REVIEWER IN INTRODUCTION TO THE TRACHEA

LINGUISTICS (FINAL TERM) The trachea is the tube going to the lungs. In other words,
it is a 'pipe' that connects the lungs and the larynx.

THE LARYNX OR ADAM'S APPLE

PHONETICS describes the concrete, physical form
of sounds (how they are produced, heard and how The larynx, which is a part of the human anatomy on top
they can be described). of the trachea, is containing the vocal cords / folds. The
larynx is most noticeable in the adult male neck, where it
PHONOLOGY is concerned with the function of 'sticks out' as what is known as the Adam's apple. The
sounds that is with their status and inventory in any vocal cords / folds take on the speech-functions of the
given language. In other words, phonetics studies larynx, which are inside of the larynx. The Pharynx
the actual sounds that we produce while phonology THE PHARYNX
studies the abstract patterns of the sounds in our
mind. The back wall of the throat behind the tongue. The shape,
length, and volume of the entire chamber can be modified
THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET by the constrictive action of the muscles enclosing the
pharynx, the movement of the back of the tongue, and by
the position of the velum, which, when raised, excludes
the nasopharynx.

THE UVULA

The uvula is a small fleshy flap of tissue that hangs in the

back of the mouth and is the extension of the velum or the
soft palate. Sounds articulated with the back of the tongue
and uvula are called uvular.

THE VELUM OR SOFT PALATE

The velum or soft palate is the soft tissue immediately

behind the tongue. Its main function is to separate the
nasal cavity from the oral cavity. When it is raised, it forces
all air through the mouth; lowered, it allows air through the
nose. Sounds like /g/ or /k/, whereby the back of the
tongue is in contact with the lower side of the velum are
called velar consonants.

THE HARD PALATE

THE ARTICULATORS & ARTICULATORY The hard palate, which is often simply called the palate,
PHONETICS or the roof of the mouth, is the bony structure that lies just
behind the alveolar ridge.

THE ALVEOLAR RIDGE

The alveolar ridge (teeth-ridge) is the bony ridge behind

the upper teeth. Sounds produced with the tongue
touching this part are said to be alveolar: e.g. the initial
and final consonants in the English word sit (/sɪt/).

THE TONGUE

The tongue is the most movable articulator (with the tip,

for instance, being able of movements of up to 9 times per
second) and can take up an almost limitless number of
positions, both vertically and horizontally. The tongue is
the principal agent in the formation of vowel sounds.
THE TEETH

The teeth, mainly the various upper teeth are very

important for the production of many consonants, like the
initial sounds in the English words this (/ðɪs/)and thing
(/θɪŋ/).

THE LIPS

The lips assist in the formation of both vowels and

consonants. For vowels, for instance, it is important to
know whether they are rounded (e.g. /u: / in doom) or
spread (e.g. /i:/ in heed).

THE NOSE OR NASAL CAVITY/TRACT

The nose, or nasal cavity, is divided into two cavities – i.e.

the nostrils - by a central bone, known as the septum. The
roof of the nasal cavity is very narrow, whereas the floor
is smooth and relatively wide. The side walls are
extremely irregular.

ENGLISH VOWELS SOUNDS ENGLISH CONSONANT SOUNDS

 MONOPHTHONGS - vowels that were CLASSIFIED BY PLACE OF ARTICULATION
pronounced at the same place and English has
SOUND AS IN:
12 of them.
SYMBOL
Labial p pit
b bit
m mit
w wit
Labio-dental f fine
v vine
Dental θ thick
ð this
Alveolar t tip
d dip
s sip
z zip
Velar k kate
g gate
ŋ sing
 DIPHTHONGS - vowels that change character Palatal dƷ jam
during their pronunciation, that is, they begin at ʃ sheep
one place and move towards another place and tʃ cheat
English has 8 of them.

 Bilabial – Upper lip touches the lower lip.

