A study of differences in pronunciation between american and british englsih and some pronunciation teaching implications

************************ "* "* "*"* MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HOCffiMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY * * * *' * "*'* * SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY OF DIFFERENCES *"* 1% * 1% * "* * *"* * "** "** *"** IN PRONUNCIATION BETWEEN ** AMERICAN AND BRITISH ENGLISH * 1% *'* AND SOME PRONUNCIATION TEACHING '** * * '** IMPLICATIONS '** * 1% * * ** * ~,* * * * * '* Advisor: Mr PH4M TAN QUYEN M.A Student: TRUdNG THUAN VI Student's number: 0071070 Class: SAQnl)' Ai .I'i-, ffi.r A &tfF ~ ./I.-., ** '* "" 1'/GU l'S-: ' - ,// ,, :5,.-inh t-ligh School} my ft'iends at college} Thanh} Tt'I} my Vi> and close ft'iends: my fiance Thu} ;At'on LAyen} QL\cjc} r>q.t} Caton fot' theit' gt'eat encoL\t'agement and SL\Pp0t'ttht'oL\ghoL\tthe wt'iting of this t'eseat'ch THANK yOU! Tt'uong ThL\dn Vi 3L\ly 2004 This research aimed at (1) presenting the differences in pronunciation between American and British English, focusing on differences in phonetic transcription symbols, production of consonants, production of vowels, word-stress and description of other possible differences in pronunciation; (2) finding out students' attitude towards and knowledge on the differences in pronunciation between American and British English A questionnaire was designed and used in this research It was completed by 79 ESL students from classes SA0201, I' BA0201, and BA0202 of Huflit It was found that students are aware of the benefits of knowing the differences on their learning However, most of them cannot distinguish the differences The findings suggested that the differences in pronunciation between American and British English should be designed and incorporated into English course syllabi Also further research is needed, focusing on differences in vocabulary, spelling, and grammar, ect GRADUATION PAPER "England and America are two countries separated by the same language." George Bernard Shaw People speak English in Britain, so people in the United States but yet they don't speak the same language Mencken supports Shaw's comment: "Every Englishman visiting the States for the fIrst time." said an English dramatist some time ago, "has a diffIculty in making himself understood He often has to repeat a remark or a request two or three times to make his meaning clear, especially on railroads, in hotels and at bars The American visiting England for the first time has the same trouble." When he presented one of his own plays with an English company, he said, many American acquaintances, after witnessing the performance, asked him to lend them the manuscript, "that they might visit it again with some understanding of the dialogue." American speech is just as diffIcultfor Englishmen Advisor: Mr Ph~m Ta'n Quy~n Student: Trliong Thua'n Vi GRADUATION PAPER They, Americans and Britons, find each other's speech just as difficult, not to mention foreign learners of English American and British English are the two varieties of English which are taught in most ESL/EFL programs Knowing the differences between these two varieties, more narrowly in pronunciation, is a vital area which seems to be inappropriately considered in any language teaching and learning process Therefore, this research paper aimed at (1) presenting the differences in pronunciation between American and British English; (2) finding out students' attitude towards and knowledge on the differences in pronunciation between American and British English There British are English many such differences as differences between in American and spelling, grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary, ect This paper is confined to identifYing the differences in pronunciation, focusing on: transcription symbols, production of consonants, production of vowels, word-stress and description of other possible differences in pronunciation Advisor: Mr Ph~m Ta'n Quy~n Student: Trtidng Thua'n Vi GRADUATION PAPER The report begins with an introduction It is expanded in the following chapter by a - I hope - detailed analysis of differences in pronunciation between American and British English In Chapter 3, the information about the subjects, the materials used in this study and the procedure in which the study was carried out are described The data collected from the questionnaires will be subsequently analyzed and discussed At the end of this research paper, a conclusion and some suggestions on pronunciation teaching will be mentioned Advisor: Mr Ph~m Ta'n Quy~n Student: Truong Thua'n Vi GRADUATION PAPER " The reasons for American English being different from British English are simple: As an independent nation, our honor requires us to have a system of our own, in language as well as government " Noah Webster (1758-1843) The American history dated back to September of 1620, when a ship called the Mayflower left England with 102 men, women, and children onboard Mter 65 days at sea, it landed in what is now Provinceton Harbor, inside the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA (Tiersky 1990,118) When these brave puritans left England for the "New World", the language they Advisor: Mr Ph~m Tiln Quy~n Student: Truong Thuiln Vi GRADUATION PAPER spoke on the Mayflower and also in their new homeland was the English language which was at that time employed in England That English is similar to what we can find in Shakespeare's texts (also called Elizabethan English) (Marckwardt 1958,8) Naturally, the language did not sound the same as its present counterpart; many of the phonemes had different qualities and the spelling of many words has changed dramatically This language, Elizabethan English, was what both the people who left England and those who stayed used in their everyday life Therefore, both present day American and British English have a common starting point However, today, there are a great number of differences between American and British English which have developed over those past centuries The main reason for the differences is the geographical distance between these Akmajian (1995,319) explained, two countries "If one group of speakers becomes isolated or sufficiently separated from another group of speakers of the same language, they may each undergo their own changes." Advisor: Mr Ph~m Ta'n Quy~n Student: Trtidng Thua'n Vi GRADUATION PAPER 60 leamer who can speak English well will be highly respected and admired Therefore, knowing that what they leam is appreciated creates good motivation to further their study Clearly, distinguishing the differences will bring benefits to students' learning since this not only helps them with their pronunciation and assists them in their speaking and listening, but also gives them good motivation togo on learning: Chart : Students' Answers on Distinguishing Differences in.Production of Consonants, Production of Vowels, Word-Stress between American and British English Unsure 29% Correct Answers 37% Incorrect Answers 34% Correct Answers _ Incorrect Answers D Unsure ~ • • -~._'-" . . '. _ ~ Advisor: Mr Ph~m Ta'n Quy~n Student: Trtidng Thua'n Vi 61 GRADUATION PAPER Although the" students were aware of the benefits on knowing the differences in pronunciation between American and British English, not many" of them can distinguish the differences When asked" to choose whiCh promineiation of"the words is American English."and whiCh is British English, only 37% of _them gave the correct answers The "other 6.3% either gave incorrect answers (34%) or were not sure which answers to give (29%) The data show that these students lack knowledge on the difference in pronunciation between American- and British English Generally speciking,".the data offer a strong " implication that distinguishing the differences in pronunCiation between American and British English is needed and therefore teaching about those differences should be incorporated into the syllabi of la.n,guagecourse materials Advisor: Mr Ph~m Ta'n