UNDERSTANDING ORAL ENGLISH

ABOUT THE BOOK 
Understanding Oral English   is a comprehensive book that explicitly explains all aspects of spoken English both at the segmental and suprasegmental levels. This book is written to equip speakers of English with thorough understanding of English pronunciations both at the segmental and suprasegmental level. It is a book for everyone who wants to improve his spoken English.  It is also specially recommended for secondary school students. Hence, most of the objective exercises and examples  are drawn from WASSCE , NECO and UTME past questions. 
BOOK REVIEW BY CHIEF MOJISOLA LADIPO
PRESENTATION AND REVIEW OF Understanding Oral English by OBIAZIKWOR EMEKE MODESTY
INTRODUCTION
Several decades ago, perhaps 50 years ago, I watched the Film My Fair Lady, a Musical, based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, I fell in love with the English Language and discovered the power of spoken English and the possibility of learning to speak like upper class London society. Based on the story of a flower girl who had the most atrocious diction and grammar who was taken in hand by Professor Higgins, a phoneticist who gave her elocution lessons. On a bet with his friend, Pickering, a linguist, he was able to present her to the highest London society at the Embassy Ball as a Lady. From that film, I never forgot that ‘the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain’.
 In February this year, Mr Modesty Obiazikwor invited me to present a book of Grammar written by him. I thought that was a difficult task. Little did I know that he had an even more difficult one in store for me. Today, I am being drafted to present another book on Oral English! That is more daunting because even native speakers of English would hesitate to teach or write on how to speak their language, let alone attempt to review a book on the subject. Why? Because there are as many shades of spoken English or any language for that matter as there are dialects of all the millions of languages that exist in the world. If you thought that Grammar was difficult, try speaking ‘Queen’s English’ or what the author has rightly described as ‘the Received Pronunciation’ or the educated accent of the South-East England used in the British Broadcasting Service (BBC).  
Communicating in English 
The whole purpose of language is communication. Communication simply means the sharing of information either in writing, verbally, orally or non-verbally. Oral communication implies that one has spoken and the other understands, i.e. the meaning is conveyed and understood. When a speaker mispronounces words or employs the wrong intonation, inappropriate stress points, the entire meaning or intention is lost and miscommunication occurs. Words have damages relationships, led to wars and catastrophe and even ruined careers. It is in this regard that the learning of oral English assumes a major importance. 
Why Oral English?
In Nigeria, the dominance of English ‘in formal and transactional communication is unchallengeable’ (Bamgbose, Banjo and Thomas, 1995) in a country with over 400 indigenous languages. It is the medium of instruction for almost all other subjects on the school curriculum. Little wonder then that Soneye (2010)  concluded that ‘the efficiency of the English Language in the wider Nigerian society depends largely on the English curriculum’. Oral English is a very vital part of the English Language curriculum. Yet, many students (and Teachers, unfortunately) are hardly able to correctly pronounce the words they learned or employ the right accent or diction for a number of reasons ranging from the physiological or anatomical to interference of their native languages. Naturally, the learner or hearer misinterprets or loses interest in the subject matter out of frustration and miscommunication.  
It stands to reason, therefore, that a book on Oral English for non- native speakers of the language is a welcome initiative.   
What is Oral English?
 Oral English is spoken rather than written English. Surprisingly, some fluent and accomplished writers in the English Language, including students (and their teachers) are hardly able to correctly pronounce the words they learned or employ the right accent or intonation for a number of reasons. People might wonder why? Firstly, just as grammar has ‘rules’, oral language also has rules or what I prefer to describe as guidelines, which native speakers take for granted because they had spoken the language all their lives. Secondly, there are physiological or anatomical reasons why some consonants or vowels may be unpronounceable by some tribes or nationalities, social classes without conscious and deliberate intervention by experts. Finally, all languages change over time and so do their oral forms. The English we speak and write today has undergone very many changes and incorporated words and phrases from many other languages through interactions between peoples and races. That is the nature of a language. 
Fortunately, this book gives well informed answers to these predicaments.
