One or more phonetics courses will almost certainly be required of a student studying theoretical or applied linguistics. Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies the physical production and reception of sounds. Phonetics courses can provide an overview of the subject, focus on one of the three main sub-branches of phonetics — articulatory, acoustic, or auditory — or approach phonetics as part of the study of a specific language. Phonetics courses should be distinguished from phonology courses, which are theoretical in nature and investigate how sounds function in a language on a cognitive level.
Most linguistics and communication disorders degrees include a phonetics overview course as part of the core curriculum. Phonetic transcription using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and studies in each of the three branches of phonetics are likely to be covered in this type of class. As students familiarize themselves with the various physical mechanisms involved in language production and reception, an introductory phonetics course usually includes many hands-on and interactive elements.
Advanced phonetics courses may concentrate on a single aspect of phonetics. The study of how the vocal organs — the vocal cords, lips, tongue, nose, and other organs involved in producing vocal sounds — work together to produce each of the sounds of language is known as articulatory phonetics. Learning to differentiate the places and means of articulation within the vocal tract is a branch of phonetics. Acoustic phonetics, on the other hand, is concerned with the sounds themselves rather than the methods by which they are produced. The wavelength amplitude or other mathematical properties of articulations may be measured as part of this research. Finally, auditory phonetics is concerned with the anatomical mechanisms that allow speech sounds to be perceived, distinguished from other sounds, and processed by the brain.
Some phonetics courses are designed to assist students in learning a specific language. This type of course could be part of a foreign language program rather than a linguistics program. These classes are likely to focus on articulatory phonetics as a means of assisting students in learning to produce sounds that do not exist in their native language. Variations on “r” and “l” sounds, for example, are notoriously difficult to produce in languages other than one’s own, to the point where a non-native speaker may struggle to distinguish between the two consonants. A phonetics course aimed at teaching English to non-native English speakers might devote a significant amount of time to learning about the precise tongue placements required to produce each of those sounds.