Spoken English: Engelse Taalvaardigheid 2: 200501081

INTRODUCTION TO SPOKEN ENGLISH

This should NOT be regarded as a refresher course suitable for people who want to improve their general conversation skills. The fluency of your English is certainly one of the primary goals but the course will also focus intensively upon near-native pronunciation. In addition, as a university student of English you will require technical knowledge of English phonetics and the ability to reflect upon both your own pronunciation and that of others. You will acquire the skill of recognizing and describing the differences in pronunciation between Dutch and English. To this end Ear Training will teach you to transcribe the sounds of the two languages in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). This complex of integrated skills will be taught in classes totalling six hours a week: a Phonetics lecture (2 hours) a Fluency & Writing tutorial (2 hours) a Pronunciation tutorial (1 hour)* an Ear Training & Transcription tutorial (1 hour)*

* incorporated into a single two-hour session in the language lab. Just as the Written English course in block one contained a speaking element, this course, in the interests of continuity, will incorporate a writing element. In addition to your weekly classes you will be required to write two academic essays. Finally, there are two self-study elements in the course: Vocabulary and Cultural Studies. Since this is essentially a speaking course, you will acquire more high-frequency colloquial vocabulary, using a book designed to make your English more varied and natural. Secondly, advanced fluency cannot be achieved without knowledge of the culture of the countries where the language is spoken. English is of course the most widespread language on the planet. Spoken English will require you to study British culture, life and institutions, based on information drawn from Chapters 6, 7 and 8 from British Cultural Identities and from various reputable websites. This material will also form the starting point for presentations in the Fluency tutorial. In Accurate English in block three, the focus will shift to other English-speaking nations around the globe, including North America and the Antipodes. Note that, as in TV1, you will also be studying a number of literary texts which we think will spark off debates in the Fluency sessions. In TV2, these texts will be drawn not from Britain, but from all over the English-speaking world.

Spoken English: Engelse Taalvaardigheid 2: 200501081

ASSESSMENT
You will receive 7.5 ECTS once you have achieved an overall mark of 5.5 for Spoken English. Grades DO NOT compensate. You must pass all of the following with a 5.5 or higher for a pass: essay grade (20%) + interview grade (40%) + final exam grade (40%). In addition, passing grades are required for the practice essay and the presentation. The final exam in week 11 will cover Phonetics, Ear Training & Transcription, the Cultural Studies material and Vocabulary, using multiple choice and short answer formats. Some time pressure will be involved since you will be required to answer a large number of questions in a exam lasting no longer than 1 hour and 45 minutes. You will conduct an in-class presentation in either week 4 or 5, which will be assessed on a pass/fail basis and represents an entrance requirement for the final interview. This interview will be conducted in week 10 or 11 and will constitute 40% of the overall mark. Unlike Written English, pronunciation will be used as an examination criterion. The re-sit for this interview will be held in block 4, concurrently with the re-sit for Accurate English. You will also be writing a practice essay, to be assessed on a pass/fail basis. This is an entrance requirement for the final essay. The latter will count as 20% of the course mark. If you fail, you will be entitled to a re-sit in block 4.

COURSE CO-ORDINATOR
Rias van den Doel Trans 10, 3512 JK UTRECHT E-mail: rias.vandendoel@let.uu.nl Website: www.let.uu.nl/~Rias.vandenDoel/personal/spoken.html

Spoken English: Engelse Taalvaardigheid 2: 200501081

ASSESSMENT OF SPOKEN ENGLISH

Subject Fluency and Pronunciation Fluency Writing Writing Phonetics Assessment Method 10-minute in-class interview in week 10 or 11 In-class presentation on the Cultural Studies material in weeks 4-5 500-600 word essay in week 3 Graded on structure 500-600 word final essay Graded on structure and language Final exam: 20 multiple choice 10 short answer Final exam: 20 multiple choice questions Final exam: 20-30 questions Final exam: 30 multiple choice 10 short answer % of Final Grade for Written English Interview=

