Dealing With Difficult English Sounds for Brazilian Students

8/14/2019 Dealing With Difficult English Sounds for Brazilian Students

1/33

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT ENGLISH SOUNDS FORBRAZILIAN STUDENTS.

Jos Ribamar de Castro.


2/33

Introduction.This workshop is an attempt to provide a practical answer

to those who ask how they could possibly help theirstudents overcome their main problems concerning Englishpronunciation.It is divided up into four parts.Each part

includes the following:

1. The English Sound System.A simple explanation on how to produce the English

sounds,containing words with the sound in initial,middleand final positions.

2. The Portuguese (Brazilian) Sound System in contrast withthe English Sound System.

A simple explanation about the Portuguese (Brazilian)

Sound System in comparision with English.


3/33

3. Difficult English Sounds for Brazilian Students.

A description of the sounds which in my opinion areconsidered to be difficult for Brazilian studentstogether with the most frequent mistakes they make.

4. Some suggestions on how to deal with theseproblematic sounds.

Drills with advice on how to prevent incorrect speechhabits and mistake.

Obs. The phonemic transcription used in thisworkshop in the one found in the Oxford Advanced

Learners Dictionary of Current English (3rd Ed.1974.)


4/33

1. The English Sound System. Any teacher of Englishwill probably have noticed that his student make

mistakes,not in a random fashion,but that errors aremore likely to occur in some structures than inothers.The same applies to pronunciation.Forinstance,Brazilian students will probably have

difficulty with such sounds as /i:,, , :,,r/, and withthe contrast between pairs such as /i:/ and / /,/e/

and //,and//and / /. Again ,they will have difficultywith strings of final consonants such as in the wordssixths,songs,etc.This is because these phonemes are

new to the students,that is,these sounds do not occur

in their native language.


5/33

Therefore,it is important to make a contrastive analysis ofthe native and target languages,in this case,Portuguese and

English,to find out which points the students will possiblyhave difficulty with.After having made such an analysis anddetermined which pronunciation patterns are important forthe students to grasp,one should concentrate on teaching

the items which are considered to be most difficult forthem.

1.1. The English Vowel Sounds.The diagram of the English Vowel Sounds consists of twelve

vowel sounds,even though the ordinary English alphabetcontains only five vowel characters (a),(e),(i),(o) and (u).

Clearly then,these five letters are inadequate to represent

all English pure vowel sounds,that is,these sounds in the


6/33

production of which the tongue remains stationarythroughout the time that it takes to say the

vowel.Consequently,the vowel is exactly the same atthe end as it is at the beginning.,in other words,it

remains pure.So,if a person wants to transcribesounds without the help of a phonemic alphabet,he isfrequently forced to use spellings lie (ee),(oo),(er),(ah)

and so on.According to Underhill the English RP pure vowelsounds are:


7/33

Close i: u:

Mid e : :

Open :


8/33

One thing that may puzzle the students is that someof the English vowel are long,that is to say,inpronouncing the vowel one keeps the tongue steady

for a while in the same position and goes onproducing this sound for a good deal longer than for a

short vowel.This is an important point because oneshould realize that certain English vowels are usually

long,eg :/i:,u:, :, :, :/ and others are usuallyshort:/ , ,e, ,, , /.


9/33

It is true,however,that neighbouring sounds in awords may sometimes influence one another and

thus some vowels which are normally long may havetheir length reduced,eg: the bead / bi:d/ and beat/bi:t/ are both pronounced with a long vowel /i:/, but

the vowel is somewhat longer in bead than inbeat.This is because in the former the vowel is

followed by a /d/and in the latter by a /t/,and weknow that the difference between these sounds isthat /d/ is a lenis consonant,in other words,it is a

consonant pronounced with weak articulation (littledegree of breath and muscular effort involved in the

articulation) and /t/ a fortis consonant ,that is,


10/33

a consonant pronounced with strong articulation(much degree of breath and muscular effort involved

in the articulation).One can thus formulate a rule that before a fortis consonant a long vowel is not quite as long as it is

before a lenis one.If there is no consonant at the end,such as in the

word sea /si:/,a long vowel usually has its full length.

1.2. The English Diphthongs.According to Gimson there are,in all,nine diphthongsin RP English,and they are divided into closing and

centring diphthongs .


