Allophony

Two phones are called allophones if they belong to the same phoneme. For instance, in Tok Pisin [t] and [s] are allophones of /t/, and in English [k] and [kʰ] are allophones of /k/.

Allophones are often conditioned by their environment, meaning that one can figure out which allophone is used based on context. For example, the English phoneme /t/ is realized as a tap [ɾ] between vowels in normal speech when not preceding a stressed vowel, for example in the word "butter". In a case like this we can say that the plosive [t] and tap [ɾ] allophones of the phoneme /t/ are in complementary distribution, as every environment selects for either one or the other, and the allophones themselves may be referred to as complementary allophones. Similarly [k] and [kʰ] are in complementary distribution, as [k] mainly occurs in the sequence /sk/, while [kʰ] occurs elsewhere/

By contrast, allophones may sometimes may co-occur in the same environment, in which case they are in free variation. For example, the English word cat's word-final /t/ phoneme may be realized either with an audible release, or as the tongue held in the gesture without being released. These phones, notated as [t] and [t̚] in the IPA, are free variants, as either is allowed to occur in the same position. Similarly [s] and [t] are free variants for some speakers of Tok Pisin.

Minimal pairs

An important question which may have occurred to you already is: how can we tell what is a phoneme? One of the most robust tools for examining phonemes is the minimal pair. A minimal pair is a pair of words which differ only in one segment. For example, the English words do /du/, too /tu/, sue /su/, moo /mu/ all form minimal pairs with each other. In a minimal pair one can be sure that the difference between the words is phonemic in nature, because the segments in question are surrounded by the same environment and thus cannot be allophones of each other.

This is not a foolproof tool. In some cases it may by chance be impossible to find a minimal pair for two phonemes even though they clearly contrast. In many cases it is possible to find near-minimal pairs, where the words are so similar that it is unlikely that any environment is conditioning an allophone.

Finally this also requires some common sense, since phonemes may be in complementary distribution without being likely allophones. For instance, the English phonemes /h/ and /ŋ/ (both occurring in the word hung /hʌŋ/) can never occur in the same environment, as /h/ is always syllable-initial and /ŋ/ always syllable-final. However few would suggest that these phonemes are allophones. Since English speakers never confuse them, they are auditorily quite different, and substituting one for another in a word would render it unintelligible. Unfortunately there is no hard-and-fast consensus on precisely how to be sure sounds are allophones or not, and in many languages there is vigorous debate.

Morphophonology

Morphophonology (or morphophonemics) looks at how morphology (the structure of words) interacts with phonology. In morphophonology one may talk about underlying or morpho-phonemic representations of words, which is a level of abstraction beneath the phonemic level. To see how this follows from the definition of morphophonology, it is necessary to look at an example. Compare the Biloxi words:

• de 'he goes' - da 'don't go'
• ande 'he is' - anda 'be!'
• ide 'it falls' - ide 'fall!'
• da 'he gathers' - da 'gather!'

Some also use this approach to deal with cases of neutralization and underspecification. Compare the Turkish words:

• et 'meat'
  • eti 'his meat'
• et 'to do'
  • edi 'he does'

Similar patterns in other words in Turkish show that while final stops are always devoiced, some will always voice when followed by a vowel added by suffixing, while the others always stay voiceless. Phonemically both ets must be represented as /et/, because phonemes are defined as the smallest units that may make words contrast (be distinguishable), so if we said the word for 'to do' was phonemically /ed/ then the two words would have to contrast! Still, we would like to say that on a more abstract level the word for 'to do' ends in a different segment, which doesn't surface (be realized) in some positions. The level of abstraction above the phoneme is known as an underlying or morpho-phonemic representation, and as is conventional we will indicate it here with pipes ||.^[1] Underlyingly, these Turkish words may be represented as |et|, |eti|, |ed|, and |edi|, and in the same way other Turkish words with this type of voicing alternation underlyingly end in a voiced stop, which surfaces as a voiceless phoneme when word-final.

