It seems interesting to read the common topic “English vowels and consonants” twice from different authors. With the prior knowledge from the first reading, it was easy to read this time in spite that some phoneme symbols are used differently. To read from two authors' perspectives, it has bettered my understanding of the English phonology.
In Freeman & Freeman book, they basically divide vowels into three groups: short vowels, long vowels, and reduced vowels, and then go deep for each one. As for the consonants, the classifications are mostly same as Finegan. Besides, Finger refers to twenty-five consonants and twelve simple vowels with a Boston /a/ in their book while Freeman & Freeman include twenty-four consonants and fifteen vowels, including diphthongs. The consonant difference between Freeman & Freeman and Finegan is over the glottal /ʔ/, and it seems no numeral difference of vowels between them.
In Freeman & Freeman book, they basically divide vowels into three groups: short vowels, long vowels, and reduced vowels, and then go deep for each one. As for the consonants, the classifications are mostly same as Finegan. Besides, Finger refers to twenty-five consonants and twelve simple vowels with a Boston /a/ in their book while Freeman & Freeman include twenty-four consonants and fifteen vowels, including diphthongs. The consonant difference between Freeman & Freeman and Finegan is over the glottal /ʔ/, and it seems no numeral difference of vowels between them.
I find that the IPA symbols for all the English vowel sounds are the hardest for me to memorize. Despite that, I wish English would just use those symbols instead of having 5 vowels that can each take almost all the vowel sounds!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, it's nicer to teach beginning Spanish reading to my native Spanish-speaking first graders than it was to teach English reading to English speakers. Those pesky long and short and reduced vowels are SO hard for kids to get! Spanish is pleasantly straightforward. :)
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ReplyDeleteHi Carly, do you think the reason why it's easy to teach Spanish more than English is because Spanish has only five vowel sounds, which is much less than English vowels?
ReplyDeleteYes, Lillian! It is definitely easier to teach Spanish reading, and spelling instruction seems almost silly because the language is so regular. There are some phonemes that are commonly confused by young writers (b/v and y/ll, for example), but the rules are pretty consistent with no exceptions (as far as I know). As an example, the syllables ca co cu all have a /k/ sound, and ci ce have a /s/ sound. I have never seen any exceptions to this rule.
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