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This unit was all about teaching pronunciation and phonology.
Pronunciation, although often neglected in the classroom, is an important part of learning the English language. It is the bridge between learning the language and sounding like a real native speaker. Time should be set aside for teaching the various aspects of pronunciation.
Intonation is the variation of volume and pitch in a sentence. The most normal pattern is the rise/fall which signals that the speaker is finished talking. There is contrastively the fall/rise pattern which signals a speakers surprise or disbelief and indicates that they want someone to respond or confirm. This unit also covered a few techniques for teaching this particular topic (i.e. nonsense words, humming, etc.)
Stress is like the music of the language which carries the principal emphasis in the sentence. "I love you", for example, can have three different meanings depending on the stress (I love you= me. Not someone else/ i LOVE you= I more than like you/ i love YOU= I love you. not some other person). This unit also covered a few basic rules for stress and gave a handful of teaching techniques for this subject as well (i.e. contrastive stress, clapping/snapping, etc.). This subject of sound joining and linking was also briefly discussed.
This chapter then went on to discuss the main aspects of phonology and the International Phonetic Alphabet. If all symbols are learned, one would be able to pronounce any word. Along with introducing the symbols for the vowels and consonants used in English, this section also discussed the manner and place of articulation for all consonants as well as provided techniques for teaching, once again (i.e. tongue twisters, visuals, etc.)
This was my favorite unit so far as it was also my favorite class I took when I obtained my masters last year. I absolutely love phonology and think pronunciation is an important part of the learning process. The closer you can sound to a native speaker, the more confidence you will not only have in your own speaking, but the more confidence other people will have in your grasp of the language. My issue in the classroom will come with deciphering how much pronunciation to teach and how particular one should be, because, although I want my students to do well, I don't want them to be discouraged by the difficulties that pronunciation can bring.
