Unit 2 Lesson Plan Consonants: Stops
(教案：附要点、重点和难点)
Date: Sept.23-27 Class: Classes 1, 2 & 3, Grade 2002 Subject: English Pronunciation Practice
Purpose:
The students will learn the stop consonants in English.
Objectives: Students will be able to :
1. Define - in their own words a definition for “stops”;
2. Compare – based on the understanding of the basic concept, compare stops and other consonants;
3. Practice – imitate the sounds and do practice.
Resources/Materials:
1. Textbook: Wang, Guizhen, An English Pronunciation Course, Higher Education Press, Beijing, 2000;
2. Handouts: illustration of the phonemes in focus; 3. Recordings of native speakers
Activities and Procedures:
1. Stimulating: Begin by asking the class to find out how much the students know about what they are required to learn. Make sure that it serves the purpose of stimulating the students to think about the issue and have the desire to find out the answers themselves.
2. Display examples by playing the recording of the native speakers showing the typical pronunciation in English.
3. Ask the students to listen to the tapes to make a good discrimination of the sounds in focus.
4. Have the students imitate the sound in focus.
5. Have the students share what they have learned by reading out the practice materials in pairs.
6. Have the students listen to the conversations recorded by native speakers of English and try to get the sounds in focus correct in their pronunciation.
7. Have the students practice the guided conversation. Ask them to pay special attention to the sounds in focus in speech.
8. Highlight the language function in the conversation in the practice.
9. Have several pairs of the students present their conversation in the class.
10. Comment on the students? performance by highlighting the achievement of the students and the efforts they need for the improvement.
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11. Ask the students to do more practice after class and get ready for presentation during the next
session.
附: 要点、重点和难点
Unit 2
Consonants: Stops
In this unit, we will learn the stop consonants in English.
The stop consonants are made by completely stopping the airflow at some point in the mouth and then, for most productions, releasing it into the sound that follows. There are six stops in English: /p/ and /b/ are formed by the lips, /t/ and /d/ are made on the gum ridge behind the upper teeth, and /k/ and /?/ occur at the back of the mouth where the tongue makes a weal with the soft palate. /p/, /t/, /k/ are voiceless stops as they are not accompanied by vibration from the larynx, while /b/, /d/, /?/ are the voiced stops. These stops are among the most frequent sounds in English and have fairly consistent spellings.
/p/ and /b/
You pronounce the /p/ and /b/ by stopping the airstream with you lips, building up pressure and suddenly releasing the air. They can be used at the beginning, middle and end of words. The following are some of the allophonic variations of /p/ and /b/.
Allophonic variations of /p/:
Allophone Occurrence Example [p?] [p-] [p ] [p:] [p?]
Aspirated release in initial word and stressed positions poke Unreleased in word final position Unaspirated release in clusters, esp. after /s/ Lengthening, when an arresting /p/ is followed by a releasing /p/ Nasal release, before a syllabic nasal
top ten spot Stop Pete. Stop him.
Allophonic variations of /b/:
Allophone Occurrence [b-] Unreleased in word final position [b:] lengthened when an arresting /b/ is followed by a releasing /b/
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Example rob Rob Bob.
[b?] Nasal resonance, before a syllabic nasal Rob him.
/t/ and /d/
The /t/ sound is one of the most frequent in English and occur in all three positions at the word level. It has many variations and is a very interesting and productive sound in the language. /d/ is not as frequent in English nor does it have the number of varieties that /t/ has. You pronounce them by blocking the airstream with the tongue and upper gum ridge, building up air pressure and suddenly releasing it. The following are some of the allophonic variations of /t/ and /d/:
Allophonic variations of /t/:
Allophone Occurrence Example [t?] [t-] [t ] [t?] [t?] [?] [?] [t:]
Aspirated release in word initial and stressed positions tape Unreleased in word final position Unaspirated release in consonant cluster, esp. with /s/ Dentalized before /?/
coat stop eighth button letter button let Tim train
Nasal release, before a syllabic nasal Flapped, intervocalically
Glottal stop, before syllabic [n] or [l]
Lengthening, when an arresting /t/ is followed
by a releasing /t/ Affrication of initial position /tr/
[t?r?]
