Connected Speech

for Intermediate Learners

Word Count: 2500

Date of Submission: 7 July 2013

Candidate Name: Bruce Leo Dauphin

Center Number: AE220

Delta Course IH Dubai July-August 2013

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

1.1 Did you catch that? 3

Analyses & Issues 3

2.1 The Interplay of Words 3

2.2 Rhythm 4

2.2.1 Issues 4

2.3 Change, Omission and Linkage 5

2.3.1 ˈwɑtˈɑrˈjuːˈgoʊɪŋtəˈduː 5

2.3.2 Issues 6

Suggestions for Teaching 7

3.1 Creating Awareness 7

3.2 Identifying Rhythmic Patterns 7

3.3 Noticing Change Omission and Linkage 8

3.4 Going Beyond Presuppositions 8

3.5 A Jumping Off Point 8

Bibliography 9

Appendices 9

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 2

Introduction
1.1 Did you catch that?
I have often seen learners struggle with listening to and producing native-like speech. They might be
at a loss even when hearing utterances of familiar lexis and grammar. Conversely, they might speak in
a manner so choppy or unnatural as to leave the listener staring clueless.

ELT literature attributes much of these problems to connected speech, whereby changes occur in
sound and stress patterns in relation to how words interact with those that follow and precede them.
Thus, the L2 learner may not recognize what he/she hears and, when speaking, may connect or fail
to connect words to the extent that the listener is unable to follow.

Peter Roach in English Phonetics and Phonology (2009) speaks of mechanical speech, like that
attempted by early computers, as having been “practically unintelligible.” He describes natural,
connected speech as having features of rhythm, assimilation, elision and linking. Adrian Underhill in
Sound Foundations (1994) speaks about these and additional features, including vowel reduction,
contractions and juncture. All of this suggests a rather complex interplay of sounds in spoken English
which easily confounds the learner.

In this essay I look briefly at this multiplicity of features in connected speech and discuss how
awareness of this might assist the Intermediate L2 learner.

Analysis & Issues

2.1 The Interplay of Words
Joanne Kenworthy in Teaching English Pronunciation (1987:52) writes, “...all literate members of most
societies have used the convention of putting a space between words.” This, of course, is in relation
to written text. The mechanics of spoken language, however, dictate a variety of associations among
words, such that sounds connect--they also change, in some instances disappear, and ultimately
become complicit in altering rhythmic patterns.

Roach (2009) provides four sub-groupings which might offer a useful schema for understanding the
interplay of words in connected speech. When considering the additional features of connected
speech described by Underhill (1994) Roach’s groupings--rhythm, assimilation, elision and linking--
might be more broadly construed as shown in the table below.

Rhythm Change Omission Linkage

stress assimilation elision liaison
prominence vowel reduction contraction intrusive linking
juncture

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 3

This is to say that the words once linked together in speech

1. take on a certain rhythmic pattern, indicated by different features of stress,

2. experience changes at the phonemic level,

3. sometimes lose phonemes altogether, and

4. create linkages such that there is no separation between the ending of one word and the
beginning of the next.

In order to create an awareness among L2 Intermediate learners of the complexity involved in

understanding and achieving native-like proficiency, it may help to closely examine these sub-
groupings.

2.2 Rhythm

According to Roach (2009:107), “The notion of rhythm involves some noticeable event happening at
regular intervals... and [this] is detectable in the regular occurrence of stressed syllables.” He provides
an example with the sentence, Walk down the path to the end of the canal.

The rhythmic effect of the utterance occurs with the first syllable of each chunk being stressed, while
the syllables which follow go unstressed.

‘Walk / ‘down the / ‘path to the / ‘end of the ca / ‘nal

Additionally and crucially, the stressed syllables occur at regular intervals regardless of the number of
unstressed syllables.

While Roach’s postulation sounds reasonable, I feel a need to adjust his example to achieve a more
natural rhythmic pattern as shown below, emphasis mine:

‘Walk down the / ‘path to the / ‘end of the ca / ‘nal

Whichever example is more appropriate, it is clear that stress is an important feature of connected
speech, which when altered can change meaning or interfere with understanding. Underhiill (1994)
adds further to the discussion of stress, saying that prominence occurs when the speaker wishes to
highlight meaning. Compared to the naturally occurring rhythmic pattern Roach speaks of, Underhill’s
prominence occurs through the addition of stress at the volition of the speaker. The volitional nature of
prominence can be seen in the three iterations of the question below:

Do you work in the ‘city? / Do you work ‘in the city? / Do you ‘work in the city?

2.2.1 Issues

Being able to recognize the rhythmic patterns which occur in speech as a result of stress can make
the L2 learner a better listener and speaker. Learners, however, may not be accustomed to hearing
stress patterns in speech. Instead, they tend to focus on the meanings of words. It becomes
necessary to develop learner awareness of the role of stress in both individual words and sentences.

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 4

2.3 Change, Omission and Linkage

I have found that once many L2 learners reach a certain level of fluency, it becomes second nature to
them that words in fluent speech bump up against each other and even merge at times. At the
Intermediate level, however, many still need to get used to the fact that the way language sounds and
the way it looks on paper is markedly different.

For one learner of mine reading and writing came easily, and she could even manage to complete
recorded listening tasks well. In person-to-person interaction, however, she could hardly make heads
or tails of words and required repeated repetition.

What Roach, Underhill and others point out about connected speech is that when two words occur
sequentially in speech, some of their phonemes get altered, cut or linked together in interesting ways.
This may, on the one hand, confuse the L2 learner while, on the other hand, make the L2 learner’s
speech sound more native-like should he/she ever learn to speak in such a way.

It was clear to me, at the time, that my confused learner was unable to process spoken language very
well. But I would have just as well attributed this to her being uncomfortable in social interactions. In
fact, what she may really have been struggling with were the various transformations that take place in
connected speech.

The analysis which follows illustrates the nature of the problem that L2 learners face when trying to
understand or, so to speak, decipher connected speech.

2.3.1 ˈwɑtˈɑrˈjuːˈgoʊɪŋtəˈduː

In American English (AmE) the heading above would be a dictionary-like rendering of the question,
What are you going to do? Underhill (1994:58-59) speaks of connected speech as...

...a flow of sounds which are modified by a system of simplifications through which
phonemes are connected, grouped and modified. ...The degree of simplification of
sounds depends largely on the speed and context of the utterance... So slower and
more careful delivery may remain closer to dictionary pronunciation.

Underhill (1994:59) contrasts “careful colloquial speech” with “rapid colloquial speech.” The less
careful and more rapid the speech, the more modification you will get. Newscasters for the BBC
World Service represent a model of careful colloquial speech whose pronunciation “is useful as a
target for learners to aim at in their speaking skills.” Rapid colloquial speech “used in less formal
settings... is useful as a target for learners to aim at in their listening skills.”

How the utterance--What are you going to do?-- is spoken in terms of connected speech will vary
depending on how careful or how rapid the speech is. We might consider a range of three
representations of this as shown below, with features of change, omission and linkage:

1. ˈwɑtɑrjuːˈgoʊɪŋtəˈduː (AmE)
Spoken carefully, each word with near dictionary-like pronunciation.

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 5

 1. ˈwʌɾɚjəˈgʌnəˈduː (AmE)
Spoken quickly, with a limited amount of clarity in the first few syllables.
2. ˈwʌtʃəˈgʌnəˈduː
Spoken quickly, and with little clarity except for the accented (or stressed) syllables.
Underhill (1994:60-65) defines these features as shown below.

Feature of Connected Speech as Described by

Type Example
Underhill
change in quality of a phoneme due to influence of a what are shifts from
assimilation
neighboring sound ˈwɑtɑr ⇾ ˈwʌɾɚ
vowel reduction in the length and quality of a vowel toward a less
you shifts from juː ⇾ jə
reduction distinct sound

the omission of sound which would be present when what are you shifts from
elision
spoken in isolation ˈwɑtɑrjuː ⇾ ˈwʌtʃə

the smooth linking or joining together of words with a what are you shifts from
liaison
seamless quality ˈwɑtˈɑrˈjuː ⇾ ˈwɑtɑrjuː

Underhill (1994) speaks about contraction, as a form of omission, and intrusive linking and junctures
as types linkages. Contractions in connected speech are similar to that represented in written text
where two words come together through the omission of letters, in the case of writing, and
phonemes, in the case of speaking.

Intrusive linking refers to the emergence of a new phoneme produced by the linking, for example, of
two vowels as in--who are. Note the addition of the phoneme /w/ in connected speech: /huː(w)ɑɾ/
(AmE).

Juncture refers to the seamless connection of two words, which remain decipherable as two distinct
units despite the apparent linking. Roach (2009) raises questions as to whether the listener can really
perceive juncture as opposed to realizing the distinction of word units from context. Juncture is,
nonetheless, an interesting consideration in connected speech and can be used with learners to
illustrate the relevance of connected speech in listening comprehension and fluency of speech. The
following example of juncture might provide an interesting thinking point for the Intermediate L2
learner.
Is it-- ice cream --or-- I scream! --?

2.3.2 Issues

As we have seen, the sound of words change when used in connected speech. These changes may
relate to overall rhythmic patterns, the alteration or omission of phonemes, or linkages which in some
way affect the sound quality of the words uttered. One implication of such complexity is that
connected speech represents a significant obstacle to fluency for the L2 learner. Learners may need
to abandon their presuppositions about spoken language, e.g. that

• to know the meanings of words is sufficient for understanding words in speech

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 6

 • words in isolation sound the same as words in connected speech
• fluency in speech equates to having clear and distinct enunciation.

Fluency in connected speech, in fact, is largely about being as thrift as possible in the use of
phonemes, relying on stress, rhythm and intonation to carry a good share of the meaning.

Suggestions for Teaching

3.1 Creating Awareness

Some L2 learners believe that their struggle with understanding native speech is a question of not
knowing enough words. Similarly, some may feel their problem is in not knowing enough about
grammar. When it comes to listening to fluent or native-like speech, however, the challenge for the L2
learner may lie as much with being able to decipher connected speech as with any other aspect of L2
competency.

In the preceding sections of this essay I discussed what characterizes connected speech. The
implication has been that this creates difficulties for the L2 learner in both understanding native-like
speech and in producing it. In Pronunciation Practice Activities (2004), Martin Hewings presents
exercises and tasks which allow the L2 learner to address some of the challenges brought about by
connected speech. Here I attempt to provide my own suggestions, as a first step, for how to make
the L2 learner aware of the issues connected to connected speech.

3.2 Identifying Rhythmic Patterns

One teaching objective could be to make learners aware of stress as it appears

1. in words in isolation,
2. in connected speech, in connection with rhythmic patterns, and
3. as a feature of prominence.

Awareness of stress in words in isolation can be taught by means of having learners first predict
which syllable in multi-syllabic words are stressed , and then have them check their predictions by
listening to the words and collaborating with peers. In some instances, it may be necessary to first
make learners aware of word syllabification. A Teach-Test-Teach approach might be an effective way
to manage this.

Stress in relation to rhythmic patterns in connected speech may first need to be demonstrated.
Several examples, like the ones presented in Section 2.2, could be used in reading aloud practice
where stress and rhythmic patterns are vocalized. Note in the example as shown below, how the first
syllable in each segment is stressed.

‘Walk down the / ‘path to the / ‘end of the ca / ‘nal

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 7

So long as each stressed syllable is enunciated at regular intervals, a rhythmic pattern occurs. While
this may represent an over simplification or over generalization of rhythm in a real world context, it can
nonetheless make students aware of the existence of stress in native-like, connected speech.

Although the notion of prominence as a feature of stress may be less talked about than stress in
isolated words, it plays a very important role in establishing meaning in connected speech. As the last
example in Section 2.2 illustrates, the place where stress is placed in the sentence clearly establishes
meaning. It is a feature that the learner can immediately begin applying to real world conversation.
Note, once again, the example:

Do you work in the ‘city? / Do you work ‘in the city? / Do you ‘work in the city?

3.3 Noticing Change, Omission and Linkage

In Section 2.3.1, three iterations of the question, What are you going to do? served as examples of
how change, omission and linkage play a role in modifying connected speech. Any audio samples of
native or native-like speech could be used in class to have learners compare a transcript of the
speech to the audio text. Some amount of pre-listening practice could be given, by having students
first predict what assimilations, omissions and linkages might take place. In the while-listening stage,
the learners could then apply modifications as they actually occur.

The same could be done using songs as material, as learners who are interested in popular music
often lament not being able to understand the words. The various assimilations, omissions and
linkages in songs tend to be even more pronounced than in speech.

3.4 Going Beyond Presuppositions

Among the presuppositions listed in Section 2.3.2, the third may be the most interesting. Many
learners presume that not only they, but also any fluent speaker of the language must have clear
diction. As nice an ideal as the BBC presenter might represent, the learner should be made to realize
that this is not a very real-world model. It may, therefore, be helpful in the classroom, if the teacher
provided more examples of real-world diction to prepare the learner for his/her real-world interactions.

3.5 A Jumping Off Point

Hewings Pronunciation Practice Activities (2004) is a good resource for activities to use in the
classroom to develop learner awareness of connected speech. In one practice, learners are asked to
predict whether the underlined word in a transcript has a strong or weak form. In another, they look at
instances where consonant clusters occur across word boundaries and decide when a consonant,
like /t/ or /d/, is omitted, as in last month.

Scott Thornbury in About Language (1997) talks about using jazz chants to practice rhythm. These
are examples of the kinds of practice that can be given L2 learners to create better awareness of
connected speech issues. (See Appendices)

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 8

Bibliography
Hewings, Martin (2004) Pronunciation Practice Activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Kenworthy, Joanne (1987) Teaching English Pronunciation. Essex: Longman

Roach, Peter (2009) English Phonetics and Phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Thornbury, Scott (1997) About Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Underhill, Adrian (1994) Sound Foundations. Oxford: Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Appendices
Jazz Chants
Thornbury, S. (About Language, 1997:167)

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 9

Predicting Weak & Strong Forms
Hewings M. (Pronunciation Practice Activities, 2004:96)

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 10

Predicting Weak & Strong Forms
Hewings M. (Pronunciation Practice Activities, 2004:97)

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 11

Leaving out consonants: /t/ and /d/ in clusters
Hewings, M. (Pronunciation Practice Activities, 2004:99)

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 12

Leaving out consonants: /t/ and /d/ in clusters
Hewings, M. (Pronunciation Practice Activities, 2004:100)

Bruce Leo Dauphin ✳ Connected Speech for Intermediate Learners 13