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0 The Basics of Speech: American English Vowel Sounds

Created by:

Ms. Julie Mae C. Alforque I

N
Ms. Lilia V. Ibo T
R
In this module, you will spend one week to: O
a. recognize IPA symbols which will aid them to articulate and pronounce words correctly D
b. produce each vowel sound and diphthong correctly U
c. practice reading words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs aloud C
T
d. develop diction that is pleasant and intelligible
I
e. deliver a short speech with confidence and ease
O
f. incorporate non-verbal language when delivering a speech
N
Click on the link below and listen to the poem. Pay close attention to the pronunciation of words and then read
the poem aloud.

Briefly answer the following questions below.

What does the poem suggest?

Do you have some difficulties in producing the words found in the poem? Why?

How can you overcome this difficulty?

DISCUSSION

Effective communication requires not only well-constructed messages but as well as efficient delivery.
With this, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) developed in 19th century assists in accurate
pronunciation of languages. One of its goals has been to provide a unique symbol for each distinctive sound
particularly in the English language. This simply means that every single sound or phoneme distinguishes one
word from another ("International Phonetic Alphabet | Definition, Uses, & Chart", 2020). Thus, making each
word unique and distinctive from others.

Needless to say that proper pronunciation and production of vowel and consonant sounds does not only
add up to a favorable impression but most importantly, it helps communication to become more effective and
successful.

First, let’s explore vowel sounds!

SHS MODULE v201720 1

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The vowel sounds in the International Phonetic Alphabet are divided into three categories: the front,
central and back vowels. To know more about the importance of these positions, take time to watch the attached
video below. Enjoy!

Need more help? Try to visit both sites for more information.

https://cmed.ku.edu/ipafolder/vowels.html
https://www.ipachart.com/
To give you more examples of the Front, Central and Back Vowel Sounds, see examples below.

Front Vowels

[a] [æ] [ɛ] [e] [i] [ɪ]

Bach Back Beck Bake Beak Bic
Block Black Bled Blade Bleed Bliss
Pot Brad Bread Break Breed Brick
Model Pat Pet Paid Peak Pit
Modern Cat Kept Kate Feet Kit
Solve Cad Fed Okayed Fleet Kid
October fat French Fade Free Fit
God Gas Fell Flake Feel Fill
Lock Catch Get Afraid Geek Give
Shot Lack Lecture Fail Leak Kick
Chalk Pal Men Gate Meal Lick
Talk Sand Pell Cake Peel Mill
Hot Shallow Send Lake Seen Pill
Walk Chance Chef Main Chic Sin
Shock Tack Shell Pail Sheep Chin
Fog That Shed Same Sheet This
Father Had Then Take These Hid
continuation… SHS MODULE v2017 3

Gone Hat Hen Hate He’d Hit

Central Vowels

Back Vowels

[ͻ] [o] [U] [u]

[ʌ]
Law [ə]
Own [ɚ]
Book [ɝ]
Booed
Lax/accented
Bought schwa Tense/
Boat Unaccented
Bushelschwa Accented
Booschwa
Taught unaccented
Coat schwa +r
Could +r
Cooed
Lunch
All Against
Chose Flower
Cushion Learn
Cool
Country
Horse Apart
Don’t Forever
Foot Burn
Food
Oven
Door Away
Phone Together
Full Return
Fool
Onion
Broad Memory
Foal Never
Good World
Gooed
Nuptial
Strong Moment
Go Mister
Hood Were
Who’d
Sun
On Again
Hope Standard
Cook First
Kook
Just
Fall Alone
Hole Editor
Crook Turn
Crew
Couple
Recall Afraid
Low Butter
Look Earth
Luke
Must
Wrong The
Note Actor
Nook Bird
Nuke
Upbeat
Belong Sofa
Pole Her
Pull Person
Pool
Robust
Orator Enemy
Role Verb
Put Verdict
Pooch
Hit
Short Incredible
Soul After
Sugar Curve
Shoe
But
Tall About
Show Doctor
Soot Herd
Suit
Water Slow Should Shoot
Forest Told Stood Stewed
Officer Vote Would Wooed

