CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION Introduction Malaysia is known as a complex socio-cultural and linguistic country as it has different ethnic groups. People with different races such as Malay, Chinese and Indian and other natives are living together. A Malaysian knows at least two languages because people are surrounded by different languages and cultural backgrounds. A multilingual learner mixing the use of two or more languages on a daily basis in the Malaysian context will contribute to interference in the phonological systems of all these languages (Phoon, 2010). This study aims to identify the pronunciation errors in English vowels that are mispronounced by UTAR Chinese Studies undergraduates. This is a qualitative study where the data will be …show more content…
However, the ability to speak English with correct pronunciation and intonation is important as it will directly affect the appropriate communication in conversation. The phonology of English will be strongly influenced by Mandarin, which is usually used in the home environment by Chinese (Phoon, 2010). Some English words consist of long vowels and short vowels. If people mispronounce the word, then it will lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication. According to Zhao (1995), Chinese speakers tend to reduce the contrast between long and short vowels in English, and diphthongs are like long vowels, thus Chinese-influenced diphthongs will also be short. English has more vowel sounds than Chinese, resulting in the faulty pronunciation of words such as ship/sheep, it/eat, and full/fool (Rasmussen, 2010). For example, Chinese learners do not distinguish the long [I:] from the short [I] and tend to maintain the same length when articulating them in different words, such as (sheep) /ʃI:p/ and (ship) /ʃIp/ (Han,2013). The present study mainly focuses on the vowel sounds which are long vowels and short vowels. It aims to determine the pronunciation errors and factors experienced by the UTAR undergraduates of Chinese
This chapter focused mainly on misconceptions and attempting to clarify those misconceptions about accents. In the opinion of linguists, accent is a difficult word to define. This is due to the fact that language has variation therefore when it comes to a person having an accent or not, there is no true technical distinction because every person has different phonological aspects to their way of speaking. However, when forced to define this word, it is described as “a way of speaking” (Lippi-Green, 2012, p.44). Although Lippi- Green identified the difficulty linguists have in distinguishing between accent, dialect, and another language entirely, they were able to construct a loose way of distinguishing. Lippi- Green states that an accent can be determined by difference in phonological features alone, dialect can be determined by difference in syntax, lexicon, and semantics alone, and when all of these aspects are different from the original language it is considered another language entirely (Lippi-Green, 2012).
This paper explores - with illustrative demonstrations - four queries concerning different aspects of phonemic restoration:
Five minutes: Go over beginning consonants and make sure students understand what a consonant is. A consonant includes letters that are not vowels. There will be a piece of paper that has different consonant sounds on the top. The consonant sound should include Bb, Mm, Rr, Ss. 10 minutes: The students will be given 20 pictures that the student will have to identify the beginning sound. The pictures will include pictures of a bug, ball, book, bird, bananas, milk, mirror, mop, mice, map, road, rabbit, river, rope, rock, sock, six, swing, slide, and shovel. The students will need to match the 20 pictures to the four sounds given. Under Bb the students should put bug, ball, book, bird, bananas. Under Mm the student should put milk, mirror,
Examples are the different diphthong, vowels, and when the letter “r” is pronounced. The diphthong in SAE are different from the British English. The British English’s diphthong is changed to [əʊ] from SAE’s diphthong [oʊ]. This is shown by how Jack pronounces “moment”. He says it as /məʊənt/ instead of SAE’s pronunciation being /moʊmənt/. Vowels are changed as well. Vowel [ɪ] is changed to [i:] or from vowel [ə]. An example of being changed to [i:] by the word “been.” Jack pronounces it /bi:n/ while in SAE it is pronounced as /bɪn/. The vowel can be changed from [ə] and make the words “captain” and “pirate” pronounced differently from SAE. The word “captain” is pronounced /kæptɪn/ by Sparrow. SAE pronounces it /kæptən/. The word “pirate” is pronounced /paɪərɪt/ by Sparrow. SAE pronounces it /pajrət/. The sound /r/ does not change, even when it is before a vowel or consonant. The words “gone” shows how the vowel [ɔ:] is transitioned to vowel [ɒ]. This is shown when Jack pronounces the word “gone” by /gɒn/ while SAE pronounces it
When speech-language pathology first came to America there was no certification needed in order to practice. Instead, the first speech pathologists were educators and other professionals who wanted to help others who had problems with their speech. Numerous of the first speech-language pathologists became interested in the upcoming field after they had overcome problems with speech themselves, or people they were close to. Because the first speech pathologists were people in respectable positions, many of their names have been seen elsewhere in history. For example, Alexander Melville Bell, and his son Alexander Graham Bell were both respected clinicians in the times of the first speech-language pathologists. In fact, Alexander Melville Bell invented what is known as visible speech. (Duchan). According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, visible speech is “a set of phonetic symbols based on symbols for articulatory position” (“Visible speech” def. 1). Another example of a famous first speech-language pathologist is the respected schoolmaster from Boston, Elijah Corlet. Corlet helped Cotton Mather, author and participant in the Salem Witch Trials, overcome a stuttering issue. (Duchan).
Language is a primary distinguisher of social groups, of regional variation, and of attitude towards others; as such, a speaker’s language use is an emblem of their social identity. Phonetic accommodation, i.e, when a speaker varies their pronunciation with respect to an interlocutor, is a tool by which speakers can minimize or emphasize linguistic difference. Through phonetic convergence, this can highlight a shared social identity, or, through phonetic divergence, can designate contrast between one identity and another. Some have suggested that phonetic accommodation is an automatic, inevitable process, surmising that identity is subsequent to it, and not its cause (Trudgill, 2008). However, I will present evidence towards the contrary,
Phonological awareness (PA) involves a broad range of skills; This includes being able to identify and manipulate units of language, breaking (separating) words down into syllables and phonemes and being aware of rhymes and onset and rime units. An individual with knowledge of the phonological structure of words is considered phonologically aware. A relationship has been formed between Phonological awareness and literacy which has subsequently resulted in Phonological awareness tasks and interventions.This relationship in particular is seen to develop during early childhood and onwards (Lundberg, Olofsson & Wall 1980). The link between PA and reading is seen to be stronger during these years also (Engen & Holen 2002). As a result Phonological awareness assessments are currently viewed as both a weighted and trusted predictor of a child's reading and spelling and ability.
Looking upon my time here at Central Michigan, I recall in previous courses that phonemic awareness is how we interpret the sounds in a word. Essentially, being able to hear and identify these sounds of our language. After deeply focusing on Phonological and phonemic awareness over the course of a few weeks, it is clear that my prior knowledge isn’t far off. Both of these skills involve sound and can be processed with eyes closed—no printed material. After much research, these skills are vital to a child and their development; they aid in spelling, alphabetic principle, and letter-sound correspondence. If this skill is not obtained by a child, he or she will have a difficult time with reading and comprehension in addition to poor spelling.
Researchers have provided different classifications of speech errors. They can be categorized according to the “linguistic units,” such as “phonological feature, phoneme, syllable, morpheme, word phrase, or sentence levels” (Harely, 2001, p. 376). Moreover, speech errors can be classified according to the “mechanisms” of the speech errors (Harely, 2001, p. 376). For example, Carroll (2007) classified eight of the basic types of slips of the tongue according to the error mechanism from the previous psycholinguistic studies. These errors include shift, exchanges, anticipations, perseveration, additions, deletions, substitutions, and blends.
These three groups were then asked to complete three different tasks. The first was to repeat and segment 20 different words (5 consonant-vowel-consonant, 5 CCVC, 5 CVCC, and 5 CCVCC) and two overall scores were administered to the participants. Both scores were out of a maximum of 20 points; the first score was based on giving 1 point for each correctly analyzed word, and the second score was based on giving 1 point for correctly analyzing medial vowels.
Speech errors serve as a window to investigate speech production and arrangement of language elements in the brain. Gary S. Dell and Peter A. Reich (1980) said that one of the best way to find out how a system is constructed is if that system breaks. Speech errors as a linguistic phenomenon has been the topic of many linguistic researches. It can be investigated as an evidence for linguistic change as well. Bussmann and Hadumod (1996) in the Routledge dictionary of language and linguistics defines speech errors as " (Latin: lapsus linguae), is a deviation (conscious or unconscious) from the apparently intended form of an utterance." (449).
New languages are always overwhelming.English is difficult language to learn, especially if it isn’t practiced often. The english language includes rules that can be frustrating to get a grip of. Many International students face the fear of not being understood or not pronouncing something correct...
Michael, A. S., Liaw, S. C., Muthusamy, C., & Veeravagu, J. (2010). Gendered-linked differences in speech styles: Analysing linguistic and gender in the Malaysian context. Cross-Cultural Communication, 6(1), 18-28.
By assuming that students will learn proper communication skills without guidance is a big mistake. Individuals should begin learning basic communication skills at birth and continue learning throughout their educational experience. There are, of course, many types of communication. We use verbal communication, non-verbal communication, written communication and many different forms of. Additionally, communication plays an important role in the process of conveying knowledge as well. Communication is instrumental in education since it helps the instructor and the students to work together with each other. Communication is the most important component of any society. In order, to communicate properly we need correct pronunciation, because pronunciation affects how we understand the meaning of the words. If the sound of a word is different it could lead the listener to believe that the word has a different meaning, and if this happens, it is very obvious that it is a form of improper communication. This may lead to a lot of misinterpretations. To avoid these kinds of problems we need to teach accurate pronunciation. English, in schools, is a very important subject for teaching proper...
It is one of the main languages in the world and it is the international language these days. English language is the language that faced many changes that affects in several things. For example, some changes occur in writing system, phonological system and other changes during many centuries. English language is about four stages: Old English, Middle English, Modern English, and Early Modern English. In each era, there is an affection of other tribe’s languages on English language. As an example, Germanic tribes who moved into Britain and have an impact on Old English language are (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes). In the same way, the effects of the tribes lead to have many changes in vowel system, which calls the Great Vowel Shift .In this paper, I will discuss the Great Vowel Shift and the the process of that huge change.