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DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 043 019 AL 002 582
AUTHOR Boiarsky, Carolyn
TITLE Improving Oral Communication of Appalachian Youth
Through Rhyme.
INSTITUTION NOT! Appalachia Educational Lab., Charleston, V. Va.
23P.
EDRS PRICE EORS Price MP -$0.25 HC -$1.
DESCRIPTORS American English, Audiolingual Methods,
Instructional Materials, NonstandarP, Dialects,
Spelling,^ *Pronunciation Standard^ Instruction, Spoken Usage,^ *Regional *Teaching^ Dialects,
IDENTIFIERS Techniques,^ *Tenl,^ *vowels
Appalachia, *Rhyme
ABSTRACT
The object of this study was to develop a model from
whichdialectal Appalachian pronunciation students of cancertain learn vowels to differentiate and th« pronunciation between their of
those voels in Standarh Asericau English. A secondary objective of
the model is to enable students to imitate Standard American
pronunciation.identifying those The vowelsfirst phasein which of thedialectal study wasieviations concerned occurred with and
in identifying the form in which these deviations manifested
themselves. Your maior deviations were identified. The study was also
concerned with analyzing the consistency between students*
containing^ pronunciation these^ of vowels.these^ specific Pesutts^ Towelsindicated^ and thattheir a^ spellingpositive^ of^ words
relationship these vowels existed.between students*The record pronunciation phase of the andstudy their was spellingconcerned of
with 4eveloping a method by which Appalachian students could learn to
recognize those dialectal deviations identified in Phase One. An
aural oral approach using rhyme wan developed. Results indicated that
such a method was effective in helping students recognize the
difference between their pronunciation of specific Vowels and the
appendixpronunciation includes^ given a prototfpethese^ vowels lesson.^ in^ Standard (Author/PVB)^ American^ English.^ The
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C:) IMPROVING^ ORAL^ COMMUNICATION^ OF^ APPALACHIANYOUTH^ THROUGH^ RHYME C:3 (^) BY CAROLYN BOIARSKY
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The study was made while the author wasworking^ with^ the^ Appalachia
mc Educational cooperation^ Laboratory,with Mrs. Lorena^ (Charleston, Anderson/^ West Director^ Virginia)of theand Divisionwas conducted of Language^ in
Arts Virginia. of the West Virginia State Department^ of^ Education,^ Charleston,^ West
2 and vocabulary rather than with phonemic characteristics. The first phase of the following study investigates the pronunciatien of certain words by Appalachian students and analyzes the consistency between the Appalachian dialectal pronunciation of certain vowels and the spelling of words in which these vowels appears.
- ConsistencyAppalachian^ ofStudents^ Spelling^ and^ Pronunciation^ Deviations^ of
Object: To determine the consistency, if any, between the Appalachian dialectal pronunciation of certain vowels and the spelling of words using these vowels. Procedures* A spelling list of 24 three and four letter words vas compiled from approximately 150 papers written by tenth-, eleventh,and twelfth- grade students attending a rural high school in West Virginia in 1964. The students' 14's ranged from 80 to 140. The words were selected br:cause they were spelled incorrectly in numerous papers. Two words "filibuster" and "stimulus" were added to the list to determine how the students would pro- nounce and spell complex words which included similar sounds but with which they were not familiar. The words tire administered as a spelling test to all tenth grade students in the same high school in the fall of the 1966163 school year, two years after the original set of papers used in compiling the spelling list had been assigned. This two-year gap ensured that an entirely new group of students would be exposed to the words. A total of 143 students took the test. Each^ word^ was^ pronounced,^ presented^ in^ a^ sentence,^ and^ pronounced again. The^ students^ who^ had^ taken^ the^ test^ were^ selected^ at^ random^ and^ asked to read the words into A tape recorder.
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To provide a Standard enclish comparison base, Lilo some spelling test was adsinistered at the beginning of the second 1966-67 semester to 184 tenth grade students at a single high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One half the students in each class recorded the spelling words the same day the spelling test was administered. The Philadelphia school was selected because the IQ-range and the lower and lower middle class socioeconomic bactgroun4a of the students were similar to the population studied in Appalachia. The results obtained from the spelling test administered in the Appala- chia schocl were compared with the results obtained from Oa spelling test administered in the Philadelphia school. (^) Comparisons of vowel pronunciations obtained fro.' the taps recordings of the two groups were also compared. Peeolts and Opens/tient Chart I presents the pronunciation and spelling performance of each group. The percentage of Appalachian students reversing long and short vowels Is indicated in the first column. There were no such pronunciation deviations in the Philadelphia loco,. Four vowel:shifts are immediately apparent in the Appalachian data.
1. Mispronounced as Dior(t);
.3.^ 2. II)^ Is^ pronounced^ osfc)orin; is pronounced as (r);
- (e) is pronounced u (c) or (1). Spelling errors are presented in torts of student pereentages for each group. Errors^ reflecting^ dialectal^ vowel^ reversals^ are^ distinguished^ from total. errors. Chart II indicates the specific spelling ',talents at each word for the Appalachian sample. The^ number^ of^ students^ using^ each^ variant^ is^ indicated) The spelling data in Charts I end II indicate that a large proportion of the errors made by the Appalachian students relate to direct characteris-
tics The Philadelphia students made appreciably fever errors and those errors
made Witte infrequently vaned to Appalachian dialect characteristics.
re
t.F
5
random and salced why they were able to pronounce filibuster and stimulus correctly vhen they had trouble reeding and pronouncing much easier word*. All four agreed that the reason was because they had hoard it pronounced correctly the first time they had ever beard it; they had not groan accus- tomed to hearing it pronounced another tiny. In SUP, the data suggests thnt the Appalachian dialect as compared with standard dialect, is associated with spelling performance. Appalachian students expressed pronunciation deviations by reversing long and short vowels in all 26 words while Philadelphia students expressed no pronunciation devi- ations by reversing long and short vowels. Appalnehian^ students^ also^ had a greater percentage of spelling errors. reflecting pronunciation deviations in all but one word. It appears that whatever the students have learned previously concerning correct pronunciation:end spelling is erased by their environment or is not' being taught by tine teachers who are, themselves, born and educated in the same area and who, therefore, use the 811:4 verbalisms. In either case, it appears that a new method, one emphasising the Aural-oral approach, should be initiated to help these students become aware of their pronunciation deviations. The^ atcond^ phase^ of^ this^ study^ is^ devoted^ to^ the^ development^ of such g votliod.
rAlWeliErfter
a
Chart I
PERCENTAGES OF PRONUNCIATION AND SPELLING ERRORS
Appalachia (^) Philalgia.in Word Pronunciation Spelling Errors (^) Spelling Errors Deviation Dialect Total Dialect Total Related (^) Related
loi (^) changes to 14! or 14 Group 1 Pell Well Wreck Bet Tell Ill changes Peel Wheel Steal Beat Heel A changes to Will Still Pill Stir Bit Hill Filibuster imulus le ele Stale Whale Fail Stare Rake Salt Hale le
... 54.8 (^) 2.8 5.6 0. 77.0 0 .7 0 0 4.3 4.2 4.8 10.0 14. 26.4 (^) 7.7 7.7 .5 : 62.8 (^) 2.7 5.5. 1.0 (^) 1.
23.4 10.5 11.8 0. 3.6 4.2^ 4.2^ .5^.
1.51.5 3.53.5^ 3.53.5^0 .5 1.0.
6.2 1.4 1.4 (^0) - 1. Hi. Group III 64.1 .7 1.2 0 0 87.5 25:9 39.8 0 1.
104 10.4 10. 9.3 948 9. 1,5 (^) 7.4 2. 3.1 1.4 (^) 1. 7.7 2.0 2.
O.
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(^6). II. An Oral-Aural'Approach'to Improving Oral and Written Communication of Appalachian youth This phase of the study is concerned with developing a model from which Appalachian students can learn to differentiate between their dialectal pronunciation of certain vowels and the pronunciation of those vowels in Standard American English. A secondary objective of the model is to enable students to imitate Standard American pronunciations. (^1) Procedurest A series of five pilot lessens, using an aural -oral approach, was designed. The^ curriculum^ vas^ based^ on^ the^ concept^ that^ students,^ by listening to constant repetition of the accepted pronunciation of certain vowels, would not only become accustomed to hearing that pronunciation,
. but would, themselves, begin to adopt that pronunciation. Tho pilot program vas tested on groups of seventh-grade students in Vest Virginia. The participating junior high school vas a feeder school for this high school which participated in the previous stud)'. The^ lessons, which were of twelve minutes duration, were recorded on a portable tape recorder and there was no interruption'by the teacher. Students^ core^ requested to repeat the words stated on the recorder. In an attempt to have the students centime their own pronunciations with those of the narrator, the class was devided in half. One^ hslf^ was^ instructed^ to^ listen^ while^ the^ other^ half pronounced the words. At^ the^ conclusion^ of^ the^ taped^ lesson^ the^ students were requested to write on a worksheet words which rhyme with the words presented in 'the lesson. Each lesson ties concerned with the pronunciation of specific phonemes. The vowels to be used were selected from among those of the previous study
7 and included lit (Ii^ id^ and (11 , all of which preceded a final L. The first four lessons were concerned with words spelled i1-1, a-l-e, and e-i-1, e -e-1 and e-a-1, respectively. (^) Lesson five was a review of the previous four. According to the previous research, Appalachian students pronounced words in lesson one the same as words in lesson three snd words in lesson two the same as words in lesson four. Because of the students' inability to differentiate between these sounds, lesson five emphasized comparison of the vowels presented in the previous four lessons. All five lessons used the technique of rhyme to teach the standard vowel pronunciation. A limerick introduced each lesson and the five rhyming words contained in the limerick were used to exemplify the specific vowel being tsught. Students were asked to repeat each of these words in a sentence which was delivered by the narrator and were also asked to repeat the word by itself. three times successively. Bach of the four lessons differed slightly from the previous one, and each became progressively more difficult so that the students were constantly challenged. In lesson one, the narrator reads the limerick and asks the stu- dent to write down the last word in each line ss it is repeated on the tape recorder. In the second lesson, the narrator, upon repeating the limerick, omits the last word in each line and the student is asked to write the last word on his worksheet. Leeson three includes an additional limerick in an effort to exemplify the two different spellings which can be given to words which have the same sound. Lesson^ four^ includes,^ within^ a^ single^ limerick, the words which have the same sound but which have different spellings. Lesson five includes all four sea: of words, snd students are asked to differ- entiate the spelling of the words as the narrator pronounces them.. (^) The
..
9 that approximately halfway through the first lesson, the students became bored. However, their interest was increased when they began the second lesson and remained high throughout this lesson. During the second lesson the students also became more attentive, listening to the narrator and each other's pronunciation of the vowels. This tine many of them were able to differentiate between their classmates' pronunciation of the vowels and the narrator's pronunciation. It appears that their recognition of the difference between their pronunciation and that of the narrator increased their interest in the lesson and their listening potential. It also appears that the use of rhyming words to help students differentiate sounds is valid.
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Appendix I. Teacher's Guide Objective: a. To^ teach^ students^ to^ be^ knowledgeable^ of^ certain^ vowel^ deviations in their own dialect by being able to identify both the deviations and the vowels as they are pronounced in Standard American English. Students will be expected to a. Differentiate between the vowels as pronounced by themselves and as pronounced in Standard American English. b. Identify^ the^ degree^ to^ which^ their^ pronunciation^ of^ these^ vowels approximates that of Standard American English. c. Reproduce the vowels as pronounced in Standard American English. d. Improve by a significant percentage their reading of words which include these vowels. e. Improve^ by^ a^ significant^ percentage^ their^ spelling^ of^ words^ which include these vowels.
NOW LOOK AT YOUR PAPER
THE WORDS YOU SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN DOWN
ARE -- FELL -. SWELL - TELL » BELLE.- WELL.
..^ ARE^ THESE^ THE^ WORDS^ WHICH^ YOU^ HAVE^ WRITTEN
ON YOUR PAPER?
THESE WORDS ARE CALLED RHYMES - IN OTHER
WORDS"THEY SOUND ALIKE..
THE WORDS ALL INCLUDE'THE LETTERS E-L-L.
YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THESE THREE LETTERS ARE
: WRITTEN FIVE TIMES IN EXERCISE TWO. YOU WILL
-ALSO NOTICE THAT THERE ARE BLANKS IN FRONT
OF THE LETTERS. YOU^ ARE^ TO^ 'ADD^ THE
BEGINNING LETTERS IN THE BLANKS AS I REPEAT
. THE WORDS.
FELL'
SWELL
TELL
BELLE
. WELL
YOU SHOULD HAVE ADDED TEE LETTER F » TO FORM
THE WORD FELL, S - TO FORM THE WORD SWELL,
T - TO FORM THE WORD TELL, B - TO FORM THE
WORD BELLE, W - TO FORM THE WORD WELL.
ALL RIGHT, LET'S PRACTICE SAYING THESE
WORDS.
THE FIRST WORD IS FELL. ,LET'S^ PUT'IT.
IN A SENTENCE. LISTEN CAREFULLY SO THAT) YOU CAN REPEAT THE SENTENCE. THE HIPPIE SLIPPED ON HIS LONG HAIR AND FELL. NOW YOU REPEAT THE SENTENCE. ALL TOGETHER. ONE. TWO. -THREE. DID YOU SAY FELL?, COULD YOU HEAR A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WAY I SAID THE WORD FELL AND THE WAY YOU SAID THE WORD FELL? LET'S TRY AGAIN. REPEAT^ THE^ WORD
'THREE TIMES.
ALL TOGETHER. ONE. TWO.^ THREE.
ARE YOU SAYING FELL? IF NOT, ASK YOUR TEACHER FOR HELP. NOW LET'S GO ON TO THE SECOND WORD. SWELL. LET'S USE IT IN A SENTENCE. LISTEN CAREFULLY SO THAT YOU CAN REPEAT THE SENTENCE. THE NEW ENGLISH TEACHER IS SWELL. NOW REPEAT THE SENTENCE. ALL TOGETHER. ONE.. TWO.
THREE.
POORORIGINALCOPYBEST
AVAILABLEATTIMC
THREE TIMES. ALL TOGETHER. ONE. TWO
THREE.
ARE YOU SAYING TELL? IF NOT, ASK YOUR
TEACHER FOR HELP.
LET!5 GO ON TO THE FOURTH WORD. BELLE.
LET'S. USE IT IN A SENTENCE. LISTEN -_
CAREFULLY SO THAT YOU REMEMBER THE SENTENCE..
it
I.
A GIRL NAMED BELLE LIKES TO RING BELLS.
. NOW YOU REPEAT THE SENTENCE. ALL TOGETHER.
ONE. TWO. THREE. 4
DID YOU SAY BELLE? COULD YOU HEAR A DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE WAY I SAID THE WORD AND THE WAY.
YOU SAID THE WOW) BELLE? LET'S :PEN AGAIN.
REPEAT THE WORD THREE TIMES. ALL TOGETHER.
ONE. TWO. THREE.
.DID YOU SAY BELLE? IF NOT, ASK YOUR
TEACHER FOR HELP.
NOW LET'S LEARN THE LAST WORD. WELL.
HERE'S THE-SENTENCE. LISTEN CAREFULLY SO
YOU WILL REMEMBER IT.
THE BOY GOT WATER FROM THE WELL:
NOW YOU REPEAT THE SENTENCE. ALL TOGETHER.
ONE. TWO. THREE.
DID YOU SAY WELL? COULD YOU HEAR A DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE WAY I SAID THE WORD WELL AND
THE WAY YOU SAID THE WORD WELL? LET'S.
TRY AGAIN. REPEAT THE WORD'THREE TIMES.
ALL TOGETHER. ONE. TWO. THREE.^.^.
ARE YOU SAYING WELL? IF NOT, ASK YOUR
: TEACHERFOR HELP. ;.
NOW LET'S GO BACK OVER ALL THE WORDS.
FELL - SWELL - TELL - BELLE WELL.^ NOW.
YOU SAY THEM. ALL^ TOGETHER.^ ONE.^ -TWO.^ THREE.
DO .ALL THE-WORDS SOUND ALIKE? DO THEY SOUND
THE SAME AS THE WAY I SAY THEM? IF^ NOT,
ASK YOUR TEACHER FOR HELP.
LET'S GO BACK TO THE LIMERICK. DO YOU
REMEMBER IT?
THERE WAS A YOUNGIEIPPIE WHO FELL
IN LOVE WITH A GIRL WHO WAS SWELL.
v.
