Oral Intelligibility and

Mispronunciation

in Teaching and Learning

English as a Foreign Language

Prof. Me. Rodrigo Queiroz

Federal University of Acre

Campus Floresta/Cruzeiro do Sul

2013

DISCUSSION TOPICS

1. Intelligibility in English Teaching

2. Mispronunciation in Vowel Sounds

3. Mispronunciation in Consonant Sounds

4. Phonological Rules

Whati didi you

do withi thati

siti?

Intelligibility in English Teaching

GLOBAL ENGLISH

INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH

WORLD ENGLISH

GENERAL ENGLISH

LITERATE ENGLISH

ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA

Who is a native speaker?

Global English has led to

a crisis of terminology.

The distinction between

“native speaker”,

“second-language

speaker”, and “foreign-

language user” have

become blurred.

(GRADDOL, 2006, p.110)

…L2 speakers of English

outnumber L1 speakers

three to one. English is

increasingly used to

communicate across

international boundaries,

and is not therefore tied to

one place, culture or

people.

(ERLING, 2005, p. 42-43)

EXPANDING

OUTER

INNER

320 - 380

150 - 300

100 - 1000

The ‘three circles of English’

as conceived by Kachru (1985)

Representing the community of

English speakers as including a

wide range of proficiencies

(KACHRU, 2005). In a globalized world, the

traditional definition of

„second-language user‟ (as

one who uses the language

for communication

within their own country)

no longer makes sense.

Also, there is an increasing

need to distinguish between

proficiencies in English,

rather than a speaker‟s

bilingual status.

(GRADDOL, 2006, p. 110)

INNER

500

Global English by David Crystal

A língua deve então ser

ensinada como meio de

comunicação intercultural, e

deve ter como um de seus

objetivos a

INTELIGIBILIDADE do

discurso, porém não levando ao

desencorajamento da prática de

atividades pedagógicas

relacionadas à sua melhoria

com o argumento (ou a

desculpa) de que é

“internacional”.

(BECKER, 2011, p. 2.790)

O objetivo ao se falar

inglês atualmente não é

soar como um “falante

nativo”, objetivo este

absolutamente

desnecessário e não

realístico para a grande

maioria dos aprendizes,

à exceção, talvez, de

alguns poucos altamente

motivados e/ou

talentosos para a

aprendizagem de

idiomas.

(BECKER, 2012, p. 02)

What is

INTELIGIBILITY?

Intelligibility is being

understood by a

listener at a given time

in a given situation.

(KENWORTHY, 1987,

p. 13)

Intelligibility

Comprehensibility Interpretability

Three dimensions adapted from

CRUZ (2004)

problem areas glided vowels *

/iy/ as in beet *

/I/ as in bit

/ey/ as in bait *

/E/ as in bet

// as in bat

/V/ as in but

/A/ as in father

/O/ as in bought

/ow/ as in boat *

/u/ as in book

/uw/ as in boot *

/ i / as in quilo

/ê/ as in ele

/é/ as in ela

/a/ as in bala

/ó/ as in bola

/ô/ as in bolo

/u/ as in pulo

Mispronunciation in Vowel Sounds

Problem 1

beach – bitch bead – bid

beat – bit cheap – chip

eat – it feel – fill

feet – fit heat – hit

heel – hill lead – lid

leap – lip least – list

leave – live meal – mill

neat – knit peel – pill

The English phonemes /iy/ and /I/ are

very likely to be perceived and produced

as Portuguese /i/, thus neutralizing the

contrast between words like:

reach – rich seat – sit

seek – sick sheep – ship

sheet – shit sleep – slip

steal – still wheel – will

Problem 2

The English phonemes /E/ and // will be

perceived and produced as Portuguese

/é/, which is in fact a little closer to English /E/ than //. This will neutralize

the contrast between words like:

bed – bad

beg – bag

dead – dad

end – and

flesh – flash

gem – jam

head – had

lend – land

men – man

met – mat

pen – pan

said – sad

send – sand

shell – shall

then – than

Problem 3

The English mid-central /@/, especially when

stressed, has no counterpart in Portuguese. Words like “but” /b@t/ , “does” /d@z/, “blood” /bl@d/ and “color” /k@l@r/ will easily be mispronounced.

Example:

The word “photographer” may well be pronounced /fô´tógrafêr/ instead of the correct /f@´tAgr@f@r/.

Portuguese native speakers will also experience difficulty distinguishing between English /A/ and /O/. Most of the

times /A/ will be perceived as Portuguese /ó/. This will

cause foreign accent, with the possibility of

misunderstandings in minimal pairs like:

collar /´kAl@r/ – caller /´kOl@r/ cot /kAt/ – caught /kOt/

are /Ar/ – or /Or/

Problem 4

The Portuguese /u/ falls right between English /U/ and

/Uw/. As a result, perception and production of these

phonemes will follow the single pattern of Portuguese /u/,

neutralizing the contrast between words like:

full /fUl/ – fool /fUwl/

look /lUk/ – Luke /lUwk/

pull /pUl/ – pool /pUwl/

should /Sud/ – shoed /Suwd/

Problem 5

problem areas

/s/ sapo /z/ zelo /S/ chave /Z/ jato /m/ mala /n/ nenê /n~/ ninho

/x/ or /r~/ rato /l/ lado /l~/ olho /r~/ para

/p/ pill

/b/ bill

/t/ till

/d/ day

/k/ kill

/g/ goal

/tS/ cheap

/dZ/ Joe

/f/ fan

/v/ van

/T/ think

/D/ this

/s/ sink /z/ zink /S/ ship /Z/ casual /m/ make /n/ night /l/ long /h/ house /r/ red /l/ late /w/ wine /y/ yes

/p/ para /b/ bala

/t/ tatu

/d/ dado

/k/ coco /g/ gato

/f/ faca

/v/ vaca

Mispronunciation in Consonant Sounds

Problem 1

The aspiration of the English voiceless stops /p/, /t/ and

/k/, when occurring word-initially or at the beginning of

stressed syllables, has no equivalent in Portuguese.

pay [pey] – bay [bey]

pull [pUl] – bull [bUl]

tie [tAy] – die [day]

try [trAy] – dry [drAy]

came [keym] – game [geym]

cold [kowld] – gold [gowld]

Problem 2

Learners of EFL will experience difficulty when the alveolar stops /t/ and /d/ occur before /iy/ or /I/.

till [tIl] – chill [tSIl]

tip [tIp] – chip [tSIp]

dim [dIm] – Jim [dZIm]

dean [diyn] – jean [dZiyn]

deep [diyp] – jeep [dZiyp]

Problem 3

All the stops, /p/, /t/, /b/, /d/, /k/ and /g/, the affricates

/tS/ and /dZ/, and the fricatives /f/, /v/, /T/, /D/, /S/ and

/Z/, occur in word-final position in English, while in

Portuguese the corresponding phonemes never do.

cat [kt] – catch [ktS]

eat [iyt] – each [iytS]

hat [ht] – hatch [htS]

pit [pIt] – pitch [pItS]

rent [rEnt] – wrench [rEntS]

Problem 4

The interdental fricatives /T/ and

/D/ have no close counterparts in

Portuguese.

Commonly, students resort to the clusters /ts/ or /dz/ as substitutes, which neutralize the contrast between

words like:

math [mT] – mats [mts]

breathe [briyD] – breeds [briydz]

tenth [tEnT] – tents [tEnts]

Other students might use /s/ and /z/ as substitutes:

thin [TIn] – sin [sIn]

thick [TIk] – sick [sIk]

faith [feyT] – face [feys]

breathe [briyD] – breeze [briyz]

clothing [klowDIN] – closing [klowzIN]

Problem 5

The English retroflex /r/ in

word-initial position is easily

misinterpreted as the Portuguese velar fricative /x/.

On the other hand, the English glottal fricative /h/ is

close and similar to the Portuguese velar fricative /x/.

hat [ht] – rat [rt] head [hEd] – red [rEd]

height [hayt] – right [rayt] heal [hiyl] – real [riyl]

Problem 6

The alveolar fricative /s, z/ before /m/, /n/ or /l/ in

English occurs predominantly in word-initial position, and then it is always voiceless [s].

In Portuguese, however, it only occurs in middle position and is always voiced [z].

Students may therefore articulate words like smoke [smowk], snake [sneyk] and sleep [sliyp] as [zmowk], [zneyk] and [zliyp], producing an obvious foreign accent.

Problem 7

Particularly difficult will be the clusters occurring in

word-final position, with an even higher degree of

difficulty being experienced by students in the

realization of English consonantal clusters which include the interdentals /T/ or /D/, as in the following

examples:

asked [skt]

advanced [@dvnst]

twelfth [twElfT]

depth [dEpT]

Phonological Rules

1. Stop Aspiration

Voiceless stops /p/, /t/ and /k/ :

• lightly aspirated when occurring word-initially and

strongly aspirated at the beginning of stressed syllables.

pet [pEt]

take [teyk]

cat [kt]

peculiar [p@kyUwly@r]

2. Regular Plural

If the noun ends in the following unvoiced consonant sounds: /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, /T/, pronounce the "s" as /s/.

proof [prUwfs]

coats [kowts]

cups [k@ps]

paths [pTs]

If the noun ends in a voiced consonant sound, /b/, /d/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /N/, /r/, /y/ or in a vowel

sound, pronounce the "s" as /z/.

jobs [dzAbz]

beds [bEdz]

dogs [dOgz]

dolls [dAlz]

gems [dzEmz]

pans [pnz]

things [TINz]

cars [kArz]

days [deyz]

If the noun ends with a fricative or affricate consonant - /s/, /z/, /S/, /Z/, /tS/, /dZ/ pronounce

the plural suffixes "s" or "-es" as /Iz/.

kisses [kIsIz]

quizzes [kwIzIz]

wishes [wISIz]

garages [g@rAZIz]

benches [bEntSIz]

pages [peydZIZ]

3. Regular Past

When the pronunciation of the infinitive ends in a

vowel or voiced consonant, the pronunciation of the _ed suffix will be /d/.

play [pley] - played [pleyd]

grab [grb]- grabbed [grbd]

live [lIv] - lived [lIvd]

blame [bleym] - blamed [bleymd]

listen [lIs@n] - listened [lIs@nd]

When the pronunciation of the infinitive ends with a

voiceless consonant, the pronunciation of the _ed suffix will be /t/.

stop [stAp] - stopped [stApt]

work [w@rk] - worked [w@rkt]

laugh [lf] – laughed [lft]

miss [mIs]- missed [mIst]

cash [kS] – cashed [kSt]

When the pronunciation of the infinitive ends with an alveolar stop consonant – /t/ or /d/, – the

pronunciation of the _ed suffix will be /@d/.

need [nIyd] - needed [nIyd@d]

attend [@tEnd] - attended [@tEnd@d]

visit [vIz@t] - visited [vIz@t@d]

want [wOnt] - wanted [wOnt@d]