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Chapter 3. Segmentals

Vowels

It can be argued that, while consonants can provide difficulties, it is the vowels that can be the most damaging to a person’s intelligibility. It is important to note, however, that there are a few English monophthong (single vowel) distinctions which should not be a major concern, namely /ɑ/-/ɔ/-/ɒ/. While some North American and British dialects still distinguish the /ɑ/ in “cot”  from /ɔ/ in “caught,” other North American and British dialects use only one low-back vowel whose phonetic quality can vary widely, with some regions and individuals pronouncing it more like /ɑ/and some more like /ɔ/.

A chart mapping vowel sounds within the mouth. The"ee" sound is located high in the front, "o" as in "ox" is located in the middle back, and so on.
Vowel chart for American English (Source: “General American monophthong chart” by Mr Kebab via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY SA 4.0, adapted by Abbey Elder to add labels).
A chart mapping diphthong sounds within the mouth. The "ay" sound is found in the mid-front, the "eye" sound in the low front, and so on.
Diphthongs chart (Source: “General American diphthong chart” by “Mr Kebab via Wikimedia Commons” is used under CC BY SA 4.0 (Image adapted to add labels)

""  /ɑ/ – /ɔ/ Distinction

  • /ɑ/ in “cot”
  • /ɔ/ in “caught”

Besides monophthongs, all L1 English dialects also include diphthongs (two adjacent vowels within a single syllable that are processed by listeners as a single vowel). However, only a few of these diphthongs are present across dialects, namely /aɪ/ in words like “tide,” /aʊ/ in words like “doubt” and /ɔɪ/ in words like “toy.” Therefore L2 English speakers must acquire only these phonemic diphthongs to avoid compromised intelligibility.

"" Major Diphthongs

  • /aɪ/ in words like “tide”
  • /aʊ/ in words like “doubt”
  • /ɔɪ/ in words like “toy”

Additional English diphthongs mark regional accent but are not phonemic, that is, reduced intelligibility is not likely to result if speakers use the pure vowel /o/ instead of the diphthong /oʊ/ when pronouncing words such as “toe” or the pure vowel /e/ instead of the diphthong /eɪ/ when pronouncing words like “day” (or vice versa). However, L2 speakers of English, particularly if their L1 includes only monophthongs, a.k.a. pure vowels (e.g., Spanish), frequently struggle to glide from the initial to final vowel of even the phonemic diphthongs of English.

 

Activities

"" "" 3-10 Listening Discrimination: Same or Different

Instructions: Listen carefully to the two words. Determine if the words are the same or different. Then write the word “same” or “different”. Do not use capital letters or punctuation!

 

"" "" 3-11 Listening Discrimination: Identify the Sound

Instructions: Please listen carefully and write the word you hear. Do not use capital letters or punctuation!

 

"" 3-12 Practice Your Pronunciation

Instructions: Say the following words to receive feedback on your pronunciation.

 

"" 3-13 Timed Rhyme Chain

Instructions: Divide students into pair, or teams. Set a timer and see how many rhyming words players can come up with in a given amount of time. The words below can be your starting point.

  1. Bed
  2. Cat
  3. Sing
  4. Green
  5. More
  6. Apple Pie

 

License

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Oral Communication for Non-Native Speakers of English, 2nd Edition Copyright © 2025 by Agata Guskaroska; Erik Goodale; Timothy Kochem; Monica Ghosh; Lily Compton; and Elena Cotos is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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