Allophonic variations of /d/:
Allophone Occurrence [d?] [d-]
Example width dad padlock bread'n butter
Dentalized before an interdental Unreleased in word final position Bilateral release with /l/
[ d?l ] [d?]
Nasal release, before a syllabic nasal
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[? ] Flapped, intervocalically ladder
[d:] Lengthening, when an arresting /d/ is followed by a releasing /d/ sad Dave [d3r] Affrication of initial position /dr/ drain
/k/ and /?/
You produce /k/ and /?/ by blocking the breath-stream with the back of the tongue and soft palate, building up the pressure, and suddenly releasing it. The \cat, and the letter \is also a silent-k in words such as know and knight. The spelling of /?/ is consistent in English, although there is a silent version in words such as gnash and gnat. Both /k/ and /?/ can occur at the beginning, middle, and end of words in English. The following are some of the allophonic variations of /k/ and /?/:
Allophonic variations of /k/:
Allophone Occurrence Example [k?] [k-] [k] [k:] [k?]
Aspirated release in word initial and stressed positions keep Unreleased in word final position Unaspirated release in consonant cluster, esp. with /s/ Lengthening, when an arresting /k/ is followed by a releasing /k/ Nasal release, before a syllabic nasal
Bilateral release with /l/
take
sky take Kim beacon clock keen bacon
quarter
[ k?l ] [c] or [k] [?]
Assimilated to a front sound
Glottal stop, before syllabic [n]
[k?????] Rounded, before a rounded sound
Allophonic variations of /?/:
Allophone Occurrence [?-] [?:]
Example flag
Unreleased in word final position and some clusters Lengthening, when an arresting /?/ is followed
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by a releasing /?/
big grapes
glad
[??l ] [??]
Bilateral release before /l/
Nasal release, before a syllabic nasal Assimilated to a fronted sound
pig and goat
geese goose
[?] or [?] [??????]
Rounded, before a rounded sound
Pronunciation difficulties
The English stops do not generally cause an intelligibility problem among the Chinese EFL learners but some learners may devoice final position voiced stops so that tab may be pronounced as tap, code as coat and /li:?/ as /li:k/. Lengthening the vowel before the voiced stops will aid in the perception of a voiced final stop. /i:/ in need, for example, is usually a little bit longer than /i:/ in neat when they are in similar phonetic contexts. Another difficulty with the Chinese EFL learners is the pronunciation of the stops in consonant clusters. Drill the sounds in all positions, paying close attention to the strength of production and the degree of voicing.
第2单元 辅音 : 塞音
在这一单元，我们将学习英语的爆破音，也叫塞音。
英语的爆破音共有三对，发音方法是：使气流在口腔某处成阻，再让气流冲决阻碍，爆破生音，因此叫爆破音。英语的六个爆破音中：/p/和/b/的发音部位是双唇；/t/和/d/的发音部位是舌尖和齿龈；/k/和/?/发音时，则是用舌后部触软腭形成阻塞而爆破生音。其中/p/，/t/和/k/是清辅音，因为发这三个音时声带无需振动。相反的，/b/，/d/和/?/在发音时，声带振动，是浊辅音。
/p/和/b/
当你发/p/和/b/两音时，双唇合拢而形成阻塞，然后让气流冲决阻碍，爆破生音。这两个音可出现在词首、词中和词尾三个部位，/p/和/b/在不同的语音环境中有不同的变体： /p/的音位变体
①/p/在词首且在重读音节中时，是送气音如poke； ②当处于词尾时，可能失去爆破，如top tea；
③在/s/后形成辅音连缀时，/p/在发音时不送气，如spot；
④当两个/p/相邻时，无需产生两次爆破，而只是延长发音的时间，如stop Pete； ⑤当/p/后紧跟着的是鼻音时，此时爆破不在口腔，而在鼻腔，就是我们通常说的“鼻腔爆破”，如Stop him； /b/的音位变体：
①当处于词尾时，不完全爆破，如rob the man；
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