AJ0101 American Pronunciation and its Specifics

Faculty of Education
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Kateřina Tomková, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová, Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Contact Person: Jana Popelková
Supplier department: Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Timetable of Seminar Groups
AJ0101/01: Tue 8:00–9:50 učebna 78, K. Tomková
Prerequisites
This course is best taken after a training in English Phonetics and Phonology. Knowledge of the world's political geography as well as past and contemporary oral culture (films, politics, music) is an advantage.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 2/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 27 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Apart from being able to discern where in the U.S. a particular speaker is from, the students should also increase their awareness of all the social implications a particular way of speaking has, as well as of the historical reasons for today´s pronunciations. Other aspects of speaking behaviour will also be dealt with.
Learning outcomes
On completing the course a student will be able to - see speech behaviour in wider historical, geographical, phonetic and social consequences - discern and give phonetic descriptions of various regional, social and standard forms of American English - improves and strengthens his/her own speech habits speaking English.
Syllabus
  • Week 1-2 - American English: development and standards. Hitherto sociolinguistic research (Labov). Week 3-4 - General American, The East Coast (NYC, Boston). Week 5-6 - West Coast, Canada, The MidWest. Week 7-8 - U.S. South, Tex-Mex, the Caribbean, AAVE. Week 9-10 - Overseas varieties in Asia (the Philippines, Singapore) and in the Pacific (Hawaii). Week 11-12 - Discussions with guests, course assessment.
Literature
  • WELLS, J. C. Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982, xix, 467-6. ISBN 0521297192. info
Teaching methods
Teacher's lectures, students' presentations, recommendations for independent listening, live commented listening to less accessible materials. Discussions on various speaking performances' sociolinguistic implications.
Assessment methods
Points for overall assessment (60/100pts the cut-off/max. achievement): progress tests 10x3= max. 30pts, in-class contributions (up to 10pts) and final theoretical and practical test (max. 50pts).
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught each semester.
General note: Předmět bude realizován, pokud se přihlásí alespoň 15 studentů.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/spring2021/AJ0101