A Study on Pronunciation Mistakes Commonly Committed by the 8th Grade Students at Le Quy Don Secondary School, Hanoi Related to English Fricative and Affricativ

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES  TRẦN THỊ THU HỒNG A STUDY ON PRONUNCIATION MISTAKES COMMONLY COMMITTED BY THE 8TH GRADE STUDENTS AT LE QUY DON SECONDARY SCHOOL, HANOI RELATED TO ENGLISH FRICATIVE AND AFFRICATIVE SOUNDS AND SOME POSSIBLE PEDAGOGICAL SOLUTIONS Nghiên cứu lỗi phát âm thường gặp liên quan tới âm xát tắc xát Tiếng Anh học sinh lớp trường trung học sở Lê Quý Đôn, Hà Nội số giải pháp thực tiễn giảng dạy M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Language Teaching Methodology Code : 60.14.0111 Hanoi, 2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES  TRẦN THỊ THU HỒNG A STUDY ON PRONUNCIATION MISTAKES COMMONLY COMMITTED BY THE 8TH GRADE STUDENTS AT LE QUY DON SECONDARY SCHOOL, HANOI RELATED TO ENGLISH FRICATIVE AND AFFRICATIVE SOUNDS AND SOME POSSIBLE PEDAGOGICAL SOLUTIONS Nghiên cứu lỗi phát âm thường gặp liên quan tới âm xát tắc xát Tiếng Anh học sinh lớp trường trung học sở Lê Quý Đôn, Hà Nội số giải pháp thực tiễn giảng dạy M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Language Teaching Methodology Code : 60.14.0111 Supervisor : Assoc Prof Dr Võ Đại Quang Hanoi, 2013 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALLY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “ A Study on Pronunciation Mistakes Commonly Committed by the 8th Grade Students at Le Quy Don Secondary School, Hanoi Related to English Fricative and Affricative Sounds and Some Possible Pedagogical Solutions.” Submitted in partially fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Teaching Methodology Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2013 Tran Thi Thu Hong i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Assoc Prof Dr Vo Dai Quang, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher A special word of thanks goes to my best friends, students studying at Le Quy Don Secondary School, and many others, without whose support and encouragement it would be never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work ii ABSTRACT It is clear that learners with good English pronunciation are likely to be understood even if they make errors in other areas, whereas learners with bad pronunciation will not be understood, even if their grammar is perfect Such learners may avoid speaking in English, and experience social isolation, etc Therefore, learners with poor pronunciation may be judged as incompetent, or lacking in knowledge Be aware of the importance of English as an international language as well as the necessary of developing the learner‟s communicative competence, teaching pronunciation has been constantly noticed This minor thesis aims at identifying the most common mistakes when producing English affricative and fricative sounds by the students grade at Le Quy Don secondary school, as well as investigating the main causes of these mistakes and the possible pedagogical solutions to assist them correct their mistakes In the course of fulfilling this study, the researcher combined the data from two main courses: questionnaire for the students to investigate the causes of the mistakes and recording the informant‟s pronunciation of selected words and words within utterances and sentences to find out the most common mistakes with English fricative and affricative sounds The data analysis reveals the following major findings: The students have a tendency to omission and deviation of affricative and fricative sounds both in syllable-middle and final positions Their own phonemic habits were carried into English and the students appear to fail to imitate a proper pronunciation These results are taken into account and lead to some pedagogical suggestions to deal with these problems found iii LISTS OF TABLES Table 1: Vietnamese initial and final consonants Table Table 2: Sounds mispronounced by Vietnamese students (Tam,2007) Table 3: Mistakes in producing the sounds /f/ and /v/ Table 4.1: Mistakes in producing the sounds/θ/ -/ð / Table 4.2: Mistakes in producing the sounds/θ/ -/ð / Table 5: Mistakes in producing the sounds /ʃ/ -/ ʒ/ Table 6: Mistakes in producing the sounds /tʃ/ - /dʒ/ Table 7: Common pronunciation mistakes committed by the students Table 8: Number of students producing sound omission Table 9: Number of students producing sound deviation