scholarly journals Contrastive Analysis of Consonants in English and Vietnamese

Author(s):  
Nguyen Thanh Huyen

Language is an intensely indispensable tool. It has tremendous functions in communication. One is communicating and conveying messages, thoughts and ideas, feelings, insights, and mental treasures and values of a communicative society. Also, it enhances and strengthens fellowships, companionships, relationships and economic and cultural cooperation. However, language is very indistinct, unclear and confusing. This contrastive linguistics analysis will compare the consonants between English and Vietnamese. Thus, the author synthesizes stored information from various sources to compare differences in consonants between English and Vietnamese in comparative points. Then, some implications and discussion would be drawn for teaching English pronunciation, aiming at helping English learners pronounce like native speakers. The findings show that there are significant differences between English and Vietnamese consonants. This paper is intended to help teachers and English learners review English and Vietnamese consonants to minimize mistakes in their pronunciation, accommodating learners to build their confidence to communicate in L2.

2020 ◽  
pp. 189-196
Author(s):  
Rano MARDONOVA

This article deals with the issue of the features of pronunciation in teaching English specifically on the pronunciation difficulties of Uzbek learners. An important aspect in learning a particular language is pronunciation. Based on the explanatory Dictionary of Contemporary English Longman, pronunciation is a particular person’s way of pronouncing a word or words. In English language, there are not one-to-one correspondence between the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they represent. It is the aptness in pronunciation that makes our language comprehensible to others. Therefore, apart from grammar and spelling, one has to concentrate on pronunciation as well. There are some problems for foreign learners like age and perception as well. Very often students mispronounce the words, distort the pronunciation because they are not involved into the conscious approach of practicing sounds, words and sentences, instead, they are simply made to parrot out sounds and words without realizing what they are doing. In fact, training English pronunciation is necessary from the very beginning of learning a foreign language. Otherwise, it will be quite difficult to correct and make up for the fixed errors. Everyone faced the problem of pronunciation in the initial stages of language learning. It is important from the beginning of training to master sound speech, to learn how to pronounce sounds like native speakers do. In addition, the article considers the problem of interference and notes the most typical mistakes made by Uzbek learners when pronouncing English vowels and consonants. The goal of this article is mainly aimed at teaching and mastering the simplest and easiest ways of correct pronunciation of the studied language.


2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Henderson ◽  
Dan Frost ◽  
Elina Tergujeff ◽  
Alexander Kautzsch ◽  
Deirdre Murphy ◽  
...  

This paper provides an overview of the main findings from a European-wide on-line survey of English pronunciation teaching practices. Both quantitative and qualitative data from seven countries (Finland, France, Germany, Macedonia, Poland, Spain and Switzerland) are presented, focusing on teachers' comments about: ● their own pronunciation, ● their training, ● their learners’ goals, skills, motivation and aspirations, ● their preferences for certain varieties (and their perception of their students' preferences). The results of EPTiES reveal interesting phenomena across Europe, despite shortcomings in terms of construction and distribution. For example, most respondents are non-native speakers of English and the majority of them rate their own mastery of English pronunciation favourably. However, most feel they had little or no training in how to teach pronunciation, which begs the question of how teachers are coping with this key aspect of language teaching. In relation to target models, RP remains the variety of English which teachers claim to use, whilst recognizing that General American might be preferred by some students. Differences between countries are explored, especially via replies to open-ended questions, allowing a more nuanced picture to emerge for each country. Other survey research is also referred to, in order to contextualise the analyses and implications for teaching English and for training English teachers.


2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie Simon-Vandenbergen ◽  
Karin Aijmer

The study of of course presented in this article has an applied, a descriptive and a theoretical aim. Since of course proves to be very frequent in English, learners will need to know what meanings the item has and in what pragmatic contexts it is used. It has indeed been shown that some learners tend to use of course in contexts where it is felt by native speakers to be inappropriate. In order to explain such inappropriate uses we need detailed descriptions of the semantics and pragmatics of of course. From a theoretical point of view such multifunctional items raise the question of whether semantic polysemy or pragmatic polysemy is the best explanatory account. It is argued in this paper that empirical cross-linguistic work can contribute to providing answers to all three research questions. First, the study of correspondences and differences between languages with regard to the meanings and uses of pragmatic markers is a necessary step in the explanation of learner problems. Second, the bidirectional approach to equivalents, which involves going back and forth from sources to translations, enables us to show to what extent the equivalents have partially overlapping pragmatic functions. An in-depth comparison of the semantic fields in which the translation equivalents operate is the ultimate goal. Third, the translation method helps to see to what extent a core meaning account is justified. In this paper three languages are brought into the picture, viz. English, Swedish and Dutch. The cross-linguistic data have been gathered from three translation corpora, i.e. the English-Swedish Parallel Corpus, the Oslo Multilingual Corpus and the Namur Triptic Corpus.