HERE IS YOUR WORK

WRITTEN WORKS
I. Watch and listen Charlie Puth’s One Call Away. Then decide where the underlined sounds belong. Write
your answers on the space provided ( 35 points ).
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One Call Away by Charlie Puth

I'm only one call away No matter where you go

I'll be there to save the day You know you're not alone
Superman got nothing on me
I'm only one call away
I'm only one call away
I'll be there to save the day
Call me, baby, if you need a friend Superman got nothing on me
I just wanna give you love I'm only one call away
Come on, come on, come on
And when you're weak I'll be strong
Reaching out to you, so take a chance
I'm gonna keep holding on
No matter where you go Now don't you worry, it won't be long
You know you're not alone Darling, and when you feel like hope is gone
Just run into my arms
I'm only one call away
I'll be there to save the day
I'm only one call away
Superman got nothing on me
I'll be there to save the day
I'm only one call away
Superman got nothing on me
Come along with me and don't be scared I'm only one, I'm only one call away
I just wanna set you free I'll be there to save the day
Come on, come on, come one Superman got nothing on me
You and me can make it anywhere I'm only one call away
For now, we can stay here for a while, ay
'Cause you know, I just wanna see you smile I'm only one call away

[a] [æ] [ɛ] [e] [i] [ɪ] [ʌ] [ə] [ɚ] [ɝ] [ͻ] [o] [U] [u]
1.
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3.
4.
5.
6.
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PERFORMANCE TASKS
With your knowledge and understanding of the vowel sounds in the IPA, create a sound recording
highlighting the three vowel sounds indicated below.
Note: ODD CLASS no. – record “ The Tan Man”
EVEN CLASS no. – record “What must the Sun above wonder about?”

Producing the [æ] Sound: The Tæn Mæn

A fashionably tan man sat casually at the bat stand, lashing a handful of practice bats. The manager, a crabby
old bag of bones, passed by and laughed, "You're about average, Jack. Can't you lash faster than that?" Jack
had had enough, so he clambered to his feet and lashed bats faster than any man had ever lashed bats. As a
matter of fact, he lashed bats so fast that he seemed to dance. The manager was aghast. "Jack, you're a master
bat lasher!" he gasped. Satisfied at last, Jack sat back and never lashed another bat.

Producing the [ə] Sound: What Must the Sun Above Wonder About?
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Some pundits proposed that the sun wonders unnecessarily about sundry and assorted conundrums. One
cannot but speculate what can come of their proposal. It wasn't enough to trouble us,* but it was done so
underhandedly that hundreds of sun lovers rushed to the defense of their beloved sun. None of this was
relevant on Monday, however, when the sun burned up the entire country.

REFERENCES

Matrix Press. (2020). American Accent Training [Ebook] (2nd ed., pp. 77-78). Retrieved 8 August 2020, from
http://file:///C:/Users/Julie%20Mae%20Alforque/Downloads/American_Accent_Training.pdf.

(2020). Retrieved 8 August 2020, from https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/charlieputh/onecallaway.html.

English is a Terrible Language. Retrieved 8 August 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=02k8C6EuE_A.

International Phonetic Alphabet | Definition, Uses, & Chart. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2020). Retrieved 4
August 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/International- Phonetic-Alphabet.

IPA - Vowels. Cmed.ku.edu. (2003). Retrieved 8 August 2020, from https://cmed.ku.edu/ipafolder/vowels.html.

Isotalo, P. (2003). IPA Chart. Ipachart.com. Retrieved 8 August 2020, from https://www.ipachart.com/.

Puth, C. (2015). One Call Away. Charlie Puth. Retrieved 8 August 2020, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxuY9FET9Y4.

The Vowel Sounds. Speech Therapy Education. (2019). Retrieved 8 August 2020, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpS8l6q7wsU.