17Билет

1) 1. A syllable is a sound or a sound sequence forming a single uninterrupted unit of utterance.

2. In English a syllable is formed by a vowel alone or in combination with consonants, and word final sonorants [l], [m], [n] preceded by a consonant.

e.g. are

fame

trouble

 

In some syllables formed by the sonorants the vowel [ə] may be pronounced, in this case the sonorants are non-syllabic. 

e.g. level [ levl] or [ levәl] 

3. In terms of phonetics the two basic types of syllable are the open syllable (ending in a vowel) and the closed syllable (ending in a consonant).

 Syllable formation and syllable division rules appear to be a matter of great practical value to the language learner. They are especially important when it is necessary to know the number of syllables for the purpose of picturing a word or a sentence on the staves, or for finding a convenient place to put a stress mark in phonetic transcription

4. Correct syllable division is important from the point of view of pronunciation and understanding.

e.g. a nice house

an ice house

 

5. The basic syllable division rules are as follows:

a. the English long monophthongs, diphthongs and unstressed short vowels [i], [q], [u] always occur in a phonetically open syllable when they are separated from the next syllabic sound by only one consonant.

e.g about [ ə - baut]

music [ mju: - zik]

Michael [ mai – kl]

 

b. A short stressed vowel followed by only one consonant always occurs in a phonetically closed syllable.

e.g. pity [ pit – i]

coffee [ kσf – i]

 

c. Intervocalic combinations of consonants belong to the next syllable if such combinations are typical of English (i. e. they can be found at the beginning of words). Otherwise, the consonants must be divided between the two syllables.

e.g. naturally [ næt∫ - rә – li]

(næ – and t∫rә – are impossible in English)

 

2) Professional development is considered as an essential element in enhancing the teaching and learning process to ensure student learning. Professional development can also be deemed as a cornerstone of teacher professionalism and quality. The governments and educational institutions invest significantly in Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to improve teacher quality and to meet the changing needs of the students. To uncover the perceptions and practices of professional development in Saudi Arabia, a survey was conducted at Taif University English Language Centre. The sample consisted of 121 English language teachers from various countries and having varied educational and academic experiences. The survey comprised items relevant to learning approaches, concept of professional development, perceptions and feedback on CPD. The respondents supported lifelong learning and experiential learning leading towards learner centered approach. They perceived the CPD as a challenge to their existing knowledge and classroom practice. However, they expressed their concerns regarding indigenization of activities in CPDs, institutional support in conducting classroom activities, and follow up activities. 

Suggestions

- CPD organizers and teacher educator should conduct a careful need analysis before designing and implementing professional development programs for language teachers.The need analysis should focus on teachers’ beliefs about language teaching, what they know, and what they would like to know.

- Teacher educators must consider that theory and practice have a reciprocal relationship and both have a positive impact on teachers and their teaching. As such, a CPD may include theoretical input responding to the needs and which has to be identified in the need analysis prior to starting a CPD program with appropriate provision of explicit activities for teachers to discuss issues around theoretical underpinnings.

- CPD activities may combine both, theory and practice, to address planning and implementing teaching ideas and it may have follow-up sessions for reflection.

- There should be a close coordination between the teacher educators and the participants of a CPD to ensure a collaborative environment and active participation.

- There may be a systematic process of class observation which may help the teacher educator to monitor a teacher’s progress while he or she is attending a CPD.

- The CPD objectives and activities may be aligned with the institutional policies. The institution needs to introduce a norm of experimentation permitting teachers to try on new instructional practices in their classroom.

–There should be discussion groups providing a chance to the teachers to share their ideas as a continuous support and follow-up activities.

3)authentic materials can include:

• Listening: TV shows, radio, commercials, news broadcasts, documentaries, movies, phone messages, etc.

• Visual: photographs, art works, signs with symbols, postcards, picture books, etc.

• Printed: restaurant menus, newspaper articles, bulletin board advertisements, company websites, coupons, sales catalogues, travel brochures, maps, telephone books, signs, blogs, movie posters, food labels, etc.

1) We need to define the term ‘authentic’ and also include in the discussion the ideas of ‘adapted’ and ‘semi-authentic’ materials.

2) Authentic materials offer great advantage over materials written for the purpose of language learning.

• Help prepare learners for the ‘real’ world of communication;

• Guide learners toward the language they need for their particular context;

• Motivate learners to communicate, because they help make communication ‘real’.

When people first think of authentic materials they usually assume that we are talking about newspaper and magazine articles. However, the term can also encompass such things as songs, web pages, radio & TV broadcasts, films, leaflets, flyers, posters, indeed anything written in the target language and used unedited in the classroom. The materials used, will of course, depend on the 'usual' factors:

• topic

• target language area

• skills

• students' needs and interests

It's no good trying to get your students fascinated by a text on the latest art movie if they are all fans of action films. You might as well save your time and energy and just use the text book! Aren't authentic materials too difficult? Yes they are, but that's the point! Your text, written or recorded, is likely to be too hard, even, in some cases, for advanced students. The trick, regardless of the text used, is not to edit and grade the text, but to grade the task according to your students' abilities. This is for three reasons: most importantly, it reflects the kind of situation your students may face in an English-speaking environment, it saves you time and energy (more of an added bonus than a reason) and lastly it encourages and motivates your students when they can 'conquer' a real text. An example The same text could be used in a variety of different ways. Let us take a tourist information leaflet. This kind of authentic material has the added advantage that it can be easily and swiftly ordered for free and in multiple copies from tourist boards and agencies. This also removes issues of copyright, which is a common problem of using authentic materials and should be checked depending on your particular situation. (Some countries allow a small number of copies to be made for educational purposes, but this can vary.)

The question of levels Naturally certain texts will lend themselves more easily to certain levels.  At lower levels some possibilities include leaflets, timetables, menus, short headline type reports, audio and video advertising, or short news broadcasts. The task should be simple and relatively undemanding, and it is important to pre-teach key vocabulary so as to prevent panic.  At more intermediate levels this list could be expanded to include longer articles, four or five minute TV or radio news reports, a higher quantity of shorter items, or even whole TV programmes, if your copyright agreements allow it. Again pre-teaching is important, although your students should be able to deal with unknown vocabulary to some extent. At higher levels it's a case of anything goes. At an advanced level students should have some tactics for dealing with new vocabulary without panicking, but it's still useful to have a few quick definitions to hand for some of the trickier stuff! As can be seen, using authentic materials is a relatively easy and convenient way of improving not only your students' general skills, but also their confidence in a real situation. This is only a brief introduction to the ideas involved, but some of these ideas could easily be expanded to form part of a motivating and effective course.