Unit 10 Lesson Plan (With Notes for Teachers) Strong Forms and Weak Forms Date: Nov., 18-22 Class: Classes 1, 2 & 3, Grade 2002 Subject: English Pronunciation for Communication Purpose: The students will learn strong forms and weak forms in English. Objectives: Students will be able to: Define - in their own words a definition for strong forms and weak forms in a sentence. It is a revision and therefore, easy for most of the students; Compare – based on the understanding of the basic concept, compare strong forms and weak forms in syllables in words and sentences; Practice – imitate the stress patterns and do practice. 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 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 stress in focus. Have the students imitate the stress patterns 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 stress correct in their pronunciation. Have the students practice the guided conversation. Ask them to pay special attention to the stress 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 Strong Forms and Weak Forms In this unit, we will learn strong forms & weak forms - two different ways of pronouncing the word. In unstressed syllables, we often come across the short, unclear vowel /(/, which is the most common of all sounds in English. This same sound also occurs in many of the function words when they are unstressed. Strong forms and weak forms As we all know, many function words in English have two pronunciations: a stressed form (or strong form) and an unstressed form (or reduced form, weak form). The unstressed form is thus an alternate pronunciation of a word which is so reduced in its articulation that it consists of a different set of phonemes. /(/ is the most frequently used vowel in the unstressed form and next comes /(/. The importance of learning unstressed forms Two reasons are said to be most important in learning to use the unstressed forms in English. Firstly, most native speakers of English find an "all-strong form" pronunciation very unpleasant. Secondly, learners who are not familiar with the use of weak forms are likely to have difficulty understanding native speakers. 强读式和弱读式 本单元介绍的是英语的强读式与弱读式。在英语单词和句子的弱读音节中，我们最经常听到的元音是：/(/。这是在所有英语音素中出现频率最高的音素,也是英语功能词在非重读时最常用的元音。 强读式与弱读式 英语语音的一个显著特点是,许多功能词具有两种不同的发音：一种是在重读时的发音，称强读式;另一种是在非重读时的发音，称弱读式。 强读式是指一个单词单独念的时候所采取的读音形式。在连贯发言中，当这些词接受句子重音时多用强读式，不具句子重音的词则多用弱读式。由于这些词多为虚词，在句中一般不重读，因此，它们通常以弱读式的形式出现。 对于我国学生来说，要学会单词弱读式的发音是轻而易举的事，但要做到能够运用就不容易了。最常见的读法是将应该读成弱读式的单词读作强读式，并以为那才是标准的发音。用这种方法说英语，不仅影响语流，还使听者感到别扭，甚至可能产生误会。 以单词and为例。and的发音有以下几种可能性：1）/(nd/, 2）/(nd/, 3）/(n/, 4）/n/, 其中以3）最为常见。短语in and out通常读作/'in (n `aut/, 短语horse and cart通常读作/'h(:s (nk(:t/。1）与2）常用于句首。如果将句中的and都读作/(nd/的话，话语就使人听起来很别扭。有时，在一些固定搭配中错用强读式还会产生误会。比如，作为早餐的食物是bread and butter/`bred n `b(t(/，但在超级市场上买的是bread and butter/`bred (nd `b(t(/，意即成条的面包以及成包的奶油。假如在饭桌上点早餐时将bread and butter中的and读作重读，则可能使人以为说话人在强调多要点奶油，或者是在批评别人奶油放得太少了。误会就可能由此产生。 此外能否掌握好英语的弱读式也影响着我们的英语听力理解，因为具有强弱两种读音方式的单词是英语中最常见的单词，出现频率相当高，掌握好英语的弱读式无疑将提高对所听到的语言材料的解码能力，从而正确而全面地获得语言材料所传达的信息。