Your Voice and Articulation

Preface. Key Terms. I.OVERVIEW AND GROUNDWORK. 1.Voice and Articulation Defined. The Need for Speech Skills. As Others Hear You. A Human Communication Model. Reading Aloud. Course Goals. Personal Speech Background Inventory. 2.American English. Origins of Pronunciation Standards. The Standard American Dialect. Social Impact of Dialects. The Sounds of Standard American English. 3.Speaking English as a Second Language. International Students. How Language Is Acquired. The Academic Approach to ESL. Your Language Environment. Your Communication Style. Your Personal Goal. Media Copy for Practice. II.THE HUMAN VOICE. 4.Receiving, Listening to, and Sending Human Sound. What Is Sound? Receiving Sound. The Human Vocal Mechanism. Speech as an Overlaid Function. Classic Prose Fiction for Practice. 5.Relaxation and Breathing. Relaxation. Exercises for Relaxation. Breathing. Breathing Exercises. Modern Prose Fiction for Practice. 6.Volume and Pitch. Volume. Exercises for Projection. Pitch. Exercises for Vocal Color. Exercises for Inflection. Exercises for Key. Media Copy for Practice. 7.Rate and Emphasis. Rate. Your WPM Rate. Exercises for Pausing. Emphasis. Classic Speeches for Practice. 8.Voice Quality. Balanced Resonance. Exercises for Improving Pharyngeal and Oral Resonance. Exercises for Improving Nasal Resonance. Problems in Voice Quality. Exercises for Reducing Nasality. Exercises for Reducing Denasality. Exercises for Reducing Harshness. Exercises for Reducing Throatiness. Exercises for Reducing Breathiness. Vocal Warm-Up. Contemporary Speeches for Practice. III.THE SOUNDS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH. 9.English Consonants and Vowels. Consonants. Vowels. Diacritical Marks and the IPA. The IPA. Distinctive Terminology. Plays for Practice. 10.Stop-Plosive Consonants and Front Vowels. Stop-Plosive Consonants. Exercise Paragraphs for All Stop-Plosives. Front Vowels. Materials for Practicing All Front Vowels. Exercises for Contrasting Front Vowels. Phonetics Practice: Stop-Plosives and Front Vowels. Readings from Novels that Have Been Made into Movies. 11.Fricative Consonants and Back Vowels. Fricative Consonants. Exercises for Fricatives. Back Vowels. A News Broadcast for Practicing Back Vowels. Phonetics Practice 1: Fricatives and Back Vowels. Monologues for Practice. 12.Affricative and Nasal Consonants and Central Vowels. The Affricative Consonants. The Nasal Consonants. Singing Exercise for Nasals. Central Vowels. Phonetics Practice 1: Affricates, Nasals, and Central Vowels. Phonetics Practice 2: Stop-Plosives, Fricatives, Affricates, Nasals, and All the Pure Vowels. Philosophy and Religious Readings for Practice. 13.Glide (Semivowels) and Diphthongs. Glide Consonants. Dramatic Scene Featuring m and w. Diphthongs. Phonetics Practice 1: Glides and Diphthongs. Phonetics Practice 2: Words Containing All the Sounds and Phonetic Symbols. Poetry and Shakespeare for Practice. Appendix A: Enunciation, Pronunciation, and Sound Games and Exercises. Appendix B: Answers to Exercises and Crossword Puzzles. Appendix C: Additional References. Index.