Phonetics and phonology - Introduction

Goals

• Understand the difference between phonetics and phonology
• Explore the ways that we can write sounds down, using the phonetic alphabet
• Apply this knowledge to a text and consider some of the stylistic effects of sound choices

Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is split into sections, and includes enough material for around 3 hours of teaching: (1) a starter activity (group discussion); (2) an explanation of phonetics and phonology; (3) vowels; (4) consonants; (5) a transcription exercise; (6) exploring the sounds of poetry.

Materials

You will need a copy of the English phonetic alphabet (available as an attachment to this page).