Name: Lam Thanh Truc

Student code: B2005304

Group: M01

MID-TERM ASSIGNMENT

Why it is necessary for students of English Language Studies to master the knowledge of
Phonetics and Phonology?
To be able to produce language sounds reasonably accurately, it helps to have a deeper understanding of
English and learn how language sounds are created. My phonetics and phonology course taught me that
English spelling is not as bad as it first appears. It has an internal logic to it. There are patterns and
reasons behind the way that many words that have quite consistent spellings are actually pronounced
differently.
Phonetics deals with “actual” physical sounds as they are manifested in human speech. It concentrates on
acoustic wave forms and the principle underlying the production of sounds (resonances, the muscles, the
articulatory structures). Phonetics is about the concrete, instrumentally measurable physical properties
and production of these cognitive speech sounds. Phonetics can be then defined as the study of how those
mental symbols are manifested as continuous muscular contractions and acoustic waveforms. Phonology
is an abstract cognitive system which deals with rules in a mental grammar: principles of subconscious
“thought” as they relate to language sounds. Phonology is concerned in the scientific study of rules for
combining sounds and variation in pronunciation. Phonology then can be defined as the study of higher-
level patterns of language sounds, conceived in terms of discrete mental symbols, is characterized by
phonology.
Phonetics (articulatory phonetics): is a branch of linguistics that studies the sound features produced by
the human vocal organs and their organization into speech sounds. Phonetics is the study of the physical
and physiological aspects of sounds. Features such as sound segments and suprasegmental features are
recorded and described.
Phonology (language sound patterns): is a branch of linguistics that studies a language's system of sound
patterns and refers to the selection of individual sounds and syllables to form spoken words. The phoneme
is the fundamental unit of phonology; it is an individual speech sound (such as /p/) that is frequently
represented by a single grapheme, or letter (such as the letter p).
I can understand how learning this subject will help me grow as an English studies student. To begin
with, learning some of the intricacies of the language was eye-opening. Understanding the different vowel
sounds and how to enhance my pronunciation has increased my confidence significantly. My tongue
motions got more natural with time, and I was able to pronounce them correctly in both Vietnamese and
English. Knowing the distinction in location has assisted me in identifying some of my pronunciation
problems.