These are two alveo-palatal affricate phonemes in English. In the articulation of / tʃ/& /dʒ/, the soft palate is raised, the nasal resonator is shut off, obstacle to the air stream is formed by a closure made between the tip, blade, and rims of the tongue and the upper alveolar ridge and side teeth. At the same time, the front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate in readiness for the fricative release. The closure is released slowly, the air escaping in a diffuse manner over the whole of the central surface of the tongue with friction occurring between the blade/ front region of the tongue and the alveolar/ front palatal section of the roof of the mouth. During both stop and fricative stages, the vocal cords are wide apart for /ʃ/, but may be vibrating for all or part of according to the situation of utterance. / tʃ/ is voiceless but /dʒ/ is voiced with voice from the throat. (D.T. Nu / VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages 25 (2009)).
Figure 11: Place and manner articulation of the sound / tʃ/& /dʒ/
(as achieved from http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english /frameset.html
1.2. Pronunciation errors
A.study.on.mistakes.commonly.commited.by.the.10th.grade.students.at.kim.thanh.high.school..hai.duong.in.the.pronunciation.of.english.fricative.and.affricative.consonants.and.some.possible.pedagogical.solutionsA.study.on.mistakes.commonly.commited.by.the.10th.grade.students.at.kim.thanh.high.school..hai.duong.in.the.pronunciation.of.english.fricative.and.affricative.consonants.and.some.possible.pedagogical.solutionsA.study.on.mistakes.commonly.commited.by.the.10th.grade.students.at.kim.thanh.high.school..hai.duong.in.the.pronunciation.of.english.fricative.and.affricative.consonants.and.some.possible.pedagogical.solutionsA.study.on.mistakes.commonly.commited.by.the.10th.grade.students.at.kim.thanh.high.school..hai.duong.in.the.pronunciation.of.english.fricative.and.affricative.consonants.and.some.possible.pedagogical.solutions
1.2.1. Errors
Errors making proves to be an unavoidable part in the process of learning a language (Bui Thi Binh, 2011). The following discussion of the term “error”
sheds light on further analyses of the pronunciation problems facing Vietnamese learners of English and conclusion of this paper. Linguists around the world have put forwards various definitions of errors in language acquisition. Among them, Ellis (1997 cited in Bhela, 1999) stood out as to assert that “errors reflect gaps in the learners‟ knowledge; they occur because the learners does not know what is correct” (p. 2). In congruent with this definition, Dulay et al. (1982) considered errors “the systematic deviations due to the learner‟s still developing knowledge of the second language rule system”. Eckman (1981) went further to emphasize that error, though inevitable and necessary in the course of language acquisition, exert both positive and negative impacts on language learners‟ progress in mastering the language. It is therefore necessary that errors should be carefully examined and brought into perspective with a view to facilitating the process of language learning. Corder (1981), however, classified errors into two types,
“errors of performance” which happen to native speakers due to tiredness and carelessness and “errors of competence”, ones that reflect vividly the learner‟s incompetent knowledge of the language that they are learning.
This necessitates further clarification of the concept and its impact in language acquisition.
1.2.2. Errors and mistakes
In everyday speech, little distinction is drawn between the two term
“error” and “mistake”. However, from the linguistic perspectives, errors and mistakes stand at the two ends of language acquisition. Errors, as described by
A.study.on.mistakes.commonly.commited.by.the.10th.grade.students.at.kim.thanh.high.school..hai.duong.in.the.pronunciation.of.english.fricative.and.affricative.consonants.and.some.possible.pedagogical.solutionsA.study.on.mistakes.commonly.commited.by.the.10th.grade.students.at.kim.thanh.high.school..hai.duong.in.the.pronunciation.of.english.fricative.and.affricative.consonants.and.some.possible.pedagogical.solutionsA.study.on.mistakes.commonly.commited.by.the.10th.grade.students.at.kim.thanh.high.school..hai.duong.in.the.pronunciation.of.english.fricative.and.affricative.consonants.and.some.possible.pedagogical.solutionsA.study.on.mistakes.commonly.commited.by.the.10th.grade.students.at.kim.thanh.high.school..hai.duong.in.the.pronunciation.of.english.fricative.and.affricative.consonants.and.some.possible.pedagogical.solutions
Dulay et al, (1982) and other linguists are “parts of conversation or composition that deviate from some selected norm of mature language performance” (p. 138), which are indispensably occurring due to inadequate language competence at the initial stage of language learning, (Coder, 1981).
Mistakes, on the other hand, are defined by Richard (1974) as of little importance to language learning and of non-systematic occurrence. Torrijos (2009) had his own way of distinguishing errors and mistakes: “errors should be classified into two types, one that do not reflect a defect in the knowledge of language –errors of performance or mistakes– and those who reveal the underlying knowledge of the language to date –errors of competence” (p.
150). Or as Corder (1967 cited in Ngo Phuong Anh, 2009 p.2) makes it,
“mistakes are akin to slips of the tongue” while “an error is systematic and often not recognized by learners as an error”. Thus, it can be concluded that errors in language learning are often associated with failures due to incompetence and should be minimized. On thoroughly understanding the nature of errors, their distinction from mistakes, and the generally insufficient awareness of English learners regarding errors in the learning process, their causes, as well as their negative effects on language acquisition, it is important that research be conducted in this area so that preventable errors can be avoided, teaching methods could be better tailored (Torrijos, 2009), thereby, facilitating the process of language learning and avoid the carrying of persistent errors to the advanced stage of language acquisition.