Oral Communication in Context

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Tools in Effective Oral Communication

Tools in Effective Oral Communication

This module will be all about proper pronunciation, tone, how to make the
sound; what it takes to make you create the correct sounds in English. To aid
you with the drills given, please ask your teacher for a copy of the Phonemic
Chart so that you can retain the sounds you need to learn.
This module aims that you:
1. Sounds of English;
2. Rhythm of English;
3. Intonation of English; and
4. Variants that affect Speech.
Before diving into the readings about the topics given. Give yourself a
moment to quickly evaluate your oral skills. Read the poem below out loud.
How Confusing is the English Language?
We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice;
yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
but though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.
Did you have a tough time reading the poem? If everything was a bit tongue
twisting and difficult, do not worry! This module will help you practice the
sounds you need to communicate better in English.

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Sounds of English

Figure 1: Vietor Triangle

The Vietor Triangle is a visual representation to show the differences of the

vowels sounds in English and their relative positions of the tongue.
To be able to create the correct sound you must learn how your lips, tongue,
and other parts of your mouth should move. Here are the parts you need to
know:

Organs of Speech
Respiratory

This part is all about breathing – inhaling and exhaling. To inhale is to fill
the lungs with air. To exhale is to expel the air from the lungs. In the
production of sound, the diaphragm plays a significant role. The diaphragm
is a muscle between the ribs and abdomen. When you inhale, the diaphragm
contracts and exerts a pulling action. Exhalation, on the other hand, relaxes
this muscle and expands. To try proper breathing, make sure that your
shoulders don’t go up and your side expands. To know more about proper
breathing please follow this link
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldNnKVGxabA) to Tech Insider’s video on
“The correct way to breathe in”.
Now on exhaling, the air is pushed up to the windpipe which is a tube called
trachea. There’s little difference in breathing to speak and breathing to live,
the only significant difference would be the short inhalations when pausing
during speech. The respiratory organs are the motors to start speech.
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Tools in Effective Oral Communication

Figure 2: Respiratory Organs

Vocalizing / Phonating Parts

After the air is pushed out from the lungs, towards the windpipe or trachea, it
then finds it way to the larynx. The larynx is where the voice box is located.
The air then triggers the vocal cords – or anatomically speaking, called vocal
folds because these are muscles- which are found at the tip of the larynx, to
vibrate which then sends the sounds upwards. The sound produced by air
moving upwards results to a muffled and unpleasant sound.

Figure 3: Vocalizing Organs

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Resonating Parts
Once the air is pushed up the vocal chords/folds, air is the expelled through
the mouth. The sound coming from the vocal chords can now be amplified,
made richer and fuller by the oral cavity, nasal cavity, and pharyngeal
cavity. By modifying the shape and size of the mouth, different sounds can
be created.

Figure 4: Resonating Organs

Articulatory Parts
Articulatory parts are found inside the mouth. The points of articulation
are the upper lip, upper teeth, the alveolar ridge, hard palate, velum or soft
palate, and the uvula. The chief articulators, on the other hand, are the
tongue, lower lip, and the jaw.
Articulatory parts make the sounds precise and distinct. Amongst all the
articulators, the tongue is the most versatile. The tongue is a muscle which
consists of glands and connective tissue.

Figure 5: Front Section of Articulatory Parts

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Tools in Effective Oral Communication

Figure 6: Cross Section of Articulatory Parts

Vowels
To be able to make the proper vowel sounds in English, one must be aware of
the five characteristics that will determine how the sound is formed.
 Tongue position
 Tongue and jaw height
 Lip position
 Tension
 Length

[i:] beat me key chief heed

[ɪ] did live kid miss sick
[ey] weigh Mail hay cake same
[e] bet desk best men leg
[æ] gag Ham cat chat jam
[ɒ] pot lost Crop block stock
[ɔ] Ball walk four dawn draw
[oʊ] joke wrote slow go beau
[u] look Would bush pull good
[ʊəʳ] Moon rule shoe chew suit
[ə] About gone touch cup must

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Dipthongs
Dipthongs are the sounds produced when two vowels are combined which
results to a blended sound within a syllable. Dipthong sounds are created
when one tongue and lips move quickly from one vowel position to a higher
vowel position.
In English, there are three dipthongs: [eɪ], [ɔɪ], and [aʊ].
Here are the examples. Practice these words to practice your dipthongs.
[eɪ] [ɔɪ] [aʊ]

Pie Voice Bough

Rhyme Join Ouch

Sigh Joy Browse

Aisle Buoy Blouse

Quite Annoy Sound

Pint Poise Plow

Climb Point count

Consonants
a. Voicing vs Voiceless consonants
i. Voiced
b Ben n neck
d den ŋ bring
g God l let
v vine r right
θ thy y you
z zoo w water
ʒ measure j Jew
m men

b. Nature of Obstruction or Manner of Articulation

i. Stops
These are sounds created by stopping the passage of the
breath with a build up of pressure before the release of
breath.

