Germans are not aiming for a fossilized form of English: A response to Booth (2015)

English Today ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 30-32
Author(s):  
Carrie Ankerstein
Keyword(s):  
Main Claim ◽  
British English ◽  
Efl Teaching ◽  
English Pronunciation

This is a response to John E. Booth's (2015) article, ‘The fossilization of non-current English pronunciation in German EFL teaching’, published in English Today. Booth makes a number of claims in his paper, but the focus here is on his main claim that German pronunciation of English is based on an archaic accent of British English.

The fossilization of non-current English pronunciation in German EFL teaching

English Today ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
John E. Booth
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Cell Phone ◽  
American English ◽  
Jet Lag ◽  
British English ◽  
Efl Teaching ◽  
English Pronunciation

The German term Handy is a neat and singular creation, referring to the ‘mobile phone’ (British English) or ‘cell phone’ (American English), in itself a unique and most useful invention – handy, indeed! What is even more remarkable is the pronunciation of this term: /hεndi:/. While the second vowel mirrors the pronunciation of word-final ‘i’ sounds in German (cf. Gabi, Salami, Müsli), the ‘a’ does not. Instead, it appears to reflect a socially generalized view of what a short ‘a’ in English is supposed to sound like. And this is not the front, near-open ‘ash’ vowel [æ], the ‘standard lexical set TRAP’, as defined by Wells (1982: 129), but rather a cardinal [ε], the ‘standard lexical set DRESS’ (128), as found in German in other English borrowings: Jetlag or Jet-Lag /jεtlεg/, Gag /gεg/, relaxen /relεksn/, scannen /skεnǝn/, etc.

The North Wind versus a Wolf: short texts for the description and measurement of English pronunciation

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Deterding
Keyword(s):  
English Speakers ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Acoustic Measurements ◽  
British English ◽  
The North ◽  
North Wind ◽  
English Pronunciation

For many years, the passage ‘The North Wind and the Sun’ (NWS) has been used for phonetic research into different languages. However, there are many shortcomings with the passage for the description of varieties of English, including the absence of some sounds, such as /[zcy ]/ and syllable-initial /θ/, problems with the text for the measurement of rhythm, and issues regarding acoustic measurements of /æ/ and /I/. An alternative passage, ‘The Boy who Cried Wolf’, is suggested, and measurements of the monophthongs based on recordings of the Wolf passage by three RP British English speakers are compared with similar measurements of the vowels in the NWS passage.

The Formants of Monophthong Vowels in Standard Southern British English Pronunciation

1997 ◽  
Vol 27 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 47-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Deterding
Keyword(s):  
Linear Prediction ◽  
Connected Speech ◽  
British English ◽  
English Pronunciation

The formants of the eleven monophthong vowels of Standard Southern British (SSB) pronunciation of English were measured for five male and five female BBC broadcasters whose speech was included in the MARSEC database. The measurements were made using linear-prediction-based formant tracks overlaid on digital spectrograms for an average of ten instances of each vowel for each speaker. These measurements were taken from connected speech, allowing comparison with previous formant values measured from citation words. It was found that the male vowels were significantly less peripheral in the measurements from connected speech than in measurements from citation words.

scholarly journals arfani IMPROVING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION SKILL THROUGH THUMBELINA AND PINOCCHIO FAIRY TALES

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (02) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Sri Arfani ◽  
Rini Martiwi ◽  
Oldea BrKaro Sekali
Keyword(s):  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Observation Process ◽  
Efl Teaching ◽  
English Pronunciation

As the objective of EFL teaching is to help students to communicate fluently in the target language, teachers should provide authentic models of language use for every level and age. To hit the target we should focus not only on linguistic, but also on literary and cultural elements. Since fairy tales offer these elements, they are highly beneficial to use in EFL teaching programs, especially for young learners. This objective of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of teaching English pronunciation through fairy tale media. This research was conducted at SMPS PGRI Pondokgede class 8-3. The writer has conducted field research for 1 month. Some data was taken through observation, process, and post-learning and teaching activities. This paper contains ways to improve students’ English pronunciation by providing Thumbelina and Pinocchio fairy tales. The result of this study indicated that: (1) teaching English pronunciation trough fairy tale is effective to increase students’ pronunciation (2) students become easier to understand the subject matter and increase their English vocabulary, and (3) students become more active and confident when reading texts or fairy tales by showing good pronunciation.

scholarly journals The Study of the Effects of Yunnan Yuxi Dialect on Received Pronunciation

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 664
Author(s):  
Yuanfei Yao
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Standard English ◽  
English Learning ◽  
British English ◽  
English Teaching ◽  
Detailed Explanation ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Received Pronunciation

In A Brief Analysis of Yuxi Dialect, Fu Chang makes a detailed explanation on dialects’ features and the value of its study. In The General Received Pronunciation of British English by Fengtong Chang, the author dealt with reasons why London English became standard English, and also elaborated on consonants and vowels in British English. Up to today no one has ever made a contrast between the two languages and further diminished the interference from dialect in English pronunciation learning of the Yuxi students. This paper is designed to make a contrast between the two languages: Yuxi dialect in Zhoucheng and Received Pronunciation; as well as the differences between their consonants and vowels respectively can be achieved to rectify the pronunciations’ deviation in English learning. It is intended to improve English teaching quality of Yuxi dialect speakers and enhance the pronunciation standardization of English there.

scholarly journals British English pronunciation preferences: a changing scene

1999 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Wells
Keyword(s):  
Extended Version ◽  
British English ◽  
Sound Changes ◽  
English Pronunciation

A poll of BrE pronunciation preferences was carried out in late 1998, based on a self-selected sample of nearly 2000 ‘speech-conscious’ respondents, who answered a hundred questions about words of uncertain or controversial pronunciation. The findings allow us to answer questions about lexical incidence and sound changes in progress. (This is a revised and considerably extended version of the report published as Wells 1999.)

scholarly journals English pronunciation teaching at different educational levels: Insights into teachers’ perceptions and actions

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Szyszka
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching Techniques ◽  
Educational Levels ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Efl Teaching ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
On Line ◽  
Line Survey

The aim of the present paper is to reflect upon the place of pronunciation in English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching at different educational levels in Poland. To collect the data, an on-line survey was conducted among EFL professionals teaching at primary, lower secondary, and higher secondary schools in Poland. The questions focused on the respondents’ beliefs about pronunciation, teachers’ competences regarding pronunciation and pronunciation teaching, and the pronunciation teaching techniques they use. The results depict the most and least frequently used pronunciation teaching techniques at each of the three educational stages, and the beliefs of EFL teachers in Poland regarding pronunciation teaching.

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