Subsidiary Variants of English Phonemes
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Abstract
This research looked deep into the factors that are associated with the pronunciation of English allophones by English speaking Russians. It also looked at the words that make it hard for Russians to pronounce English words in the right manner. Seventy two native Russians who are considered to have vast knowledge in the English language were given a chance to read sentences and prose passages that were specially prepared for them. The seventy two native English speaking Russians were also allowed to express themselves concerning their daily routines and experiences. Additionally, they were asked questions concerning their attitude towards the language- English and were required to fill in some questionnaires. The three activities, which are among the various events that native English speaking Russians took part in, were later on rated by other native English speakers who are not Russians but are not experienced linguistically. Other linguistic experts also ranked the activities. The native English speakers who were inexperienced linguistically represented the common man on the street. The aspects of the age in which one has been speaking English as the primary language, the Russians’ ability to imitate, sex, and the global proficiency in which they spoke in English. The linguistic experts were considered to be more lenient and reliable in the assessment that they did than the young ones. The results show that the factors that affect the pronunciation of English allophones mainly depend on the time in which one is exposed to the language and that the perception that other people have mostly depended on their linguistic experience. The results also suggest that the age in which one was exposed to the language is a significant determinant of how they pronounce English allophones.
Subsidiary Variants of English Phonemes
Introduction
It is customarily assumed that Russians mispronounce most English words that are both Different scholars have tried to come up with research articles in an attempt to understand whether or not that statement is true and if at all it is true, factors that contribute to it (Bacsfalvi, 2010). For instance, Petra Jurakova, a student at Masaryk University, researched the Pronunciation of English in Czech, Slovak and Russian speakers in the year 2015. The main aim of this research paper is to analyze how English speaking Russians speak the English language.
Why is it that Russians tend to mispronounce English words? What are the factors leading to that poor pronunciation? Are there any other reasons that contribute to this behavior? This research paper will address the above questions in detail and tries to come up with solutions for trying to stop this mispronunciation of English words by Russians. The reason why that is such a Foreign accent, as is much prevalent among English speaking Russians, is very typical of any learners who are studying a foreign language or second language(Bacsfalvi, 2010). Most of the time, Russians and other learners of the second language find themselves trying to reduce that foreign accent, even though they usually do not entirely succeed. However, over time, it has been proved that for one to be able to communicate more effectively, comprehension of words and intelligence are more required than having no accent. Despite that fact, it is essential to have the right pronunciation as it can arouse pride when it comes to listeners (Bacsfalvi, 2010). Additionally, its vital on the part of speakers since their anxiety as to what the audience will perceive of them in case they have a foreign accent will come to an end. Therefore, it is correct to argue that for any person to be well understood anytime that they speak; the correct pronunciation of words has to be mastered and perfected since it is of vital importance.
Russians tend to mispronounce many English allophones because most of them are in various ways similar to those that are found in their native language and their origins also happen to be the same most of the times (Bikeliene, 2015). This research paper is going to analyze most words that lead to Russians pronouncing most words the way that they do. This research paper will address reasons why it is most difficult for Russians to mark words the way that they are supposed to even after much practice, and the effects that the inability to pronounce words correctly have on the Russians and their audience as well. The methods that were used to collect information include interviews, questionnaires, tests, and surveys. The interviews were conducted between the English speaking Russians and me and involved letting them give their views concerning how they pronounce English allophones and also their attitude concerning the accent that they have.
Questionnaires were administered to the English speaking Russians to understand their view on the complexity of the English allophones and the difference between them and Russian allophones. Another objective of the questionnaires was to try and define the different factors that affect the pronunciation of English allophones by English speaking Russians. If the elements are well analyzed, it is possible to correct the mispronunciation that Russians have any time that they are communicating in English. The tests were administered to the English speaking Russians with the primary aim being to determine whether the writing skills of such people are in any way affected by ineffective pronunciation.
Surveys were also carried out among the English speaking Russians concerning the time in which they had spent speaking in English as their primary language. The investigations also aimed at establishing the relationship that existed between the ability of a person to pronounce all words clearly and the time spent in speaking the language as one’s primary language. Documents containing information on the pronunciation of English allophones by English speaking Russians were also analyzed. The materials provided valuable information on the same and even on the factors that generally lead to the mispronunciation of English words by Russians.
Some of the factors that were identified include the age in which one started communicating in the English language as the primary language, the time in which one has been exposed to English allophones. The difficulty of the words that are being pronounced and also the experience on the linguistics of whoever is determining how the Russians are declaring English allophones. The research also constitutes of various solutions that if effectively applied, could lead to a reduced mispronunciation of English allophones by English speaking Russians.
2.1 The Problem Statement
Teaching pronunciation comprises of multiple challenges. First, teachers have limited time in class to provide the required attention to this facet of English instruction. However, when they get time to handle pronunciation, the details often results in the practice and presentation of a pattern of tedious and presumably unrelated subjects (Wells, 2014). For instance, inculcating sounds repeatedly mostly results in unwanted results which discourage both students and teachers who end up trying to avoid practicing pronunciation(Wells, 2014). Additionally, there are emotional elements which influence the learning of pronunciation in methods which are not accurate in studying vocabulary and grammar.
Another issue affecting the teaching of pronunciation is that the fundamental factors of speaking are critically personal. Conceptually, our sense of community and self are attached to the speech-rhythms of our L1 (Leda,& Rasyid, 2018). Typically, these rhythms were trained in our early life and are thoroughly rooted in the brains of students. For this reason, it is public for learners to fell difficulty when they hear themselves talk with a rhythm of L2. They discover that they speak foreign and this is another problem for them. While the uneasiness is typically unconscious, it is a more significant barrier to enhanced comprehensibility in the L2 L1 (Leda,& Rasyid, 2018). Interestingly, researchers argue that teachers are skeptical concerning the teachability of the pronunciations and continue to perceive direct speech instruction of comparatively less significant in their practice.
