KAB6024 – LANGUAGE &

LITERACY DEVELOPMENT
Group Task: Book Review
Topic: Phonemic and Phonetic
Prepared by: Mohd Taufiq bin Mohd Desa and
Muhammad Hafizuddin bin Hanizafuddin
 Introduction
• Title of the Book: Asas Fonetik (Fundamental of Phonetics)-103 pages
• Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), 2007
• Author: Nor Hashimah Jamaluddin
• Reviewed by: Mohd Taufiq bin Mohd Desa
• This book contains 10 chapters
• The writer wrote about the knowledge in fundamental of phonetics and the
research that has been done by the scholars around the world.
• The writer also used some graphics and illustrations in this book to help
the understanding of the reader.
 Chapter 1 - Introduction
• The meaning of phonetics has been described by a few of scholars in this field.
• Bertil Malmberg – the researching of the sounds of language
• J.D. O’Connor – the knowledge that is related with noisy sound which has been produced by humans
• David Abercrombie – phonetics is a technical knowledge
• The job and responsibility of the phonetics scholar:
• Make a research on how the air movement is combined with the movement of speech organs (articulators) and also
the coordination of all these movement until a sound is produced.
• They will observed (by recording videos) the movement of our tongue, lips, jaws and others.
• They used some instruments to make a research such as laryngeal fiberscope and electromyograph.
Electromyograph
Laryngeal Fiberscope
How can we understand a message from
other?
 Chapter 2 – Main Organs in Producing
Sounds of Language
• Articulator
• Lungs – diaphragm (air movement in and out from body)
• Larynx – above trachea and connected with lungs
• Pharynx – looks like a tube and divided into two parts (into nose and
mouth)
• Nose – nasal sound
• Mouth – the most important organs
The articulators
 Chapter 3 – Vowels and Consonants
• How this sounds are being produced by our organs?
• 12 points of articulations involved in producing consonants sounds.
• Vowels sounds are related with the position of our lips and tongue.
• 9 ways to produce sounds of language such as blowing, nasal sound,
vibration and others.
• Diphtong – two vocal sounds in a one way of pronunciation
 Chapter 4 – Co-articulation and Secondary of
Articulation
• Co-articulation – the stacking (penindanan) of nearby articulation while
producing a sound.
• Always happened in English such as eighth and width
• Secondary of articulation – level of blocking which come together with
the main of articulation
• Four types of this articulation : Palatalisation, Velarisation,
Pharyngisation, Labialisation
 Chapter 5 – The Non-Pulmonic Sounds
• Mechanism of the glottis air movement
• Ejective sound
• Implosive sound
• Velar sounds
• Position of glottis while producing the language sounds:
• Voice sound
• Non-voice sound
• Glottis-stop sound
• Whisper sound
• Husky sound
Position of glottis
 Chapter 6 – Phonetic Transcription
• Why do we need phonetic transcription?
• Method to solve the problems:
• Two types of transcription:
• Impressionistic transcription
• Systematic transcription
• Broad transcription
• Narrow transcription
 Example of phonetic transcription
• Transkripsi Fonetik Dialog Rakaman Raja Lawak Astro Musim 3 Minggu 7 LNJ
• Jan : [(diyalog di tԐlifon)#alah ǰaŋanlah macam tu# abaŋ taɁ pi mana# abaŋ doɁ ada kat sini# doɁ
tƏŋah lap kasot# ha# okay# okay# abaŋ ǰanǰi abaŋ baleɁ#]
• Lan : [#putu mayoŋ# putu mayoŋ# putu mayoŋ# putu maɁyoŋ#]
• Jan : [#hƏy tƏmpԐyek# hoi# mai sat#]
• Lan : [#hoi# stԐdi ǰan#]
• Jan : [#hoi# putu mayoŋ# putu mayoŋ#]
• Lan : [#bԐsa laa#]
• Jan : [#kƏliya#]
• Lan : [#hui# kƏliya la#]
• Jan : [#amboi# putu mayoŋ# putu mayoŋ# lakuka#]
• Lan : [#taɁ laku#]
 Chapter 7 – Acoustic Phonetic
• Involve the study of air wave that bring sound to ears
• Physical characteristics of language:
• Voice tone
• Voice volume
• Voice length (measured by using oscillograms or spectrograms)
• Periodic sound and aperiodic (types of sound in acoustic phonetic)
• Instrument to measure acoustic phonetic:
• Spectrogram
• Cathode ray
• The good and the weakness of spectrograms
Spectrograms of vowels sound
 Chapter 8 – Auditory Phonetic
• Involving our brain and ears
• Function of ears and brain
• Structure of ears and brain
• Characteristics of physical sounds:
• Voice tone
• Voice volume
• Sound quality
 Chapter 9 – Difference Level of Phonetic and
Phonology Analysis
• The difference of analysis:
• Minimal partner
• Phonological sequence constraints
• Phonological universality
• Language acquisition
• Suprasegmental
 Chapter 10 – Distinctive Features
• The list of distinctive features system by Halle and Clements (1983), Lass
(1984) etc.
• There are 12 segments in this features system
 Appraisal
• I found that this book is really interesting
• I would like to recommend people to read it because this book explains briefly about the
fundamental of phonetic.
• I understand that it would be very difficult for us to read this kind of material but I
pushed myself to finish the reading till the very last pages and I am glad that I could
understand part of this book.
• The writer managed to increase my understanding and knowledge about this topic.
• Plus his writing makes me to realize to learn and get more information about this topic. 
 PHONEMIC
AWARENESS
Chapter 3: A Bit of Different Take
ISABEL L.BECK & Mark E. Beck (2013)
CHAPTER REVIEW

