Readings

Since this is the first module, here’s a reminder that the readings (or sometimes other media) in each module are categorised as

• Essential (read all of these)
• Recommended (read if you want to go deeper)
• Extra (only read if you’re interested/have previous background; these readings may be challenging and can be considered beyond the scope of the course)

Only material in the essential readings is directly examinable, but the other readings may help you make the connections that get higher marks.

Module 1 notes

• There’s two chapters of essential reading this week, but the chapter on transcription is also a reading for module 2.  So, if you don’t get through it all in week 1, that’s ok!  Just make sure you look at all the phonetics essential readings by the end of module 2.
• The recommended “readings” here are actually audio/video resources.  It’s usually a lot easier to grasp articulatory phonetics concepts by listening to actual sounds and seeing articulator differences.  So, we’d highly recommend using these as you read through the texts (the first recommended link is the companion website for Ladefoged and Johnson’s textbook).
• You don’t have to memorize the IPA chart for this course, but exploring the interactive IPA chart (e.g. Seeing Speech) should help you get oriented with the layout quickly.