Phonetic Errors

English language learners of different backgrounds have different types of difficulties. According to many ESL learners, the most difficult, but most important, skill to acquire is speaking. This difficulty varies depending on the phonology systems of different mother tongues (MT). In this small case study, I am going to study some of the phonological problems for Sam, a Chinese overseas student whose proficiency level is upper-intermediate. She is doing her Masters of marketing at the University of Glasgow. She started her courses two months ago. She is taking intensive courses, 8-hour workshops and marketing case studies. She prepares for presentations on marketing for well known companies. Sam aims at improving her marketing skills for a professional purpose, so she should have honed her communication skills by the time she returns to china.

After recording an interview with her, this paper should discuss three significant phonological problematic features in Sam’s speech and propose strategies or exercises that may help Sam overcome these problems.

Less Vowel Contrast, Wrong Stress Shifting

During the interview, Sam was noticeably mixing between vowels, mainly short and long vowels. She pronounced /ʌsˈpekt/[i] for /ˈæspekt/, /prʊˈgres/[ii] for /ˈprəʊgres/, and /fəstˈli:/[iii] for /ˈfɜ:stlɪ/. She seems to have a problem in making distinctions between the long vowels and the shorts vowels simply because ‘there are more vowel contrasts in English than in Chinese’. That is, in English articulation system, the vowel sounds are closer to each other than in Chinese (Swan & Smith, 1987, p.225). This use of short vowels results in another problem. When the vowels /æ/, /əʊ/, and /ɜ:/ are stressed in the correct pronunciation of the intended meaning, Sam uses short vowels /ʌ/, /ʊ/, /ə/. Consequently, she shifts the stress to the second syllable. Therefore, the mixing between /əbˈʤekt/ and /ˈɒbʤɪkt/, /ˈkɒntest/ and /kənˈtest/ is possible in Sam’s speech.

Although the listener can impatiently grasp the intended meanings of the wrongly stressed words, it is critical because it can confuse and annoy the listeners, especially if the speaker’s job is marketing! Certain word stresses have strong effects in terms of persuading the listener and hooking their attention if we bear in mind Sam’s level of education. It is worth noting that in some words Sam places the word stress on the right syllable but is still confused with the vowels length and contrast, as in British /ˈbri:tɪʃ/[iv] instead of /ˈbrɪtɪʃ/ and study /ˈstædɪ/[v] instead of /ˈstʌdɪ/.