11/33

A diphthong is a glide from one vowel to anotherforming a single syllable.If the glide is towards a closevowel it is called a closing diphthong .If it is towards a

central vowel is called a centring diphthong .The closing diphthongs in English are:

/ e , , ,a ,a /The centring diphthongs in English are:

/ , ,e , /

The diphthong which is not much used byR.P.(Received Pronunciation-characteristic ofEngland)speakers,tends to be replaced by the pure

vowel / :/ . So, instead of saying sore /s /


12/33

one says /s :/. A diphthong,in short,bevaves like a pure vowel in that

it belongs to one syllable only and it differs from apure vowel in that its quality gradually changes fromthat of one vowel towards that of another.In regard to length all diphthongs are like

vowels.Consisting as it does of two elements,eachdiphthong takes up the same length of time as one

long pure vowel.But,like pure vowels,diphthongs maybe influenced by their neighbouring sounds.The

diphthong is longer in high and hide than in heightbecause in the latter word it is followed by the fortis

consonant /t/.


13/33

1.3. The RP English Consonant Sounds.Gimson states that there are twenty-four consonant

sounds in the R.P. consonant system. They may beclassified as follows:1. Six plosives.

/p,b,t,d,k,g/2. Two affricates.

/ , / 3. Nine fricatives.

/f,v, ,,s,z, , ,h/ 4. Three nasals.

/m,n,/


14/33

5. One lateral./l/

6. Three approximants./w,j,r/

1.3.1. The English Plosives.The main features which distinguish the English

plosives are:I Place of articulation:

They can be produced in the lips (bilabial),in the

alvelar ridge(alveolar) and in the velum(velar).II Presence or absence of aspiration:The voiceless consonant sounds /p/,/t/ and /k/ areaspirated in initial accented syllables,whereas the


15/33

voiced consonant sounds /b/,/d/ and /g/ are not.

III- Presence or absence of voicing:/p/,/t/,/k/ are voiceless sounds (the vocal cords donot vibrate in their production)meanwhile /b/,/d/,/g/

are voiced (the vocal cords vibrate in theirproduction).

IV- Length of preceding sounds: /p/,/t/,/k/ are fortis consoinants,so the vowel which precedes them in a

word must be pronounced a bit longer than the onewhich comes after lenis consonants such as

/b/,/d/,/g/.


16/33

1.2.3. The English Fricatives.English has a fricative system which is

more complex than that of mostlanguages.Fricative sounds are

produced by a partial closure of the airpassage.

1.2.3.1. Labio-dental fricative sounds.When these sounds are produced the lower lip is

placed lightly against the upper teeth.When the air isforced out,one hears a hissing noise,in the case of

/f/(voiceless) or a buzzing in the case of /v/(voiced).


17/33

1.3.2.2. Dental Fricative Sounds.Both / , /are regularly spelt (th),and there is no certain

way of determining from the spelling whether it represents

one or the pronunciation.The following is only a roughguide; there are many exceptions.

1. At the end of a word,(th) usually stands for / /,as inbreath,cloth. The second // in this position is normally

written (the) as in breathe,clothe.Exceptions arebooth,smooth,with // (Br E),etc.

2. In the middle of a word between vowels as in

rather,weather,(th) most often stands for //but between aconsonant and a vowel as healthy and anthem it usuallystands for / /.Between a vowel and a plural (s),as inbaths,truths,the (th) sound is frequently voiced //.


18/33

As Ward says the sound /s/is first of all spelt (s),butthere are several other spellings,as exemplified in

dense,pass,waltz . Before (e),(i) and (y) or (sc) is nearlyalways pronounced /s/.The sound /z/ is written (z) asin zeal,zinc or (s),as in plays. The spelling (s) or (ss)

may thus stand for either /s/ or /z/.1.3.2.4. Palato Alveolar Fricative Sounds.

For these sounds the tongue is a little further backthan for /s/ or /z/.While the latter are articulated with

the blade of the tongue against the teeth ridge ,for / / and / / the blade of the tongue is raised towards thehard palate with the tip usually above level with the

teeth ridge.


19/33

The space between the tongue and the roof of the

mouth is wider than for /s/ and /z/ and there is lesssideways contraction of the tongue.The vocal cordsvibrate for/ / but not for/ /.

1.3.2.5. Glottal Fricative Sound.When this sound is produced the glottis is open,andthere is no obstruction anywhere in the air passage.

The sound of the breath as it passes through the open

glottis and mouth is that of /h/.There is no vibration inthe vocal cords when this sound is produced.

1.3.3. The English Fricative Sounds.


20/33

An affricative is a plosive consonant in which thearticulating organs are separated less quickly than in the

case of normal plosives,with the result that thecorresponding fricative is heard momentarily as the organs

separate . / /is voiceless and / / is voiced.1.3.4. The English Nasal Sounds.

According to Kelly there are three nasal sounds in English:/m/,/n/ and //. All of them are voiced sounds.