Table 10: Students‟ purposes of learning English grammar Table 11: Causes of the students‟ mispronunciation iv LISTS OF FIGURES Figure 1: Consonant chart according to Place and Manner of articulation of the sound Figure 2: Place and manner articulation of the sound /f/ Figure 3: Place and manner articulation of the sound /v/ Figure 4: Place and manner articulation of the sound / θ / Figure 5: Place and manner articulation of the sound / ð / Figure 6: Place and manner articulation of the sound / s / Figure 7: Place and manner articulation of the sound / z / Figure 8: Place and manner articulation of the sound / ∫ / Figure 9: Place and manner articulation of the sound / ʒ / Figure 10: Place and manner articulation of the sound / h / Figure 11: Place and manner articulation of the sound / tʃ/& /dʒ/ Figure 12: The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) v TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.The rationale of the study 2.Aims of the research 3.Scope of the research 4.Significance of the research 5.Structural organization of the thesis PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.Theoretical background 1.1.The description of English fricatives 1.1.1.Labio- dental Fricatives :/f,v/ 1.1.2.Dental Fricatives: / θ, ð/ 1.1.3.Alveolar Fricatives: /s,z/ 1.1.4.Palato-alveolar Fricatives: /∫, ʒ/ 1.1.5.Glottal Fricative: /h/ 10 1.1.6.The description of English affricates / tʃ/& /dʒ/ 11 1.1.7.Some similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese consonants in terms of affricatives and fricatives 11 1.2.Review of previous studies related to the research area of the thesis 12 1.2.1.Sound pair /f/ -/v/ 13 1.2.2.Sound pair /θ/ -/ð / 14 1.2.3.Sound pair /s/- /z/ 15 vi 1.2.4.Sound pair /ʃ/ -/ ʒ/ 15 1.2.5.Glottal /h/ 16 1.2.6.Sound pair /tʃ/ - /dʒ/ 16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 19 2.1 Research – governing principles 19 2.1.1 Research questions 19 2.1.2 Research setting 19 2.1.3 Research types 19 2.2 Research methods 19 2.2.1 Data collection instruments 20 2.2.2 Data collection procedures 20 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 22 3.1 Reports on the result collected by means of recordings 22 3.2 Reports on the result collected by means of questionnaire 26 3.2.1 Students‟ opinion on the importance of pronunciation 27 3.2.2 Students‟ purposes of learning English 27 3.2.3 Student‟s frequency in practicing English pronunciation 28 3.2.4 Students‟ knowledge of reading phonetic transcription 28 3.2.5 Causes of the students‟ mispronunciation 29 CHAPTER : PROPOSED SOLUTIONS 33 4.1 Using IPA Chart 33 4.2 Making the lessons more interesting 34 4.2.1 Phonetic hangman 35 4.2.2 IPA symbol card game 35 vii 4.2.3 Shopping for sounds 35 4.2.4 Bingo 36 4.2.5 Using tongue twisters 36 4.3 Equipping facilities 37 4.4 Motivating the students 38 PART C: CONCLUSION 40 (i)Recapitulation 40 (ii)Concluding remarks 40 (iii)Limitations of the current research 41 (iv)Recommendations 41 PART D: REFERENCES 43 APPENDIX I viii productive and creative ones Therefore, the role of language teachers (not only teachers of phonetics) is of great importance They not only give students chances to practice but also pay more attention to students‟ pronunciation to try to correct them at any time possible Here are some suggestions for the teachers to use in teaching these fricative and affricative sounds 4.2.1 Phonetic hangman Phonetic hangman is a good method to practice and strengthen the use of phonetic symbol The teacher thinks of a transcription, writes an appropriate number of lines on board and the students have to guess the sounds the word contains As it can be time consuming, the teacher can help pupils by writing the word next to the lines, e.g “ - for fish.” f i ∫ (fish) 4.2.2 IPA symbol card game The teacher prepares IPA symbol cards, prints, cuts, folds them over and glues together Each card should have a symbol on one side and a word on the other Then, the teacher distributes them, giving one to each student Students walk around the room exchanging cards Each student shows the symbol side of the card to his/her fellow student while saying the word aloud Students exchange cards and go to meet another student 4.2.3 Shopping for sounds This activity can be used also in secondary school classes as a warm-up or as a relaxing activity after discussing a difficult topic The teacher ensures that the learners are familiar with the pronunciation