BBN–ANG–242/c
Wed 15:30–17:00, R442
3-credit seminar
We are going to study the phonological rules of (mainly Current British) English, and letter-to-sound rules, which enable you to guess the pronunciation of words from their spelling. You will be practicing the transcription of CUBE pronunciations.
I consider two components of your work: (i) in-class tests (95%) and (ii) homework (−15–+5%), in the way described below. Class activity is not counted numerically, but it is likely to bias me. Attendance is obligatory, three absences are tolerated.
There are three in-class tests (for the dates see the schedule ). There are no retakes, so make sure that you come on these occasions. Failing to take a test means 0% as your result for that test.
Your test score is whichever is higher of the average of either the two best test results or that of all three with a 3% bonus added. (This means that you will be better off if all your tests are of the same quality, than if two are good and one bad.) Formulaically:
test_score1 = ( ( t1 + t2 ) / 2 ) * 0.95
test_score2 = ( (t1 + t2 + t3) / 3 ) * 0.95 + 0.03
where t1 and t2 are the two best test results.
Homework is assigned regularly. It is to be submitted as attachments to an email sent to homework@delg0.elte.hu before 8pm the day before the next class. Homework submitted late is ignored. In special cases (once or twice) it can be submitted later, accompanied by an excuse. I am sending you each task in a separate file. You should edit those files. Do not delete anything from those files. Do not change the filenames. You have to send back the files you have edited. Each task must be sent as an attachment in a separate file, just like you received them. You should send plain text files (TXT). The best option is to use a plain text editor, like Notepad. Alternatively, you can use any word processor or text editor and save your file as plain text. Do not send PDF, DOC, DOCX, ODT, image files, or links to online documents.
Here are all the IPA characters you need for transcribing English words. You may copy them from here or you may figure out how to input them from your keyboard.
ə ə́ ː ʃ ʒ θ ð ŋ
If you cannot send properly (=Unicode) encoded plain text files, you should replace these symbols: ə→@, ː→:, ʃ→S, ʒ→Z, θ→T, ð→D, ŋ→N.
I may return your homework for correction. In this case you must send the corrected version at your earliest convenience, but maximally within a week.
You can follow your homework on the record page. “🛫SENT” shows you when I sent you the homework, “GET” allows you to download homework if you have not received it, “🛬GOT” shows the tasks that came in but were not yet checked.
The amount of homework you have handed in in due time is taken into account in the final result: doing all of it results in a 5% increase. Doing none results in a 15% decrease. Doing three quarters of it does not influence your score. Formulaically:
homework_score = (your_hw / all_hw) * 0.2 - 0.15
where all_hw is the number of homework exercises assigned and your_hw is what you have duly submitted.
Your final score is the sum of test_score1 or test_score2 (whichever is higher), and homework_score. Your mark depends on your final score: 90%–: 5, 80–90%: 4, 70–80%: 3, 50–70%: 2, –50%: 1. (I will not raise, but may lower these limits.)
You can (and should) check the record I keep of you (and the others in the group). The first column is your ID. You can find data about the week(s) you were absent on, your test results, and the homework you have submitted on time. The last number is your current score. If you disagree with any of the data, please complain immediately.
You can also assess me and each class by filling the form linked to the record page. I disclose the answer to the first question, which is meant to fend off trolls, in the first class.