The parallelism between the morpho-phonemic layer and the phonemic layer should be clear. Just like how phonemes surface as phones conditioned by their environment, underlying segments surface as phonemes. The important difference is that the surfacing of morpho-phonemic segments as phonemes occurs after morphological processes (e.g. adding endings on to words) take place. In a sense, morphophonology is morphologically informed, while plain phonology isn't.

Phonemes

The basic unit of study of phonology is the phoneme, which may be defined as sets of phones which function as one unit in a language, and provide contrast between different words. In other words, a phoneme is a category that speakers of a language put certain sounds into. For instance, returning to the Tok Pisin example above, the sounds [s] and [t] would both belong to the phoneme /t/. (In the IPA, phonemes are conventionally enclosed in forward slashes //.)

As another example, try pronouncing the English words keys and schools carefully, paying close attention to the variety of [k] in each. You should find that in the first there is a noticeable puff of air (aspiration), while in the second it is absent. These words may be written more precisely phonetically as [kʰiz] and [skulz]. However, since aspiration never changes the meaning of a word, both of these sounds belong to the phoneme /k/, and so the phonetic representations of these words are /kiz/ and /skulz/.

It should be evident why it is appropriate to refer to the phoneme as a level of abstraction away from the phone. We have removed a layer of information which, while interesting in itself, does not interact in many aspects of a language.

Vowels

Before moving on to larger units of speech, it makes sense to have a closer look at the second major building block in our phoneme inventory besides consonants: vowels.
Vowels are produced by letting air flow through the articulatory system without any significant obstruction. The vocal cords always vibrate when a vowel is produced and the continuous stream of air makes it possible to lengthen or shorten vowel sounds, a distinction that can differentiate meaning in some languages.
The central qualities that allow us to describe vowels are height, backness and roundedness. They allow us to describe where a vowel sound originates (height and backness) and the shape of the lips during articulation (roundedness).

The above graphic should give you a good idea of height and backness and in what way they affect the quality of vowels.
The vowel chart (originally developed by phonetician Daniel Jones) combines all three features (height, backness, roundedness) into a single model to describe the realization of the so-called cardinal vowels in the oral cavity.

Because the decisive articulator determining the quality of vowel sounds is the tongue, it is possible for vowel quality to change over the duration of articulation if the position of the tongue changes. If the articulatory configuration shifts from one vowel into another the resulting composite sound is a so-called diphthong (or gliding vowel).
Examples for pure vowels:
sit /ɪ/ => high front vowel (unrounded)
foot /ʊ/ => high back vowel (rounded)
man /æ/ => middle central vowel
Examples for diphthongs:
time /aɪ/
face /eɪ/
choice /ɔɪ/
Differences between dialects and sociolects of English are often marked by contrasts in vowel quality.
Suprasegmental phonology / prosodics
Suprasegmental phonology studies intonation and other aspects of speech that extend over more than one segment:

• stress is associated with syllables
• rhythm, tempo and intonation are associated with phrases and sentences

Suprasegmental features like stress, rhythm, tempo, and intonation are sometimes referred to collectively as prosody.
Intonation
Intonation refers to the contrastive use of pitch or melody in speech (ger. Tonhöhenverlauf, Sprechmelodie). Different levels of pitch (tones) are used in particular sequences (contours) to express a wide range of meanings. For example, we often make use of the difference between a falling and a rising pitch pattern in statements and questions.
- They’re waiting. (information)
- They’re waiting? (question)
- They’re waiting??! (surprise)
The part of a sentence over which a particular intonation pattern extends is called an intonation phrase. The intonation phrase is a unit of information rather than a syntactically defined unit, but it often overlaps with syntactic units like phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Most languages exhibit a general downward trend of pitch (declination) over the course of an intonation phrase. The completion of a full grammatical unit such as a declarative sentence is often signaled by a distinctive fall in pitch. Incomplete utterances, such as mid-sentence clause breaks where the speaker intends to show there is more coming, often exhibit a slight rise in pitch.
Connected Speech
Speech is a continuous stream of sounds without a definite borderline between each word. When we communicate with each others, we adapt our pronunciation to our audience and tend to speak at a pace which is convenient for us, rather than speaking clearly. This causes changes to the ‘shape’ of words. As a result, certain words are lost, and some phonemes are linked together while speaking. These changes are described as features of connected speech.
Among the phonological processes that affect connected speech are:

• assimilation (changing sounds)
• elision (losing sounds)
• intrusion and linking (adding or joining sounds between words)

These features preserve rhythm and make the language sound natural.
Features of Connected Speech
Weak Forms: Some English words can occur in a full and a weak form, because English exhibits qualities of a stress-timed language. That means that, while we try to keep an equal interval between stressed syllables and give the phrase rhythm, we tend to leave out non-essential words. Consequently, conjunctions, pronouns and articles (i.e. function words) are often reduced or even lost.
Examples of words which have weak forms are:
- and: fish and chips. (fish´n chips)
- can: She can dance better than I can. (1st “can”= weak, 2nd “can” = full)
- of: A cup of tea.
- have: Have you eaten? (weak)/ Yes, I have. (full)
- should: Well, you should have told me. (“should” and “have” are weak)
Assimilation: This process alters sounds so that they becomes similar (partial assimilation) or identical (total assimilation) to a neighboring or nearby sound.
There are different types of assimilation: regressive/ anticipatory, progressive and reciprocal.

• regressive/ anticipatory: articulation of the following sound will be anticipated. In most cases assimilation is regressive
• progressive: articulation of a sound continues in the next sound, which means it will be maintained. Progressive assimilation is rare.
• reciprocal: two sounds that produces a third one. (Example: don’t you)

Elision: Sounds disappear completely in this process. Usually the vowels from unstressed syllables are elided first.
Examples:
Common sound deletions
- int(e)rest, sim(i)lar, lib(a)ry, diff(e)rent, t(o)night.
/ t / and / d / = consonants often elided
- chris(t)mas, san(d)wich
/ h /= this sound is often left out
- you shouldn´t (h)ave
Phrasal verbs can show how we link closing consonants and beginning vowels across word boundaries, e.g. Get out ( getout ), Come out ( cumout )
Intrusion and Linking: We often put an extra sound (/j/, /w/, /r/) between two vowel sounds, because it marks the transition sound between the two vowels. This is regarded as intrusion.
Examples:
/ j /
- I / j / agree, They / j /are here!
/ w /
- I want to/ w/eat, Do/ w/it!
/ r /
- The media / r /are to blame, Law(r)and order.
A lot of times we drag final consonants to initial vowels or vice versa, therefore consonants and vowels can be linked also.
Examples:
- Get on. (geton ), Not at all. (notatall ), Come on. (comon)
How does connected speech affect our communication?
Native speakers normally do not have a problem with unclear utterances caused by connected speech, as they can assume what the missing part could be within that context. Non-native speakers, on the other hand, sometimes have difficulty predicting which lexical item may or may not appear in a particular context. This already is a significant problem for learners. However, the non-native speaker not only has to recognise the use of reduced forms but also use them himself, unless he wants to risk sounding fairly unnatural. Furthermore, the listener will have trouble to identify the points of focus if the speaker uses too many stressed forms. In conclusion, aspects of connected speech are of significant importance for people who learn a new language.
Key Terms

• vowels
  • height
  • backness
  • roundedness
• monothongs, diphthongs
• suprasegmental phonology /prosodics
• pitch
• intonation
• connected speech
  • weak forms
  • assimilation
  • elision
  • intrusion / linking

Linguistics

Linguistics is defined as the scientific study of language. From different viewpoints, as a science, linguistics can be divided into several branches, among others, descriptive linguistics and historical/comparative linguistics (if it is based its methodology), synchronic and diachronic linguistics (if is based on its aspect of time), and phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics (if it is based on a language as a system), and sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics (if it is related to or combined with the disciplines (sociology and psychology respectively).

