BCA I Semester Speaking techniques Study Material Notes

BCA I Semester Speaking techniques Study Material Notes: Techniques to develop effective work accent word stress primary stress and secondary stress using correct stress patterns practice weak forms developing voice quality rhythm in connected speech developing correct tone tonic syllable types of tones tone group: ( Most Important Notes for BCA )

BCom Insolvency And Bankruptcy Code-2016 Notes In Hindi

TECHNIQUES TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE WORD ACCENT

Stress is an important feature of the English language. This feature of English needs some explanation. Stress is the degree of force with which we pronounce a sound. This degree of force is mainly pressured from the chest affecting the air-stream. However, the listener may perceive this degree of force as loudness. The stress system of English makes it different from Hindi and other Indian languages. In most Indian languages, we place the same amount of stress on all Stress is the degree of parts of a word. However, it is not so in English, where one part of a word may be a force with which we pronounce a sound. more prominently pronounced than the others.

Word Stress

made up of one or more than one separately pronounced parts, which are called syllables. For vor teach consists of one such part (syllable), whereas the word ‘teacher’ consists of Thus, we define a syllable as a group of sounds with one vowel sound and one sounds. Most of the words that we use may consist of one, two, or three or more than one consonant sound. Most of the words that we use may have syllables. Table 8.1 lists these syllables.

engineering, mechanical, electronics, electrical, decoration, introduction, ordinary, artificial, beneficial, architecture, entrepreneur, chronology, chronometer, entertainment, advertisement, advertiser, economist, economy disappointment, absolutely, accessory, necessary, accidental, incidental, accompany, accordingly, bureaucracy, convocation, deficiency, departmental, benevolent, ceremony, certificate, discontinue, experiment opportunity, aboriginal, abnormality, communication, accelerator, deliberation, academician, civilization, examination, international, multinational

In words of two or more syllables (actor, actress, singer, doctor, wonderful, The three features of a stressed syllable include interesting, punctuality, opportunity), one of the syllables stand out from the rest. loudness, duration, The stressed syllable is relatively loud, long in duration, said clearly and disband different pitch and made noticeable by the pitch of the voice. It is said to be accepted.

Thus, a stressed syllable has the following three features:

it is said more loudly than the other syllable or syllables:

it is said on a different pitch; and

it is held for a longer time than the other syllable or syllables.

Let us try to understand this with the help of a few examples. In the word ‘student’, the first syllable stud is more prominent than the second syllable dent’, and thus the first syllable is accented. On other hand, in the word ‘include’, the second syllable ‘include’ is more prominent than the first Sylla ‘in’, and thus the second syllable is accented. In the word ‘physics’, the first syllable ‘PHY is more prominent than the second syllable ‘sics’.

Table 8.3 contains a few more examples of word stress.

Primary Stress and Secondary Stress

In longer English words, there may be more than one prominent syllable. In such words, one syllable may have the main strong stress called primary stress, whereas the other syllable may have weak stress called secondary stress. For example, in the word ‘introduction, the third syllable ‘duc’ is said with force and is held for a longer time, whereas the first syllable ‘in’ is held for a lesser time and is said with a little less force. Thus, the first syllable has secondary stress while the third syllable has primary stress.

Table 8.4 illustrates the stress system in some long English words:

Most dictionaries use the mark /’/ to show the primary stress in a word. Notice the way stress is marked in the following words:

Practice

Practice 1: Stress on the First Syllable Speak the following words aloud, stressing the first label. Speak the first syllable loudly, distinctly, clearly, and hold for a longer time than the other syna in the word