 Labio-dental – lower lip touches the
upper teeth.
 Dental – tip of the tongue on the back of
the upper front teeth.
 Alveolar – tongue blade on the alveolar
ridge.
 Velar – back of the tongue against the
velum.
 Palatal – front of the tongue on the hard
palate.
ENGLISH CONSONANT SOUNDS CLASSIFIED SUMMARY OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS
BY MANNER OF ARTICULATION USING THREE-TERM-LABEL

Stops/Plosive p, b, t, d, k, g
Fricatives f, v, θ, ð, s, z, Ʒ, ʃ Voicing Place Manner
Affricates tʃ, dƷ p voiceless Bilabial Plosive
Nasal m, n, ŋ b voiced Bilabial Plosive
Lateral l t voiceless Alveolar Plosive
Approximant w, r t voiced Alveolar Plosive
m voiced Bilabial Nasal
f voiceless Labiodentals Fricative
 Stop/Plosive – airflow is stop causing an out-rush of k voiceless Velar Plosive
θ voiceless Dental Fricative
air and burst of sound. ð voiced Dental Fricative
 Bilabial voiced [b] boat; voiceless [p] post
 Alveolar voiced [d] dad; voiceless [t] tap SYLLABIC STRUCTURE
 Velar voice [g] golf; voiceless [k] cow  Syllables (σ) - units of phonological
 Fricative – air passes through a narrow space and organization and smaller than words.

the sound arises from the friction it produces. THREE PARTS OF A SYLLABIC STRUCTURE
 Labio-dental voiced [v] vole; voiceless [f] foal 1. ONSET – initial consonant sounds.
 Dental voiced [ð] those; voiceless [θ] thick 2. NUCLEUS – vowel sounds
3. CODA – end consonant sounds
 Palatal voiced [Ʒ] leisure; voiceless [ʃ] trash
TWO TYPES OF SYLLABLES
 Affricate – stop consonant where expelled air cause
1. Closed syllable – has a short vowel sound.
friction rather than explosion of outburst.
Vowel is followed by a consonant.
2. Open syllable – has a long vowel sound.
 Nasal – closing the articulators but lowering the Vowel is not followed by any consonant.

uvula, closes off the route to the nose. WORD STRESS AND INTONATION
 Bilabial [m] mine  Stress or loudness – increasing volume is
 Alveolar [n] nine a simple way of giving emphasis, and this is
a crude measure of stress. But it is usually
 Velar [ŋ] gong combined with other things like changes in
 Lateral – air escape at the side of the tongue. tone and tempo.

 Alveolar [l] lamp RULE OF WORD STRESS

 Approximant – do not impede the flow of air. 1. Stress the first syllable of:
 Bilabial [w] water  Most two-syllable NOUNS
 Alveolar [r] road Ex. CLImate; KNOWledge
 Most two-syllable ADJECTIVES
TWO GROUPS OF MANNER OF ARTICULATION
Ex. FLIPpant; SPAcious
1. Obstruent – all sounds with a high degree of
obstruction (condition of being blocked) usually 2. Stress the last syllable of:
comes in pair. Plosive, Fricatives, Affricate  Most two-syllable VERBS

2. Sonorant – less obstruction and are all voiced Ex. reQUIRE; deCIDE
therefore more sonorous (deep, loud and 3. Stress the second-to-last syllable of:
pleasing) Nasal, Lateral Approximant
 Words that end in –ic sound to the base form. The "mistakes"
occur because there are irregular verbs
Ex. ecSTATic; geoGRAPHic
which do not behave in this way. Such forms
 Words ending in –sion, -tion, -cion are often referred to as intelligent mistakes or
virtuous errors.
Ex. exTENsion; retriBUtion
4. Stress the third-from-last syllable of:  The vast majority of children go through the
same stages of language acquisition. There
 Words that end in –cy, -ty, -phy and appears to be a definite sequence of steps.
–gy We refer to developmental milestones.
Apart from certain extreme cases (see the
Ex. deMOCracy, unCERtainty, geOGraphy case of Genie), the sequence seems to be
 Words that end in –al largely unaffected by the treatment the child
receives or the type of society in which s/he
Ex. exCEPtional, CRItical grows up.

 Children are often unable to repeat

THREE THEORIES OF LANGUAGE what an adult says, especially if the
ACQUISITION adult utterance contains a structure the
child has not yet started to use.

