Postgraduate Course: Phonetics and Laboratory Phonology MSc (20 Credits) (LASC11137)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The general area of this course is the relation between phonology (i.e., the system of sound contrasts, as well as their ordering, groupings, and relative prominence within a planned utterance), and phonetics (the realization of utterances in articulation and acoustics). We show that a great deal of phonetic variability can be explained through an understanding of phonological structure, and that phonological questions can be answered using phonetic data. We explore these issues through topics such as: a) the phonetic realization of prosodic structure and suprasegmental contrasts, b) categorical vs. gradient assimilation processes.
Please note that *not all* of the timetabled hours are required. The course runs as follows:
Weeks 1-3: Lectures Mondays 11:10-12:00, Tuesdays 10:00-10:50, and Fridays 11:10-12:00.
Weeks 4-9: Mondays and Tuesdays only are compulsory; Friday sessions are optional. Monday classes will be lectures. Classes on Tuesdays will be two-hour lab classes, *either* from 9:00-10:50, *or* from 11:10-13:00. |
| Course description |
The goal is not just to offer insight in this topic area, but also to equip students with the skills and expertise to carry out research independently, for example in an MSc dissertation project.
In the MSc Introduction to Phonology & Phonetics course, students have learned about acoustic representations, and gotten a first experience with making measurements on these. That basic level expertise forms the foundation of the practical component of Phonetics & Laboratory Phonology, where it will be developed in a number of ways. Students will explore issues of experimental design, they will make their own recordings, process them using Praat software, and learn to automate acoustic measurements, in part or in full, depending on the nature of the measurement. In the process, they will learn how to script within the Praat software environment. For many this will be their first experience with programming.
The course includes lectures, lab practicals, and readings.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Students must have passed the following course, or its equivalent: Introduction to Phonology & Phonetics (LASC11031), OR must be taking it simultaneously. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Weekly reading reports (5%)
Students will receive 5% of their mark for the completion of weekly reading reports
Lab Reports (30%)
Students will take part in 3 practicals and submit 3 lab reports based on these practicals which reflect a student's practice and highlight challenges encountered during the process (approx 600 words each). Only the best two of the three lab reports will count towards the mark.
Project (65%)
Students will take part in, and write up, a laboratory experiment designed to show phonetic effects of either prosodic structure or segmental context on phonetic parameters such as duration, fundamental frequency and formant frequencies (approx. 3500 words). |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- understand the relation between phonetics and phonology, and be able to engage critically with research articles in this area
- understand how to use instrumental data to answer research questions in phonology and phonetics, and understand the pitfalls of phonetic transcription
- make a sound recording and process it for acoustic analysis
- create, modify, and use scripts to automate the analysis of several acoustic features, including duration, F0, spectral balance, and formant frequencies
- interpret articulatory records of speech, and understanding the advantages and disadvantages of articulatory vs. acoustic methods for answering research questions in phonology and phonetics
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Reading List
| Current and classic research articles in prosodic theory, experimental phonetics, and laboratory phonology. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The knowledge gained in this course will enable students to conduct their own research projects in phonetics, and form the foundation for more specialized professional training in speech technology, speech therapy, and forensic phonetics.
Transferable skills include skills relating to summarising research articles, project design, scripting, and writing. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Please note that *not all* of the timetabled hours are required. The course runs as follows:
Weeks 1-3: Lectures Mondays 11:10-12:00, Tuesdays 10:00-10:50, and Fridays 11:10-12:00.
Weeks 4-9: Mondays and Tuesdays only are compulsory; Friday sessions are optional. Monday classes will be lectures. Classes on Tuesdays will be two-hour lab classes, *either* from 9:00-10:50, *or* from 11:10-13:00. |
| Keywords | phonetics,prosody,laboratory phonology,phonetic measurement,phonetic analysis |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Alice Turk
Tel: (0131 6)50 3483
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Toni Noble
Tel: (0131 6)51 3188
Email: |
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