As a science, linguistics must fulfil some scientific prerequisites. First, it must have a subject matter. Language is said to be a subject matter of Linguistics. As a subject matter, a language must be clearly and explicitly defined. Before analyzing a language,  some linguists define a language in different ways. Take for example, Finocchioro who defines a language as a system of arbitrary, vocal symbols that permit all people in a given culture, or other people who have learned the system of that culture, to communicate or to interact. Thus, the scope of analysis is based on the clearly and explicitly defined subject matter. This is to say that every thing beyond the scope such as gestures/bodily movement will be ignored. So explicitness in defining the subject matter must be conducted in order that  we know what must be studied/analyzed and what must be left.

Second, it must be based on an objective observation and/or investigation. This to say that the observation and/or investigation on the subject matter must be conducted objectively. The result of observation and/or investigation must be described objectively too and it can be verified by any competent observer or investigator. So objectivity in conducting observation and/or investigation on the subject matter must be fulfilled in any scientific undertaking.

Third, the result of observation and/or investigation must be systematically arranged. This must be conducted as an effort to show relationship within the subject matter. This is also meant to make the readers easy to read and study. Thus systematicness is also needed by linguistics.

            Language analysis for the sake to develop linguistics is done systematically within the framework of some general theory of language structure. The linguist tries to verify the theory by making objective observations of actual language data and modifies the theory in the light of what he perceives to be patterns or regularities underlying the data.

Branches of Linguistics

            Some branches of linguistics are as follows:

1. Phonetics
2. Phonology
3. Morphology
4. Syntax
5. Generative Transformational Grammar
6. Semantics
7. Pragmatics

Branches of linguistics in relation to the other fields of study:

8. Sociolinguistics
9. Psycholinguistics

The concepts of the braches of linguistics are presented as follows:

Phonetics is the study of speech sounds, which are known more technically as phones. This the study highlights, especially, how the speech sounds produced by using speech organs. It shows mechanisms of how to produce the speech sounds.

Phonology, on the other hand, is essentially the description of the systems and patterns of speech sounds in a language. It is, in effect, based on theory of what every speaker of a language unconsciously knows about the sound patterns of that language. This study regards the speech sounds as having functions to differentiate meanings.

Morphology is the study of analyzing the expression system of a language which is concerned with the identification of morphemes and the ways in which they are distributed or combined into longer utterances or morphological constructions.

Syntax is defined as the study on arrangements of words into phrases, clauses, and sentences or syntactical constructions. The smallest units of syntax are words.When two or more words are arranged in a certain way, the result refers to syntactical construction. In other other words, it can be said that a syntactical construction is a construction in which its immediate constituents (IC-a) are words (or free morphemes).

A grammar includes phrase-structure rules, lexical-insertion rules, and transformational rules. The grammar can be thought of as a machine which generates all the possible sentences of the language. A grammar containing such rules is called a generative grammar. When the rules include transformational rules, we have a transformational-generative grammar

A major factor in sentence interpretation involves a body of knowledge that is often called pragmatics. This includes the speaker’s and addressee’s background attitudes and beliefs, their understanding of the context in which a sentence is uttered, and their knowledge of the way in which language is used to communicate information

A term sociolinguistics is a derivational word. Two words that form it are sociology and linguistics. Sociology refers to a science of society; and linguistics refers to a science of language. A study of language from the perspective of society may be thought as linguistics plus sociology. Some investigators have found it to introduce a distinction between sociolinguistics and sociology of language. Some others regard sociolinguistics is often referred as the sociology of language.

The study that is concerned with the relationship between language and the context in which it is used. In other words, it studies the relationship between language and society. It explains we people speak differently in different social contexts. It discusses the social functions of language and the ways it is used to convey social meaning. All of the topics provides a lot of information about the language works, as well as about the social relationships in a community, and the way people signal aspects of their social identity through their language (Jenet Holmes, 2001). Sociolinguitics also refers to the study that is concerned with the interaction of language and setting (Carol M. Eastman, 1975; 113). The other expert defines it as the study that is concerned with investigating the relationship between language and society with the goal of a better understanding of the structure of language and of how languages function in communication ( Ronald Wardhaugh, 1986 : 12)