Quy~n Student: TruOng Thua'n Vi 62 GRADUATION PAPER No one can deny that learning English is not an easy job to do', not to mention learning two' varieties' of English, American and British English It is necessary ,to distinguish the differences between these two varieties to achieve a •complete mastery' of the language This study aims to present the differences in pronunciation between American and' British English and' to find out about the students' attitudes' towards and knowledge on the differences The findings show>that students are aware of the benefits of knowing the differences I\:r1QwiI1the g differences not only helps improve their pronunciation, assists them in \ their speaking and motivation togo listening but also on learning Eventhough gives them good knowing about the differences helps them in their learning, students still lack knowledge about that area Advisor: Mr.Ph~m T~n.Quy~n Student: Truong Thucin Vi 63." GRADUATION-PAPER Hughes and Trudgill (1987,2) are justified when stating "It seems to us, therefore, that exposure to a number of varieties of English, and help in understanding them, can play an important and practical useful part ih the study of EflgliSh as a -foreign language" distinguishing American and the Therefore, differences in' _pronunciation British strongly English needs to be suggest that between des~gned and incorporated into the English language course syllabi, more speciflcally, into Phonetics and Phonology- course syllabi Inaddition, it -is necessary for non-native teachers of English to have a standard proJ:1Unciationand have kilowledge on the differences in pronunciation between American and British English in order to be able to guide students in pronouncing words correctly It is also essential for language educators to expose their students to varieties of' English by inviting both American and British teachers to- teach at universities Although carefully and strictly carried out, with the limitation of time and- related- materials- available, some pointsof this research may not be adequately, considered or thoroughly Advisor: Mr Ph~m T~n Quy~n Student: Truong Thu~n Vi 64' GRADUATION PAPER discussed This research focuses only on the differences in phonetic transcription symbols, production of consonants, production of vowels, word-stress and some brief differences in sentence stress suspects that sentence and' intonation there of this paper are a number of other differences in stress, intonation, questionnaire The writer in this and research assimilation, is onJy aimed at ect The checking students' knowledge on the differences through asking students to recognize the differences by reading different transcriptions Also, it is suspected that there might -be more findings when subjects are asked '.to' listen to different 'pronunciations to distinguish -the differences No -doubt, more -research needs to be done on those areas Besides, differences in vocabulary, s'pellin~ and grammar between American and British English are some other areas' where further research would be extremely enlightening Advisor: Mr -Ph~m TcinQuy~n Student: Trtiong Thucin Vi 65 GRADUATION- PAPER This questionnaire -is designed -to help -mecallect far my research American and an the British differences English infarmatian in_ pronllIlciatiQn between_ Please read the questians statements -belaw -and tick (0) the answers yau -chaasear answers -in the blanks Yaur hanest respanses and write yaur will be extremely useful far my research All the infarmatian and respanses yaupravide in thisquestiannaire will be kept strictly canfidential Thank yau very -much far yaur-ca-aperatian! Please provide some informatiap about yourself;_ • Class: Age: • Gender: Male DFemale • Yaur father's hametawn :_- _ •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Are you interested in knowing about the differences in pronunciation between American and British English'? DYes, very much DYes, a little Advisor: Mr PhiJm-Tcin-Quy~n- DNa D Unsure Student: Truong Thucin Vi- 66 GRADUATION PAPER