Identification of Pronunciation Issues
Identification of Pronunciation Issues
While much work has been done in studying the acquisition
of morphology and syntax, there is one area of second language acquisition that
has been largely overlooked by researchers.
While summarizing existing second language research, Schumann (1976)
found absolutely no studies on second language phonology. The reason for the dearth of studies in the
field of L2 phonology is the common belief that the learner’s phonological
system does not provide useful insights into the nature of the second language
acquisition process. To a large extent,
this notion was based on the wrong assumption that all phonological errors were
the result of direct transfer of the native language phonology to the
interlanguage system in some uninteresting ways (Tarone, 1978). That is to say, the pronunciation of a second
language was not significant for the field of second language research.
This conviction is still
prevalent among second language acquisition researchers, second language
teachers, and second language students. As Jusczyk (1997) rightly points out,
there are two reasons for this contention: a) Little is known about the
development of speech perception and speech production; and b) Research on
phonology (perception and production) “makes relatively little contact with the
rest of the research on language acquisition” (p.1). In their study on teaching second language
pronunciation, Krashen and Terrell (1983) concluded “…we do not place undue
emphasis in early stages on perfection in the students’ pronunciation, but
rather concentrate on providing a good model with large quantities of
comprehensible input before production is attempted” (p.89-91). This is perhaps why those who put a great
deal of emphasis on fluency in second language acquisition (the proponents of
the proficiency movement) deemphasize teaching pronunciation in the classroom
(Omaggio, 1986). After conducting a
survey on various teaching methodologies that focused on communication, Terrell
(1989) also confirmed that “Communicative approaches likewise have not known
what to do with pronunciation” (p. 197).
One of the best explanations of
why methodologists have ignored the teaching of pronunciation in second
language classrooms comes from Hammond (1995) who attributes their lack of
interest to three principal reasons:
1.
The teaching of pronunciation appeals only to learning
and not to acquisition, and is therefore of no value in a system that is
attempting to get students to acquire language.
2.
The constant reference to correct pronunciation or to
the correction of student pronunciation errors will inhibit students from
speaking by raising their affective filters.
3.
Since most second language instruction in the United
States involves learners who have passed the so-called ideal age for language
acquisition, these methodologists believe that adult students have already lost
much of their innate capacity to acquire a native-like pronunciation in a
second language (p. 294).
Hammond (1995) goes on to argue that it would be
misleading to presume that language learners only need to acquire the grammar
system and vocabulary of a second language.
It is equally essential that they acquire the rules of the second
language phonology in order to be intelligible to other speakers of that
language. He notes that it is crucially
important to examine second language pronunciation acquisition because:
1.
There is a relatively large body of phonetic research
that shows adult language learners are capable of perceiving, imitating, and
learning fairly subtle and precise phonetic distinctions present in target
languages.
2.
Phonologists have demonstrated that the acquisition of
second language phonology is governed by universal properties of phonology.
3.
We need to determine the significance of phonetic and
phonological research…for the acquisition of pronunciation in a second
language.
4.
We need to discover how this information can be
incorporated into the theoretical framework of communicative teaching
methodologies and into the actual classroom situation (p. 295).
It is clear that English language teachers need to incorporate pronunciation exercises into their lessons, because spoken second language acquisition is equally, if not more, important as acquiring second language grammar and vocabulary is. Depending on their first language, English as a Second Language (ESL) students may have different areas of difficulty in pronouncing English sounds. Some of the issues may have to do with segmental phonology such as vowels and consonants and others may fall into suprasegmental phonology such as stress and intonation. This post focuses on the pronunciation issues speakers of other languages have in articulating English sounds clearly and accurately. Recognize that the learners’ pronunciation issues may fall into one or
more than one of the categories:
Category:
Vowels: English distinguishes between short and long vowels such as "fill" and "feel" and "live" and "leave". English language teachers use these minimal pairs to teach ESL students the difference in meaning vowel length can bring about. There are many languages that do not have short and long vowels. For example, Spanish does not have short and long vowels, and Spanish speakers of English find it difficult to differentiate between "hill" and "heal". There are 12 pure vowels and 3 diphthongs in North American English, and teaching them with articulatory diagrams showing the point and manner of articulation can help learners visualize the sounds they have difficulty producing accurately.