■ In this chapter of the book “Making sense of phonics – the

hows and whys the authors review some commonly accepted
notions about phonemics awareness, discuss the inherent
difficulties of developing phonemic awareness and
demonstrate that phonemic awareness can be taught.
Phonemic Awareness Can Be Hard for
Young Children???
■ 1. rhyming and identifying a word (eg: singing a song, pantun etc )
■ 2. blending (eg: /s/ /a/ /t/ = sat)
■ 3. segmenting (eg: rip = /r/ /i/ /p/)
■ 4. manipulation – children have to isolate the phonemes, delete the phoneme and change
the phoneme in a word to another phoneme (eg: change the /m/ for the word ‘mat’ to the
/p/ = ‘pat’
How it can be hard?

1) The first major problem in the identification of phonemes within words is that a child
does not perceive subsounds in a word.
2) Phoneme segmentation is hard because phonemes often overlap in speech production.
3) Young children who have not yet learned to read is that they do not have much
knowledge of English orthography, which is essense of spelling.
Solution

■ Teach phonemic awareness and early decoding in parallel, in a reciprocal supporting

relationship (Isabel & Mark ,2013)
Use of Letters with Phonemic Awareness

■ If an activity could be conducted with the light off, it was a phonemic awareness
because it was auditory only. (oral activity)
■ If the activity required the lights be on, it was phonics because phonics involves seeing
letters.
■ Phonemic awareness instruction is most effective when such instruction is imparted
through the use of printed letters. Once letters are used, they have discarded the more
common view of phonemic awareness as a purely auditory task in favor of phonics
which additionally includes the visual system (Bus & van Ijzendoorn,1999)
■ They believe that decoding can be taught with the inclusion of phonemic awareness and
that phonemic awareness can be taught by incorporating letters.
Example of a One-Letter Phonemic
Awareness Activity.
■ 1. Initial Position
■ 2. Final Position
■ 3. Medial Position
References:

■ Isabel l. Beck & Mark E. Beck. (2013). Phonemic awareness In Making sense of
phonics the hows and whys (187-219). New York: The Guilford Press.
■ Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin. (2007). Asas fonetik. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan
Pustaka.