Please tick (v") the column that best represents the about Knowing differences in American and between pronunciation your belief Agree Disagree Unsure British English is necessary because it helps irpprove ,my pronunciation to be consistent helps me in using one kind ofpronunciation broadens my kno~ledge on phonetics and phonology helps obtain my goal in speaking English with a near~native.accent '6 helps me be confident in conmmnicatingin English helps avoid me mislmderstanding and being misunderstood aids in my listening skill g' gives me a good motivation to go on leaning 10 There' are two different ways of pronouncing one word Which you think is American English and which is British English? Please write A for the pronunciation the pronunciation of American English and B for of British English If there is any answer you are not sure, please tick on the Unsure Here are the examples: "virtue" A/'v3:rtSu:1 "caught" _ leatl Advisor: Mr.Ph~m Ta'n Quy~n B/'V3:tju:1 jeotl o Unsure o Unsure Student: Trtidng Thua'n Vi GRADUATION' PAPERa "which" jWltSI _/hwrtSI o Unsure b " heart" jhart/ jha:t/ o Unsure _/dr::l: rtf jdr::l: rrt/ o Unsure o Unsure c -"draw it" d "better" jber~r/ Jbet~/ _e ~rock" jrok/ jrak/ Unsure f '"not" jnet! jnotj o Unsure g; "cut" jkAtj jk~tl o Unsure h "dance" jdans/ jda:ns/ o Unsure i "new" jnu:j jnju:j j "issue" j'Isju:1 j'ISU:/ o k "derby" _:Idsrbi/ j'da:bi/ O-Unsure "fragile" j' frred3ml/ j' frred3~l/ Q Unsure nl "schedule" _IS£,dju:ll jsk£A3~l/ o Unsure n "process" ~!pr~u,s£s/ ~!pro.,s£s/ o Unsure 0._ "vibrate" _jvm' brertj _Ivmbrert/ O.Unsure p "garage'" q " primarily" r D Unsure Unsure ;~/g~'ra:3/' o Unsure jpra(lllemli/ _F prauuamlr/ o Unsure "ordinarily" j,::ldI'n£r;}}i! j'::ldmralr/ o Unsure s "necessary" jn£sa,s£ri! jn£sasrI! o Unsure t "Wednesday" jwrnz@ JW£rrzdeI! o Unsure u "Birmingham" J b£111iJ)amJ _f bsrmIlJ,hremJ o Unsure ~rgrera:3/ Your co-o'peration is hi~h~ &,p'preciated! Thank you very much! Trrrong Thu~n Vi SA0002 Advisor: Mr Phe,.m Tin Quy~n Student: Trtiong Thnei'n Vi GRADUATION- PAPER Demonstrating the Differences in Pronunciation between American and British English This recording is to demonstrate the differences in pronunciation between American and British English You will hear two different pronunciations of a word The first pronunciation is American English and the second pronunciation is British English 2.3.1 Differences in Consonant Production between American and British English b Difference in pronunciation of /r/ 10 11 12 WORD card farce tire hour heart beard scarce car sport pure bird sister AE RP Ikard/ /fars/ /tmr/ tauar/ /hart/ lka1d! /fms/ /tma/ taua/ !hmt/ /bIrd! /skers/ /car/ /sp;>:rt/ /pjur/ /b3:rd! tSlstar/ /blad/ /skeas/ /ea:! /sp;>:t/ Advisor: Mr Ph~m Tiin Quy~n /pjua/ /b3:d! tSlsta/ Student: Trtidng Thuiin Vi 69 GRADUATION PAPER 2.3.2 Differences in Vowel Production between American and British English b Difference in 1'31 WORD AE RP cot not naught Icotl Inotl Inotl Icntl Inntl In-:>tl d Difference between lou I in American English and I auI in British English: 10 11 12 13 WORD AE RP go goal goat note boat coat coal home gnome grow Rome phone bowl Igoul Ibout! Igaul I gaul/ Igautl Inautl Ibautl /coutl Icaut/ /coul/ /caul/ /houm/ /haum/ Inouml Inauml /groul /grau/ Irouml Ifounl lraurnl 2.3.3 Different Igoul/ Igoutl Inoutl Ifaunl I haul/ Ihoul/ Pronunciation of Common Words between American and British English a Word spelled with ~ B WORD ask Advis~r: Mr P"~1Dr.a'n Quy~n RP ~ /resk/ losk/ ~t~4ent: Trudng Thua'n Vi 70 GRADUATION PArER ;-;-'0= -"-"- 56 answer can't ~~ -~., daric-e , /rens~r/ /erent/ jdamsl branch half /brrentS/ /href/ jpreO/ path plant 11 l~ugh Iplrent! Igrres/ Ierest/ flref/ I WORD tune AE Ituml duke Idmkl new lewd Zeus Inu:1 Ilu:dl Izu:sl 10 grass cast /f1ns~/ /eant/ /dons/ jbrontS/ /hoU/poO/ Iplont! jgrosI Ieast/ /lof/ RP Itjuml Idjmkl Inju:1 Ilju:dl Izju:sl d, Words with u spelling following alveolar consonants WORD virtue arduous sexual RP AE Itjl Idjl ItJI Id31 IkJI Iksjl e Words spelled with er , ~ -;.