Ｐｒｏｎｕｎｃｉａｔｉｏｎ ｉｎ Ｅｎｇｌｉｓｈ Ｐｅｄａｇｏｇｙ ｉｎ Ｃｈｉｎａ

马　玥

Abstract:Teaching English pronunciation in SLA has been a challenge for almost every English teacher because students local Chinese accents have been a major obstacle when theyre learning English. This article is aiming to illustrate the phenomena and solutions of the pronunciation in English pedagogy.

Key words:Phonology Pronunciation English Pedagogy

Ⅰ The Meanings of Pronunciation in SLA

Phonology is the study of the sound systems of languages. Phonology is concerned with the linguistic patterning of sounds in human languages, with its primary aim being to discover the principles that govern the way sounds are organized in languages, and to explain the variations that occur.

As for Pronunciation in English as the second language acquisition in China, we take it for granted that Pronunciation plays the second or the third fiddle when it comes to grammar, vocabulary and sentence structure etc. It is universally acknowledged that language communication relies mainly upon vocal transmission. Apart from professional study of phonetics in larynx and vocal tract movements,Im here to bring a concrete debate on how we can apply the field of Pronunciation on SLA from a practical perspective.

There are many ways in which Pronunciation and SLA can be linked for the positive meanings of both sides. As a tiny branch of linguistics, pronunciation takes an indispensable role in bridging the transmission of information.

First of all, pronunciation is of great significance in improving listening comprehension. One who has well-grounded pronunciation knowledge bears fewer problems in understanding other people. For instance, English native speakers prefer to say “You can count on us” as /juk糿′ka蝞t縩約/ while Chinese English learners speak it word by word. Native speakers generally link sound /t/ and /on/, /on/ and /約/ together when they speak. These happen very often in their conversations. Actually, the sound of English is radically not divided by word unit but is defined by syllables in words.

Secondly, pronunciation can make positive contributions to the process of colloquial communication. One who has inaccurate pronunciation will definitely set barriers between speakers, and will easily get oneself misunderstood as well.

Last but not the least, there is an undeniable fact that pronunciation is of tremendous avail to spelling words properly. According to survey from an English website, it shows that Americans are still suffering from wrong spelling when they write. They also provide some solutions to this problem.

ⅡThe Status & Problems of Pronunciation in SLA for Chinese English Learners

Before we take a further move, Id like to dig out the status and problems of pronunciation in SLA for Chinese English learners.

To begin with, English pronunciation is like a child abandoned in an unknown corner. More than 90% of Chinese English learners' energy goes to morphology, sentence structures, lexics etc, whereas pronunciation (Phonetics to be exact) is gaining less awareness along the whole process. The following consequence is that quite a number of Chinese English learners speak unconfident English partly because of their inappropriate pronunciation. With numerous mistakes in pronunciation, people get less confidence when they see some bizarre facial expressions showing on foreign faces. Without the sense of accomplishment in pronunciation, people switch their focus on deaf and mute skills such as reading comprehension, paper translation etc.

In the second place, there are some problems need to be mentioned when talking about pronunciation teaching in SLA. It is widely recognized that people who would like to acquire pure English pronunciation will surely confront some unforeseeable barriers because of their local Chinese dialects when they communicate with foreigners.

Finally, as it already has been a global notion that there are two mainstream pronunciation systems: British Pronunciation and American pronunciation. Due to historical and other reasons, the two major pronunciations go to separate ways, which British pronunciation represents the Queen's English with more sharp cadence and less exaggerating sounds such as /u/, /a/ in order to show the dignity of upper class of the society whereas American pronunciation manifests the Puritans who speak English with more relaxed and exaggerating sounds like //, /u/, /a/ and /r/ with the strong determination to pursue their ideal Zion-like land of freedom in early age.

Ⅲ The Effect and Potential of Pronunciation Pedagogy for Chinese English Learners

Frankly speaking, back to centuries ago when Canton and Shanghai started to be opening-up cities in the late Qing Dynasty, English was merely a tool for foreign trade. People who learned that language were aiming to communicate with foreigners. Subconsciously, their way of learning English was perfectly adapted as a reasonable way of acquiring a new language. That's why, to some degree, there were lots of linguistic masters such as Lin Yutang and Qian Chongshu who were so famous through centuries.

Gradually, the pedagogy of English has varied greatly compared to what it was. We are focusing much upon paper test instead of cultivating skills of communication. Even though it is much easier and more convenient to get materials of English, students in colleges and universities are still in dark about where they should go in English acquisition, let alone learning pronunciation.

Nowadays, there is much potential for us to upgrade the awareness of pedagogy in pronunciation because listening and speaking skills are part and partial in this information era. The quality of pronunciation pedagogy directly influences the quality of communication. Consequently, pronunciation pedagogy strikes positive impact on the development of SLA.

Ⅳ The Exploration of Pronunciation Pedagogy in English Teaching in China

if we would like to teach it well, the pronunciation of English teachers should top the list. Teachers with inaccurate pronunciation will by no means give their students a good demonstration. Upon this first base, the next step we need to do is, from a practical perspective, to change the traditional way of teaching 48 International Phonetic Symbols (known as IPA). Take /ai/ for example, we often explain this phonetic symbol by using technical or even oral cavity terms to explain the movements of making this sound. Students are learners not professionals. They dont even have clear clues about all these terms, let alone doing them right when they learn them. From a practical angle, /ai/ can be described as a person who starts to yawn at the beginning, and then the end of yawning action is /i/, the whole yawning process is exactly the right way to pronounce /ai/. Through this explanation, students can visualize the correct and accurate action of their mouth movements. This fool-proof description is helpful for students to get.

After knowing the right ways of producing 48 IPA, the next move is to apply these sounds into practice. How we can do them right in words, phrases, sentences and passages are the following procedures topolish our pronunciation. We must notice that there are three elements which combine the whole pack of English pronunciation: phonetic symbols, syllable and stress. When we look at it from a microscope, it's all phonetic symbols. But if we look at it from a macroscopic perspective, it is syllable that really counts. This word "syllable" does not merely refer to syllables IN words but also refer to syllables BETWEEN words. Chinese pronunciation is divided by word, but English is basically divided by syllable. That's why Chinese English learners speak English word by word instead of syllable by syllable. Hence, if we want to change this situation, we must give students some other practices such as reading poems, conversations and passages to develop general coherence of English pronunciation.

Ⅴ The Future Development of Pronunciation Pedagogy in SLA

In conclusion, the future of pronunciation pedagogy, from practical approach, should focus on the effect and result rather than providing theoretical explanation. The quick development of the Internet, the massive infusion of Hollywood movies, English magazines and newspapers and radios bring forth us adequate resources to improve our pronunciation. Continuous repetition and imitation are the key knacks to upgrade our pronunciation. Pronunciation, in the coming future, will definitely gain its attention and popularity as colloquial communication is called for in this information age. Putting more emphasis on it in SLA is absolutely beneficial to language acquisition.

References:

[1]Jeremy Harmer.How to Teach English.北京:外语教学与研究出版社.

[2] Carlos Gussenhoven,Haike Jacobs. Understanding Phonology,北京:外语教学与研究出版社2001,(9).

[3]张卓宏.突破英语听说要塞.北京:清华大学出版社,2006,(12).

[4]胡壮麟.语言学教程.北京:北京大学出版社,2001,(7).