40% 0%
(pass compulsory)

0%
(pass compulsory) Essay=

20%
Final exam (1 hour and 45 minutes) =

Cultural Studies material Ear Training & Transcription Vocabulary

40%

Grades DO NOT compensate. You must pass all of the following with a 5.5 or higher for a pass: essay grade (20%) + interview grade (40%) + final exam grade (40%)

RE-SIT POLICY
1. 2. 3. 4. If your overall average course mark is below 4.0, you do not qualify for any resits. This is in line with Faculty policy. You are NOT entitled to re-sit anything you have already passed. If you ARE entitled to a re-sit, given the two criteria above, then you should make an appointment with Rias van den Doel (rias.vandendoel@let.uu.nl). If you are unable to attend the exam or the interview, or deliver the presentation due to illness or other valid personal circumstances, send an email in advance to both the Secretariat (ria.vanlaaren@let.uu.nl) and the Course Coordinator. Failure to do so will automatically exclude you from any re-sit. You may be required to produce written proof of illness. The re-sit exam, presentations and interviews will be held in March or April. If at the end of the academic year (31 Aug), you have not yet passed the course, all your marks will lapse. This means that if you retake the course in a subsequent year, you have to take all of the course exams.

5.

Spoken English: Engelse Taalvaardigheid 2: 200501081

FLUENCY & WRITING

WEEK-BY-WEEK OVERVIEW

Week 1

Activity Introduction to the course Group discussion of (1) Disgrace and/or (2) The Human Stain Mini-presentations on (3) A Womans Restaurant, (4) The Lost Language of Cranes and/or (5) Brief Interview with Hideous Men Group discussion WRITING WORKSHOP Presentations on Chapters 6, 7 or 8 from British Cultural Identities Presentations on web-based cultural material WRITING WORKSHOP No classes Catch-up classes (if required) In-class interviews In-class interviews

3 4 5 6 7-8 9 10 11

Spoken English: Engelse Taalvaardigheid 2: 200501081

TIMETABLE PHONETICS, PRONUNCIATION, AND EAR TRAINING

Week Sounds Pronunciation Drills Phonetics lecture Ear Training and Transcription

/e /

Sounding Better: pages to be studied in advance 1-4, 49-51

501-562

stops, glottal 5-8, 12-14 reinforcement

101-130, 131-145

\r\, /r/-deletion, 26-30, 57-58, 63-64 approximants

301-351 601-619, 687-699 221-273, 284-299, 301-316

Fricatives, /w/

17-22, 26

Vowels: \-\, \O\, \I\ Vowels: \e-\, \E\, \A\, \U-u:\

34-41, 45, 60-63, 69-72 49-53, 75-78

640-699, 448-460 542-592, 829-848

(PPP: Collins and Mees, Practical Phonetics and Phonology, sections and pages to be studied in advance) Phoneme contrasts \e-\, \t-d\, \U-u:\ (PPP A1, A2, B1: pp. 6874) voicing mechanism, voicing contrasts, aspiration, glottal stop/reinforcement (PPP A4: pp. 25-32, A5: pp. 49-52, B2: pp. 81-2, pre-glottal.) CONSONANTS 1 place of articulation, /r/ (PPP A4: pp. 33-39, A5) CONSONANTS 2 manner of articulation, strong and weak consonants (PPP B2) VOWELS and diphthongs (PPP A6, B3) syllabic consonants, strong and weak forms, stress (PPP A3: pp. 15-20, A5: pp. 53-55, B2: pp. 82-83, B4, B5) Intonation (PPP B6) General Revision

\e-\, \t-d\

stops (voicing, aspiration, glottal reinforcement)

/r/

/v f w/, /s z/, and \T D\

/e / , \U-u:\, \-\ (1)

/e / , \U-u:\, \-\ (2)

