1. Consider the following questions and items in written form:

1. What is a consonant sound?

2. How do the consonants change on the articulatory level?

3. What are the two consonant classes according to the degree of noise?

4. What is the function of the vocal cords in the production of voiced and voiceless noise consonants?

5. How does the degree of noise vary because of the force of articulation?

6. What is a sonorant? State the difference between sonorants and noise consonants.

7. How does the position of the soft palate determine the quality of a sonorant?

8. Define every type of obstruction.

9. What are the four groups of consonants according to the manner of articulation?

10. What consonant sounds are called 'occlusive'?

11. Why are plosives called 'stops'?

12. What consonant sounds are called 'constrictive'? What is the difference between occlusives and constrictives?

13. How else are constrictive noise consonants called and why?

14. How do the fricatives vary in the work of the vocal cords and in the degree of force of articulation?

15. How are the constrictive sonorants made?

16. What consonant sounds are occlusive-constrictive?

17. How are the Russian rolled consonants [p, p'] produced?

18. Enumerate the consonant groups according to the place of articulation.

19. How are the forelingual consonants classified according to the work of the tip of the tongue?

20. How do the forelingual consonants differ according to the place of obstruction?

Test 4

1. Consider the following questions and items in written form:

1. According to the stability of articulation there are three groups of vowels. Do you think it is enough to distinguish only two groups: monophthongs and diphthongs?

2. Phoneticians speak of front vowels and back vowels. What characteristic do all the front vowels have in common that is different from the back vowels?

3. What is the difference between front and front-retracted vowels?

4. What is the difference between back and back-advanced vowels?

5. What makes central and front vowels different?

6. What characteristic makes close vowels unlike mid and open ones?

7. What would you tell your fellow-student to prove the necessity of distinguishing narrow and broad variants of close, mid and open vowels?

8. What is the difference between free and checked vowels?

9. How do different phonetic contexts modify vowel length in English?

10. Can the location of word stress and intonation influence vowel length?

11. Are there any historically long and short vowels in English?

Test 5

1. Consider the following questions and items in written form:

1. What is the main feature of sonorous consonants? Enumerate the English sonorants.

2. What advice regarding the position of the soft palate would you give to a fellow-student who pronounces sing as [siŋg] instead of [siŋ]?

3. What do sonorants have in common with and what differs them from other consonants?

4. What is the subdivision of the sonorous consonants according to the direction of the air stream in the mouth cavity?

5. Dwell on the voicing of sonorants. Does a student of English make a phonetic or a phonological mistake if he does not observe partial devoicing of the sonorants in some positions?

6. Dwell on the length of sonorants. Keeping in mind what you know about the positional length of the English sonorants what would you advise your fellow-student if he doesn't observe it?

7. What advice regarding the palatalization of the sonorous consonants would you give to a fellow-student who makes such errors in his pronunciation?

Suppose a student pronounces lip as [łip] instead of [lip]. How would you correct the error regarding palatalization?

8. Dwell on each sonorous consonant.

9. What kind of mistake do Russian students of English make if they pronounce [n] instead of [ŋ], eg sing [sin] instead of [siŋ]?

10. Suppose your fellow-student pronounces the word sing as [sin]. Is the mistake phonetic or phonological? Keeping in mind what you know about the articulation of [ŋ] tell him or her what to do with the tongue and the soft palate to eliminate this error.

11. What is common in the articulation of the sonorants [r, j, w]?

12. What articulatory features of the consonants [n] and [1] differentiate the meaning of the words net and let?

13. What advice would you give your fellow-student who pronounces the Russian [j] instead of the English [j]?

14. How would your fellow-student probably pronounce the sonorant [w]? In what way can Russian pronunciation habits interfere?

15. How would a Russian learner of English probably pronounce the English [r]? Can you expect a phonological mistake?