UNIT_1_PRACTICE

Silvia Barreiro Bilbao

Variaciones fontico-fonolgicas en la lengua inglesa

TRANCRIPTION PRACTICE () () (1h 30)

Focus: IPA consonant symbols revisited (I) (optional)

Materials: International Phonetic Alphabet charts
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low
Exercise 1: Look through the consonant symbols on the chart and find the
place of articulation and state of the glottis (voiceless or voiced) for at least
two of the following sounds:
a) []
b) ]
c) []
d) []
e) []
f) []
Comment: Remember that when symbols appear in pairs, the one to the
left represents a voiceless consonant, and the one to the right, a voiced
consonant.
Hint: Click and listen to each sound of the chart first, if any help...

Focus: IPA consonant symbols revisited (II) (optional)

Materials: International Phonetic Alphabet charts
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low
Exercise 2: Determine the manner of articulation for at the least two of
the following sounds shown on the chart:
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UNIT_1_PRACTICE
Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fontico-fonolgicas en la lengua inglesa

a) []
b) []
c) []
d) []
e) []
f) []
Hint: Click and listen to each sound of the chart first, if any help...

Focus: IPA vowel symbols revisited (optional)

Materials: International Phonetic Alphabet charts
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low
Exercise 3: Use the IPA chart to work out the tongue position (front,
central, back) and lip shape (rounded, unrounded or spread) of at least
two of the following vowels:
a) []
b) []
c) []
d) []
e) [o]
f) []
Hint: Click and listen to each sound of the chart first, if any help...

Focus: IPA diacritics revisited (optional)

Materials: Internacional Phonetic Association (diacritics)
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low
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UNIT_1_PRACTICE
Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fontico-fonolgicas en la lengua inglesa

Exercise 4: Supply a diacritic corresponding to at the least two of the

following labels:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

Palatalized consonant: C
Voiceless (or devoiced) sound: V or C
Rhoticity:
Creaky voiced sound: V or C
Apical consonant: C
Nasalized vowel: V

Hint: Use the IPA chart, if any help...

Focus: IPA symbols used in English transcriptions (I)

Materials: International Phonetics Association: the alphabet chart
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low
Exercise 5: Look through the pulmonic consonant chart and state how
many places and manners of articulation are used in Standard English
(with RP accent). Are they all voiced or voiceless?

Focus: IPA symbols used in English transcriptions (II)

Materials: International Phonetics Association: the alphabet chart
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low
Exercise 6: Look through the vowel chart and indicate which symbols are
used to transcribe the segmental sounds of English. Notice that the quality
of one of the vowels is clearly different from it is in English (a bit more
centralised in this case), can you identify this vowel?
Comment: Remember that as RP is used as the reference accent, the
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UNIT_1_PRACTICE
Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fontico-fonolgicas en la lengua inglesa

selected symbols reflect the sound distinctions an RP speaker would

make.

Focus: Prosody in English transcriptions (optional but recommended)

Materials The document Focus & Intonation (unit 6) from the course Pronunciacin en
la lengua inglesa (optional)
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Mid
Exercise 7: Supply intonation marks for at the least two of the following labels:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

Intonation unit
Stressed syllable (not accented)
High pre-head
Low simple head
High Fall nuclear tone
Fall Rise nuclear tone

Focus: Letters vs. sounds in English

Materials: Pronunciation dictionary (optional)
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low
Exercise 8: Count the number of letters in at least three of the following
English words and write it down. Then, say each word aloud. Count the
number of sounds you hear: show, dog, enough, eight, through, honest,
lamb, car, common, horse, black.
Question: What can you say about the relationship between sounds and
letters of each word? Example: In the word show two letters represent a
single sound.
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UNIT_1_PRACTICE
Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fontico-fonolgicas en la lengua inglesa

Focus: Spelling vs. transcription in English

Materials: Pronunciation dictionary (optional)
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low
Exercise 9: Transcribe phonemically the words you used from exercise 8
above, assuming that is an RP accent, and explain briefly the connection
between ordinary spelling (also called orthography) and transcription.

UNIT_1_PRACTICE
Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fontico-fonolgicas en la lengua inglesa

REVIEW EXERCISES () (1h)

Focus: Key concepts & ideas

Materials: None
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Mid
Exercise 1: Decide if each of these statements is True (T) or False (F)
and mark it accordingly. Give reasons for wrong answers.
a) Dialect has to do with grammar and vocabulary whereas accent is
related to pronunciation.
b) Codification refers to the fact that at some point a particular dialect of
a language has officially received the standardization treatment.
c) Inner circle Englishes are those varieties of English spoken in
countries where people speak English as their mother tongue.
d) There is a Standard English accent, namely, RP.
e) Technical registers are not used while speaking or writing NonStandard English.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

True
True
True
True
True

False
False
False
False
False

Focus: The spread of English/ the nature of overseas Englishes (optional)

Materials: None
Time: 15 minutes
Level of difficulty: Mid
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Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fontico-fonolgicas en la lengua inglesa

Exercise 2: Write down, in your own words, the main facts you have
learnt about the spread of English in the world and the nature of these
overseas varieties.

Focus: Factors accounting for variability (I)

Materials: None
Time: 5 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low
Exercise 3: Here are some of the factors that influence on peoples
pronunciation. Group them according to their nature (personal or
situational):
a) Occupation
b) Topic spoken
c) Attitude towards language
d) Social relationship between speaker & hearer
e) Purpose for using language

Focus: Factors accounting for variability (II) (optional)

Materials: None
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low
Exercise 4: Not all the variables that accounts for variability in peoples
pronunciation exert the same degree of influence. Read all the factors
mentioned in the document UNIT 1_THEORY and decide which ones you
think have more influence on your own pronunciation than the rest.

UNIT_1_PRACTICE
Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fontico-fonolgicas en la lengua inglesa

Focus: Kinds of variability (I) (optional)

Materials: None
Time: 5 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low
Exercise 5: State which of the following sentences are written in
Standard English and which are not:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

He dont want to do that.

He always seems very nice to me.
I dont want none.
We done that quite recently.
She knows what she has to do.
The man what went

Focus: Kinds of variability (II) (optional)

Materials: None
Time: 5 minutes
Level of difficulty: Low-Mid
Exercise 6: Convert the non-standard sentences from exercise 5 into
Standard English.

Focus: Kinds of variability (III) (optional)

Materials: None
Time: 10 minutes
Level of difficulty: Mid-High
Exercise 7: Label the following sentences according to the dialect
(standard or non-standard), style (formal or informal) and register
(technical or non-technical):
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Silvia Barreiro Bilbao
Variaciones fontico-fonolgicas en la lengua inglesa

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)

She want you to play this melody adagio, not allegro.

She wants you to play this tune slowly, not quickly.
The rear off-side wheel look a bit wobbly.
The back left-hand wheel seems to be oscillating somewhat.
Her patella sustained an injury.
She done her knee cap in.
He aint attended no baptisms.
He hasnt been to any christenings.

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