1. BEHAVIORISM THEORY BY B.F. SKINNER 2. NATIVIST THEORY by. NOAM

CHOMSKY
The behaviourist psychologists developed their
theories while carrying out a series of experiments
on animals. They observed that rats or birds, for Noam Chomsky published a criticism of the
example, could be taught to perform various tasks behaviourist theory in 1957. In addition to some of
by encouraging habit-forming. Researchers the arguments listed above, he focused particularly
on the impoverished language input children
rewarded desirable behaviour. This was known
receive. Adults do not typically speak in
as positive reinforcement. Undesirable
grammatically complete sentences. In addition,
behaviour was punished or simply not rewarded - what the child hears is only a small sample of
negative reinforcement. language.
Skinner suggested that a child imitates the
Chomsky concluded that children must have an
language of its parents or carers. Successful
inborn faculty for language acquisition.
attempts are rewarded because an adult who According to this theory, the process is biologically
recognizes a word spoken by a child will praise the determined - the human species has evolved a
child and/or give it what it is asking for. Successful brain whose neural circuits contain linguistic
utterances are therefore reinforced while information at birth. The child's natural
unsuccessful ones are forgotten. predisposition to learn language is triggered by
hearing speech and the child's brain is able to
Limitations of Behaviourism interpret what s/he hears according to the underlying
While there must be some truth in Skinner's principles or structures it already contains. This
explanation, there are many objections to it. natural faculty has become known as the Language
Acquisition Device (LAD). Chomsky did not
 Language is based on a set of structures or suggest that an English child is born knowing
rules, which could not be worked out simply anything specific about English, of course. He
by imitating individual utterances. The stated that all human languages share common
mistakes made by children reveal that they principles. (For example, they all have words for
are not simply imitating but actively working things and actions - nouns and verbs.) It is the
out and applying rules. For example, a child child's task to establish how the specific language
who says "drinked" instead of "drank" is not s/he hears expresses these underlying principles.
copying an adult but rather over-applying a
rule. The child has discovered that past
tense verbs are formed by adding a /d/ or /t/
Evidence to support the innateness theory caregivers. Language exists for the purpose of
communication and can only be learned in the
Work in several areas of language study has context of interaction with people who want to
provided support for the idea of an innate language communicate with you. Interactionists such as
faculty. Two types of evidence are offered here: Jerome Bruner suggest that the language
behaviour of adults when talking to children
1. Slobin has pointed out that human (known by several names by most easily referred
anatomy is peculiarly adapted to the to as child-directed speech or CDS) is specially
production of speech. Unlike our nearest adapted to support the acquisition process. This
relatives, the great apes, we have evolved support is often described to as scaffolding for the
a vocal tract which allows the precise child's language learning. Bruner also coined the
articulation of a wide repertoire of vocal term Language Acquisition Support System or
sounds. Neuro-science has also identified LASS in response to Chomsky's LAD. Colwyn
specific areas of the brain with distinctly Trevarthen studied the interaction between
linguistic functions, notably Broca's area parents and babies who were too young to speak.
and Wernicke's area. Stroke victims He concluded that the turn-taking structure of
provide valuable data: depending on the conversation is developed through games and
site of brain damage, they may suffer a non-verbal communication long before actual
range of language dysfunction, from words are uttered.
problems with finding words to an inability Limitations of Input theories
to interpret syntax.
2. Studies of the sign languages used by These theories serve as a useful corrective to
the deaf have shown that, far from being Chomsky's early position and it seems likely that a
crude gestures replacing spoken words, child will learn more quickly with frequent
these are complex, fully grammatical interaction. However, it has already been noted
languages in their own right. A sign that children in all cultures pass through the same
language may exist in several dialects. stages in acquiring language. We have also seen
Children learning to sign as a first language that there are cultures in which adults do not
pass through similar stages to hearing adopt special ways of talking to children, so
children learning spoken language. CDS may be useful but seems not to be
Deprived of speech, the urge to essential.
communicate is realised through a manual
system, which fulfils the same function.
Limitations of Chomsky's theory APPROACHES AND METHODS IN
LANGUAGE TEACHING
Chomsky's work on language was theoretical. He
was interested in grammar and much of his work
consists of complex explanations of grammatical 1. THE GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD
rules. He did not study real children. The theory
 Leading exponents suggest
relies on children being exposed to language but (Johann Seidenstucker, Karl
takes no account of the interaction between Plotz, H. S. Ollendorf, and
children and their carers. Nor does it recognise Johann Meidinger),
the reasons why a child might want to speak, the  Grammar Translation was the
functions of language. offspring of German scholarship,
the object of which, according to
one of its less charitable critics, was
3. INTERACTIONIST THEORY by. JEROME “to know everything about
BRUNER something rather than the thing
In contrast to the work of Chomsky, theorists that itself ”
are more recent have stressed the importance of The principal characteristics of the Grammar
the language input children receive from their Translation Method:
 Grammar Translation is a way of studying a  Oral communication skills were built up in a
language that approaches the language first carefully graded progression organized
through detailed analysis of its grammar around question-and-answer exchanges
rules, followed by application of this between teachers and students in small,
knowledge to the task of translating intensive classes.
sentences and texts into and out of the target  Grammar was taught inductively.
language. It hence views language learning  New teaching points were introduced orally.
as consisting of little more than memorizing  Concrete vocabulary was taught through
rules and facts in order to understand and demonstration, objects, and pictures;
manipulate the morphology and syntax of the association of ideas taught abstract
foreign language. vocabulary.
 Reading and writing are the major focus; little  Both speech and listening comprehension
or no systematic attention is paid to speaking were taught.
or listening.  Correct pronunciation and grammar were
 In a typical Grammar-Translation text, the emphasized.
grammar rules are presented and illustrated,
a list of vocabulary items is presented with 3. THE SILENT WAY
their translation equivalents, and translation  The Silent Way is the name of a method of
exercises are prescribed. language teaching devised by Caleb
 Grammar is taught deductively – that is, by Gattegno. It is based on the premise that the
presentation and study of grammar rules, teacher should be silent as much as possible
which are then practiced through translation in the classroom but the learner should be
exercises. encouraged to produce as much language
 The student’s native language is the medium as possible.
of instruction. It is used to explain new items
The principal characteristics of the Silent Way:
and to enable comparisons to be made
between the foreign language and the  Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers
student’s native language. or creates rather than remembers and
repeats what is to be learned.
2. THE DIRECT METHOD  Learning is facilitated by accompanying
(mediating) physical objects.
 The most widely known of the natural  Learning is facilitated by problem solving
methods. involving the material to be learned.
 Enthusiastic supporters of the Direct Method
introduced it in France and Germany (it was 4. THE AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD
officially approved in both countries at the
turn of the century), and it became widely  The theory of language underlying
known in the United States through its use by Audiolingualism was derived from a view
Sauveur and Maximilian Berlitz in proposed by American linguists in the 1950s
successful commercial language schools. – a view that came to be known as structural
(Berlitz, in fact,never used the term; he linguistics.
referred to the method used in his schools as
the Berlitz Method.) The principal characteristics of the Audiolingual
Method:

In practice it stood for the following principles  By memorizing dialogues and performing
and procedures: pattern drills the chances of producing
mistakes are minimized. Language is verbal
 Classroom instruction was conducted behavior – that is, the automatic production
exclusively in the target language. and comprehension of utterances – and can
 Only everyday vocabulary and sentences be learned by inducing the students to do
were taught. likewise.
 Language skills are learned more effectively if  Once a foundation in listening
the items to be learned in the target language comprehension has been established,
are presented in spoken form before they are speech evolves naturally and effortlessly out
seen in written form. of it.
 Teaching a language thus involves teaching
aspects of the cultural system of the people
who speak the language.

5. THE NATURAL APPROACH

 Krashen and Terrell see communication as
the primary function of language, and since
their approach focuses on teaching
communicative abilities, they refer to the
Natural Approach as an example of a
communicative approach. The Natural
Approach “is similar to other communicative
approaches being developed today”
The principal characteristics of the Natural
Approach:
 There must be sufficient time for a learner
to choose and apply a learned rule.
 The language user must be focused on
correctness or on the form of the output.
 The performer must know the rules. The
monitor does best with rules that are simple
in two ways. They must be simple to
describe and they must not require
complex movements and rearrangements.

6. TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE

 Total Physical Response (TPR) is a
language teaching method built around the
coordination of speech and action; it
attempts to teach language through physical
(motor) activity.
 Developed by James Asher, a professor of
psychology at San Jose State University,
California
The principal characteristics of the Total
Physical Response:
 Children develop listening competence
before they develop the ability to speak. At
the early stages of first language acquisition,
they can understand complex utterances that
they cannot spontaneously produce or
imitate.
 Children’s ability in listening comprehension
is acquired because children are required to
respond physically to spoken language in the
form of parental commands.