Postgraduate Course: Introduction to Phonology and Phonetics (LASC11031)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | An intensive introduction to phonetics and phonology. It presupposes no background in these fields but recognises that many students will have some familiarity with some of the ideas and terminology. It devotes considerable attention to practical problems (transcription, interpretation of instrumental records) that will be relevant for the areas covered by the participating MSc programmes. It is explicitly not restricted to the phonology and phonetics of English. |
| Course description |
This course will give students a broad understanding of:
- speech sounds: their production, transcription and acoustic characteristics;
- interpretation of spectrograms and instrumental records of speech;
- phonological distributions, rules and representations;
- common phonological processes (with examples from English and other world languages)
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 11,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
76 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The assessment is a portfolio (100%) submitted at the end of the semester. The portfolio is collection of exercises and problem sets which are meant to be built up throughout the semester. It is released in week 6 of the semester, at which point students are encouraged to begin working on it, allowing a large amount of time to complete.
The portfolio has five sub-components, each contributing to approximately 20% of the final mark. Each of these subcomponents asks students to demonstrate mastery of a key skill from the course. |
| Feedback |
Each subcomponent is scaffolded by formative assessment with feedback in the form of analogous weekly lab exercises. Feedback from course staff in the weekly labs and model answers given to each weekly lab exercise will provide students with repeated practice opportunities and formative assessment for the portfolio. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- understand the articulatory phonetic taxonomy of speech sounds
- develop expertise in acoustic analysis, including re. the interpretation of spectral data
- develop practical skills in phonetic transcription
- understand fundamental phonological concepts (e.g. contrast, allophonic variation, alternation, neutralisation)
|
Reading List
Zsiga, Elisabeth. The sounds of language (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013)
Ladefoged, Peter and Keith Johnson. A Course In Phonetics, 6th ed. (Cengage, 2011)
Phonetics : transcription, production, acoustics, and perception / Henning Reetz, Allard Jongman.
Reetz, Henning, author.; Jongman, Allard, author.
Hoboken, NJ, USA : Wiley Blackwell; 2020 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Through this skills, students will develop skill in qualitative analysis of unfamiliar language data, and also practical expertise, particularly with respect to acoustic analysis and transcription of speech. |
| Keywords | phonology,phonetics,speech sounds,phonological processes |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jeremy Steffman
Tel:
Email: jeremy.steffman@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Sasha Wood
Tel:
Email: swood310@ed.ac.uk |
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