2007

INTRODUCTION

• Difficulties in learning a foreign/second language range from SYNTAX, SEMANTICS, PRAGMATICS, to MORPHOLOGY and PHONOLOGY.

• The role of correct pronunciation in learning a language has been regarded vital (Celce-Muria, 1987; Morley, 1991; Pennington, 1989; Leather, 1983)

• On the contrary, pronunciation teaching does NOT receive much attention by the practitioners due to its difficult-to-teach nature.

What to teach:

segmental features

VS

suprasegmental properties

I agree with Arbor (1992)

SPOKEN ENGLISH

SPEECH PRODUCTION SPEECH PERFORMANCE(A focus on specific elements of pronunciation) (A focus on general elements of oral communication)

PRONUNCIATION: MICROFOCUS ORAL COMUNCATION: MACRO FOCUS

-clear, precise articulation of consonant and vowel sounds -overall clarity and precision of speech -consonant combinations both within and across word -general vocal effectiveness boundaries, elisions, assimilations, etc. -neutral vowel use, reductions, contractions, etc. -overall fluency and ongoing, planning

and structuring of “speech” as it proceeds -syllable structure, phrase groups, and linking words -overall intelligibility across word boundaries -general command and control of grammar -features of stress, rhythm, and intonation -general command of appropriate vocabulary -features of rate, volume, and vocal qualities -expressiveness of nonverbal behaviors

• Native-like pronunciation is impossible?• Accurate pronunciation is SUBSTANTIALLY

BEYOND the control of educators (Suter, 1976 and Suter & Purcell, 1980 cited in Otlowski, 1998:2)

SO, let’s just ignore pronunciation.

The Cinderella of Language Teaching (Dalton, 1997)

• Problem sounds of English;

//, //, //, //, //, and //. • Non-existing sounds should of course be

practiced.

• How about the importance of the learners’ native language?

• Turkish students have major problems with //, //, and //; //, //, and //; final // and // and // and //

Research Questions• How intelligible and successful are Turkish

learners in their production and discrimination of English /v/, judged and spoken by native and non-native speakers?

• Is there a significant success difference between native informants and Turkish students in discriminating /v/ and /w/ pairs, spoken by a native speaker?

• Is there a significant success difference between native informants and Turkish students in discriminating /v/ and /w/ pairs, spoken by Turkish speakers?

METHODOLOGY

• Subjects: 40 freshman English Language Teaching students with at least 6 years of background in learning English, and with similar levels of knowledge about English.

• Informants: 10 American speakers of English (NI).

Data Collection

• Instrument: 22 different lists of the same 20 minimal pairs of /v/ and /w/.

• List 1: the ones spoken by Turkish Student Speakers (TSS) to test 10 native informants and 20 other Turkish Student Listeners (TSL).

• List 2: spoken by a native speaker to test 10 native informants.

• List 3: spoken by a native speaker to test 20 TSLs.

IPA Transcriptions of Minimal Pairs

vest—west /-/ vet—wet /-/vary—wary /-/ vine—wine /-/vent—went /-/ veil—whale /()-()/ vile—while /()-()/ veal—wheel /()-()/verse—worse /-/vie—why /-/

vein—wane /-/viper—wiper /-/vend—wend /-/visor—wiser /-/ veered—weird /-/very—wherry /-/ vale—wail /()-()/vim—whim /-/vow—wow /-/vair—wear /-/

Procedure

• 20 TSS 10 NI

• 1 NS 20 TSLs

• 1 NS 10 NI

• 20 TSS 20 TSLs

Data Analysis

• Descriptive statistics

80% (16 items)

• One sample t-test

• Independent t-test

Data Set 1

Native Speaker

Native Listeners Turkish Listeners

Data Set 2

Turkish Speakers

Native Listeners Turkish Listeners

FINDINGS/RESULTS• Mean scores lower than 16 and

• Percentages lower than 80%

mean that participants are either unintelligible as a speaker or unsuccessful as a listener

• NS NI 19.8 & 98%

• NS TSL 10.3 & 51.5%

• TSS NI 5.73 & 28.65%• TSS TSL 12.29 & 60.7% as listeners

11.55 & 60.82%as

speakers

Significance of the Scores

Table A Number Mean Std. Dv. t df p

Native Speakers

10 19.6 0.699

7.696 28 .000 Turkish Students

20 10.3 3.757

Table B Number Mean Std. Dv. t df p

Native Speakers

10 5.73 0.374

9.961 28 .000 Turkish Students

20 12.295 2.049

CONCLUSION & DISCUSSION

Turkish students;

• are not successful listeners (10.3)

• are not intelligible speakers (5.73)

in terms of producing and perceiving the difference between /v/ and /w/.

WHY?

• English /v/ sound DOES NOT exist as a phoneme in Turkish language.

• English /v/ sound is a labiodental, fricative and voiced consonant while

• Turkish sound is a labiodental, voiced and

Central Approximant sound, shown as //• The same alphabetical symbol, letter v. • The English sound is an allophone of // in

Turkish language, and is used when // preceded by a voiceless stop or fricative sound [//--//]

Most of the teachers and almost all students of English in Turkey are unaware of the difference between // & /v/.

“If the English sound is not clearly perceived, the brain of the learner converts it into the closest sound in their own language” Dalton (1997).

That’s why we need language-sensitive pronunciation books and/or programs.