THE IMPROVEMENT OF WORK ON THE RHYTHM IN THE CLASSES OF ENGLISH ON THE MATERIALS OF LIMERICKS

Even English acquired a status of the third language in Kazakhstan, but it is remained as the foreign language for majority of people, mastery of which is still problematical. English at high schools sometimes does not come easily to students that they make unbelievable efforts to catch the sense of the English speech. Who does not dream about the easy way of learning English? Because, usually it is rather long and exhausting process. It is commonly known, that language learning will become far interesting and productive, when the students are involved in creative activity.

Interactive forms of teaching give a chance to develop not only linguistic skills and abilities, but also permit to students using of English as the means of communication, they advance own imagination and memory. All of it raises a motivation to study the language.

One of the effective modes of motivating students to study the language is the using of creative works, such as dramas and composing the rhymes in possessing the language. This technology opens vast possibilities for individual and position-finding teaching, because here learners apply own unique life experience, own outlook [1]. I reminiscence that the main hero of Paul Maare’s fairy-tale “Eine Woche voller Samstage” – das Sams applied the method of composing nursery rhymes at the school, and his creative lesson pleased pupils, because they wanted him to teach again and again [2].

The given article examines the questions of improving the pronunciation and rhythm by the material of limerick or how it is said popularly, of English chastooshka. Limericks is represented integral part of linguistic culture of Anglophonic nation in the world. Limerick – is a popular form of short humorous poem, built on playing with nonsense, which is appeared in Great Britain. The origin of the limericks is unknown, though it is considered, that a name descended from the refrains of the songs, sang by Irish soldiers-militiamen upon French king Louie XVI. At the parties the soldiers performed the songs, each stanza of which ended with the refrains – Will you come up to Limerick? (or by another version: Won’t you come up to Limerick?). Therefore, the English word ‘limerick’ is pronounced with a stress on the first syllable – like the name of the city in Ireland, from which the title is came [3]. It is believed to be existed another hypothesis that the word ‘limerick’ is originated not from the name of Irish city, as majority think, but from the Irish words ‘laoi meidbreach’ or ‘a merry lay’, which mean ‘a merry song’ [4]. “The father of limericks” is considered to be the famous English poet, the king of English nonsense verse Edward Lear (1812-1888). Lear himself never called his comic verses ‘limericks’. The word ‘limerick’ firstly appeared posthumously in print in 1892. One way or another, after the end of XIX century limericks became broadly famous. Many well-known writers and poets as Lewis Carroll, Rudyard Kipling, John Galsworthy, Mark Twain and Arnold Bennett composed limericks. Pun character of limericks admits the free varying of the linguistic means in the frames of harsh rhyme. The characteristics of limerick are intentional play of words, homophony, ambiguity (homonymy), synonymy, polysemantic and the rich stylistic diversity of English words. Limerick plays with curious amusing discrepancy of English orthography and pronunciation, found their reflection in the special form of limerick, which is called ‘visual’ or ‘orthographical’. The pet mode of limerick authors – is using of neologisms. The neologisms and nonsense words of Edward Lear strongly entered the English literature and language [4]. The pentameter of the classical limerick builds by the scheme AABBA, that is, first, second and fifth lines are rhymed, in accordance with third and fourth. Here prevails the size of an anapest, and a quantity of the syllables in the first, second and fifth lines are longer for three syllables, than in the third and fourth [5]. Limericks are considered to be the splendid material for the production of correct phonetic organization of the English speech and especially of its rhythm. So, English scientist John Norrish writes about it:

“…. English is a stress-timed language…. Similarly, it is difficult for the speaker of the ‘syllable-timed’ language to understand normal English pronunciation…

Way of overcoming this problem of teaching stress patterns is by using the ‘limerick’, the comic verse from which relies for much its effect on the strongly marked rhythm. Teachers could demonstrate and encourage students to read aloud some of these verses:

There `was a young `lady of `Niger,

Who `smiled when she `rode on a `tiger.

They re`turned from the `ride

With the `lady in`side –

And the `smile on the `face of the `tiger.

As can be seen, the rhythmic pattern involves the stressed syllables each in the first and second lines, two in the next two lines and three once again in the final, fifth line. When recited, it is important that the stresses come at regular intervals… As we have seen, the stress timing of the limerick is also a characteristic of English speech. This is what makes it a useful teaching tool… such a teaching technique can be used as successfully for initial teaching of stress as for remedial teaching to eradicate errors” [6].

Thus, the structure of the limericks is the same, which very helps the students to read them easy and with the intonation. For instance, the variant created the humorous effect on the first line can correspond with the intonation of Low Rise, the intonation of the second with Low Fall. ............