7-8 9

Spoken English: Engelse Taalvaardigheid 2: 200501081

PRONUNCIATION
This course component will be taught in the language labs, in the same 2-hour slot as the component called Ear Training. Whereas Pronunciation is assessed in an in-class interview in weeks 10 or 11 (together with Fluency), Ear Training is assessed separately (together with Phonetics, Vocabulary and Britain.). See Fluency and Ear Training for assessment details. You are expected to bring a copy of Sounding Better to class, having studied the designated pages in advance. Pronunciation sessions will begin with the teacher explaining the material to be covered. Students will take turns pronouncing a few trial sentences. They will then move to the computers to listen to and repeat pre-recorded drills from the SB CD. The tutor will provide feedback where necessary. You need to form a picture of your own strengths and weaknesses in pronunciation as soon as possible. If the words bat, bad, bet, and bed sound the same when you say them, you need to do something about it. Never be shy about asking your teachers opinion: that is what he or she is there for.

In this department we teach a variety of British English known as RP or Received Pronunciation. This does not mean that we do not accept other varieties. There are recent and current students with American, Irish, Australian, Canadian, Welsh, or Yorkshire accents. But nearly all of these people have had some special reason for acquiring their particular variety of English, be it family, friends or a period spent abroad. Unless you have a specific reason, RP is probably best for you. We accept native varieties, but not mixtures of various accents and dialects, so you have to stick to one kind of English. Ask your teacher to comment on your accent. Students who have been designated as American speakers by a staff member are required not to buy Sounding Better (which teaches British Received Pronunciation) but to buy Accepted American English (which teaches General American pronunciation) instead. This publication is obtainable from the Readerverkoop at the Drift.

Spoken English: Engelse Taalvaardigheid 2: 200501081

PHONETICS, EAR TRAINING AND TRANSCRIPTION

Lecturer: Office: Office hours: Phone: E-mail: Bert Schouten Trans 10, 1.08b most of the time, except when teaching (253)6069 bert.schouten@let.uu.nl

Textbook:

Beverley Collins and Inger M. Mees, Practical Phonetics and Phonology, Routledge, London, 2003. ISBN 0-415-26134-1.

(We will also use Collins et al., Sounding Better (=SB).)

Form:

a series of two-hour lectures on Phonetics; an hour of Ear Training and Transcription, separately for each group.

Phonetics, Pronunciation, and Ear Training/Transcription are intimately connected and will cover the same ground, usually in the same week.

All this information (and more) can also be found at: http://www.let.uu.nl/~Bert.Schouten/personal/Engels/phonetics.htm

Spoken English: Engelse Taalvaardigheid 2: 200501081

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course deals with the speech sounds of English, and more specifically with two aspects: Firstly, during the phonetics lectures, you will learn how the consonants and vowels of English are produced, using recipes for the speech organs. You will be taken on a guided tour of the human speech organs. We will do classroom exercises, usually in the language laboratory, to develop your awareness of how the speech sounds of English are produced, which we hope will significantly improve your own pronunciation. Secondly, during the ear training and transcription classes, you will learn how to transcribe the sounds of English in a special code, the International Phonetic Alphabet. Learning IPA transcription requires developing a good ear for meaningful differences between sounds, and becoming less dependent on spelling. To increase your awareness of important contrasts, we will compare the sounds of British English (Received Pronunciation) and American English (General American), and contrast these with Dutch sounds. We will pay attention to phonetic transcription at a more detailed level, dealing with aspects that are crucial to a natural pronunciation.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
An exam will be held at the end of Block 2. More information will become (but isnt yet) available on the website. Homework: - From week 2, you are expected to finish the textbook readings (see timetable on p. 24) prior to the lectures. - You should finish the written exercises on the following pages before coming to the phonetics lecture of that week. - The auditory exercises will be done in the language laboratory a week earlier. Familiarise yourself with the phonetic symbols of that week before coming to the ear training class.