hilton english pronunciation ufr-llsh l1 english pronunciation heather hilton office 23-106...

Hilton

UFR-LLSH

L1

English PronunciationEnglish Pronunciation

Heather HILTONoffice 23-106

[email protected]

Hilton

English Pronunciation

• Objectives for LEA

• Course organization/ syllabus

• The importance of pronunciation

• English pronunciation in particular

• French learners and English pronunciation

LECTURE 1LECTURE 1

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A "triple major"(you specialize in 3 things)

2 languages

+

international business

General objectives for LEAGeneral objectives for LEA

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• 2 languages, at an advanced level

• Better language skills than the average French learner of English (German, Spanish, Italian)...

• … to "give you an edge" in the job market.

Language objectives for LEALanguage objectives for LEA

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How can you improve your English?

We find that students leaving the French secondary schools are often quite weak in basic language knowledge:

• English pronunciation• English vocabulary• English grammar

English objectives for LEAEnglish objectives for LEA

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This language knowledge is essential for effective communication, both

speaking, of course, but (more importantly) listening.


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In an international business situation, it's not enough to communicate approximately ("Me Tarzan, You Jane" fashion…)

In negotiation, details are very important!

If you want to be convincing, you have to be very sure of WHAT you're saying, and HOW you're saying it!


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[ Cultural information, too...

- background, content ]


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In this course, we will try to motivate you to improve your English pronunciation.

We cannot improve your pronunciation for you...

Only YOU can do that!Only YOU can do that!

Objectives for this courseObjectives for this course

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Course organization:

5 lectures: important concepts for English pronunciation.

12 lessons (interactive classroom 13-114): intensive practice session, with the teacher

10 lab sessions (self-access lab 13-212): individualized practice, using special software.

Course organizationCourse organization

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COURSE GRADECOURSE GRADE:

Final oral exam

Written test + attendance, participation in lessons and labs.

Course assessmentCourse assessment

50 %

50 %

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Students who haven't...

• attended lectures, lessons, and labs,

• worked on the words in the course booklet,

• practiced A LOT outside of class,

...probably will NOT pass the final oral exam.

IMPORTANT EXCEPTION: Bilingual students (English-speaking parent/s) can see me for special status (lessons, labs).

Course assessmentCourse assessment

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Any questions??

Course organization & syllabusCourse organization & syllabus

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• Objectives for LEA

• Course organization/ syllabus

• The importance of pronunciation

• English pronunciation in particular

• French learners and English pronunciation

LECTURE 1LECTURE 1

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A baby learns its first language (L1) by:

1. listening to the sounds that adults make

2. playing with the sounds s/he can make (INTONATION first, then SYLLABLES)

3. trying to imitate the sounds adults make

4. learning that certain sounds mean certain things

The importance of pronunciationThe importance of pronunciation

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LISTENINGLISTENING is the most fundamental language skill (the one we use to learn how to speak).

You may not care how well you can pronounce the sounds of English, but you will certainly need to know about these sounds if you want to UNDERSTAND normal spoken English.

The importance of pronunciationThe importance of pronunciation

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Will you have pronunciation courses in Italian? in Spanish? in German?

Probably not.

So why a special course for L1 English?

English pronunciationEnglish pronunciation

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The pronunciation of English is a particularly "tricky" (= difficult) problem.

Can you tell me why?


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1. Complicated groups of letters may represent relatively simple sounds...


comb boughtweigh

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(This is the same in French…)

beaux

ils travaillent

grenouille

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2. The same letters/ groups of lettersfrequently do NOT sound the same!

BUT: in English pronunciation...BUT: in English pronunciation...

goes

does

now

snow

wear

dear

no

dog

student

study

hat

made

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sound - symbol correspondancesound - symbol correspondance

wordthrough

although

bough

rough

home

hot

woman

women

to

sword

toward

The chaotic nature of

in English

could out you soul

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This does NOT happen in French!– au is always /o/

– ou is always /u/

– é is always /e/ …

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Another problem in English is word stress:(accentuated syllable in polysyllabic words)

Examples: 'perfect (adj.) to per'fect (vb.)'mountain mountai'neering'celebrate ce'lebrity

Apparently "irregular" (unpredictable).


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Look at these English words:

chaos, jury, horrible, leopard

They certainly LOOK familiar, don't they?

These are what we call COGNATES: words that look the same, and have the same meaning

in two languages.

Special problems for French learnersSpecial problems for French learners

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Cognates are GREAT when you're READING!

( >50% of English vocabulary comes from French or Latin )


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But cognates are a special problem for French learners of English (and English learners of French), because they NEVER sound the same in both

languages!

chaos

theater

amateur


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Our two languages are very close, lexically,but very different phonologically.

Many French learners of English simplypronounce English words with French phonemes.


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This type of (lazy) "Frenglish" pronunciation is not good enough for our advanced level in LEA.

In this course, we are going to require you to work very intensely on producing and understanding

the sounds of English.


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Brainstorming topic:Brainstorming topic:

chaos - leopard - horrible - amateur

Say them in French.Listen to them in English.

Can you describe – precisely – the differences in pronunciation?

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vowel sounds(the biggest difference)

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certain consonant sounds

[ h ] [ th ] [ r ]

final consonants

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word stress

(always on final syllable in French)

various places in English

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• English vowel sounds

• Certain consonant sounds + final consonants

• Word stress

These will be our major preoccupations (our major focus) for the semester (see course syllabus).

hilton english pronunciation ufr-llsh l1 english pronunciation heather hilton office 23-106...

Documents

english pronunciation

content english objectives

course slide

lea slide

course organization

course assessment slide

language objectives

course booklet