Unit 11 Lesson Plan (With Notes for Teachers) Linking Date: Nov., 25-29 Class: Classes 1, 2 & 3, Grade 2002 Subject: English Pronunciation for Communication Purpose: The students will learn linking in English. Objectives: Students will be able to: Define - in their own words a definition for linking 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 different types of linking in connected speech; 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 linking in connected speech. Have the students imitate the linking in utterances. 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 linking 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 Linking In this unit we will learn the various types of linking in English speech. Linking is such a common phenomena that if you pronounce each English word separately when you speak, without linking, English speakers may not understand you. You may also have problems in comprehension of the native speech. What is linking? When speakers of English are speaking, they arrange words into groups and join together the stressed and unstressed words within the group. They move smoothly from one word to the next without making any sudden stops. So when we listen to their speech, we hear the end of one word flow straight into the beginning of the next. This phenomena of joining words together is called linking. How to link words in English speech? Speakers of English join words together by blending or joining the last sound of a word with the initial sound of the following word. Following are the various ways to help you achieve the linking so that your speech will become fluent and natural. To blend or join the final consonant of one word with the initial word of the following word, as in "post office". 2. To link the final vowels /з:/ and /(/ to a following vowel by adding the /r/ sound, which is called linking-r, as in "her own", or intrusive-r, as in "the idea of". To make smooth transitions when words are separated by more than two consonants, i.e. treat them as consonant sequences, as in "next topic". To make smooth transitions when the preceding word ends with a vowel and the following word begins also with a vowel sound by adding a slight /j/ or /w/, as in "my arm". To change the pronunciation of some final and initial consonants, as in "Did you …". Linking is natural in English speech. To make natural linking, it is important to say groups of words in one breath and keep your voice going from one word to the next. 连读 本单元我们学习的是英语话语中的另一个语音现象：连读。 何谓“连读”？ 我们在说话时,语音一连串地发出，便产生语流。连读是指在谈话，尤其是自然的语流中，句中或短语中相接邻的词之间的连接。换句话说，英语的话语规律是把同一意群中的重读与非重读单词连在一起说, 词与词之间的过渡自然而不存在停顿。所以我们听英语话语时听到的是一个词的结尾直接连到另一个词的开头。这种语音现象被称为连读。 连读是英语口语中非常普遍的语音现象。如果你在说英语时一个一个单词地的讲而不是按照英语的语音规律将词与词连接起来，听者完全可能听不懂你在说什么。掌握英语连读这一语音现象不仅有助于提高我们英语话语的流利程度，有助于信息的表达，同时也有助于提高我们的听力。 英语话语中词与词之间应该如何连读？ 简单地说，连读时就是把位于前面的单词的最后一个音与下一个单词的第一个音自然地混为一体, 使你的话语听起来流利自然。以下几种连读的方法可以帮你达到这一目的。 当一个词以辅音结尾，后面一个词以元音开头时, 将前一个单词结尾的辅音与下一个单词开头的元音连在一起读，如 post(office; 当单词以元音/(:/与/(/结尾且后面单词以元音开头时，中间加一/r/音，这叫做r音连读，如her( own(称r音连读), the idea(of(称外加音r的连读); 当两个词之间存在两个或两个以上辅音时，连接这两个词的办法就是将其作为辅音组合处理，如next(topic; 当前一个单词以元音结尾而紧接着的单词又以元音开头时，两个元音应尽量连起来念, 必要时两个单词中间可以加个轻柔的/j/或/w/作为转折，如my(arm; 有时一个音由于受邻接的音的影响而发生读音变化，即我们通常称之为“同化”的语音现象，如Did(you …? 在学习英语连读时需要注意的是：连读是连贯讲话时自然发生的语音现象。讲话的语速快了，相邻的词一气呵成地连贯而出则是再自然不过的了。反之，说话语速慢时,连读的现象自然就少一些。因此，不要把连读理解成有意识的拼读,使之显得生硬、欠自然。