Reading Report
Reading Report
A f t e r k n o w i n g P h o n o l o g y a n d p h o n e t i c s , i t i s i m p o r t a n t t o t a ke i n
consideration the Articulators, w h i ch are the responsible of
p ro d u c t i o n o f t h e s p e e c h so u n d , a ll th e so und s we ma ke when we
spe ak a re the resu lt of muscle s co ntra cting . The muscles in the chest
that we use for breathing produce the flow of air that is needed for almost
all speech sounds. After that, we can say that as the air moves up
through the larynx, up into the vocal tract. We have a large and
complex set of muscles that can produce changes in the shape of the
tract which further modify the sounds that eventually escape into the air
through the mouth and nostrils. Different languages use different muscle
settings in the vocal tract, and different languages also differ with
respect to matters such as volume and pitch. It is important to say that
in many ways, the mastering of the sounds of a foreign language
requires the learner to change many of the configurations that he or
she has picked up naturally from birth. The most important muscles for
produce sound are the next: * The larynx: is larger and more prominent in
men and consists of cartilage which forms a type of 'box', inside of which
are the vocal folds ,when they are apart we refer to the opening as the
glottis, when the folds are touching each other lightly, it is because the
air pushed up from the lungs has opened them slightly, causing
vibration and consequently sound. If we increase the flow form the
lungs, the pitch will change
*The pharynx is a sort of tube, above the larynx, divided into two -one
part is the back of the mouth and the other the beginning of what is
called the nasal cavity.
*The velum (or soft palate) is important in that it allows air to pass
through the nose or through the mouth.
*The alveolar ridge is something you can feel with your tongue
*The tongue is a very important articulator many sounds are
moderated by the tongue being in contact with these side teeth
*The lips are can be pressed together to form /pi and lb
Considering lips, there are two kinds of sound, when the lips are in
contact we call the sounds bilabial and with the lips and teeth in
contact we refer to them as labiodental.
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The last topic considered in this reading is the sound of Vowels . The
terms close, open, front and back are crucial to an understanding of
vowel production. Close and Open refer exclusively to the distance of the
tongue from the roof of the mouth. The sound 'aaaah' is referred to as open
- The sound, approximating to cardinal vowel 1, is therefore close. Front and
Rack T terms refer not to the mouth but to the tongue. Another important
variable in vowel production is that of lip posture or position. There are three
positions, rounded, spread and neutral. Rounded lips produce sounds like
cardinal vowel O,U, Spread lips, like a big smile, produce sounds like
cardinal I . Neutral lips, not a posture much used by Spanish speakers
produce A, E with soft sound. Beside, there are 5 long vowels in the
English phoneme inventory, all written with two dots after them to
indicate acoustic length,the diphthongs are classed as long vowels,
but they are written as a combination of two phonemes.
Considering all this information, I can say that Spanish language requires
more consistent pulmonic energy than English. English is called a 'lax'
language.
Weakness in English is also connected to the theme of phonology. word
in isolation can be very different from the sound produced during the flow
of speech. To speak English fluently don’t depend only of memorize and
practice phonetics chart or study phonology, it considers the position of
the body and physical characteristics of the person.
I think this is a very interesting topic but for me was difficult to
understand, I had to watch four different videos about the topic and
finally I finished my report and I have still some dudes. I think is very
important to teach this kind of subject because, this material can help
students to get a better pronunciation.
Bibliography
Anthology IEXPRO:” Teaching Pronunciation”
Chapter [1] : The Special Nature of English Pronunciation
Lesson [1.1]: Foreign Influence
Lesson [1.2]: Ortography
Lesson [1.3]: Regional differences
Lesson [1.4]: Phonetics, Phonology and Phonemes
Chapter [2] : The Articulators
Lesson [2.1]: The Production of Speech Sound
Lesson [2.2]: The Laryns
Lesson [2.3]: Articulatyors above de Laryns
Lesson [2.4]: Respiration and Voicing
Chapter [3] : The Vowel System
Lesson [3.1]: Vowels
Lesson [3.2]: The Concept of Weakness in English