Summer 2004

SPN 346 • Practical Phonetics

Course Description

A thorough review of Spanish pronunciation, phonetics, and oral reading. Recommended for mmajors in Spanish, particulary for those preparing to teach. Prerequisite: SPN 312L, 612 or the equivalent. The following topics will be covered: 1. The nature of sound and sound classification as phyhsical events: composition and distribution; 2 The nature of sounds, their function and distirbution as language specific phenomena: phonemes/ allophones, phonolgy/ phonetics; 3. The role of contrastive analysis and error analysis in second language acquisition: negative and positive transfer; 4. The vowels and consonants of Spanish and English and all factors impinging upon them: Spanish as target language/ English as mother tongue speackers; English as a target language/ Spanish as mother tongue speakers; 5. Stress, intonation, linking and syllabifacation: contrastive characteristics; 6. Most important dialectal variations in the pronunciation of Spanish. Students are responsible for reading, preparing and studying the assigned reading material before coming to class. Class discussions will be based primarily on the outlines and questionnaires contained in the xerox package. Students will benefit from reading Chapter 2: “How to Compare Two Sound Systems” of R. Lado’s Linguistics Across Cultures (On reserve at PCL Library).

Grading Policy

There will be TWO one hour and fifteen minutes exams to test the theoretical concepts of the course. Pronunciation is tested daily according to daily class participation. Final grade is determined as follows: The numerical average of the Two exams (worth 50% each), constitutes the basic grade. To this average, a maximum of five points may be added depending on the student’s class attendance and active class particiation both in terms of oral practice and discussion of the theoretical concepts. Thus, a basic grade of 75 – the average of the two exams- could result in a final grade of C or B, depending on how many additional points the student earns for class attendance and active participation.

Texts

Quilis and Fernández, Curso de fonética y fonología españolas, Madrid. CSIC, 1964. Xerox package available from Abel’s Copies (715-D W 23 St. Tel: 472-5353) Tapes to acompany Curso de fonética y fonología españolas, (Available in Batts, Room 4)

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