The Book: Understanding Oral English
Understanding Oral English explicitly discusses all aspects of oral English with appropriate and simplified examples. The strength of this book is its usefulness at all educational levels, be it Junior secondary, Senior Secondary or Tertiary Levels. It is a useful textbook for those preparing for the JSCE, SSCE and the UTME as it covers the syllabi for the oral English examinations and compliments the author’s first book on English Grammar. In my opinion, undergraduates of Nigerian Universities will benefit from it as a reference book for the English component of the General Studies programme. It is also a useful addition to students of communications and Public Speaking. Any aspiring job seeker or politician will do well to consult this book in order to enhance their credibility and marketability and personal development.  
Having said that, it is a highly technical book that may require the assistance of an expert in speech or a native speaker of the language initially. The learner will also benefit by listening to BBC either on television or the Radio because listening is learning and an important part of communication.
The book is divided into nine (9) Chapters, each covering different but related aspects of the spoken English. At the end of each chapter are review questions which enable the user to evaluate his/her understanding of what has been read. 
Chapter One lays the foundation and serves as background to the other chapters in the book. In particular, it explains the physiology of speech, highlighting the organs we hardly realise we engage in speaking because it comes naturally to most humans to speak. Yet, how we position the tongue, the teeth, the lips can alter the sound that comes out of our mouth and fundamentally change the meaning of the word! 
Chapter Two is devoted to the five (5) vowels of English. Unlike a number of other European languages, the English vowel is an interesting phenomenon which can create problems for the non-native speaker and actually for the uneducated class of English people. The vowels have many variations either singly or in combinations resulting in 20 distinct sounds! This means that the words can hardly be pronounced as spelt. The author brilliantly navigates these difficulties.  
Chapter Three takes on the consonants, all 21 of them making up the 24 sounds, thus creating lots of contrasts in pronunciation. All over the world, the local languages tend to interfere in the pronunciation of consonants, especially.  
Chapter Four Silent and Inflectional Markers are the subject of this chapter. They buttress the fact that there is no one-to-one relationship between sounds and letters and spellings in the English language! For example, why do we say Gash and then pronounce Gnash as Nash? 
Chapter Five introduces the reader to consonant clusters, i.e. when two or more consonants are placed in the same syllable without intervening vowels, for example, words such as class, beggar, scream or length. 
Chapter Six deals with syllables often termed ‘the phonological building blocks’ of words, consisting of Rhyme and Onset.  These are the cosmetics of languages that enhance the beauty of the spoken word and give them meaning. Appropriately, the amount of energy or force we exert in voicing out our words i.e., the Stress is extremely important as it affects the pitch, the length, the quality and the intensity of the utterance. This in turn gives meaning beyond our expressions. For example, export, meaning something you send out differs from export which is the act of sending out. The rules which govern this aspect of oral English are explicitly explained with illustrations and examples.  
Chapter Seven highlights the difference between intonation and pitch and concludes that intonation is the ‘music of the language’ indicating the mood of the speaker and the intention of the speaker. For example, is it a question or a declaration? It also enumerates the patterns of intonation and their usage to illustrate this point. 
Chapter Eight deals with Rhyme and Rhythm. Poetry, Music, even the scriptures would be very boring and unattractive without rhyme and rhythm. Rhyme, as defined by the author, is ‘the sameness or similarity of sounds in a syllable’ and is essentially concerned with sounds, not symbols or letters. On the other hand, rhythm is about stress, which, as discussed earlier, gives meaning to our expressions. It is a major characteristic of the English language.  
Chapter Nine contains past Oral English examination questions from 2000 to 2015, a bonus to students and all readers who wish to test their ability and capability in oral English. What a great relief that I’m exempted from such calamities on account of age! 
Conclusion
Examinations apart, having a great command of spoken English sets a person apart, even above his or her peers. Not everyone reads but virtually all human beings, and animals, even plants listen and hear. I read somewhere that dead people are able to hear us up to one whole hour after they have passed! Would it not be an act of kindness if our intonation, accent, stress and inflexions were soothing, rhythmic and a music to the ears of the poor dead, talk less of the living. I believe my spoken English encourages my flowers and plants to grow! If you don’t believe me, try it. 
No matter how erudite one is in the English language, substandard spoken English brings one down a peg or two. The way one speaks is a dead give-away about the nationality or tribe or status or exposure and sophistication of an individual. A good diction, added to a wide vocabulary and perfect grammar increase the net-worth of an individual in society, opens doors, especially in this era of mass unemployment. On an individual level, it elevates the level of confidence and credibility, and like a smile, endears us to others. Shouldn’t we all try to attain the highest level of oral discourse by mastering the simple rules of oral English? To achieve that, a writer has the following advice :
Listen a little. Speak a little. Read a little
Then listen a little more. Speak a little more.
