Syllabus
1) syllable structure
2) nature and placement of word stress; vowel reduction
3) stress placement in complex and compound words; stress shift
4) sentence stress
5) words with standard weak forms; contractions
6) rhythm (stress-timing x syllable timing)
7) introduction to intonation; tone unit and its structure
8) main types of tones and their meanings; tone and intonation languages
9) accentual and attitudinal functions of intonation
10) grammatical function of intonation; politeness; upspeak
11) discourse function of intonation;
12) pronunciation teaching (historical background; tips for classroom practice); foreign accent
Annotation
The course focuses on the description and practice of suprasegmental features of English phonetics and phonology, particularly on word and sentence stress, rhythm, reduction and intonation, which greatly contribute to better intelligibility of fluent speech.