2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roumyana Slabakova ◽  
Jennifer Cabrelli Amaro ◽  
Sang Kyun Kang

Abstract This article presents results of two off-line comprehension tasks investigating the acceptability of unconventional and conventional metonymy by native speakers of Korean and Spanish who speak English as a second language. We are interested in discovering whether learners differentiate between conventional and unconventional metonymy, and whether the acceptability of metonymic expressions in the native language has an effect on learners’ judgments in the second language. The findings of this study constitute further experimental support for the psychological reality of the distinction between conventional and unconventional metonymy, but only in English. Learners of English at intermediate levels of proficiency exhibit transfer from the native language in comprehending metonymic shifts of meanings. Restructuring of the grammar is evident in later stages of development. Finally, complete success in acquiring L2 metonymic patterns is attested in our experimental study. Implications for L2A theories and teaching practices are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanghui Wang

With the ubiquitous usage of wireless, portable, and handheld devices gaining popularity in 21st century, the revolutionary mobile technology introduces digital new media to educational settings, which has changed the way of traditional teaching and learning. WeChat is one of the most popular social networking applications in China featured by its interactivity and real-time communication that has attracted attention of educators to its pedagogical value. This study evaluates the utilization of WeChat in mobile learning and, in particular, its potential for improving English pronunciation among English learners in China. It probes into the perennial problems of Chinese students in English pronunciation acquisition and oral practice, discusses WeChat’s support functions in mobile learning, demonstrates the relevant empirical studies of WeChat in teaching and learning, and analyses the potential value of using WeChat in improving English pronunciation. Examinations in this paper enable one to reflect on the strengths of mobile learning by WeChat and to explore how this social media tool is likely to solve the pronunciation difficulties of Chinese English learners. It is found that applying WeChat to English pronunciation teaching and practicing helps create better self-directed learning environment, enhance learning flexibility and improve oral learning effectiveness. It is hopefully that insights gained from examining how WeChat helps improve English pronunciation learning will shed light on further innovations of teaching designs in this area.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Novia Hayati

 Abstrak Analisis Kontrastif Kotowari Hyougen  antara Pembelajar Bahasa Jepang dan Penutur Asli. Di antara beberapa aktifitas berbahasa, tindakan menolak sering dianggap sebagai tindakan yang cukup sulit karena memberikan perasaan tidak menyenangkan terhadap lawan tutur. Tindak tutur menolak tidak terlepas dari latar belakang tindak tutur berbahasa oleh pengguna bahasa tersebut. Pembelajar yang berbahasa ibu bahasa Sunda memiliki kemiripan dengan penutur asli dalam membuat tindak tutur penolakan dikarenakan adanya kedekatan aturan undak usuk bahasa sunda dengan tainguu hyougen dalam bahasa Jepang. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui ungkapan penolakan yang digunakan oleh pembelajar bahasa Jepang kemudian melalui perbandingan dengan penutur asli diketahui persamaan dan perbedaanya serta permasalahan dalam ungkapan penolakan oleh pembelajar. Instrumen yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah Discourse Completion Test (DCT). Hasil analisis data menunjukan terdapat persamaan diantara pembelajar dan penutur asli dalam pengguna {wabi} terhadap dosen akrab (penggunanya lebih rendah). Sebagai permasalahan dalam ungkapan penolakan yakni pembelajar menggunakan {fuka} dalam bentuk futsuu no hiteikei, dan {koshou} dalam frekuensi yang cukup tinggi. Sebaliknya, penutur asli menggunakan fukanoukei, dikarenakan apabila menggunakan futsuu no hiteikei akan diterima sebagai arti penolakan yang kuat/keras.Kata kunci: Kotowari hyougen, DCT, Taiguu hyougen, penutur asli, konstraktif  Abstract Contrastive Analysis of Kotowari Hyougen between Learners of Japanese Language and Japanese Native Speakers. Among several speaking activities, action of refusal is often considered a difficult act as it gives an unpleasant feeling againts interlocutors. Refusal speech act cannot be separated from the background of the speech act by the user of the language. Learners whose mother tongue is Sundanese language has similarities with Japanese native speakers in making the speech act of refusal due to the proximity of the undak usuk in Sundanese with tainguu hyougen in Japanese. This study aims to determine the expressions of refusal used by Japanese learners then, through comparison with native speakers, to determine the similarities, differences and problems in the expression of rejection by the learners. The instrument used in this study is Discourse Completion Test (DCT). Form the analysis of the data it was found that there were similarities between learners and native speakers that {riyuu/iiwake}, {wabi}, {fuka} were used as the main semantic formula. There are similarities between learners whose mother tongue is Sundanese and native speakers in using language {wabi} to professors considered familiar (lower usage). The problem of expressions of refusal used by learners {fuka} in the form Futsuu fuka no hiteikei and {koshou} was in a fairly high frequency. In contrast, native speakers use fukanoukei, because using Futsuu no hiteikei will be considered as a strong/hard sense of refusal.Keywords: Kotowari hyougen, DCT, Tainguu hyougen


Author(s):  
Wire Bagye

One of the materials in the English Language course is listening, namely the skill of hearing the pronunciation of English sentences. Learning listening must use native speaker or recording material so that the pronunciation is heard according to the original. If you use the course participants as a sound source, there is a high probability of mistakes in the pronunciation of words or sentences. Then an application is needed to help with course activities as tutors or native speakers in giving correct English pronunciation. In this research, English Pronunciation Application was built using the Greenfoot Application with the object oriented programming concept. This application is to help pronoun learning that can output audio when the object clicked. The development method uses SDLC, application modeling uses UML and testing using Black-box testing. The English pronunciation application is compiled into a .jar file so that it can be run on a computer with a Windows operating system that has JDK installed. The test results show that this English learning application can replace tutors, produce the right audio, and can replace native speakers. This can be seen from the results of the questionnaire showing 82%.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Priya K. Nair

In India acquisition of English language is imperative if one wants to sell oneself in the increasingly competitive job market. With a booming population the nation is filled with educated, technologically literate youth. English is not merely a foreign language in India. As India is separated by a plethora of languages knowledge of English is imperative. As the teachers in India are not native speakers of English the language they teach is not free from errors. The articulation is quite problematic as the mother tongue influence is quite pronounced. Technology helps to reduce these errors. Movies as a tool can enhance the listening and speaking skills of our students. It is quite boring to work with disembodied voices and the recorded conversations available in language labs do not sustain the learner’s interest. However learners are often forced to listen to recorded conversations of people they never see, the conversation is often stilted and contemporary idiom is hardly used. However, a completely new dimension to aural practice can be added in the classroom by using movies. <br /><p><strong> </strong></p>


ReCALL ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
YASUSHI TSUBOTA ◽  
MASATAKE DANTSUJI ◽  
TATSUYA KAWAHARA

We have developed an English pronunciation learning system which estimates the intelligibility of Japanese learners' speech and ranks their errors from the viewpoint of improving their intelligibility to native speakers. Error diagnosis is particularly important in self-study since students tend to spend time on aspects of pronunciation that do not noticeably affect intelligibility. As a preliminary experiment, the speech of seven Japanese students was scored from 1 (hardly intelligible) to 5 (perfectly intelligible) by a linguistic expert. We also computed their error rates for each skill. We found that each intelligibility level is characterized by its distribution of error rates. Thus, we modeled each intelligibility level in accordance with its error rate. Error priority was calculated by comparing students' error rate distributions with that of the corresponding model for each intelligibility level. As non-native speech is acoustically broader than the speech of native speakers, we developed an acoustic model to perform automatic error detection using speech data obtained from Japanese students. As for supra-segmental error detection, we categorized errors frequently made by Japanese students and developed a separate acoustic model for that type of error detection. Pronunciation learning using this system involves two phases. In the first phase, students experience virtual conversation through video clips. They receive an error profile based on pronunciation errors detected during the conversation. Using the profile, students are able to grasp characteristic tendencies in their pronunciation errors which in effect lower their intelligibility. In the second phase, students practise correcting their individual errors using words and short phrases. They then receive information regarding the errors detected during this round of practice and instructions for correcting the errors. We have begun using this system in a CALL class at Kyoto University. We have evaluated system performance through the use of questionnaires and analysis of speech data logged in the server, and will present our findings in this paper.


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