absence, accident, acid, active, actual, actually, adult, advertise, aeroplane, agent, agency, alcomm allocate ambulance, ancient, anecdote, animal, arbitrary, architect, aristocrat, aspirant, borax, bottom, brilliant, calcium, calendar, camera, capital, capsule, captain, capture, carriage, ceremony, chancellor, character, chemical, controversy, difference, difficult, discipline, evidence, extrovert, factory, family, fashion, favourite, foreign, forehead, formula, frequent, harmony, honorary, hostile, husband, illustrate, indicate, influence, interest, interview, jealous, jewellery, juvenile, laser, lawyer, leaflet, lethargy, living, local, lubricant, luggage, luxury, magistrate, magnet, magnify, manage, manifest, manner, manuscript, margin, market, mechanism, medicine, memory, mercury, message, microphone, microscope, mineral, miniature, minimum, mobile, modem, molecule, moment, mountain, multiple, mystery, national, narrow, nationalise, natural, necessary, negligence, negligible, neutral, neutron, nitrogen, nominal, nourish, nuclear, nucleus, nutrient, nature, obligate, ocean, ombudsman, opposite, optic, optimism, optimise, optimum, ordinary, organism, orient, ornament, origin, orthodox, oscillate, oxygen, ozone, packet, pageant, palace, panic, paper, parallel, paralyse, paramount, paramour, paraphrase, paragraph, parcel, pardon, parliament, parlour, partial, particle, partner, passage, passion, passive, pattern, patronise, penalty, penetrate, pension, perfect, permanent, person, personal, petrol, pharmacy, phosphorous, photocopier, photograph, physical, physics, picture, picnic, pilgrim, plagiarise, platform, pleasure, pocket, poison, policy, polish, popular, populate, portion, positive, possible, practice, precedence, precious, perfect, preference, pregnant, president, pressure, previous, primary, principal, principle, product, project, profile, profit, programme, promise, proper, proverb, punctual, puncture, qualify, quality, quantity, quarter, quotable, radical, radiator, rainbow, rampant, ransom, rapture, rational, reason, recognise, reconcile, rectangle, refuge, region, regular, relevant, reverse, rigorous, salient, sanction, scholar, second, seminar, sentiment, serious, session, shoulder, similar, singular, sovereign, spectacle, splendour, stadium, standard, summary, summit, supervise, sympathy, telegraph, temperature, tension, terminal, territory, travel, treasure, ultimate, ultrasound, vegetable, verify, vehicle, vibrant, victory, vicious, visible, vision, vital, volatile, voluntary, volume, vulnerable, vulgar, warrant, water, weapon, wisdom, woman, wonder, yesterday

Practice 2: Stress on the Second Syllable Speak the following words aloud stressing the second syllable. Speak the second syllable loudly, distinctly, clearly, and hold for a longer time than the other syllables in the word.

believe, absorb, account, achieve, acquire, activity, address, adjust, admire, admit, adopt, advertisement, advice, advise, affiliate, agree, allow, alternative, amount, apologise, arithmetic, assemble, behaviour, cartoon, cashier, catalysis, certificate, chromatic, collect, combine, combustion, commission, committee, compartment, complexion, conception, condense, condition, conduction, confess, confirm, congratulate, conservative, contain, continuous, convene, corroborate, curriculum, deceive, decline, deliberate, departure, design, detergent, diffusion, direction, discover, distinguish, distributive, diversify, domestic, economy, electric, electrode, electron, embrace, embarrass, exhaust, exhaustion, explore, express, extraordinary, extreme, familiar, fraternity, frustrate, impression, improve, inform, involve, internal, investigate, judicial, machine, magnetic, magnificent, maintain, maternal, mechanic, memorial, mentality, mistake, municipal, neglect, negotiate, notorious, November, obligatory, oblige, observe, obstruct, occasion, offense, offend, opinion, opponent, oppose, optician, organic, original, originate, outrageous, pacific, paralysis, parameter, particular, particularly, peculiar, perfection, persuasive, pervert, phenomenon, phonetic, photography, photographer, physique, police, polite, political, politicise, pollute, potential, practitioner, precaution, prefer, prepare, preserve, prestige, procedure, proceed, production, productive, professor, profound, promote, propose, proposal, provide, psychosis, psychology, quotation, react, reaction, reactive, reactivate, reality, reciprocate, reflect, reflection, reform, refresh, reliable, reliance, relieve, religion, religious, resource, resort, responsible, return, reveal, revert, review, revoke, revolt, sophisticate, sophisticated, sincere, spectacular, surpass, suspense, suspicion, technique, technocracy, telegraphy, thermometer, transact, transaction, transcend, transcribe, transfer, transition, translate, transmit, unanimous, unchanging, unconscious, unfaithful, unnecessary, unsound, ultimatum, vernacular

Practice 3: Stress on the Third Syllable Speak the following words aloud stressing the third syllable. Speak the third syllable loudly, distinctly, clearly, and hold for a longer time than the other syllables in the word.

