Communication Skills (2)

Communicative Skills (2)

          Like listening, there are also some basic skills to know in order to ensure smooth communication.  We communicate for various purposes.  To ensure that the message is well-received and interpreted, the speaker needs to articulate the speech sounds and patterns of the language properly.  That means the speaker needs to know the pronunciation of the language well enough to be in the position to communicate.

Speaking skills (1)

Pronunciation and enunciation

           To convey the message in sounds means that you have to master the pronunciation of the language.  Pronunciation is about how the speaker articulate words in general.  Enunciation, on the other hand, is about the clarity of words being said by the speaker.  Pronunciation basically includes 3 aspects:

         

                   Sounds -----  vowels and consonants

                   Stress  ------  word stress, linkage & sentence stress

                   Intonation --  rising tone and falling tone

          Hence the speaker requires to know the basic speech sounds, stress and intonation of the target language in order to communicate to the understanding of the listener.  In other words, degree of accuracy and fluency of the pronunciation and enunciation of the speaker can affect the quality of communication. 

Basic English vowels and consonants

Jones (British)        Helping Words                  Kenyon & Knot

1.  / i: /                       E                                1.  / i /

2.  / I /                        it                               2.  / I /

3.  / eI /                      A                               3.  / e /

4.  / e /                       F                                4.  / ɛ /

5.  / ӕ /                      cat                             5.  / ӕ /

6.  / ɑ :/                      R                               6.  / ɑ /

7.  / ɒ /                       hot                                      7.  / - /   (no equivalent)

8.  / u: /                      food                           8.  / u /

9.  / U /                       foot                           9.  / U/

10.  / əU /                     O                              10.  / o /

11.  / ɔ :/                     awe                           11.  / ɔ /

13.  / 3: /                     sir                                       13.  / ɝ /

14.  / ə /                      ago                           14.  / ɚ /

15.  / aI /                     I                               15.  / aI /

16.  / aU /                     cow                           16.  /aU/

17.  / ɔI /                           boy                                   17.  / ɔI /

18.  / Iə /                     ear                            18.  / Ir /

19.  / eə /                     air                                      19.  / ɛ r /

20.  / Uə/                     tour                          20.  / U r/

Thomas Edison said, “A genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. ”

I said, “No genius is lazy.”

Consonant phonemes      (Consonant letters)             Helping Words

1.  / p /                           (p)                                   pen

2.  / b /                           (b)                                  bag

3.  / t /                            (t)                                   tea

4.  / d /                           (d)                                  desk

5.  / k /                            (k, c, ch)                          kitchen | car | mechanic

6.  / g /                           (g)                                   girl

7.  / ʃ /                            (sh, c, s, t, x)                             she | ocean |occasion | patient

8.  / ʒ /                            (ge, j, s, z, x)                              garage |

9.  / ʧ/                            (ch)                                 chair | teacher

10.  / ʤ/                         (j, ge, dge)                      Judge | orange | bridge

11.  / f /                          (f, gh, ph)                        fair | rough | phone

12.  / v /                          (v)                                   vase

13.  / s /                          (s, c)                               sand | cent

14.  / z /                          (z, s)                               zoo |

15.  / θ /                         (th)                                 faith

16.  / ð /                         (th)                                 this

17.  / h /                          (h)                                  house

18.  / m /                         (m)                                  mother

19.  / n /                          (n)                                  no | on

20.  / ŋ  /                         (nk, ng)                           sink | sing

21.  / l /                           (l)                                   like | tall

22.  / r /                          (r) (the letter ‘r’ before the vowel letter(s))  red | read

23.  / j /                          (y, u)                                         yes | use

24.  / w /                         (w, qu -- /kw/)                           week | quick