A Brief Study of Junior High School Students’ English Articulatory Problems in Baoji Area

馬卉

【Abstract】Study of Articulation is a key factor in teaching English. By a brief research， some English articulatory problems are seen among junior middle school students in Baoji which mainly lie in misuttering the voiced labiodental， the dentals and， and misuttering nasal是 as for the reasons of transfer， evaluation system， teacher factors and learner factors. The author analyses the articulatory problems and puts forward the solutions to the problems as eliminating the negative transfer by massive practice， increasing learners motivation and needs， and improving teachers expertise to improve the learners performance in English learning.

【Key words】English; articulatory problems; solutions

Ⅰ. Introduction to the thesis

As a tool of communication throughout the world， English is a second language for most Chinese students. It is required in New Curriculum Criterion （revised in 2011） that English learning could develop students good communication ability to meet the demands of the increasingly developing world. Among all the factors， phonetic teaching is one of the most important content in English language teaching. Natural and standard phonetic and tones can lay a good foundation for effective communication and further education for learners.（Zhang Baolin. 2005）

However， there are some articulatory problems for Chinese junior high school students in learning English. By research， some common phonetic errors can be seen in Baoji area. In order to improve the students English articulation， here some main problems are shared and analyzed， and the solutions to them are given.

Ⅱ. Main articulatory problems

According to research， some articulatory problems for Junior high school students in Baoji lie mainly in misuttering the following consonants.

2.1 Misuttering the voiced labiodentals [v]

The standard sound [v] is formed with the upper teeth and the lower lip （Yule， G. 2000）. However， because there is not the sound in Chinese， it is difficult for junior high school learners to pronounce it correctly. Some students pronounce it using both upper and lower lips. Therefore they pronounce the voiced labiodentals [v] as bilabial [w]. Typical errors are that some learners articulate “very” as [wer?]. As a result， such utterance as [wer? wel] for “very well” is usually heard.

2.2 Misuttering the dentals [θ] and [?]

The standard sound for dentals [θ] and [?] are formed with the tongue tip behind the upper front teeth. The term interdental is sometimes used to describe the manner of pronunciation of the sounds. As far as is observed， most students pronounce [θ] and [?] with the front part of the tongue on the alveolar ridge， which is the rough， bony ridge immediately behind the upper teeth. In other words， they pronounce the dentals [θ] and [?] as alveolars [s] and [z]. Typical errors are that some learners articulate “three” as [sri：]， “they” as [ze?].

2.3 Misuttering nasals [n] and [?]

A majority of students cannot articulate nasals [n] and [?] in a proper way. When the velum is lowered and the airstream is allowed to flow out through the nose， nasals [n] and [?] are produced. Junior 和 school learners in Baoji area have a tendency to confuse the alveolar [n] with the voiced velar [?]. When they say in the classroom， they may pronounce [?? ?? ?klɑ：sru：m ].

Ⅲ. Reasons for articulatory problems

3.1 Different language families of Chinese and English

A single language is a broad system. According to Sir William Jones， there are more than 4000 languages in the world which include about 30 language families（Dai Manchun， He Zhaoxiong， 2000）. English belongs to Indo-European languages， and Chinese belongs to Sino-Tibetan languages. In terms of English sounds， there are 20 vowels， 25 consonants and 5 approximants. In terms of Chinese sounds， there are 23 initial consonants， 6 simple vowels， 18 compound vowels， and 16 whole-syllables. The English phonetics and Chinese syllables look similar but formed quite differently. Besides， There are some sounds unique in English， e.g. [θ]， [?]， and [v]， which can be hindrance for Chinese students to articulate some words correctly.

3.2 First language （ including dialect） transfer

According to behaviorist theory， old habits get in the way of learning new habits. Where SLA is concerned， therefore， the grammatical apparatus programmed into the mind as the first language interferes with the smooth acquisition of the second.

Before English learning， Chinese junior high school learners are exposed to Chinese Pinyin from the age of 6 and they can use Pinyin to learn new characters. In terms of articulation， English phonetics are fast and approximate sounds， While Chinese Pinyin are full and accurate sounds. So the negative transfer can be seen in some vowels in English， The errors were seen as the result of interference from the entrenched （firmly rooted） habits of the L1（Dai weidong， Wang Dong. 2002）.

In addition， dialect in Baoji area can be an obstacle in nasal sounds. People in Baoji have over-strong nasals， and they are accustomed to articulating velar nasals（eng， ing）when they articulate alveolar nasals （en， in）. For example， they say “míng” for “mín”，“méng”for“mén”，“wēng”for“wén”， “líng”for“lín”. The result is that they tend to articulate [n] as [?] in learning English.

3.3 Other factors

3.3.1 Evaluation system

Evaluation is a process that includes measurement and possibly testing， but it also contains the notion of a value judgment. The means of evaluation can guide the learners and teachers. Under New Curriculum circumstances， exam-oriented teaching system still puts more emphasis on listening， reading and writing test， which makes learners focus more attention on accumulation of vocabulary and reading， and pay less attention to the sounds. With heavy tasks in limited terms， teachers spare less time in practising phonetics.

3.3.2 Teacher factors

Early theories of SLA based on the notion of habit formation through practice and reinforcement， emphasized the importance of the input. In classroom ESL， teacher talk plays a key role in the whole process of learning. It could be an important input for the learners（Ellis， R. 1999）. Under most circumstances， students mere exposure to the L2 is the teachers articulation in classroom SLA. But it is a fact that some teachers lack systematic training in phonetics， and there are some problems in teachers pronunciation. Lacking in genuine environment， SLA depends more on imitation of the teachers articulation. Teachers pronunciation problems can reinforce students errors.

3.3.3 Learner factors

According to American SLA linguist Rod Ellis， there is a whole range of learner factors that potentially influence the way a L2 is acquired. The key ones are age， aptitude and intelligence， motivation and need， personality and cognitive style（Ellis， R. 1999）. Some junior high school learners are above the critical period， and they dont show enough motivation to learn English because of personal reasons such as interest， knowledge level， aptitude and so on， therefore there are some problems in articulation remained to be solved.

3.3.4 Fluency-rather-than-accuracy teaching strategy

In order not to interfere students interest and confidence， teachers put more attention on fluency and neglect accuracy. Teachers not pointing out the learners pronunciation problems immediately with the purpose of encouraging the learners can sometimes lead to the fossilization of learners errors.

Ⅳ. Solutions for articulatory problems

4.1 Eliminating the negative transfer by massive practice

According to behaviorist learning theory， the notion of interference was the result of what was called proactive inhibition. This is concerned with the way in which previous learning prevents or inhibits the learning of new habits. In order to eliminate the old habit and develop the new habit， the learner has to overcome proactive inhibition. To overcome the negative transfer， the right-sized doses of presenting and practice are necessary. Practice makes perfect. So teachers could provide massive practices to eliminate the chance of errors.

4.2 Increasing learners motivation and needs

Learners motivation and needs have always had a central place in theories of SLA. Learners who are interested in the social and cultural customs of native speaker of the language they are learning are likely to be successful. Similarly when learners have a strong instrumental need to learn a L2（e.g. in order to study through the medium of the L2）， they will probably prosper. Conversely， learners with little interest in the way of life of native speaker of the L2 or with low instrumental motivation can be expected to learn slowly and to stop learning some way short of native speaker competence. In this case， motivation can be developed by careful selection of learning tasks both to achieve the right level of complexity to create opportunities for success and to foster intrinsic interest.

4.3 Improving teachers expertise

Teacher talk is very important for learners. Teachers should be expert in systematic phonetics and improve their expertise. They should have a more accurate， standard pronunciation. Whats more， They should reinforce ones theoretical knowledge and refresh their professional knowledge. Teachers should also enlarge their psychology knowledge to arouse students motivation and interest to improve their language performance.

Ⅴ. Conclusion

Language acquisition is an extremely complicated process. Language-learner language contains errors， and the existence of errors in language-learner language is quite natural. Nevertheless errors are an important source of information about SLA （Rod Ellis， 1999）. In this essay， some mainly articulatory problems for Junior high school students in learning English in Baoji area are shared and analyzed， and the solutions are put forward aimed at improving students performance and effect of English language learning.

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