aeronautics, affidavit, alcoholic, circulation, introduction, complication, corporation, counteract, departmental, derivation, designation, differentiate, distribution, electricity, electrician, independent, information, introduce, introduction, intervene, interrupt, interpose, international, intermission, intonation, irresponsible, mathematical, mineralogy, mountaineer, nationality, obligation, oceanography, operation, opportunity, opposition, oriental, overhead, overseas, personality, personnel, pioneer, population, productivity, radiation, recollect, recommend, represent, representative, situation, souvenir, telegraphic, territorial, ultrasonic, ultraviolet, vegetarian, volunteer

Practice 4: Stress on the Fourth Syllable Speak the following words aloud stressing the fourth syllable. Speak the fourth syllable loudly, distinctly, clearly, and hold for a longer time than the other syllables in the word. apologetic, characteristic, communication, configuration, degeneration, encyclopedia, entrepreneur, negotiation, qualification

WEAK FORMS

Certain very common words, such as articles, personal and relative pronouns, auxiliary verb forms, prepositions, and conjunctions usually have two pronunciations, that is, a strong pronunciation and a weak pronunciation. Weak pronunciation is generally used in connected speech whereas strong pronunciation is used when the word is stressed or spoken in isolation, and also when the word comes at the end of a sentence. Study the following examples:

DEVELOPING VOICE QUALITY

It must be clear by now that self-expression and the ability to speak fluent English can be improved by applying appropriate pronunciation techniques and effective word accent strategies. In addition, several paralinguistic features of speaking, such as voice quality, rhythm, pitch, tone, and so on have to be manipulated to achieve the desired fluency and confidence in speaking.

Voice Quality

A person’s voice reflects his/her personality. An impressive voice does reflect an impressive personality. It is, therefore, important that one should try to improve the quality of one’s voice. Although the quality of a person’s voice depends mainly on factors that are beyond his/her control, it can be improved if sincere efforts are made. A person’s voice depends on several factors, which include his/her vocal habits formed since childhood, the structure and physical condition of his/her voice You can improve the quality mechanism, the patterns of his/her oral interactions along with its influences on of your voice by analyzing his/her speech habits, and his/her overall personality. Developing a person’s voice your voice and undertaking regular practice sessions might include making effective changes in his/her speech habits. to improve and control As developing the quality of one’s voice is desirable to become confident in the pitch, volume, and or your voice, you should first analyze your voice. Then, with regular practice, specific features of your voice can be improved.

Analyze Your Voice Analysing one’s voice is the first step in improving voice quality. One must listen to one’s voice carefully to understand the following aspects of one’s voice:

(i) Pitch (highness or lowness of the sounds produced)

(ii) Volume (loudness of the sounds made)

(iii) Quality (a specific identifying feature of sounds that are produced)

(iv ) Rate of speaking (the duration of individual sounds, the length of the phrases, and the duration of the pauses between phrases)

A tape recording of a person’s voice made while talking to someone, reading something aloud, taking part in a discussion, or while giving an oral presentation should be listened to carefully and critically and the following questions should be answered:

(a) Is the pitch of the voice varied and flexible? (It is neither too high nor too low.)

(b) Does the voice vary to fit the content?

(c) Does the voice change with the person’s mood?

(d) Does the voice reflect the speaker’s personality?

(e) Does the person adjust the volume of his/her voice to suit his/her reading material?

(f) is the rate of speaking fitting the occasion? (that is neither too slow nor too fast.)

(g) Does the voice fit the topic and the occasion?

(h) Does the speaker vary the rate of speaking according to the need of the content?

(i) What is the overall impression of his/her voice?

If these questions are answered honestly, a fairly good idea of the quality of the voice being studied can be formed

Voice Practice Once we have determined the quality of our voice, we need to undertake regular practice to improve the specific features of our voice. We must follow a systematic routine for practice, and set aside regular practice periods. Practice sessions should be relaxed. Practice should focus on improving one feature of our voice at a time. The transition from practice to performance should be slow and gradual.

Although the quality of our voice depends on factors beyond our control, we can improve it if sincere efforts are made. English speech sounds should be practiced individually and in context. Fine distinctions must be made between long and short vowels, vowels and diphthongs, and different consonant sounds. We should practice speaking long stretches of conversation and concentrate on the production of sounds.