Consonants:
North American English has both voiced and voiceless consonants and devoicing the voiced consonants may make learners' pronunciation unintelligible to native English speakers. Some examples of voiced consonants are /b/, /d/, /g/, and /z/, and some voiceless consonants are /p/, /t/, /k/, and /s/. It should be noted that some of the voiceless consonants have voiced counterparts such as /t/ and /d/, /p/ and /b/, /k/ and /g/, and /s/ and /z/. Pronouncing the voiced consonants may be an issue for some English learners. For instance, Spanish speakers of English tend to devoice the /z/ token in "as" and mispronounce it as "ass" because the /z/ consonant does not exist in Spanish. As with vowels, learners visualizing the point of articulation of voiced consonants in English may be able to pronounce them accurately.
Consonant Clusters
Consonant clusters appear in word initial and word final positions. There are many words beginning with consonant clusters such as /sp/, /st/, /sk/ and /sl/, and there are words that have consonant clusters in word final position. Words such as "flask", "mast", and "clasp" end with consonant clusters, and they may be an issue for speakers of languages which do not have consonant clusters in word final position. For example, Korean speakers of English pronounce "church" as "churchee", inserting a vowel at the end to conform to their L1 restriction, which does not allow consonant clusters in word final position. This phenomenon is called "epenthesis", a syllable modification strategy learners employ to negotiate pronunciation issues in their second language (Broselow). In contrast, Spanish speakers insert a vowel in word initial position when they pronounce words such as "school", "spoon", and "station". The tendency is to pronounce consonant clusters in word initial position preceded by a vowel. English language teachers who are cognizant of these pronunciation issues can sensitize their Korean and Spanish students to these errors.
baNAna
It should be noted that the first syllable is lightly stressed, the second syllable is strongly stressed, and the third syllable is unstressed. The difference between stressed and unstressed syllables is much higher in English than in other languages, which may pose a pronunciation issue to non-native speakers of English. Vietnamese speakers of English, for example, pronounce baNAna as banaNA, FUnny as fuNNY, and MOney as moNNEY. It is pedagogically sound to teach the difference between stressed and unstressed syllables and the three levels of word stress to ESL students.
Connected Speech
Native English speakers make adjustments in speech when they speak in a natural setting. They do so by linking, assimilating in connected speech.
Linking
Linking in connected speech occurs when a word ending with a consonant is followed by a word beginning with a vowel. Native speakers pronounce the consonant intervocalically as if it belonged to both syllables. Consider the following examples:
black_and white
Macintosh_apple
Linking also occurs when two identical consonant clusters come together as in the following examples:
stop_pushing
short_term
bad_dog
ESL students may be oblivious of linking in connected speech in English and pronounce the same consonant twice, rendering the words a non-native characteristic.
Assimilation
A second example of adjustments in connected speech is assimilation whereby a given sound takes on the characteristics of a neighboring sound. This phenomenon happens quite frequently in connected speech, but non-native speakers may not be aware of this phonological feature. Let's look at the following example:
bags /baeg -- z/
Notice that even though the /s/ token is a voiceless consonant, it is pronounced as a voiced consonant. This happens because of the process of assimilation when the /s/ token in the above word takes on the phonetic feature of the voiced neighbor /g/.
The same thing happens when the /s/ token is preceded by a voiceless consonant. In "backs", for example, the /s/ is pronounced as follows:
backs /baek -- s/
An effective pronunciation exercise may include linking and assimilation in connected speech, and ESL students can practice improving this area of second language pronunciation.
Intonation
In North American English, wh- questions are formed with a falling intonation, but yes/no questions are asked with a rising intonation. Notice the contrasting intonation in the following questions:
Why are you treating me like this?
Do you want to go out tonight?
In tag questions, however, intonation can be tricky, as native speakers may use a rising or falling intonation depending on their intention. Let's look at an example:
Maria is really nice, isn't she?
The speaker knows that Maria is a nice person, and the tag question is not really a question. Instead, it is an affirmation of the fact that Maria is nice. The tag question, in this case, is formed with a falling intonation.
Consider the following example:
Maria is not from China, is she?
The speaker is uncertain about Maria's nationality, so the tag question is formed with a rising intonation.
Since incorrect intonation patterns can confuse native speakers of English, it is imperative that English language teachers focus on the role of intonation in distinguishing between statements and questions. Teaching methodologies that focus on the communicative approach to language acquisition must include pronunciation in the curriculum, designing specific lessons to target issues of stress and intonation.
The University of Iowa Research Foundation has created a website where language learners can see how English vowels and consonants are pronounced. Here is a brief tutorial on some of the features of the website:
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