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MODULE 1 PRONUNCIATION

INTRODUCTION
The way you speak a language is called an accent. Your accent can give
others perception about your educational level, age, and even your
place of origin. Speakers of any language have their unique accent. This
accent can either be regional or social or both.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this module, you should be able to:
1. Formulate your definition of accent.
2. Discuss the different elements of the accent.
3. Speak with correct articulation, stress, and intonation in speech.

LESSON 1: CHANGING YOUR PRONUNCIATION

In this lesson, you will practice pronunciation: the challenges that you
might encounter will be addressed properly to help you improve in this
aspect. It is known that pronunciation is a challenging area for students
like you. Try to reflect on your challenges by checking the checklist
below which you think corresponds to the challenge(s) you are facing
in English pronunciation.

I don’t notice my pronunciation problems.

I am aware that I sound like my native language every time I speak English.
I find it hard to cite the difference between English and Filipino sounds.
I don't have to improve my pronunciation.
It is enough to know that people understand me without trouble regardless of my
pronunciation.
Though I can speak English with proper pronunciation, still it takes too much effort
when I’m speaking.
I am confident in my accent. I don’t want to sound like a native speaker of English.
Native speakers of English comment that my accent is good.
I don’t have any motivation to change my accent.
I haven’t had enough contact with English native speakers.
I know that my pronunciation can only be improved if I had more exposure to the
language.
The time that I learned English, there wasn’t enough training or practice in
pronunciation.
I realized that I learned the language too late.
I believe that only younger people can acquire good pronunciation of the English
language.
 THE SOUNDS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Be reminded that there are two types of English sounds, these are:

Sound Description
Vowel American English has 17 vowel sounds; some of these are short and
others are long. Filipino, on the other hand, has five vowel sounds: /a/
/e/ /i/ /o/ /u/ having its short and long variants as well.
Consonant This is produced by partial or total restrictions. Filipino has 18
consonant sounds which are too far from the 24 consonant sounds of
American English.

Please go to this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwTDPu2TE6k and watch this video

for you to learn the sounds of English.

Another concern for Filipino speakers is the Schwa sound. Please watch the video to learn
about schwa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BmkUa4Mv60

Silent Letters
The words below have silent letters. Analyze these carefully and write your thoughts on
the space provided stating what do you think is the rule in having these letters silent in
the words listed below. Please add more words that you know.

Silent B
cli du cru com
mb mb mb b

Silent C
muscle

Silent D
handkerchief sandwich Wednesda
y
Silent E
ho dri ga writ
pe ve ve e

Silent G
champagne foreign si feig
g n
n
 Silen
t GH
thought thou daughter figh
gh t

Silent H
wh w wh whethe
at h en r
o

H is not
pronounced
hour hon h hono
est ei r
r

Silent K
kni kn kno knowledg
fe ee ck e

Silent L
ca h salm tal
lm al on k
f
Silent N
autumn hym
n

Silent P
psychiatrist pneumonia psychotherapy psychoti
c

Silent S
island isl
e

Silent T
Christmas list whis thistl
en tle e

Silent U
gue guit gu guidanc
ss ar est e
 Silent
W
wr wri wron
ap te g

W is not
pronounced
who who who
se m

LESSON 2: WORD STRESS

Stress Patterns

Here are some rules on stress patterns.

Number of Stress Example

Syllables
One Always stressed EAT, DRINK SIGN, WELL
two The first syllable stressed Giant, PICture, HEAting
two The second syllable Today, aHEAD, aLLOW
stressed
three The first syllable stressed Energy, Operate,
ORganize
three Second syllable stressed meMORial, aSSUMPtion,
caNAdian
three Third syllable stressed employEE, japanESE,
voluntEER
four Second syllable stressed psyCHOLogy, eVAporate,
cerTIficate
four The third syllable stressed poliTIcian, indiVIdual,
repuTAtion

Words may differ on the stress depending on its use. Like for instance, for words used as nouns, the
stress should be on the first syllable. For the words used as verbs, the stress is in the second syllable.
 Stress in Nouns Stress in Verbs
re cord re cord
ad dress ad dress
con vict con vict
sur vey sur vey
ob ject ob ject
sub ject sub ject
pre sent pre sent

LESSON 3: SENTENCE RHYTHM

Sentences Rhythm involves the following features:

1. Sentence Stress: refers to the ability to emphasize particular words that are stressed within an overall
sentence. Usually, stressed words are content words (e.g. nouns, main verbs, adjectives, and adverbs).
2. Linking: refers to the smooth connection between words. (e.g. find out =/faɪndaʊt/)
3. Intonation: refers to the different changes in pitch, either rising or falling, depending on the part of
speech. Intonation conveys meaning (e.g. surprise, disbelief, teasing, etc.)

Words can either be content words or function words. Content words are normally stressed while
Function words are non stressed words pronounced in their weak form. To effectively place stress in your
words, you need to differentiate content and function words. Refer to the table below for samples of content and
function words:

Content Words Function Words

Nouns – kitchen, Alfred
Principal Verb – visit, construct
Adjectives – beautiful,
interesting
Adverbs – often, carefully
Determiners – the, a
Auxiliary Verb – am, were
Prepositions – before, of
Conjunctions – but, and

LESSON 4: PITCH AND INTONATION

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