In order to improve the pitch of our voice, the practice needs to be varied and flexible and monotony should be avoided. The pitch should be controlled if it is too high or too low. We may try to speak words. phrases and sentences in different ways by changing the pitch of our voice. A balanced pitch will make the voice pleasant, lively, and clear

We should also practice how to adjust the volume of our voice to fit our topic and content. Notice how a good public speaker varies his/her voice to fit his/her material. Listen carefully to newsreaders to note how they vary their voice according to the content of the news. Reading different kinds of material should be practiced making adjustments in the volume of one’s voice. A friend can listen to the practice readings and give feedback. Regular practice will enable us to adjust our voice according to the needs of the content.

We should also practice controlling our rate of speaking. It is a general observation that students speak faster than they should. People often mistake fluency for speed of speaking. They are, however, not the same thing. Whether one should speak fast or slow depends on several factors, which include the type of audience, the nature of the content, the occasion, and so on. What is important to remember is that the listener should have no difficulty in understanding the message. Therefore, the speaker should be neither too fast nor too slow. His/her rate of speaking should fit the content, the occasion, and the audience.

RHYTHM IN CONNECTED SPEECH

In a connected speech in English, one sound is linked closely to the next in such a way that it is difficult to tell exactly where one word ends and the next begins. This linking of words and phrases affects our pronunciation in more than one way and helps to maintain rhythm in Rhythm is the result of the speech. the regular occurrence of Rhythm is an important characteristic feature of English speech. In an utter of stressed and unstressed syllables once or a sentence in connected speech, some syllables stand out from the rest and in connected speech are stressed, while some syllables remain unstressed. In fact, stressed and unstressed syllables make a pattern in connected speech and this pattern is known as rhythm. Speak the following sentences aloud to understand this feature of English speech:

1 Can I help you?

2. “What can I do for you?

3. I am pleased to ‘meet you.

4. I am glad to ‘meet you.

In the first sentence above, there is one stressed syllable and three unstressed syllables, while in each of the remaining sentences there are two stressed and four unstressed syllables. Thus, it is evident that in every sentence or utterance there are some syllables that stand out from the rest and are stressed. Stressed syllables occur at regular intervals of time, and it is this regularity of occurrence of stressed syllables that gives English its characteristic rhythm. The rhythm in English pronunciation is maintained by pronouncing the stressed syllables carefully while the unstressed syllables are crowded together between the stressed syllables,

Speak the following sentences aloud maintaining the stress patterns as marked, and note how unstressed syllables are crowded together between the stressed syllables:

1 ‘What is your ‘father?

2., My ‘father is a ‘singer.

3. I want a glass of ‘water.

4. The ‘pleasure is ‘mine.

5. My sister ‘wants to be a doctor.

6. It is ‘nice to ‘see you again.

7. I wonder if you could find an ‘English teacher for me.

8. Would you ‘mind ‘giving me your ‘notebook for a ‘day?

9. There is someone ‘waiting for you in the ‘living room.

10. She would like to be a ‘come to a ‘social worker.

DEVELOPING CORRECT TONE

In order to be fluent in English, we need to develop the correct tone or intonation. A tone refers to the modulation of the voice expressing a particular feeling or mood. It is an important feature of spoken English and plays an important role in verbal interaction. The tone of the voice shows the attitude of the speaker and reveals his intention. It gives implicit information by Tone is the modulation of the voice that indicates the type of sentence spoken by the speaker.

shows the attitude, In order to use and identify the correct tone in spoken English, we should identify the tonic syllable, understand different types of tones, and divide an utterance into of the speaker. tone groups

Tonic Syllable

A tonic syllable is a syllable on which the pitch change begins. Some people call it the nucleus’. Look at the following sentences:

“What’s your ‘father?

In this sentence, there is a high static tone on the syllable what’s that is, the accented syllable is on a level pitch. However, the tone starts falling down on the last stressed syllable ‘fa’, that is, the voice slides down from the original pitch, becoming softer and softer until it stops. Thus, ‘fa’ is the tonic syllable or the nucleus. A pitch change begins on the syllable, which we want to make the most important. Although there are exceptions, the last stressed syllable of a tone group is generally the tonic syllable.

Now consider the following examples:

1 She is a ‘painter.

2. What is your problem?

3. I want a glass of water.

4. ‘What do you want?

5. “What a “beautiful scene.

Types of Tones

There are several tones. However, we will discuss three of them, that is, falling tone, rising tone, and falling-rising tone.