BA English Language and Japanese

Year of entry: 2023

Course unit details:
The Sounds of Language

Course unit fact file
Unit code LELA10322
Credit rating 20
Unit level Level 1
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Offered by Linguistics & English Language
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

The focus of this course is speech sounds. We will learn how sounds are made, how they can be described, analysed and transcribed, and how the sounds of English differ from those of other languages. We will also consider how sounds can be organized into higher-level structures, and we will study the relationship between sound and meaning.

Aims

 The principal aims of the course unit are as follows:

  • to introduce students to fundamental notions in phonetics and phonology
  • to provide experience in performing phonetic and phonological analysis
  • to provide extensive training in auditory transcription

Learning outcomes

 By the end of this course students will be able to:

  • Understand fundamental concepts in phonetics and phonology, and apply them critically to analyse new data

Knowledge and understanding

 By the end of this course students will be able to:

  • Understand the basic mechanisms of speech production
  • Provide an articulatory description of speech sounds
  • Characterise the sounds of standard English (RP), and relate them to the inventories of other English dialects/other languages
  • Identify some phonological patterns (contrastive and complementary distribution, feature specification)
  • Characterise the differences between phonetics and phonology concerning the object and the method of study

Intellectual skills

By the end of this course students will be able to:

  • Analyse new linguistic data (provide phonemic analysis, spot phonological patterns)
  • Apply selected phonetic and phonological methods to the study of other linguistic subfields, such as field linguistics or sociolinguistics

Practical skills

 By the end of this course students will be able to:

  • Read phonetic transcription
  • Transcribe speech sounds

Transferable skills and personal qualities

By the end of this course students will be able to:

  • develop time-management skills, as well as skills in independent study.

Assessment methods

Coursework portfolio 40%
Exam 60%
Quizzes N/A (formative)

 

Feedback methods

Feedback method

Formative or summative

Coursework marks and feedback

Summative

Exam marks

Summative

Scores on Blackboard quizzes

Formative

 

Recommended reading

Zsiga, E.C., 2012. The sounds of language: an introduction to phonetics and phonology. John Wiley & Sons

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Assessment written exam 1.5
Lectures 22
Seminars 11
Independent study hours
Independent study 165.5

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Donald Morrison Unit coordinator

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