Bilabial Stops - [p] and [b]

Alveolar Stops – [t] and [d]

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Tools in Effective Oral Communication

Velar Stops - [k] and [g]

ii. Fricatives
Fricatives are created when the air is not completely
stopped but goes through with a hissing sound or friction.
Fricatives are continuants, or consonant sounds with the
vocal tract only partially closed, thus allowing air to pass
through.

Labiodental fricatives [f] & [v]

Dental fricatives [θ] & [ð]

Alveolar Fricatives [s] & [z]

Post Alveolar Fricatives [r]

Palatal Fricatives [ʃ] & [ ʒ]

Glottal Fricatives [h]

iii. Affricates
Affricates can be created when a stop is combined with a
fricative. As with the fricatives, they are also continuants.
These sounds can be prolonged as long as the speaker
wants to.

Alveolar affricates [tʃ] & [d͡ ʒ]

iv. Nasals
Nasals can be produced when the air passes through the
nose and not the mouth.

Bilibial
nasal [m]

Alvelar
nasal [n]

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 Velar nasal [ ŋ]

v. Lateral
Lateral sounds are created whan air is stoped in the center
by the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, while
your breath passes either one or both side of the tongue.

Alveolar lateral [I]

vi. Semi-vowels
Semi-vowels are consonants that sounds vowel-like. There
is no friction made when making the sounds.

Bilabial [w] wear

[wh] why

Palatal [y] view,new

c. Point of Articulation
i. Bilabial : when lower lip touches the upper lip to produce
the sound.
Ex. [p], [b], [m] & [w]
ii. Labio-Dental: when the lower lip comes in contact with
the upper front teeth

Ex. [f] and [v]

iii. Alveolar : the sound is created when the tips of the tongue
is raised near the back of the upper front teeth.
Ex. [θ] & [ð]
iv. Post-Alveolar: when the tongue is slightly behind the
alveolar ridge as the [r] sound.

v. Palatal: when the tongue is arched towards the palate like

the consonant [ʃ].

vi. Velars: when the back of the tongue is against the soft
palate (velum) as when creating the sound [k]

vii. Glottal : the sound of air when friction is produced as it

goes through the glottis, like the [h] sound.
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Tools in Effective Oral Communication

Rhythm of English
Rhythm of English is created through the recurrence of unstressed
and stressed syllables. Stress, (‘) is a sound we put on a syllable or
word to make it stand out from the group.
There are three elements in the rhythm of English: force, pitch, and
duration. The dictionary is a valuable tool in helping you learn how
words are stressed. Make it a habit to pick up a dictionary to consult
rather than guessing.
Force shows the intensity or loudness. Pitch is about the tune, and
duration refers to the length of the vowel sound.
Rules:
1. General rule:
Most words with two syllables are stressed on the first
syllable:
Ex. always, lesson, river, batter

2. Some words have more specific rules:

a. Compound nouns – stress on the first word
Ex.

lampshade armchair
doorknob playground
boyfriend sunflower
sunrise blackboard

b. Compound verbs – stress is placed on the second word

Ex.

undergo outdo
overdose overflow
interact understand

c. Intensive-reflexive pronouns – receives stronger stress

on the second syllable.

Course Module yourself herself themselves

 Ex. itself myself ourselves

d. Numbers that end in – teen - this rhythmic shift is applied

to distinguish words from each other.

Ex.
thirty thirteen
fifty fifteen
ninety nineteen

e. Functional shift (from noun to verb) – some words can

be used as both a noun and verb. The difference would be
how these words are stressed to distinguish which word is
a verb or noun.

Ex.
NOUN VERB
present present
permit permit
subject subject
rebel rebel
record record

f. Added suffix - when a suffix is added to a word, the newly

formed word will retain the stress on the syllable as the
root word.
Ex.

merry merriment
interest interesting
cloudy cloudy
honest honesty
teach teacher

g. Words that end in – tion, - sion, -ic, -ical, and -ity - with
this words, always stress on the syllable that comes before
the last syllable

logical
dedication
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Tools in Effective Oral Communication

Ex. possibility
extension
economic

8. Some words have two stressed syllables : Primary (‘)

stress and
secondary stress (“).
Ex.
administrative
elementary
education
preparatory
secondary
organization

Intonation of English
Pitch is the musical tone which we pronounce a stressed syllable. Pitch is an
element of stress. Tune or melody is the combination of the musical tones
when we pronounce the sentences. Intonation is the technical term for tune.
Intonation, then, is the music of language.
There are two kinds of intonation, rising-falling intonation and the rising
intonation.
Command /factual sentences: when the voice rises and then goes down at the
end of the sentence. This intonation can also be applied to open ended
questions, meaning they are not answerable by a yes or no. The rising of the
voice at the end of the sentence signals a question answerable by a yes or no.
These are the basic tones of English:
1 - low
2 - normal
3 - high
4 – extra high
1,2,3 are commonly used. Tone 4 is used when strong emotions are
expressed.

