Lakhasly

form of the language.Both branches investigate the sounds from different perspectives: Phonetics is concerned with the physical manifestation of language in sound waves and how they are produced, transmitted, and perceived, and also "provides methods for their description, classification, and transcription" (Crystal 2008: 363). Phonology "studies the sound systems of languages" (ibid: 365) and how sounds function in relation to each other in a language.Often it is referred to as a prestige variety or, as Crystal (2008) calls it, an "institutionalized form" (2008: 450), the term which is used in the mass media, foreign language teaching, etc. Nonstandard varieties, consequently, are defined as dialects that "do not conform to this norm" (Crystal 2008: 450).2.

form of the language. Often it is referred to as a prestige variety or, as Crystal (2008) calls it, an "institutionalized form" (2008: 450), the term which is used in the mass media, foreign language teaching, etc. Nonstandard varieties, consequently, are defined as dialects that "do not conform to this norm" (Crystal 2008: 450).

Internationally, there are many varieties of English as it is spoken worldwide as a first or a second official language. As a first language, it is spoken in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and some islands in Central America. Today all English-speaking nations have their own national varieties of English. A national variety is defined as the speech of a nation. For this course the focus will be on the institutionalized form for the purpose of language teaching.

2. Phonetics and Phonology

Phonetics and phonology are the branches of linguistics concerned with sounds, thus the main object of investigation in this course is sound. Both branches investigate the sounds from different perspectives: Phonetics is concerned with the physical manifestation of language in sound waves and how they are produced, transmitted, and perceived, and also "provides methods for their description, classification, and transcription" (Crystal 2008: 363).

Phonology "studies the sound systems of languages" (ibid: 365) and how sounds function in relation to each other in a language.

The 44 phonemes

/k/

/b/

/

sh//zh/

10/

00//00//ow//oy/ //

/

/a/

/e/ /i/

/o/

/u/ /al

/m//n/

/d/ //

/ng/

/p/

/r/

// // // /2/ /

th/ /th//ch/

/(r)/(x)//air//i(r)//u(r)/

The English alphabet is comprised of 26 letters, while the sound system of English contains 44 sounds as phonemes (see explanation of phonemes below).