>- WORD AE RP clerk sIerby Ik13rkl rd3rbl1 Iklo:kl I'do:bll AE RP f Words ~nding in ~ile WORD Advisor:Mr.-Ph~m'Ta'n Quy~n Student: Truong Thua'il Vi 71 GRADUATION -PAPER ':-1".- - '2"1 hostile ,,: ,fUtile~ , {'host'll! •~ -., , •.• Tfjmtal ~.' FhostaI11 ~t'fJurtaIV .- tactile Ftrektall ttrektalll fertile' If'lrtll' pf'l:taIll 5" docile fdoslf -6 sterile l'ster'lll I'redsalj' I'dausad/ /'"ster:aIlI ~ ,agile 'N.g' IredsaIlJ oF frred3aIlI I'frred3'l1/ I'mIsl/ ,frag~le niissle ~ I'mlsall/ g Other words WORD vase AB either /i:()ar/ neither figure schedule /nM'lr/ ,/fIgar/' tomato ~._,.2 I RP Ivo:zl / aI()a/ IVeIs/ /naI()'l/ /'ske,d3al/ /fIga,! ,11eidjml/ leisure /tameI,tou/ /'fu3'lr/ /tamolt'lu/ Fle3'l/ process I'prolsesl /'pr'lu,sesl 2.3.4 Differences in word stress a Words ending in -ate AE FIXate' Vibrate RP fiXATE viBRATE b Words of French Ori~in AE arAGE balLET fronTIER bourGEOIS Advisor: Mr Phi!m T~n Quy~n RP GARa e BALlet FRONtier 'BOD eois Student: Trudng Thua:n Vi 72 GRADUATIONPAPER 5\ CABaret CabaRET.' c.Stress in three -or four- syllable words RP AE COM osite SUBaltern ARistocrat comPOsite subALtern arIStocrat d Secoridary stress differences in WORD momentarily ordinarily words endin~ in -111 • '3 WORD territory customary ordinarY" monastery tmaumantralIl tadmrah! Ilmouman'tgr alii 1,:lrdI'nBral iI f Words ending in -ary -ery -ory an • RP AE d -many RP tteratnl AE ttBra,t:lrii tkAsta,me ril tardl,nBr iI tmonas,tB nl tkAstamrII ta:dmnl tmonastnl g Place names WORD Rochester ,f3irmingham AE tro,tSesta rl I' b3rmIg ,hreml RP trotSastal l'bBmigaml h Other word stress differences ,2 WORD laboratory advertisement corollary RP AE tlrebra,t :lril I,redvar'talz manti tkarallB ril ." .• • • Ila' boratnl laavs:tIsmantl Ika'rolanl ' '" r_ " ,-:: Advisor: Mr Ph~m T.in Quy~n Stu dent: Truong Thuan Vi ,".-, • Akmajian, A (1995) Linguistic: An Introduction to Language and Communication 4th ed Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press Avery, P., & Ehrlich, S (1998) Teaching American English Pronunciation Oxford: Oxford University Press Celce-Murcia, M.; Brinton, D M.; & Goodwin, J M (2000) Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English Speakers of Other Languages Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Chwat, S (1994) Learn to Speak Standard American English New York: Crown Publishers, Inc Cook, A (1991) American Accent Training New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc Crystal D (1995) The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language Cambridge University Press Hudson, G (2000) Essential Introductory Linguistic Black Well Publishers Inc Hughes, A., & Trudgill P (1987) English Accents and Dialects: nd An Introduction to Social and Regional Varieties of British English (2 ed.) Maryland: Edward Arnold Ladefoged, P (1982) A Course in Phonetics 2nd ed New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers 10 Lewis, J.W (1972) A Concise Pronunciation Dictionary of British and American English Oxford: Oxford University Press 11 Marckwardt, A H (1958) American English New York: Oxford University Press 12 McArthur, T (1992) The Oxford Companion to the English Language Oxford: Oxford University Press 13 Mencken, H L (1963) The American Language: An Inquiry into th the Development of English in the United States ed New York: Knopf 14 Morris-Wilson, (1992) English Segmental Phonetics for Finns Loimaa: Loimaan KiIjapaino Oy 15 Oxford's Advanced Learners Dictionary (2000) Oxford: Oxford University Press 16 nd Roach, P (1989) English Phonetics and Phonology ed Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 17 Strevens, P (1972) British and American English London: Collier-Macmillan Publishers 18 Tiersky, E., & Tiersky, M (1990) The U.S.A.: Customs and Institutions 3rd ed Prentice Hall Recents 19 Webster's New World College Dictionary 3rd ed (1996) New York: Macmillan, Inc 20 Wolfram, W., & Johnson, R (1982) Phonological Analysis: Focus on American English Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistic