Unit 1 Lesson Plan (With Notes for Teachers) Basic Concepts: Syllables, Stress & Rhythm Date: Sept.16-20 Class: Classes 1, 2 & 3, Grade 2002 Subject: English Pronunciation for Communication Purpose: The students will learn some basic concepts in English pronunciation. We are going to learn something about syllables, stress and rhythm in English. At the same time, they will learn to say greetings and farewell with appropriate pronunciation and intonation in English. Objectives: Students will be able to: Define - in their own words a definition for “syllable” and “stressed syllable”, then a definition for “rhythm” and “rhythmic pattern”; Compare – based on the understanding of the basic concept, compare the degrees of stress and different rhythmic patterns; Practice – imitate the typical stress patterns and rhythmic patterns in English. Resources/Materials: Textbook: Wang, Guizhen, An English Pronunciation Course, Higher Education Press, Beijing, 2000; Handouts: illustration of stress patterns and rhythmic pattern; Recordings of native speakers Activities and Procedures: Stimulating: Begin by asking the class to find out how much the students know about stress patterns and rhythmic patters in English, make sure that it serves the purpose of stimulating the students to think about the issue and have the desire to find out the answers themselves. Display examples by playing the recording of the native speakers showing the typical stress patters and rhythmic patterns in English. Ask the students to listen to the tapes to mark out the stressed syllables in words. Ask the students to listen to the tapes to mark out the stressed words in sentences. Have the students imitate the stress patterns and rhythmic patterns to experience the rhythm in speech. Have the students share what they have learned by reading out the practice materials in pairs. Have the students listen to the conversations recorded by native speakers of English and try to get the rhythmic patterns in their speech. Have the students practice the guided conversation. Ask them to pay special attention to the stress the rhythm in speech. Highlight the language function in the conversation in the practice. Have several pairs of the students present their conversation in the class. Comment on the students’ performance by highlighting the achievement of the students and the efforts they need for the improvement. Ask the students to do more practice after class and get ready for presentation during the next session. Notes for Teachers Basic Concepts: Syllables, Stress & Rhythm In this unit, we are going to learn some basic concepts in English pronunciation. We are going to learn something about syllables, stress and rhythm in English. At the same time, we are going to learn to say greetings and farewell with appropriate pronunciation and intonation in English. First of all, let’s look at the syllable in English. Please listen to the following word: driveway. Now, tell me, how many syllables there are in this word? Right. There are two. Please listen to the following sentence: Drive him away. Tell me, how many syllables there are in this sentence? Right. There are four. Introduction So. What is a syllable? A syllable is a word part and the basic unit of English rhythm. English words can have one, two, three or even more syllables. In the word ‘driveway’, there are two syllables. In the sentence ‘Drive him away’, there are four. What is a stressed syllable? In English words with more than one syllable, one of them will receive more stress than the others. Stressed syllables are those that are marked in the dictionary as stressed. For example, in the word ‘driveway’, the first syllable is a stressed syllable while the second syllable is not. Stressed syllables in English are usually longer, louder, and higher in pitch. Listen to the following example: ba NAAAA na Syllable 1 Syllable 2 Syllable 3 (short) (long) (short) The word "banana" has 3 syllables. Syllable 1 is not stressed and so is short. Syllable 2 is stressed and so is long with a clear vowel sound /(:/. Syllable 3 is not stressed and so is also short. Here is a short summary about the stressed and unstressed syllables: Stressed syllables are strong syllables. Unstressed syllables are weak syllables. Stressed syllables: are long have a pitch change have full vowel sounds. Unstressed syllables: are short often have a reduced vowel sound. Now let’s look at the rhythm in English. We all know that correct pronunciation of the individual English sounds is important in communication. The way the sounds are organized, however, is often more crucial for understanding. The rhythm of English, for example, is one of the two major organizing structures that native speakers rely on to process speech. What is rhythm? Rhythm can be found everywhere in life: the sound of a clock, the beating of the heart, the strokes of a swimmer, and of course in poetry and music. But rhythm in language is less familiar because it is less obvious. The rhythm of a language is characterized by the timing pattern of successive syllables. In some languages, every syllable is given about the same length, while in others, syllables vary in length. In English, strong beats are called stress -- the heart of the rhythmic pattern. 基本概念：音节、重音与节奏 本单元将向学生介绍英语语音语调的基本概念, 主要介绍英语语音的音节、重音和节奏规律。 首先，让我们先来看看英语的音节： 单词driveway有两个音节。句子Drive him away有四个音节。 何谓“音节”？ 音节是一个言语单位，常常比一个语音长，但比一个单词短。一个英语单词可以有一个、两个三个或更多的音节。就像我们刚看到的单词driveway有两个音节, 句子Drive him away有四个音节。同时，音节又是英语发音节奏的最基本的单位。 何谓“重读音节”？ 如果一个英语单词中拥有两个或两个以上的音节，其中一个音节会比其周围的音节要响亮些。重读音节通常在词典中有所标注。例如，单词driveway的第一个音节就是重读音节，而它的第二个音节就是非重读音节。 英语中的重读音节在发音过程中往往要比非重读音节要长一些，响亮一些，同时音调也稍高一些。例如，“banana”一词有三个音节。第一个音节是非重音，所以发音所需时间比较短。第二个音节是重读，所以元音/(:/发的比较长，清晰响亮。第三个音节同样属非重音，所以发音所需时间也很短。 可见，重读音节与非重读音节分别有以下特征： 重读音节: ⒈声音响亮 ⒉延续时间较长 ⒊音调较高 非重读音节: 1.延续时间较短 2.元音发音弱化 英语话语节奏：学会发好每一个英语音素，是学好英语语音的基础，正确的发音在语言交流中非常重要。然而，语音的组合方式对于听者的理解也起着至关重要的作用。英语的话语节奏就是其中之一。 何谓“英语话语节奏”？ 节奏在我们的日常生活中无所不在：滴答转动的钟表声，砰砰不停的心脏跳动，游泳的划水节拍，优美诗句和音乐的韵律，这些都是节奏的体现。话语节奏与前面我们所提到的日常生活中显而易见的节奏不同之处在于：语言中的话语节奏不是那么明显与绝对。语言中的节奏特征是由一连串音节的长短来体现的。有一些语言的话语特点是：每一个音节的音长呈大致相同的趋势，这种音节彼此距离大致相等的现象被称为“以音节定时”节奏。汉语的话语节奏就有这样的倾向。例如，当我说：“面包加牛奶”，这里含5个音节，所需的时间暂且定为5个时段。如果我要说：“一片面包加一杯牛奶”，这里含9个音节，所需的时间就是9个时段。英语的话语节奏则显不同的趋势。例如，在“bread and milk”短语中，音节数是三个，其中“bread”与“milk”是重读音节。在“some bread and some milk”这一短语中，音节数是5个，其中重读的也是“bread”与“milk”。虽然这两个短语的音节数不同，但是在话语中，它们所需的时间却是大致相同的，因为它们有一个共同点：重读音节数相同。这种重读音节彼此距离相等的现象就是“以重音定时”节奏。掌握这一英语话语的节奏规律。对于提高我们英语口语的流利程度和自然程度以及英语听力理解快速解码的能力至关重要。 正因为如此，我们将重音与节奏的学习放在中心与突出的位置，从第一单元的概念介绍开始，贯穿整个语音课程学习的始终。