Unit nine

Task 1. Listen to the recorded words. Write them in the alphabetical order. Transcribe them. Practise their pronunciation.

Crè che

kindergarten

nursery

comprehensive

private

independent

comprehension

schooling

education

tertiary

docent

swat

slave

loathe

qualifications

experience

eligible

diploma

miserable

inquiries

doctorate

professor

diligently

assiduously

behaviour

inaugural

requirements

sapless

applicant

fidgety

discipline

reluctantly

briefly

restore

inconsistent

staff

awkwardly

versatile

varied

awkwardly

pedagogics

psychology

tutorial

emphasis

expel

priority

cheat

lenient

flustered

courage

enroll

primarily

exhausted

skiver

truant

assess

insomnia

conquer

linger

participate

knowledgeable

research

acquire

nervously

colours

competitive

Task 2. Listen to the words in Task 1. Put them in the right column according to the number of syllables they contain.

Task 3. Listen to the words in Task 1. Group them according to the type of a stressed syllable. Note: a) theI^st syllable type is called open (see, Pete, tune, etc.); b) the 2^nd syllable type is known as closed (set, sys tem, syn tagm, sup per, etc.); c) the III^d syllable type is represented by a vowel followed by the letter “r” (verb, short, partly, dirty, etc.); in case the vowel is followed by the doubled “rr” it is read according to the 2^nd syllable type (marry, sorry, Harry); d) the IV^th syllable type contains a stressed vowel followed by the combination of letters “r” and “e” as in prep are, sph ere, sec ure, expl ore, t ire d, l yre (exceptions: a + re = /A: / as in are; e + re = /E@/, /3: / as in there, where, were; u+re = /P@/ as in sure).

Task 4. Listen to the words in Task 1. Put them in the right column according to the part of speech they belong to.

Task 5.Compare the sets of English and Ukrainian consonants. Describe the differences in their pronunciation. Enumerate the consonants which are foreign to the Ukrainian consonantal system. Explain the differences in the pronunciation of consonants in the following pairs of English and Ukrainian words. Do it in writing.

Стіл — steel

Бруд — brood

Франт — front

Леза — leather

Цент — cent

Брід — breathe

Сам — some

Сто — store

Кат — cut

Гей — hay

Син — thin

Рід — read

Тент — tent

Task 6. Listen to the following dialogues carefully, sentence by sentence. Write them down. Lay stresses and tone marks. Concentrate on the intonation of replies, give their tonograms. Define the speaker’s attitude. Establish the intonation patterns of the words and expressions that make the listener more comfortable, less worried. Practise reading the dialogues using the proper intonation to reassure the listener. Give graphical presentation of intonation of the utterances conveying reassurance.

Thompson P.19-21.

1) Alan: Sorry to keep you waiting, Sarah.

Sarah: ^|That’s all _/right.

Alan: I couldn’t get any real orange juice – only synthetic stuff.

Sarah: _\Well, | that’s ^|better than _/nothing.

Alan: The trouble is – the shops are shut tomorrow.

Sarah: ^|Never _/mind. [Thompson: 19]

Now Harriet wants to tell you a secret. She is anxious. Try to put her mind at rest.

2) Harriet: There’s something I’d like to tell you, Jo, only I’m afraid someone’s listening.

Jo: ^|No one’s _/listening.

Harriet: Are you sure? The other thing is – I’m afraid you’ll tell someone.

Jo: I ^|won’t _/tell ^. anyone.

Harriet: Or you might laugh at me.

Jo: I ^|won’t _/laugh at you.

Harriet: Well, in that case I’ll tell you. You see, the other day I was at a party... [Thompson: 20]

Task 7. Read the text given below. Make sure you understand what it is about. Divide each sentence into syntagms, lay stresses and tone marks, practise your reading technique. While reading the text, make use of the note below. Record your reading. Note: a) the term elision means the omission of both consonants and vowels in connected speech, e.g. boys ’n’ girls, cup ‘o’ tea, camera /" k{mr@/, twelfths /" twelTs/ or /" twelfs/; b) slip-shod means careless, not exact, e.g. the slip-shod pronunciation.

Style to Samuel Wesley was “the dress of thought”; to Jonathan Swift it was “proper words in proper places”; to W.B. Yeats, it was “high breeding in words and in argument”. And so we could continue through several hundred definitions and characterisations.

It means that we do not always speak in the same manner. Sometimes, especially among friends, we speak rather fast and carelessly; at other times, especially if we wish to be solemn or severe we adopt a much slower and more deliberate way of speaking.

Paul Christophersen distinguishes several styles of pronunciation: 1) Formal Style with fewer assimilations and elisions and more strong forms than in ordinary conversation; 2) Slower Colloquial style, an intermediate style which may safely be used for most purposes; 3) Familiar (or Rapid Colloquial) style characterised by more assimilations, elisions and weak forms than the other styles.

The style described below is viewed by P.Christophersen as Conversational or Slower Colloquial; it contains many assimilations, elisions and weak forms; but it is not careless as the Familiar Style. It will do for any kind of conversation, whether with superior or an equal; it will serve even formal occasions. Naturally we are not all alike; some of us are more formal in our personality than others. While some educated people seldom use the somewhat slip-shod Familiar Style, others never use the formal Style. But the Slower Colloquial is widely used by all educated people. This, therefore, is the style that a learner should imitate.