A term ‘psycholinguistics’ is a combination of psychology and linguistics. Both are the branches of sciences. Psychology is defined as the systematic study of human experience and behavior or as the science that studies the behavior of men and other animals Knight and Hilgert in Abu Ahmadi, 1992). There are several branches of psychology, among others, social psychology, psychology of communication, developmental psychology, educational psychology, and psychology of language. The last branches of psychology is often called as psycholinguistics. It is defined as a field of study that combines psychology and linguistics. It covers language development. (Lim Kiat Boey). The other definition of  psycholinguistics is that it is the study of human language –language comprehension, language production, and language acquisition  (E.M. Hatch)

English Language Teaching

English teaching in Indonesia has has gone on in very long time. English has been taught in Indonesia since the proclamation of Indonesia as a first foreign language. It has been taught at the first year junior high schools up to the third year senior high schools, and  at the university for several semesters. Even, nowadays, English is taught at the elementary schools as the local content subject.

All of us, may have known that the various efforts for improving approaches, methods and techniques have been done. The English Teaching Curriculum has been changed or improved from time to time. The various supporting books and textbooks have been written by many writers and those are published by the various publishers. Now, we can ask ourselves: ”How is the result of English teaching in our schools?”, or ”Does it make us our school students have good competence and performance in using the language?” Our empirical experience shows that many students fail in their English learning and that they regard the language as the difficult subject to learn.

Starting from the assumption, the students are not motivated in learning English untill they have a good mastery of the language. They tend to be aphatetic in attending the English subject. As a consequence, their learning achievement is not satisfactory.

Who is wrong in our English teaching, our students, our teachers or others?. Of course, we will not find ”who are wrong and what is wrong” in the failure of our English teaching. Because, in fact, when we want to evaluate an educational undertaking, many factors or variables have to be considered. In English teaching, there are teacher, learner, and socio-cultural  factors.

Linguistics in Language Teaching

Linguistics is important for language teaching because linguistics and language teaching can be likened to the relationship of knowledge about engine and the skill in driving a car. It will be better for the driver to supported with some knowledge about the car or the engine so that he can drive it well and know how to overcome some engine trouble in case he has to face it. In the same way it will be better if a language teacher has some knowledge about, for instance, the characteristics of language in general and the specific language he is teaching in particular. In this relation, he should know how language works and express meaning, and what structures are used in the particular language he is teaching. He should get familiar, for instance, with the theory about the general mechanism of producing speech sounds, so that he will be able to tackle any pronunciation problem his students may encounter.

By studying linguistics he will have deeper insights into the nature of language, and act accordingly in teaching the language. For instance, when he agrees that the use of language is a matter of habits and practice, in teaching it to his students he must implant the habit of using it for communication until it becomes deeply established.

Linguistics in Language Teaching D. A. Wilkins The idea that linguistics is a subject of particular interest and value to foreign language teachers is one that has become increasingly accepted in recent years. In an exceptionally clear and undogmatic way, this book relates current linguistic thought to the practical problems of language teaching. The author has adopted a deliberately eclectic approach; he has not attempted to promote a single theoretical view or to provide a complete survey of theoretical linguistics. Rather, he selects features from various schools of thought and shows how a learning program might be influenced by the linguist's investigation of them. These major topics and controversies—among them, syntax, phonology, structuralism and transformationalism, behaviorism and mentalism, language attitudes in multilingual countries, motivation, and language aptitude testing—are first explained briefly but cogently, without assuming prior knowledge of linguistics on the part of the reader or simplifying unduly. The author then demonstrates how each topic relates to foreign language pedagogy. A major concern in the book is not only how language-learning programs might be influenced by linguistics but also whether in fact they should be; whether there are illegitimate applications of linguistics to language teaching as well as justifiable ones. The author addresses the book specifically to teachers of foreign languages, including teachers of English as a foreign language. Examples for discussion are drawn from English, French, Spanish, and German. This book's clear format, lucid style, and thorough but nondoctrinaire approach make it a solid contribution to the field of applied linguistics.