Chapter Eight: Articulation
Objectives:
•
To introduce concepts and terms indigenous to articulation
•
To distinguish between articulation and pronunciation
•
To consider individual differences while advising a program for betterment
Content:
•
Terms—Articulation, pronunciation, phoneme, allophone, vowels, diphthongs,
consonants, International Phonetic Alphabet, dialect.
•
The difference between articulation of phonemes and the pronunciation of words
•
The definition of a phoneme and allophone
•
Vowels, diphthongs, and consonants defined by virtue of characteristics and
classifications
Activities:
•
Present a demonstration of the production of all of the individual phonemes of General
American English in order to show that the articulators must make a significant change
to produce crisp sounds.
•
Videotape students reading selected passages. Focus closely on their mouths. The result
will no doubt be a visual record of little lip movement.
•
Break the class into dyads. Assign an alphabetical grouping of words from the
pronunciation lists in the back of the book to each twosome.
Application Questions:
Ask your students to write responses to these questions; use them for class
discussion; or ask students to personally apply the questions.
1.
What individual sounds of English do you find challenging?
Focus Messages:
•
ESL students should construct a list of specific target sounds to acquire and/or to
eliminate. This list should include sample words.
•
Acting students might begin compiling lists of sound substitutions in order to achieve
Discussion questions:
1.
What particular phonemes are the most difficult to produce?
2.
How might your own oral configuration (overbite/under bite, etc.) affect
articulation?
3.
What are some possible uses, outside of this class for IPA?
4.
What are your own areas of tension—neck? jaw? When does the tension occur? How
does it feel?
Quiz questions:
True/False
which a sound occurs.
Linguist conference.
Multiple Choice
(c)
cognate, (d) phoneme.
(d)
alveoles.
voicing, (c) plosiveness, (d) lip shaping.
(d) [p] [b].
(d) is a personality disorder.
Short answer
1.
Explain the difference between articulation and pronunciation. (Articulation deals with
2.
How are vowels classified? (Front, middle, back, and high, mid, low according to the
4.
Why study the International Phonetic Alphabet? (It is a universal means for
5.
Why is articulator flexibility important to clear diction? (Permits you to rapidly move
Chapter Eight
Evaluations Articulation
Name:
Date:
Directions: Assess your articulation in general by circling or checking the appropriate
descriptors. Respond to questions below.
OVERALL ARTICULATION:
1 2 3 4 5
GarbledSomewhat garbled Fair Clear Overdone
Respond to the following questions:
1.
Are you opening your jaw? Yes No
2.
Do you use active lip movement? Yes No
3.
Is your tongue remaining on the bottom of your
mouth for sounds that require movement? Yes No
4.
Are your teeth fairly aligned (top teeth slightly
over bottom teeth)? Does that affect clarity? Yes No
5.
Are you raising your velum appropriately? Yes No
6.
Does your dialect affect clarity? Yes No
If yes, specify:
List below specific sounds with which you seem to have difficulty: List
below words with which you seem to have difficulty:
Instructor’s comments:
Objectives: