Problems in Pronunciation

Language starts with the ear. When a baby starts to talk be does it by hearing the sounds his mother makes and imitating them. If a baby is born deaf he cannot hear these sounds and therefore can lot imitate them and will not speak.

But normal babies can hear and can imitate: they are wonderful imitators, and this gift of imitation, which gives us the gift of speech, lasts for a number of years. It is well known that a child of ten years old or less can learn any language perfectly if it is brought up surrounded by that language, no matter where it was born or who its parents were. But after this age the ability to imitate perfectly becomes less, and we all know only too well that adults have great difficulty in mastering the pronunciation (as well as other parts) of foreign languages. Some people are more talented than others; they find pronouncing other languages less difficult, but they never find them easy. Why is this? Why should this gift that we all have as children dis­appear in later life? Why can't grown-up people pick up the characteristic sound of a foreign language as a child can?

The answer to this is that our native language won’t let us. By the time we are grown up the habits of our own language are so strong that they are very difficult to break.

Content Module IV

Seminar 5 Pragmatic studies in linguistics.

Objectives:

• to assess students’ achievements in scientific understanding of modern trends of linguistics;

• to get them accustomed to functional methods of linguistic analysis;

• to contribute to trainees’ further development of their cognitive skills and to encourage them into further scientific work on the issues of the theory of linguistics.

Questions for discussion:

1. Main tasks and notions in pragmatic studies of the language.

2. The theory of speech acts.

3. Рragmatic classification of utterances.

4. Direct and indirect speech acts in ME.

Recommended literature:

1. M.Y. Blokh. A Course in Theoretical Grammar. - M.: Высшая школа -2003. – 423 p.

2. M.Y. Blokh., T.N.Semionova, S.V. Timofeyeva. Theoretical English Grammar. Seminars. - M.: Высшая школа -2003. – 471 p.

3. Alexeyeva Iryna. Theoretical Grammar Course of Modern English. – Vinnytsya: Nova Knyha. – 2007. – 328 p.

4. E.J.Morokhovskaya Fundamentals of Theoretical English Grammar. - K.: Вища школа. - 1984. – 246 p.

5. B. Ilyish The Structure of Modern English. – Л.: Просвещение. - 1971. – 214 р.

6. N.M.Rayevska Modern English Grammar. - K.: Вища школа. - 1976. p.6-8, 37-42.

7. Khaimovich B.S., Rogovskaya B.I. The Structure of Modern English. М.

1. 1967. p.6-10

8. Языкознание. Большой энциклопедический словарь / Гл.ред. В.Н.Ярцева. – 2-е изд. - М.: Большая Российская энциклопедия, 2000. – 688с: ил.

9. Traugott E.C., Pratt M.L. Linguistics. – Oxford University Press. – Oxford, 2002. - 58 p.

10. L.L. Iofik, L. P. Chakhoyan. Readings in the Theory of English Grammar.p.p. 43-67.

11. O.M.Starikova, N.P.Alova. Seminars in Theoretical Grammar. p.52-54.

12. A. Veikhman. A New Look at English Syntax. P.p. 181-220.

13. Douglas Biber, Susan Conrad, Geoffrey Leech. Student grammar of Spoken and Written English. – Longman. – 2003. – 487 р.

14. Yule G. Pragmatics.p.p.47-58.