Topic 3 / Question 2

Non-native speakers of English (NNS) often have problems with pronunciation. Discuss the
problem areas and suggest ways to overcome these problems identified. Provide relevant
examples to illustrate your answer.
The English Language is internationally known as the global language whereby its influence
has reached to every corner of the earth. Currently, it is obvious that through Western
hegemony, the influence of the English language is now commonly used for international
matters in the field of economy and trade, human rights and entertainment as well. Having
strong influences have resulted in the English Language being compulsory subjects in
schools like in Malaysia. Malaysia is one of the countries where the English Language has
left its mark through past colonisation and current entertainment which makes Malaysians as
non-native speakers of the English Language thus giving birth to Malaysian English. The
official Malaysian English is slightly phonologically varied but internationally intelligible. Being
non-native speakers (NNS) of the English Language, many often have problems with the
pronunciation of certain words. These problems have sprouted due to the majority of
Malaysians preferring the unofficial Malaysian English where it is more varied than the official
Malaysian English making it sound accented and different from the Received Pronunciation
that Malaysians learn in schools. Three problem areas of this issue will be discussed. They
are namely problems of segmentals, suprasegmentals and the mesolectally practiced
pronunciation by the majority. Further into the discussion, there will be suggested ways in
overcoming these problems identified through education and application.
The first problem area of non-native speakers in the English language is basically the
phonological feature of segmentals. In Malaysian English, there is a general tendency to
reduce contoidal clusters to one or two elements less than necessary in Malaysian English
(Baskaran, 2005). This means there are reductions in grouping of contoids with the
Malaysian English (ME) compared to the Received Pronunciation (RP) e.g.:
Reduction from three to two phonemes:
- Glimpse /glmps/ pronounced as /glms/.
Reduction from two to one phoneme:
- Always /:lwes/ pronounced as /:wes/.
These problems are mostly due to the simplification of pronunciation in everyday
conversation and also that there are no contoidal clusters within the mother tongue language
of certain ethnicities in Malaysia. Another result of this practice of simplification in
pronunciation of the English Language is the devoicing of voiced fricatives. Some examples
are based between two phonemes like /v/ and /f/, /z/ and /s/, and // and //.
Examples:
- move /mu:v/ pronounced as /mu:f/
- is /z/ is pronounced as /s/
- usual /juul/ pronounced as /juul/
The problem areas are due to the subtle differences in pronunciation as it is very slightly
easier to pronounce than the original. The words do not undergo semantic change but
nonetheless, when pronounced, the obvious accent is there. Many of the simplification of
these words are also due to the non-existent phonemes within the language of the mother
tongue for the non-native speakers of the English language. In other words, many contoids
are new to the Malaysian English speaker and due to this, the unfamiliar phonemes are
approximated to the nearest similar sound in accordance to the users ethnic language
system.
e.g. For the Malay Malaysian English speakers approximants
- /f/ would be approximated as /p/,
as fan /fn/ would be pronounced as /pn/.
For the Chinese Malaysian English speakers approximants
- /r/ as /l/, as ready /red/ would be pronounced as /led/.
- /z/ as /d/, as zebra /zbr/ would be pronounced as /dbra:/
For the Tamil Malaysian English speakers approximants
- /v/ as /w/, as never /nev/ pronounced as /new/
- Deletion of /h/ like house /hs/ pronounced as /s/
The other problem area of NNS would be the suprasegmentals or more specifically, the
stress positions in pronouncing. If an English word has a primary stress on the first syllable, it
is common to hear a NNS stressing on the other syllable instead. This is similar to even in
polysyllabic words.
e.g. exercise /ekssz/ stressed as /ekssz/
In addition, the Malaysian English speaker (NNS) tends to confuse the stress positions that
differentiate homophonous words that have varying morphemic functions. (Baskaran, 2005)
Stress has the ability to differentiate a certain English morpheme that can be nouns, verbs or
adjectives.
e.g. Received Pronunciation
Noun
Verb
Digest /ddest/
/ddest/
Import /mp:t/
/mp:t/
Permit /p:mt/
/p:mt/
Due to this differentiation, NNS often get mixed up in the stress positions and they eventually
pronounce the incorrect form of word within a sentence without noticing it. A native speaker
of the English Language however would notice this and find it weird that the NNS
pronounces as if meaning something else.
The third area problem would be the mesolectally practiced pronunciation by the majority.
This means that the style of pronunciation of a certain word by NNS have been carried on
from generation to generation, even though incorrect. It is that the majority of Malaysians,
more towards the users of the unofficial Malaysian English at the mesolectal level,
pronounces a certain word by assumption, the rest follows. Some of these assumptions are
based on the confusion with the prior knowledge of a different spelling and pronouncing
system, specifically the Malay Language, as it is the main language of Malaysia. Another
factor that contributes to the practice of incorrect pronunciation of English words is the lack of
knowledge on the Received Pronunciation. In experiencing that the majority pronounces a
certain word as they do, the younger generation assumes that that is the correct
pronunciation without further investigations.
e.g.
- Privacy /prvs/ is assumed to be /prvs/
- Salmon /smn/ is assumed to be /slmn/ or /slmn/
- Tortoise /t:ts/ is assumed to be /t:ts/ or /t:t:s/
However, to curb with these problems in pronunciation for the NNS of the English Language
in Malaysia, English teachers are of paramount importance when it comes to educating the
students. Three suggestions that can be used for educating NNS are through language
drilling, classroom activities and listening activities.
Language drilling can be administered to beginner learners of English. Firstly, choral drilling
where the teacher models the word, phrase or sentence using clear pronunciation for the
whole class to repeat. The teacher is to correct any unclear pronunciations and provide
sufficient repetition and visual support using the whiteboard. As the drilling progresses, the
teacher is able to go to the next level by half-class drilling whereby a form of dialogue will
happen between the two halves of the class. By pronouncing in unison, students will be able
to listen to the pronunciation of the majority and will follow. Teachers should correct any
inaccurateness in pronunciation. Then, the teacher can proceed to row-to-row drilling after
the students have been used to the drilling exercise. This is suitable for mini dialogues where
the first row reads a question and the next row reads the answer. When the pronunciation of
the whole class is rather satisfactory, teachers can then administer chain drilling where the
teacher instructs two individual students to stand and dialogue based on a text and the
teacher is to give support and encouragement and correct any errors in pronunciation where
necessary.
Classroom activities should be engaging and simple for students to truly understand and feel
confident in application. One classroom activity that meets these criteria is hearing and
saying differences between vowels and between consonants or in other words, minimal pair
activity. Through comparison between two words which have different meaning but only one
sound changed, can break it down to the extent where students can properly differentiate
and understand the difference between the minimal pairs. The activity is simple as the
students are required only to identify whether the two words are different or same by marking
D or S respectively. This activity also helps student distinguish between:
e.g.
Vowels
- short and long vowels like // versus /i:/, (bid / bead)
- /e/ versus //, (rain / ran)
- /e/ versus //, (step / stop)
- // versus //, (nut / note)
Consonants
- /b/ versus /d/, (brown / drown)
- // versus /s/, (thank / sank)
- /t/ versus //, (cheat / sheet)
- /p/ versus /f/, (four / pour)
Through this simple activity, NNS that have problems in those areas will slowly realise their
mistakes and improve. The main focus of minimal pairs is the ability to discriminate between
sounds (Hewings, 2004)
The last suggestion would be educating NNS through the method of listening activities. The
main method of exposing students to spoken English is through the use of taped material
which can range from topics of advertisements, news broadcasts, poetry reading, plays,
English songs with lyrics, speeches, telephone conversations and all manner of spoken
language (Harmer, 1998). The second main reason for teaching listening to NNS for
pronunciation improvement purposes is because through listening, students would
subconsciously acquire the language and its special features. By understanding and
experiencing the correct form of pronunciation, NNS should be able to apply whatever that
has been heard during this activity. As students listen, students should be given questions in
order to respond to the content of listening. Question like, Do you agree?, What did the
man say to express happiness? etc.
In conclusion, Non-Native Speakers of the English Language that have problems in
pronunciation can be educated and corrected through classroom activities which will provide
a clear picture for NNS to distinguish, differentiate, and also understand the mistakes that
they made. After repetition and practice, NNS would be able to master the pronunciation and
apply them in everyday conversation with confidence and fluency. Pronunciation is more
important than grammar when it comes to understanding someone. Therefore, pronunciation
should be well-taught and NNS of English in Malaysia, would have no problems in
pronunciation and able to differentiate between the Received Pronunciation and Malaysian
English pronunciation.