Oral Communication in Context

1
Mastering Sounds in English

Mastering Sounds in English

This chapter will be all about mastering the sounds in English. In the
previous chapter, you learned the different tools you need to speak in
English. With this chapte,you will be going through more drills and practices
to make you master the sound. Review how these sounds are produced by
going back to chapter 9. Do not hesitate to use the phonemic guide to help
you get the proper sound
This module aims that you:
1. To master the vowel sounds;
2. To master the consonant sounds;
3. To be able to confidently sound off words correctly; and
4. To be able to phonetically spell words.
Before we dig in deeper, here is a visual map to help you remember the
sounds and their phonetic symbol.

Course Module
Vowel Sounds
 Oral Communication in Context
3
Mastering Sounds in English

Drills [iː] vs [ɪ]

a. [ iː] pronounced as [iy]

Initial Medial Final

even mean see
easy seed knee
evil leave free
equal bead key
eastern season tea
evening reason bee
eatery least agree
eagle people me

b. [ɪ]
Initial Medial Final
bid six quick
did fill Jill
in him sit
it will chip
big wind lid
live ring list

Contrasting [iː] vs [ɪ]

[iː] vs [ɪ]
seat sit
beat bit
eat it
least list
leave live
meal mill
eel ill
keen kin

Course Module
Target sounds in phrases and sentences

deep sleep
heat the meat
speech teacher
he and she
cheese sandwich
read about it
sheep on the ship
hit and miss
pick the list
a drink of milk
easy quiz
Heat the lean meat and eat it.
She is our speech teacher.
The mountain climber left his pick at the
peak
He can at least show me the list
My kid sister gets ill at the sight of an eel
A treaty of peace will please us all
Shall we have a drink of milk?
The dog beat the man who bi him
Our east room is clean and neat.
I will dip my hand into the deep water.

Drills [eɪ] vs [e]

a. [eɪ]

Initial Medial Final

aim face today
airy shame ray
amiable wave may
eight chain hay
age mate day
able paper weigh
aid bake lay
ace name hay
ache hate say
angel baby bay

b. [e]

Initial Medial Final

 Oral Communication in Context
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Mastering Sounds in English

end met let

bet yes den
egg wed shed
red get head
well debt tell
pen led send

Contrasting [eɪ] vs [e]

[eɪ] vs [e]
mate met
raid red
wade wed
bail bell
wave wed
late let
sail sell
pain pen

c. Kate learned to bake a

bake a cake cake.
A plate of bacon, bread, and eggs is
set the table on the table.
send a Daily mail is usually carried by train
message or plane.
My favorite teacher came in April, I
great heavens very well remember.
What a day may bring, a day may
angel face take away
You should be able to find a seat for
take it away me even if it is late.
breast-fed
baby Daisy Grace is eight years of age.
lest you
forget
take the test

Course Module
 Drills [æ] vs [ɑ]
a. [æ]
Initial Medial
add band
accent thank
apple family
anger matter
after bamboo
asset passive
aspirin imagine
annual hammer

b. [ɑ]

Initial Medial
on college
other rock
orange knowledge
often follow
olive dollar
odd clock

Contrasting [æ] with [e], and [ɑ]

[æ] vs [e]
pat pet
mass mess
land lend
lag leg
am em
sat set
rack wreck
past pest
sand send

[æ] vs [ɑ]
cab cob
pat pot
lack lock
add odd
band bond
last los
 Oral Communication in Context
7
Mastering Sounds in English

tan ton
cat cot
tap top

Phrases and sentences

sang happily Pat the black cat on the back

plastic wrapper Sam and Max are lanky and tan
scotch on the The caps of the traffic cops attracte the motorists'
rocks attention.
traffic cop Horror stories about dogs are often shocking to kids
The aveue was lighted by a series of old-fashioned
gravel and sand lamps
pat the cat Men prefer coffee to chocolate
trash can The mad man sat on the mat
valid answer The magician made the hat vanish into the air.

Drills [əʊ] vs [ɔː]

a. [əʊ]

Initial Medial Final

owe roses blow
oak pony hello
open holy tomato
opal bowl potato
ocean choke hoe
opera diploma Joe

b. [ɔː ]
Initial Medial Final
altar ball flaw
author warm straw
awful because draw
altar applause raw
almost dawning saw
audience water claw

Course Module
 c. Comparisons

[ɔː ] vs [ɑ]
caught cot
thought tot
brought broth

[əʊ] vs [ɑ]
cope cop
goat got
ode odd
soul sol

[əʊ] vs [ɔː ]
soul Saul
boat bought
flow flaw
woke walk
loan lawn

Phrases and sentences

go home She soaked all her clothes in cold soapy water.

what he saw He wrote a letter and walked away.
bowl of water The athlete went home with a broken jaw.
walk and talk Do you know how to bowl with a large ball.
wrong call The hopeful coach smoked and choked.
rolling ball Yawning is a good exercise
1. ʊ vs uː

a. uː
Medial Final
hoot bamboo
Luke accrue
Noon tattoo
suit brew
rule flew
fruit slew
References
 Oral Communication in Context
9
Mastering Sounds in English

b. ʊ
Medial Final
nook sure
book sugar
would bullet
should butcher
brook wolf
c. Comparison

uː vs ʊ
pool pull
Luke look
soot suit
wooed would
stewed stood
d. Phrases and sentences
Fruit juice
Through the cool room
Blue bamboo bookcase
Took one look at the book in the nook
Put the wood near the bushes
Pull the bullet of the bull’s leg

Luke walked through the cool rom.

