Course Catalogue

View Specification Document | Reading List

What can an /s/ reveal about your social background? Why might someone develop a 'foreign' accent after a stroke? Do click languages actually use clicks? This course provides a deeper understanding of the science of speech. In it, we learn to use precise instrumental measurements to examine (and alter) sound recordings; recognise and produce all speech sounds used in human language; and read and present primary research literature about the wide variety of applications of phonetics - from sociolinguistics, to clinical therapies, to neuroscience.

Eight x 2-hr lectures; Nine x2hr practical sessions (comprising 1x1hr workshop; 1x1hr follow-up guided independent study) as scheduled on MyCampus.

This is one of the Honours options in English Language and Linguistics and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into English Language and Linguistics, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

It is recommended that students will have taken ENGLANG4048 Phonetics I.

ENGLANG4030 Phonetics and Phonology

None

Practical examination (40 minutes) - 20%

Research essay portfolio (3,000 words) - 60%

Speech measurement task - 20%

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course will provide the opportunity to:

■ learn about speech sounds in context;

■ carry out detailed study of a number of perspectives on speech, e.g. clinical phonetics, speech perception, sociophonetics;

■ engage with and present key academic research in phonetics;

■ develop practical skills of identifying, producing, and measuring speech sounds also using mainstream speech analysis software.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ outline key aspects of vowels and consonants including contextual realization and function;

■ explain and apply some key terms and concepts from a number of perspectives on speech;

■ use, interpret and evaluate data obtained by means of instrumental techniques for investigating speech;

■ make and record precise measurements from acoustic representations of speech;

■ produce and transcribe various forms of English speech sounds.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.