Read a little more. Write a little more.
Do this, till it becomes a habit.
I wish to conclude by borrowing from Ptahhotep, an Egyptian king and sage who lived in 3400BC as follows: 
Be a craftsman in speech
That thou mayest be strong
For the strength of one who is the tongue
And speech is mightier than fighting!
                     -Maxims of Ptahhotep (3400 BC)
I wholeheartedly commend this book, Understanding Oral English to students, teachers, aspiring public speakers and politicians as well as pastors and priests. In short, to all persons who seek to impress by the way they speak English.
Thank you.
Chief Mojisola Ladipo, mni
Former Registrar , University of Ibadan
13 November 2019

UNDERSTANDING ORAL ENGLISH 
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication 
Acknowledgements
Foreword 
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
UNDERSTANDING ORAL ENGLISH
What is Phonetics?
Branches of Phonetics 
What is Phonology ?
Speech Organs 
Pronunciation Models 
Sound , Letters and Transcription
This Book for Achieving Excellence in Test of Orals in WASSCE/JAMB and 
for Personal Development 
CHAPTER 2 THE ENGLISH VOWELS 
Monophthongs 
Diphthongs 
Triphthongs 
Vowel Descriptions and their Letters
Monophthongs
Centering Diphthongs 
Closing Diphthongs
CHAPTER 3 THE ENGLISH CONSONANTS 
CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH CONSONANTS 
Place of Articulation 
Manner of Articulation 
State of the Glottis(Voicing )
Description of Consonant with their Letters 
CHAPTER 4 SILENT LETTERS AND INFLECTIONAL MARKERS 
SILENT LETTERS 
INFLECTIONAL MARKERS 
Plural Markers 
Past Tense Markers
Present Tense/Singular Verb Markers 
CHAPTER 5 CONSONANT CLUSTERS AND PHONOTACTICS 
Consonant Clusters 
Initial Clusters 
Medial Clusters
Final Clusters
PHONOTACTICS (SOUND COMBINATION )
CHAPTER 6 THE ENGLISH SYLLABLE AND STRESS
THE ENGLISH SYLLABLE 
Words and Syllable
STRESS 
Degrees/Levels of Stress 
GUIDELINES FOR STRESS PLACEMENT 
Stress in Monosyllabic Words 
Stress in Dissyllabic Words 
Stress in Polysyllabic Words 
SENTENCE STRESS
STRONG AND WEAK FORMS 
EMPHATIC STRESS
CHAPTER 7 INTONATION 
Patterns of Intonation and their Usages
The Falling Tune 
The Rising Tune 
The Rise Fall Tune 
The Fall Rise Tune 
CHAPTER 8
RHYME AND RHYTHM 
CHAPTER 9
SAMPLE SSSCE TEST OF ORAL QUESTIONS 
APPENDIX 
ANSWERS TO OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS 
REFERENCES
COPYRIGHT 
@EMEKE MODESTY OBIAZIKWOR
ISBN : 979-978-56033-9-3
All rights reserved. No part of this book should  be reproduced, store in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means ; electronic, mechanic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission from the author. 
TO PURCHASE OR TO BECOME A DISTRIBUTOR OF THIS BOOK
Contact:
MODESTY VENTURES 
: 08135121421, 08127145203.
E-mail: emekemodesty@gmail.com
Published By :
Bookzy Publishers, Ibadan.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 
OBIAZIKWOR EMEKE MODESTY hails from Idumuesah, Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta state. He has a Bachelor’s degree in English and Literature University of Benin and a Master’s degree in English University of Ibadan. He is a renown English teacher who has been teaching English for over a decade at the primary, secondary  and tertiary levels. He is also a seasoned speaker and the chief writer in www.emekemodesty.com. 
He is also the author of Understanding English Grammar  which is  is a detailed book on the grammar of English language from the morpheme to the sentence level. Understanding English Grammar  discusses major details about lexics and structure. It contains comprehensive knowledge with explicit examples and exercises  on  parts of speech,  phrases, clauses, sentences, grammatical names and  functions,  grammatical  structures and word relationships (synonyms , antonyms, polysemy and others ).

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