In the loose pile of wood were found the silver spoon that the crook had
taken.
Should the wolf pull the wool over your eyes, look out!
He wooed her and wooed her; she cooed and she cooed. He would not
propose and she could not. Poor dear!
I pulled him out of the swimming pool.

SCHWA or Weak Vowel

The schwa sound [ə] is a mid-central lax vowel.
a. Drills
Us under
Gut puppy
Love flourish
Tough must

Course Module
 Cousin nut
Courage double

b. Contrasting [ɑ] and [ə]

[ɑ] vs [ə]
shot shut
sock suck
fond fund
wander wonder
psalm some
won one

c. Phrases and sentence drills

SCHWA on unaccented syllable
Much fun the boy
Some cots call the roll
Shut up take it away
Must come small but terrible
Hundred nut cup of tea
None but one yes or no
Young blood at home

Consonants
1. [θ], [ð], and [t] and [d]
a. Contrasting

Initial Final
[th]= [dh] = [th]= [dh] =
[θ] [t] [ð] [d] [θ] [t] [ð] [d]

thought taught they day tooth toot seethe seed

thank tank there dare booth boo breathe bread

three tree those does sooth soot breath breed

thrust trust though does

through true thine dine

theme team then den

 Oral Communication in Context
11
Mastering Sounds in English

b. Phrases and sentence drills

Those days deep breath
Gather some twigs even though
Theme writing three times
Think twice through thick and thin

Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday

My brother wrote three themes for his English class
That health is wealth is something worth thinking about
Tell them the truth and nothing will be lost
Tammy thinks of throwing a party for his father
2. [f] and [p], and [v] and [b]
a. Contrasting

[f] [p] [v] [b]

feel peel vase base
face pace vote boat
faint paint covered cupboard
fond pond veil bail
few pew vigor bigger
fail pail vie buy

b. Phrases and sentence drills

Feel fine
Vote buying
Forget the pace
Please repeat
First pew
Volleyball
Flower vase

Course Module
 Place the flower pot on a pedestal on the platform
The top cop has a tough cough
Please prepare food and pink pills for four poor pale people.
Feel free and please find our friends at the party
Are you planning to pay your fees in full or partial?

3. [s] and [z], and, [ch] and [j], [ʃ] and [ʒ]
a. Drills
i. [s] and [z]
[s] [z]
sip zip
sue his
hiss zo
seal knees
place plays
niece eyes
ii. [ʃ] and [ʒ]

[sh] = [ʃ] [zh] = [ʒ]

initial medial final medial final
sheep nation wash Asia pleasure rouge
sugar ocean crush azure measure corsage
shout decision fresh vision pressure mirage
shake session cash illusion lingerie camouflage
sine crucial trash glazier bourgeois espionage
show mission blush leisure treasure beige

iii. [ch] and [j]

[ch] [j]
cheap gin
chain jeep
chum jeer
chunk badge
ches age
catch joke
batch junk
 Oral Communication in Context
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Mastering Sounds in English

b. Phrases and sentence drills

Same bus
Shift action
Buzzing bees
Insurance officials
Zooming airplanes
Hissing snakes
Save the city
Close shave

The sheep on the ship are in a bad shape

Please pass me the rice
We saw the judge in church last Sunday.
George told the judge his challenging story.
Shrimp salad and mashed potatoes were other same table.
Seeing you back so soon is a pleasure.

References
Diaz, Rafaela Hernandez. (2014). Speech and Oral Communication for College
Students, Revised Edition. Quezon City: National Bookstore
Baraceros, Esther L. and Lintao, Rachelle, B. (2010). English 4: Oral
Communication in Context (First Edition). Quezon City: Rex
Bookstore, Inc.
Dapat, Jose Rizal O., Sadorra, Bryan Eli B., and Lumabi, Bethany Marie C.
(2016). Oral Communication in Focus. Quezon City: Lormar
Publishing, Inc.
Flores, C.and Lopez E. (2008). Effective Speech Communication 5 th Edition.
National Bookstore: Philippines.
Galero-Tejero, E. (2008) Doorways to English Language Proficiency: A self-
improvement program. National Bookstore: Philippines
Effective Communication (n.d). Management Training Australia. Retrieved
from
Fricke, K. (n.d). Vowel Ladder. Teachers Pay Teachers. Retrieved from
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/FreeDownload/Vowel-Ladder-
1777440
Course Module
Phonemic Chart (n.d). English Club. Retrieved fom
https://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation/phonemic-chart.htm
http://cylareashea.blogspot.com/2010/09/vowels-overview.html
https://itsabouttimefor.wordpress.com/2008/01/20/3-the-pictophonics-writing-
system/
https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/03/07/the-speech-chain-1963/
http://www.msu.ac.zw/elearning/material/1305879323Organs%20of%20speech
%20II.pdf
https://www2.leeward.hawaii.edu/hurley/Ling102web/mod3_speaking/3
mod3.2_vocalorgans.htm
http://fp.ito.edu.ru/docs/90663/9066314736012071473601207/67cdf3dd2e3c0
1a7e3cd580a7128706e3069911a.pdf?APP_ID=common
https://pronuncian.com/pronounce-zh-sound/
https://pronuncian.com/sounds/
http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm