Unit 6 Lesson Plan (With Notes for Teachers) Back Vowels Date: Oct. 21-25 Class: Classes 1, 2 & 3, Grade 2002 Subject: English Pronunciation for Communication Purpose: The students will learn back vowels in English. Objectives: Students will be able to: Define - in their own words a definition for back vowels; Compare – based on the understanding of the basic concept, compare them with other vowels; Practice – imitate the sounds and do practice. Resources/Materials: Textbook: Wang, Guizhen, An English Pronunciation Course, Higher Education Press, Beijing, 2000; Handouts: illustration of the phonemes in focus; Recordings of native speakers Activities and Procedures: Stimulating: Begin by asking the class to find out how much the students know about what they are required to learn. 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 pronunciation in English. Ask the students to listen to the tapes to make a good discrimination of the sounds in focus. Have the students imitate the sound in focus. 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 sounds in focus correct in their pronunciation. Have the students practice the guided conversation. Ask them to pay special attention to the sounds in focus 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 Back Vowels In this unit, we will learn the back vowels in English. There are six back vowels in English. The back vowels are produced by shifting the body of the tongue back from its central position. The tip of the tongue remains at the level of the lower teeth. The front and back vowels have several features in common as well as some differences. Unlike the front vowels that are made with a fairly neutral lip posture, four of the back vowels are rounded. The back vowels may also be subdivided into those that are high (/u:/ and /(/), mid (/(:/ and / ?/), and low (/(:/ and /(/). The following is the description of the six English back vowels. U: (: ( (: /u:/ and /(/ /u:/ and /(/ are both high, back, rounded vowels. The /u:/ marks the highest boundary for the back vowels, as /i:/ does for the front vowels. Therefore, the tongue is retracted from its rest position and raised toward the soft palate. This vowel is quite common in the languages of the world and appears without problem in most Chinese learners. Along with /u:/, /(/ completes the vowels in the high back space on the vowels chart. Its corresponding front vowel is /(/. When making the sound, the tongue is retracted as for /u:/ but not elevated to the same extent. In addition, the /(/ vowel is not made with as much tension in the root of the tongue as /u:/. The same tense/lax contrast is also seen for /i:/ and /(/. This sound is not found very frequently as a phoneme in the languages of the world, certainly not in Chinese Putonghua. In English, it is not very common despite the fact that it appears in some frequently used words, such as should, good, and book. /u:/ occurs at all the three positions of a word while /(/ occurs only in the middle position of a word, like book and hook. To ensure correct pronunciation, it is important to make the following distinction between /u:/ and /(/: /u:/ is the highest back vowel, so the raised part of the tongue for /u:/ is higher than that for /(/; the part of the tongue raised for /(/ is not as back as that for /u:/; /u:/ has quite strong lip rounding while the lips are only slightly rounded for /(/. /(:/ & / ?/ /(:/ is a mid-back vowel. For its production, the tongue is retracted and almost flat in the mouth. The vowel is almost fully back and has quite strong lip-rounding. /?/ is a low vowel. The lips are slightly rounded. / ?/ is a difficult vowel for the Chinese learners. Many of them use a shortened version of /(:/ as its substitution. To ensure correct pronunciation, it is important to make the following distinction between these two vowels: / ?/ is a low vowel while /(:/ is a mid vowel, so the mouth is more open for / ?/, /(:/ has quite strong lip rounding while the lips are only slightly rounded for / ?/. /(:/ & /(/ The /(:/ is made by lowering and flattening the tongue in the oral cavity. It is a low vowel, but not as back as other back vowels in English. /(/ is quite different from other vowels in this group in that it is more like a central vowel than a back vowel (see the vowel chart). /(/ is made with the tongue in the approximate middle of the mouth, perhaps shifted back slightly. It is lower than the other central vowels /з:/ and /(/. The lip position is neutral. It is important for the learners to make a clear distinction between /(:/ and /(/ in their pronunciation. 元音: 后元音 在这个单元里，我们将学习英语的后元音。英语有六个后元音。发后元音时，舌身从中间位置向后移动，舌尖与下齿保持同一水平。英语的前元音在发音时，唇形是扁平的。后元音中则有四个圆唇音。我们可以根据其口的开张程度，由近乎全合到近乎全开，逐步张开，舌位依次降低发出以下后元音：/u:, (, (:, ?/。 我们来看后元音的舌位图。英语的后元音中有四个圆唇音，两个非圆唇音。从发音时口的开张程度看，/ u: /近乎全合；/ ( /属半合；/ (: /在发音时牙床半开； / ? /在发音时牙床张开；/ ? /近乎全开；/(:/也近乎全开；/ ? /与/ (:/在口的开张度上相似，但/ ? /是圆唇音，/ (:/是非圆唇音；/ (:/的舌位要比/ ? /稍前一些。 现在来看看这些音的具体发音。 / u: / / (/ / u: /和/(/都是高元音、后元音、圆唇元音。/ u: /在英语后元音中，舌位是最高的。就如/ i: /在前元音中舌位最高一样。发此音时，舌头后缩，并向软腭隆起。这个音在当今世界的许多语言中都很常见，对大多数中国学习者来说，发此音并没有多大问题。/(/在发音时与/u:/一样，舌头后缩，但后度不及/u:/，舌面隆起但程度不及/u:/。另外，发/(/音时，肌肉的紧张程度不及/u:/。 学习/ u: /和/(/的发音时，要特别注意以下几点： 1、/ u: /是舌位最高的后元音，因此舌头隆得比/(/音高。 2、发/ u: /音时，舌头隆起部位比/(/更接近舌根。 3、发/ u: /音时，双唇呈滚圆形；发/(/音时，双唇呈微圆形。 4、发/ u: /音时，肌肉紧张度高而发/(/时，肌肉轻为松驰。 / (: / / ? / / (: /在发音时，舌头后缩牙床半开，双唇呈滚圆形。/ ? /在发音时舌面尽量压低和往后靠，牙床近乎全开，呈微圆形。/ ? /对中国学生来说是一个较难发好的音，许多人就用/ (: /的短音来代替。为确保发音准确，掌握这两个元音以下的区别尤为重要： 1、/ ? /在发音时口的开张度大于/ (: /，牙床近乎全开。 2、发/ (: /音时，双唇呈滚圆形；发/ ? /音时，双唇呈微圆形。 / (: / / ( / 发/ (: /音时，口要尽量张大，牙床全开，双唇中常，舌尖离开下齿，舌位放到最低点，同时向后缩，但后度不及/ ? /。/(/不同于其它后元音。与其说它是后元音，还不如说它是中元音。发/(/音时，舌头在口腔里平放着，舌面中部略抬起，牙床半开，舌位比中元音/з: /要低，双唇中常，肌肉松驰。 练习这两个音的时候，要特别注意它们之间的不同：1、/ (: /的舌位比/(/后；2、/ (: /音口的开张度比/(/大。在练习/ (: /音时还要注意区分/ (: /与/ ? /。这两个音的牙床开张程度是相似的，都属近乎全开，所不同的：一是/ ? /的舌位更后一些；二是/ ? /是圆唇音而/ (: /是非圆唇音；三是一般说来在相同的语音环境中/(:/的音长于/ ? /。