of the words given The students are 35 divided into groups of four and each player pick up a shopping basket card The rest of the words should be facing down the table and be shuffled The players take turns to pick up a card and to say the word aloud If the word matches their basket card, they place the word in the basket and turn over another card If the word does not match, they turn the card face down again, ensuring that the other players have had a chance to see it The next player continues the same way The first player to collect all five of their words is the winner 4.2.4 Bingo This is an activity which concentrates on noticing a distinction among sounds For example, the teacher says the following to the students: think, thing, thin and asks them to repeat the words after him or her which makes them aware of the sounds that they will practice After that the teacher hands out a blank grid and a list of the words to the students and tells them to fill in the words randomly onto the grid Then the teacher reads out words, which contain the sounds /θ/ and /ð/ they have to cross off the words that they hear The first person to get a line of either horizontally touching boxes or vertically touching boxes wins birthday /bɜ:θdei/ theatre /θɪətə/ thigh /θaɪ/ tooth /tu:θ/ theme /θi:m/ teach /ti:tʃ/ father /fɑ:ðə/ thump /θΛmp/ mother /mΛðə/ this /ðɪs/ thin /θɪn/ thieves /θi:fz/ 4.2.5 Using tongue twisters This is an excellent way of teaching pronunciation, which can definitely relieve the monotony of the lesson Tongue twisters allow students to practice the language without fear of making a mistake and improve fluency in language Many tongue twisters contain similar sounding words with different meaning, and don‟t always make sense but the students will enjoy trying to say them and learning about these sounds more quickly Some typical tongue twisters about the fricative and affricative sounds: 36 /z/ This is a zither Is this a zither? Zizzi's zippy zipper zips /θ/ and /ð/ The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday - These thousand tricky tongue twisters trip thrillingly off the tongue - Nothing is worth thousands of deaths - There those thousand thinkers were thinking how the other three thieves went through /ʤ/ and /ʧ/ /s/, /ʃ/ and / ʒ/ Joy to see your chin, jaw and cheek Six small slick seals Susie's shirt shop sells preshrunk shirts The suitor wore shorts and a short shooting suit to a short shoot But the shorts didn't suit the short shooting suit, And at the short shoot the short shooting suit didn't suit Oh, shoot! She shall see the seashore so she can sing She has vision to share pleasure with Natasha /h/ Heed the head henpecker! Hurry, Harry! Hurry, Harry! Hurry, Harry! Harry Hunt hunts heavy hairy hares Does Harry Hunt hunt heavy hairy hares? If Harry Hunt hunts heavy hairy hares, Where are the heavy hairy hares Harry Hunt hunts? 4.3 Equipping facilities In designing and selecting materials for teaching, it is important to consider the purpose of learners‟ language study, whether it is to acquire a native like accent or for intelligibility in international communication There should be regular 37 workshops, programs to exchange experiences and train teachers‟ methodology among English staff The knowledge of how to record each sound in English will be needed for learners to be able to work with some of the following activities The results of the questionnaire showed that this is not taught much to students at secondary schools Therefore, it is necessary to equip classroom with modern lab and facilities such as computers, projectors and recorders as well 4.4 Motivating the students The teachers should assist students to build up their self- confidence; encourage them to practice freely and frequently because there is no problem if they say right or wrong because “ PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT” In addition, the teachers should motivate students themselves to find their most suitable ways to improve their pronunciation They can: - Observe the mouth movements of those who speak English well and try to imitate them; repeat what they say and practice the intonation (the way they say it), to gain a greater understanding of the rhythm and flow of the English language and improve English accent - Slow down the speech and pronounce the endings of each word Pay attention to the "s" consonant at the endings The English language has many "voiced and unvoiced" sounds and it will take dedication and practice to learn correct English pronunciation - Record voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes This is a very important exercise because doing it will help learners become conscious of the mistakes they are making - Make a comparison or contrastive analysis of the phonetic features of confusing sounds in English and with those of the Vietnamese is a good way to avoid mistakes As teachers, we should pay attention to these differences and try to correct the mistakes made by our students 38 To sum up, this chapter has made some pedagogical suggestions to correct the students‟ pronunciation mistakes to some extents, and to have better pronunciation These suggestions including using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), making the lessons more interesting by using some techniques, equipping modern facilities and motivating the students to build up the selfconfidence and practice English sounds freely and frequently 39 PART C: CONCLUSION (i) Recapitulation Pronunciation is an aspect of teaching English, which is currently paid attention to at secondary schools The goal of this thesis was to explore pronunciation mistakes students often make when producing the system of the fricative and affricative sounds Because English sounds are quite distinct from those of Vietnamese language, the students have problems with pronouncing them Moreover, the goal is not only to assist students to correct their pronunciation mistakes but also encourage them and make them more interested in the language, so they will continue and continue to practice the language, which can help them in future life (ii) Concluding remarks A questionnaire and an analysis of recordings of students‟ speeches are two methods of research used for purposes of this thesis and from the results and finding, it can be drawn that: Vietnamese learners of English were found to have a tendency to replacement, deletion of affricative and fricative sounds both in syllable-middle and final positions They tend to carry their own phonemic habits into English and fail to imitate a proper pronunciation However, if learners are able to aware of these problems, they will avoid miscommunication problems and embarrassing situations because good pronunciation practice brings confidence to the EFL speakers Most Vietnamese learners make mistakes in producing consonants listed above; they often confuse these sounds with others by the following main reasons: - Failure in distinguish the differences between sounds due to lack of the knowledge of the manner and the place of articulation of English fricative consonants and English affricatives - Negative influence of the mother tongue: the learners are too much affected by the way they pronounce Vietnamese 40 - Lack of consciousness of being standard: the learner only pronounce these sounds correctly in the classroom environment, but not in real communication - Insufficient practice: despite some knowledge about these sounds, many learners have no opportunities to use them in real situation Learning a foreign language is a long term process which requires a lot of learners‟ effort to be successful and to have a good pronunciation, both teachers and students should be aware of its great importance and try to discover effectively innovated methods to overcome the difficulties and acquire the knowledge in the fastest and most precise way (iii) Limitations of the current research Although this thesis has answered the research questions mentioned before, it still has some limitation Due to the limited time, the survey was only carried out in four classes of the 8th grade students, Some proposed suggestions to correct students‟ mistakes in producing fricative and affricative sounds are likely to be subjective and incomplete In addition, regarding the sounds recorded, there may be some unavoidable factors such as anxiety or atmospherics Moreover, the researcher did not have time to conduct the interview to have more and deeper information about their difficulties that caused their mistakes (iv) Recommendations Based on the results and limitations of the study, further researches can be conducted as the following recommendations: According to the findings, the students often have a thought of learning pronunciation that is really important and the issue put by most teachers is how to integrate teaching pronunciation with other English skills in a more interesting and effective way so that students‟ pronunciation can be improved It is definitely worth exploring, how Vietnamese students see the way they are taught at secondary schools and how they feel about their abilities to pronounce a foreign language To 41 get a good pronunciation, the learners also should pay attention to not only English sounds but also other factors of phonetics such as stress, intonation, rhythm or common phonological processes such as assimilation, linking, and elision In addition, it is hoped that further researches would be conducted in verify the practical effect of some proposed solutions given 42 PART D: REFERENCES Dao Thi My Hanh (2007) A study on pronunciation of some English consonants by Vietnamese learners MA minor thesis Vietnam National University, Hanoi Duong Thi Nu, Mistake or Vietnamese English, Journal of Science, Foreign Language, Mistakes of Vietnamese English Retrieved on September 27th, 2013 from www.js.vnu.edu.vn/nn_1_09/b6.pdf Ha Cam Tam, Common pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of English Journal of Science – Foreign Languages, T.XX1, No.1, 2005 Hismanoglu, M (2006) Current Perspectives on Pronunciation Learning and Teaching Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 2(1) M Hancock, English Pronunciation in Use-Intermediate, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000 Nguyen Thi Thu Huong (2010) Difficulties encountered by second year students at Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry in producing some English consonants MA minor thesis Vietnam National University, Hanoi Roach ,P., English Phonetics and Phonology, (2nd edition), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991 Richards,J.,Platt,J., and Platt,H (1992) Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics Longman Singapore Press Tiono, A Study of English Phonological Errors Produced, No1, English Department, Faculty of Letters, Petra Christian University, 2008 10 Luu Trong Tuan (2011) Vietnamese EFL learners’ difficulties with English consonants Studies in Literature and Language 3(2), 56-67 CS Canadian Research and Development Center of Sciences and Cuture 11.Luu Trong Tuan (2010) Teaching English discrete sounds through minimal pairs Journal of Language teaching and Research,1(5),540-561 Retrieved on September 27th , 2013 from http://www.academypublisher.com/jltr/vol01/no05/jltr0105.pdf 12.http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english /frameset.html 13.http://nlpdotnet.com/Linguistics/Phonetics/ConsonantChart.aspx) 43 APPENDIX RECORDING Task 1: Read out the following words /f/ & /v/ fine physics effort traffic cough life victim volunteer grove serve remove give slim straight assistant promise parents notice prison transmit wisdom decompose recognize reuse thunder thieves worthy birthday eighth both themselves there mother together sunbathe although she shore fashion freshman wish crash massage explosion rouge measure vision conclusion /h/ he had hut home hail house /tʃ/,/dʒ/ check chart chore match crutch catch job jewelry emergency magically marriage bridge /s/ & /z/ /θ/&/ ð/ /ʃ/ &/ʒ/ Task 2: Read out the following sentences Frank found four fogs laughing on the floor Vera drove to Vence in a van I got a good prize for that painting I‟m going to advise you You never take my advice The train went through the tunnel A bath is more relaxing than a shower There was an explosion in the garage on Leisure Road She wished she had gone shopping He didn‟t shave at all last year 10 Do you want to change jackets before we go out? 11.Foxes sometimes come to the farm and catch chicken? I Task 3: Read out the following text about the recycling instructions First, soak some old newspapers in a bucket of water overnight Then use a wooden spoon to mash the paper Next, mix the mashed paper and the water together in another bucket Place a wire mesh in the mixture then pull it out Then put the mesh with mixture on the cloth and press it down firmly Take the mesh off the cloth Wrap some heavy books in a plastic bag and put them on the cloth Wait about minutes Finally, out the books away and take the paper out of the cloth to dry in the sunlight II APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This survey questionnaire is designed to collect the information or data for my MA study , titled “A Study on Pronunciation Mistakes Commonly Committed by the 8th Grade Students at Le Quy Don Secondary School, Hanoi Related to English Fricative and Affricative Sounds and Some Possible Pedagogical Solutions” Would you like to tick on the answers that you think is the most appropriate Your assistance is highly appreciated and the results will be intended solely for this study but not for other purposes How long have you been learning English? A Less than years C – years B - years D More than years How many English periods you have a week? A 1-2 B 3-4 C 5-6 D more than Have you ever attended any pronunciation course? Yes/No How you rate the role of pronunciation in communication? A Very important B Important C Neutral D Unimportant What are your purposes of learning English pronunciation? (You can choose more than one option) A to pass the phonetic exams B to understand English language C to improve your communication skills D to be more confident in speaking English How often you practice pronouncing English words? A Always B Usually C Sometimes D Rarely Never Do you know how to read the phonetic transcription? Yes/ No III E For each of the items in questions 8, please put a tick in the box provided which best describes your opinion of the causes of your making mistakes when producing English fricative /f/,/v/,/s/,/z/, /θ/,/ ð/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/and affricative sounds /tʃ/, /dʒ/ No Causes of mistakes Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree I don‟t know how to pronounce these sounds 10 These sounds are strange to me so I not pay attention to these sounds 11 Vietnamese fricative sounds are not mentioned in the final position of a word, so I ignore them 12 I pronounce these sounds as I perceive 13 I pronounced these sounds in the same way in English and Vietnamese 14 I not think that bad or wrong pronunciation of these sounds will break communication 15 I not practice pronouncing these sounds frequently 16 I am afraid to ask for help from teachers or friends to pronounce these sounds correctly THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION IV Disagree Strongly disagree MỤC LỤC PHIẾU ĐIẾU TRA Câu hỏi điều tra thiết kế nhằm thu thập thông tin liệu phục vụ cho luận văn tốt nghiệp với đề tài “Nghiên cứu lỗi phát âm thường gặp liên quan tới âm xát tắc xát Tiếng Anh học sinh lớp trường trung học sở Lê Quý Đôn, Hà Nội số giải pháp thực tiễn giảng dạy.”.”Bạn đánh dấu vào câu trả lời bạn cho thích hợp Chân thành cảm ơn giúp đỡ bạn liệu sử dụng cho việc nghiên cứu, khơng mục đích khác Bạn học Tiếng Anh ? A Ít năm B 3-5 năm C 5-8 năm D Hơn năm Bạn có tiết Tiếng Anh tuần? A 1-2 B.3-4 C 5-6 D Nhiều Bạn tham gia khóa học Tiếng Anh chưa? Có / Khơng Bạn đánh giá vai trò phát âm giao tiếp? A Rất quan trọng B Quan trọng C Bình thường D Khơng quan trọng Mục đích việc học phát âm Tiếng Anh bạn gì? ( Bạn chọn câu trả lời) A Để qua kiểm tra phát âm B Để hiểu ngôn ngữ Tiếng Anh C Để cải thiện kỹ giao tiếp D Để tự tin nói Tiếng Anh Bạn thường xuyên luyện phát âm nào? A Luôn B Thường xuyên D Hiếm C Thỉnh thoảng E Khơng Bạn có biết cách đọc phiên ngữ âm khơng? Có / Khơng Bạn đánh dấu vào ô mô tả phù hợp với quan điểm bạn nguyên nhân khiến bạn mắc lỗi phát âm âm xát /f/,/v/,/s/,/z/, /θ/,/ ð/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/ âm tắc xát Tiếng Anh /tʃ/, /dʒ/ V STT Nguyên nhân Đồng ý Đồng Bình Khơng Hồn hồn ý thường đồng ý tồn tồn khơng đồng ý Tơi khơng biết cách phát âm âm Những âm lạ so với tôi, nên không ý tới chúng Khơng có hệ thống âm xát xuất vị tri cuối Tiếng Việt, mà tơi không quan tâm tới âm Tôi phát âm theo cách nhận thức được, Tôi phát âm âm Tiếng Anh giống Tiếng Việt Tôi không nghĩ việc phát âm hay sai ảnh hưởng tới giao tiếp Tôi không luyện tập phát âm cách thường xuyên Tôi ngại hỏi xin giúp đỡ từ giáo viên bạn bè để phát âm tốt CẢM ƠN VÌ SỰ HỢP TÁC CỦA BẠN VI ... Commonly Committed by the 8th Grade Students at Le Quy Don Secondary School, Hanoi Related to English Fricative and Affricative Sounds and Some Possible Pedagogical Solutions.” Submitted in partially... speak English well and try to imitate them; repeat what they say and practice the intonation (the way they say it), to gain a greater understanding of the rhythm and flow of the English language... manner and the place of articulation of English fricative consonants and English affricatives - Negative influence of the mother tongue: the learners are too much affected by the way they pronounce