Today’s class

• Hand in your final essay
• Answer this question:
  • How has your understanding of the following changed because of your studies in this class?
    • language?
    • communication?
    • human beings?
    • yourself?

I enjoyed teaching you this semester. Please enjoy this life.

Today’s class

Today there will be one final presentation, then we will practice writing an autobiography and citations.

I will also answer student questions about their specific essay.

Next week (Jan. 23rd) will be the last class, and essays must be handed in on this day.

Homework

• Finish writing your essay.
• Your essay should
  • be between 800-1,500 words
  • be in academic format (double-spaced),
  • have at least 5 paragraphs (introduction, body and conclusion)
  • have a bibliography – a list of all the books, articles, websites, movies, videos, etc. you read or watched in your research.

Makeup class is tomorrow, Saturday, January 10th at the usual time and in the usual classroom.

Homework

• Start writing your essay.
• (Email me your essay title if you were absent today.)
• Your essay should
  • be between 800-1,500 words
  • be in academic format (double-spaced),
  • have at least 5 paragraphs (introduction, body and conclusion)
  • have a bibliography – a list of all the books, articles, websites, movies, videos, etc. you read or watched in your research.

Today’s class

1. Presentation about Australian English by Ms. Harada and Matsumiya.
2. Why write an essay  in English?
   1. To encourage you to focus your thoughts and think for yourself about specific topics concerning linguistics.
   2. To develop your ability to express those thoughts clearly in written English.
   3. An essay is not a report: it expresses your opinions (with reasons) or it tries to persuade the reader to accept a new idea or point of view.
3. Basic essay format
   1. Review the format in the MLA Style guidebook.
      1. Notice: double-spacing, nice big indents, no blank lines between paragraphs, and the format for the bibliography.
      2. Download the sample template here: Sample_Essay_template

Homework

• Start writing your essay.
• (Email me your essay topic  if you were absent today.)
• Your essay should
  • be between 800-1,500 words
  • be in academic format (double-spaced),
  • have at least 5 paragraphs (introduction, body and conclusion)
  • have a bibliography – a list of all the books, articles, websites, movies, videos, etc. you read or watched in your research.

NB: the makeup class for cancelled week 6 will be on January 10th, not December 13th or 20th.

Today’s class

1. Presentation on “Phonemes and parts of speech”, by Ms. Sugihara and Yoshioka.
2. Presentation on “Intonation”, by Ms Makiyama and Odahara.
3. In the last 20-30 years, there has developed a strange way of talking among young native English speakers: they raise their intonation at the end of non-question (declarative) sentences. Here’s a comedian demonstrating this and asking why. It sounds like a lack of confidence, as if the speaker isn’t really sure, or wants to appear unsure rather than confident.
   httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNIBV87wV4

Homework

• Prepare your presentation.
• Choose your essay topic by next class December 19th.
  

Next class: December 19th.

NB: the makeup class for cancelled week 6 will be on January 10th, not December 13th or 20th.

Today’s class

1. Presentation on “Some English Accents”, by Ms. Chikaraishi, Kimura and Koshiyama.
2. Presentation on “Linking, Elision and Assimilation”, by Ms Honjo, Konishi and Masuda.
3. How to do an Irish accent httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2PHch4IPPQ
4. Spanish speaker of English – miscommunication httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-oH-TELcLE
5. How a Spanish speaker says the sounds “s”, “g/h” and “b/v”. And the other men in the scene speak with an Irish accent. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TES2kgPF4Wk&list=PLAEB72D6A3F4E40CA&index=4
6. Kenneth Williams talking about (and imitating) his Cockney father’s way of speaking (from 5:15 – 6:33   httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7_IWWAlMJg&t=5m15s

Homework

• Prepare your presentation.
• Start thinking about your essay topic.

Next class: December 12th.

NB: the makeup class for cancelled week 6 will be on January 10th, not December 13th or 20th.

Today’s class

1. Presentation on “Sounds which are difficult for Japanese”, by Ms. Isoda, Kamada and Miyamoto.
2. Presentation on “Onomatopoeia”, by Ms Noriyuki.
   1. “One Piece”
   2. 未来の新聞　Ｔｈｅ　Ｆｕｔｕｒｅ　Ｔｉｍｅｓ

Homework

• Prepare your presentation.
• Start thinking about your essay topic.

Next class: Decmber 5th. Presentation on “How to create languages in tribes”, and a presentation by Ms. Isoda, Kamada and Miyamoto.

NB: the makeup class for cancelled week 6 will be on January 10th, not December 13th or 20th.

Today’s class

• Presentation by Ms. Nishihara, Okada and Shono  on “Phonetics: English pronunciation that is hard for Japanese speakers”.
• Scottish accent: listen to the song “I’m on my way” sung by the Scottish group “The Proclaimers” (and used in the soundtrack of the movie “Shrek”).
  • how do Scots pronounce the “ay” (ɛɪ ) sound of standard English, as in “way” and “today”?
  • how do Scots pronounce the “igh” (ɒɪ) sound of standard English, as in “right”?
  • how do Scots pronounce the “ow”  (ɒʊ) sound of standard English, as in “town” and “down”?
• Which English sounds are difficult for Japanese speakers to make? Why?

Homework

Prepare your presentation.

Next class: November 28th. Presentation on “Pronunciation in English: what is hard for Japanese speakers”.

NB: the makeup class for cancelled week 6 will be on January 10th, not December 13th or 20th.

Today’s class

• Presentation by Hasegawa, Hayano and Tsuchida on “Different class accents in the UK”.
• Noel Gallagher is from Manchester and speaks English with a Manchester accent.
  • Characteristics include:
    • glottal stop instead of the sound ‘t’ inside words
    • dropping of final ‘g’ and final ‘t’ (same as in Cockney and in Black American English)
    • the ʌ sound in standard English (RP) becomes ʊ
• Here’s a video explaining the British class system and accents
• httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVyPme3CcaQ

Homework

prepare your presentations.

Today’s class

1.  What kind of sounds are difficult for Japanese speakers to make?
2. 1. Bilabials, dentals, dental-labials, some alveolar sounds like ‘r’ and ‘l’.
3. What kind of sounds are difficult for a ventriloquist to make?
   1. Bilabials, dental-labials.
4. What are the characteristics of Cockney accent?
   1. Dropped ‘H’, glottal stop instead of double T, ‘th’ (voiced) becomes ‘d’ or ‘v’, ‘th’ (unvoiced) becomes ‘f’, vowels deepened and broadened.
   2. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnjGNJ5JL8w
   3. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q9UAbxNlWg

Class cancelled. See you all November 7th.