For the sound /m/ the lips form a complete stoppage

of the air stream,but the soft palate is lowered,allowing theair to escape through the nose.For /n/,the tip of the tongue presses against the teeth ridge

and completely blocks the air stream,but


21/33

// is a velar nasal sound,that is, the back of the tongue israised and forms a complete stoppage by pressing againstthe soft palate,which atthe same time is lowered so as toallow the air to escape through the nose.At the end of a

word the spelling (ng) always stands for .Examples:bang,king,sing.

1.3.5. The English Lateral /l/ Sound.According to OConnor ,the English Lateral Sound /l/can be

either a clear l or a dark l .Clear l is used at the beginnning of a word and in themiddle of a word before a vowel.For example, lake and

spelling .Dark l is used in the middle of a word before a consonant

and at the end of a word,if a pause follows.


22/33

1.3.6. The English Approximants.According to Daniel Jones there are three approximants inEnglish: /w/(labial velar),/j/ (palatal)and /r/(post-alveolar).

Approxmants are usually called semi-vowels since theirarticulation very resembles that of vowels,that is,the

tongue glides from a close vowel position to some aftervowel position.For the approximant /r/,the most important

feature is its non-fricative nature,which makes itsarticulation very similar to that of a vowel sound.In other

words,this sound isphonetically vowel-like ,but having in English a non-central

situation in the syllable,it functions as a consonant.


23/33

2.The Portuguese Brazilian Sound System in contrast with

the English Sound System.In looking at Mascherpes comparison table between thePortuguese Brazilian sound system and the English soundsystem,one immediately realizes that many sounds do notoccur in the Portuguese Brazilian system and vice-versa.

Consonant Sounds.English Portuguese/p/ pill /p/ pala/b/ bill /b/ bala/t/ till /t/ tolo/d/ day /d/ dei/k/ kill /k/ cume


24/33

/g/ goose -/ / cheap -/ / jeep -/f/ feel /f/ fala/v/veal /v/ vaia

// thigh -//they -

/s/ seat /s/ selo/z/ zeal /z/ zelo

/ / share / / chave / / measure / / janela

/l/ leaf /l/ luva


25/33

/m/ no /n/ nada

// long -/h/heap -- /r/ caro

- /rr/ carro- // minha- /l/ falha

Approximants.

/r/ red -/j/ yes /j/ iai/w/ wine /w/ quadro


26/33

Vowels./i:/ see /i:/ ti

/ / it / / fale - /e/ ele/ e / day / e / lei

/e/ fell /e/ ele/ :/ bird -/ / cup -// above -

/u:/ Luke /u:/ pude/ / look / / alto

/ /go / / dou

/ :/ bought / :/ pode


27/33

/a:/ bar /a:/ l// hat -

- inverno- tempo- amplo- juntos- ona

As one can see from the comparison tableabove,Portuguese has a differenct number of vowel

phonemes,its vowel system being marked buy afeature of nasality which has phonemic status,in

contrast with English.


28/33

3. Difficult English Sounds for Brazilian Students.3.1. The most problematic English vowel sounds to

Brazilian students,in my opinion,are:/ ,i:/ - / , :/ -/e,/- / :, /.

3.2. Problematic English Consonant Sounds.

The plosives /p/,/t/,//k/.The dentals /, /

The affricates / , / The alveolars /s/,/z/.

The nasals /n/, // The lateral /l/

The approximant /r/


29/33

4. Some suggestions on how to deal with theseproblematic sounds.4.1. Vowel Sounds.

English till Portuguese tiomill mil

hill riubill Biu (nickname)

/i:/ /I/leak lickbeat bitseek sickdeed did


30/33

4.2. Consonant sounds.

/t/ /f/ // tin fin thin

tree free three

/d/ /z/ //den zen* thenday zay* they

dare zare* there


31/33

/s/ /z/since sinsfence fanshence hens

/ / / // // / washing watching treasure badger

lash latch pleasure ledgermash match measure marriage

ship chip leisure luggage


32/33

/n/ - // He is thin. It is a thing.

Peter wins easily. Birds have wings.Our kin has arrived. Our king has arrived.

I said sin. I said sing .

Dark l - / /feel fiohill riopill piomill mil


33/33

Conclusion.

As it is suggested in the title,this workshop has noother ambitious purpose than the pure practical oneof helping Brazilian students of English to eliminatethose errors which repeatedly occur in their speech.If this workshop was somewhat helpful,I would have

fulfilled my purpose.

Documents

Dealing With Difficult English Sounds for Brazilian Students