Sadly, the term pronunciation tries to make individuals think predominantly of sounds which get disorderly which has customarily led to the dependence on fewer pair teachings. Typically, this is because it is necessarily an unengaging operation and since the results appear to be discouraging, it takes greater efforts on the side of the educator to keep the students in the class motivated L1 (Leda,& Rasyid, 2018). Moreover, teachers try to think the topic is technical because it mostly presented in the manner of the teacher education courses. Regrettably, teachers work tirelessly to train speech as if it was a course in phonetics and this discourages both students and teachers L1 (Leda & Rasyid, 2018). Furthermore, books present intonation rules and impractical stress which further burdens trainers. Indeed, the central structure of spoken English is natural and requires less technical terminologies (Wells, 2014). Therefore, if educators understand the importance of teaching pronunciation as a necessary foundation system, then articulation becomes more rewarding for both students and teachers.
2.2 The aim of the research
The primary objective of the study is to analyze how English speaking Russians speak the English language.
2.3 The goals of the research
- To evaluate the importance of differentiating subsidiary and major allophones of the phoneme.
2.4 Research questions
- What is the importance of differentiating between subsidiary and principal allophones of the phoneme?
2.5 The scope of the research
The history of educating pronouncing in English is research in extremes. Martinez (2016) argues that some methodologies to teaching like Audio – bilingualism and Reformed Method improved speech to a pinnacle of significance whereas approaches such as early communicative and cognitive language teaching often ignore pronunciation. Arguably, it appears that intonation requires (Martinez, 2016).
Kiefte, & Kay-Raining (2010) describe the approaches and methods of teaching speech as follows. First, start with the Direct Method different linguistic description that first got popularity in the late 19th century where intonation was taught via imitation and intuition; as per the Naturalistic Methods, students had to learn mainly through listening before speaking was permitted. The primary analytic or linguistic contribution to training pronunciation evolved in the early 18th century as a section of the Reform Movement in language training (Kiefte & Kay-Raining, 2010). Typically, this movement was greatly influenced by the phoneticians like Paul Passy, Wilhelm Vietor, and Henry Sweet who created Global Phonetic Alphabet (GPA). The pundits of language advocated for the practices and notions which recommended that students should be provided by the phonetic education to develop a good speech character and the spoken method of communication was fundamental and should be trained first(Kiefte & Kay-Raining, 2010).
2.6 Relevance of the research and significance of the results
Kiefte & Kay-Raining (2010) open his vital anthology on speech training as follows; “pronunciation has sometimes been referred to as the “poor relation” of the English language teaching (ELT) world. It is a facet of linguistic which is mostly given little interest, if not fully ignored, by the educators in the classroom”. Intonation is vital since its of less concern of how excellent students of grammar or vocabulary apprehends them when they pronounce them(Kiefte & Kay-Raining, 2010). Most importantly, teaching pronunciation helps learners to understand language and maters sounds, cadences, and rhythm of English and how the proper fit in the connected speech.
The study is of great importance to Russians as students will become good at delivering a speech and they will be readily understood even if they make fewer mistakes in public places while learners with unintelligible intonations will still be unintelligible regardless of if they express themselves using perfect grammar and vocabulary. While many Russians like to assume they do not understand English pronunciation, the outcome of this study will be of great importance to them as they will learn difficult areas in English which help them to master different terminologies in English that would explicitly benefit them.
Literature Review
In the modern world, English has become very important to different people all over the globe. Having a good command of the English language means that one has more opportunities to communicate with other people from around the world and also to understand the world in a better manner (Gimson, 2014). Over the past years, the English language has spread all over and is now being used as one of the writings of communication in many countries from different parts of the world. According to Gimson (2014), the English language is now playing a significant role in the entertainment industry since it is more preferred to
Deng (2016) argues that a person who has adequately mastered the skills required in the English language can opt to get engaged in teaching. Consequently, this is because as the number of the people who want to learn the English language continues to increase, the demand for teachers who can teach the same will consequentially increase. Typically, the English language is of much importance all through the whole world, but the pronunciation of the words always differs, especially for Russians, the target group for this research paper.
Deng (2016) asserts that one of the most noticeable aspects when it comes to oral communication is pronunciation. In case the articulation of a person is not proper, the person stops being entirely understandable, and most of the times, the initial reason as to why the person spoke in the first place is not fully achieved. For this reason, therefore, more and more attention should be paid by Russians as they learn the English language, and also practice it (Deng, 2016). According to Deng (2016), “for the acquisition of spoken language skills of one’s mother tongue, a long process that consists of imitating the recurrent sound patterns is needed.” That implies that anytime that a person starts learning a new language later in life, there are more difficulties that such a person is bound to face.
References
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Deng, F. (2016). An analysis of phonetic formation in English euphemism. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 7(3), 542-547.
Gimson, A.C. (2014), Cruttenden, Alan, ed., Gimson’s Pronunciation of English (8th ed.), Routledge
Kiefte, M & Kay-Raining, B. (2010). “Canadian Maritime English.” The Lesser-Known Varieties of English: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 63–64, 67.
Leda, R., & Rasyid, H. (2018, October). The effectiveness of Image Media to Increase Graph phonemic Competency of Under-5-6-Year Children in Tunas Harapan Kindergarten. In Proceeding of PGSD UST International Conference on Education (Vol. 1).
Martinez, M. A. M. (2016). The acquisition of French nasal vowels: From first language allophony to second language phonological contrast (Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University).
Wells, C. (2014), Sounds Interesting, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press