptions and choose one to try to read and decipher. Write the actual quote as a comment on his or her post.

I will model with a phonemic transcripted quote post and then an example of a comment on someone's transcripted quote.

Please take into consideration that if both your own post and a comment on someone else's post are not made accordingly with the instructions, or your answers display more than 15 grammar or spelling mistakes, you will not get the total amount of points. 

Take the time to write your answer well and double check it before submitting it.

Don't forget that quote choices cannot be exactly the same, so you have to be aware to use some that haven't been posted by someone else before.

Deadline: Monday, June 05th, at 11:59pm.

Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

Hello class!

Welcome to Phonetics and Phonology! We will learn most of the major aspects of the pronunciation system of English. Given our very important role as English teachers, I would say that our biggest goal in this class is to become more knowledgeable about the phonetics and phonology of English..

In this first post, you must comply with the following two exercises:

1. Collect a set of 10 words in which any of the voiced and voiceless sounds listed in the book occurs as the first sound of a word, in the middle of a word (specifically between two vowels), and at the end of a word, as in:

a) [b] bird, rubbing, rub
b) [p] pan, tapping, tap

(Note: The doubled consonants tell us how the vowel before them is to be pronounced; cf. tapping, taping.)

2. Provide an articulator description for three of the following sounds:

E.g. 

Please take into consideration that if questions are not answered accordingly with the instructions and your answers display more than 15 grammar or spelling mistakes, you will not get the total amount of points. 

Take the time to write your answers and double check it before submitting it.

Don't forget that opinions cannot be exactly the same.

Deadline: Sunday, May 27th, at 11:59pm.