Rising-Falling Intonation

1. The slide or inflection

Ex. Good day Good afternoon Good night
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 2. The drop or shift

Ex. Good morning Good evening

Rising Intonation
Rising intonation happens when your pitch switches from one
pitch to a higher pitch.
Ex. Are you married? Am I right?

Can you see that? Is he alright?

Often intonation emphasizes emotions such as fear, excitement,

anger, etc.

Ex. Wait! Hurrah! Are you leaving us?

Intonation is not limited to short utterances. Non-final intonation

can be heard within a sentence. Non-final intonation vary according
to the speaker. Analyze the example below:
Ex. They say that car cost millions of dollars.
She has a lot of pocketbooks.

Variants that affect Speech

1. Aspiration of /P/, /T/, and /K/

Aspiration is the explosive release of air after the breathe comes in
contact with parts of the speech mechanism.
Compare how /p/, /t/, and /k/ are aspirated when found in the
initial position and when they are found in the medial or final
positions.
Initial Medial Final
pool testing dip
kill water stop
cool matter look
table company pink
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Tools in Effective Oral Communication

partner market help

push bakery take

When positioned in the medial and final part of a word /p/, /t/, and
/k/ are not aspirated. When found in words such as skill, spill, and
still, the same thing applies. This also happens with the voiced
counterpart sounds -/b/, /d/, and /g/.

palm balm
route rude
tuck duck
call gall
post boast

Remember: Go back to the previous lessons on how to correctly create the

needed sound.
Practice:

good old
days plan a picnic do a dance step

take a test tour the country get-together party

2. Syllabic Consonants
These are consonants that occur only when a stressed syllable
ends in /t/, /d/, or /n/ and is followed by /I/ or /n/ in the
unstressed syllable.
Carefully consider the list of word below and observe how the
intervening vowel sound is absent.
Ex.

sudden hadn't
final shouldn't
tried and
read and write tested

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 crystal Britain
burden mountain
kettle sentence
garden important
hidden colonel
settle continent
bitten riddle national
didn't little

3. Vowel Length
Vowel length refers to the length of time given to pronounce a
vowel sound. It is the duration or quantity of time rather than
the quality or difference in sound.
Vowel length may be altered by two things: 1) Stress, and 2)
Syllable structure.
Stress goes with the length of the vowel sound.
Ex. Can’t he swim? No, he can’t.
In the first sentence, the vowel in the word can’t is
pronounced shorter than the second.
Syllable Structure – this can also shorten a stressed syllable
as compared to stress which lengthens the syllable sound.
Ex.
the meal /dh miyl/

the seat /dh siyt/

the heap /dh hiyp/

the seed /dh siyd/

References

Diaz, Rafaela Hernandez. (2014). Speech and Oral Communication for College
Students, Revised Edition. Quezon City: National Bookstore

Baraceros, Esther L. and Lintao, Rachelle, B. (2010). English 4: Oral

Communication in Context (First Edition). Quezon City: Rex
Bookstore, Inc.
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Tools in Effective Oral Communication

Dapat, Jose Rizal O., Sadorra, Bryan Eli B., and Lumabi, Bethany Marie C.
(2016). Oral Communication in Focus. Quezon City: Lormar
Publishing, Inc.
Flores, C.and Lopez E. (2008). Effective Speech Communication 5th Edition.
National Bookstore: Philippines.
Galero-Tejero, E. (2008) Doorways to English Language Proficiency: A self-
improvement program. National Bookstore: Philippines
Effective Communication (n.d). Management Training Australia. Retrieved
from http://cylareashea.blogspot.com/2010/09/vowels-overview.html
https://itsabouttimefor.wordpress.com/2008/01/20/3-the-pictophonics-writing-
system/
https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/03/07/the-speech-chain-1963/
http://www.confidentvoice.com/blog/syllable-stress-patterns-compound-
words/
http://www.msu.ac.zw/elearning/material/1305879323Organs%20of%20speech
%20II.pdf
https://www2.leeward.hawaii.edu/hurley/Ling102web/mod3_speaking/3
mod3.2_vocalorgans.htm
http://fp.ito.edu.ru/docs/90663/9066314736012071473601207/67cdf3dd2e3c0
1a7e3cd580a7128706e3069911a.pdf?APP_ID=common
https://pronuncian.com/pronounce-zh-sound/
https://pronuncian.com/sounds/
http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm
http://martinweisser.org/courses/phonetics/supra/intonation.html
http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~kjohnson/English_Phonetics/cons_syllabic.
html

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