Pronunciation errors made by fourthyear students of English at TMU and suggested solutions

THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY
ENGLISH FACULTY
------

GRADUATION PAPER
TOPIC:
PRONUNCIATION ERRORS MADE BY FOURTH YEAR
STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY
AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

Hanoi, 2021


HÀ NỘI - 2015
ABSTRACT
Nowadays, when English is used on a larger and larger scale as an international
language, it is an essential
duty of education that users
of English should communicate
GRADUATION
PAPER
successfully with the target language. It is common knowledge that phonetics is a
subject
that helps students of English
to pronounce MADE
well in learning
PRONUNCIATION
ERRORS
BY and
FOURTH
communicating

in English. However,
teachers of AT
English
have complained
and
YEAR STUDENTS
OFmany
ENGLISH
THUONG
MAI
many learners
have self-criticized
about
their pronunciation.SOLUTIONS
So have students of
UNIVERSITY
AND
SUGGESTED
English at Thuong Mai University. Indeed, despite being taught basics phonetics right
in the first year of learning English, many fourth-year students of English at Thuong
Mai University are weak at pronouncing in English. This has much influence on their
learning their subjects such as: listening, speaking, reading, interpreting, etc. as well as
creates many limitations in their talking with native- speakers of English. In this
research, the author studied typical pronunciation errors made by fourth-year students

HANOI, 2021

of English at Thuong Mai University, then suggested the students of English in general
and fourth-year students of English, in particular, some ways to improve their
pronunciation as much as possible. Questionnaire data were collected from 100

students from fourth-year English major students at TMU. The findings point out that
fourth-year students tend to make pronunciation errors with consonants and ending
sounds. They have not had any real effective method to improve their pronunciation
errors yet. Therefore, the author, as a fourth-year student, somehow, hopes that this
paper will partly help fourth-year students to be better at pronouncing in English.

HÀ NỘI - 2015

GRADUATION PAPER
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
PRONUNCIATION
ERRORS MADE BY FOURTH
YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT THUONG MAI
UNIVERSITY AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

1


HANOI, 2021
In the process of completing this graduation paper, I have received a great deal of
help, guidance, and encouragement from many teachers and friends.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Mrs. Do
Thi Bich Dao, M.A who has given me suggestions on how to shape the study always
been most willing and ready to give me valuable advice, helpful comments as well as
correction of my graduation paper.
Next, I would like to express my gratitude to other teachers in English Faculty

HÀ NỘI
- 2015
for their previous lectures and instructions

during
four years which help me much in
completing this study. I would also like to send my sincerest gratitude to all fourthyear English major students who have enthusiastically participated in the study. Their
participation has been important to this research.

GRADUATION
PAPER
Finally, I would like
to thank my family and my
friends who have always

encouraged, supported and helped me to complete this study. Without the

PRONUNCIATION
MADE
encouragement
of them, I could not ERRORS
have got this far.

BY FOURTH
YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT THUONG MAI
UNIVERSITY AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

HANOI, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..........................................................................................ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................................................................................iii

HÀ NỘI - 2015

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS......................................................................................v

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LISTS OF TABLES, FIGURES, DIAGRAMS, CHARTS AND IMAGES............vi
CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY..........................................................1
1.1. Rationale................................................................................................................ 1
1.2. Previous studies.....................................................................................................2
1.2.1. In the world........................................................................................................2
1.2.2. In Vietnam..........................................................................................................3
1.3. Aims of the Study..................................................................................................3
1.4. Research Subjects.................................................................................................4
1.5. Scope of the Study.................................................................................................4
1.6. Research methodology..........................................................................................5
1.6.1. Setting.................................................................................................................5
1.6.2. Sampling.............................................................................................................5
1.6.3. Data collection....................................................................................................6
1.6.4. Procedures for data collection and analysis.....................................................7
1.7. Organization of the study.....................................................................................8
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................9
2.1. English Pronunciation..........................................................................................9
2.1.1. Definition of Pronunciation...............................................................................9
2.1.2. The Importance of Correct Pronunciation.....................................................10
2.1.3. Aspects of Pronunciation.................................................................................10
2.2. English Pronunciation Errors............................................................................20
2.2.1. Definition of Pronunciation Errors................................................................20

2.2.2. Factors Affecting English Pronunciation of Students...................................20
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS..................................................................23
3.1. Result from survey questionnaire.....................................................................23
3.1.1. Background information about learning English of major students...........23
3.1.2. Student’s attitudes toward English pronunciation.......................................23
3.1.3. Student’s pronunciation errors.......................................................................26
3.1.4. Factors affecting English pronunciation learning.........................................30
3.1.5. Student’s opinion on pronunciation solutions................................................31
3.2. Result from personal interview..........................................................................32

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CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATION AND SUGGESTIONS..............................34
4.1. Major findings of the study................................................................................34
4.2. Suggestions for the Improvement of the Pronunciation Errors......................34
4.2.1. Suggestion to accurately pronounce 5 common ending sounds and
consonant sounds /dʒ/, /θ/, /ð/, /ʃ, and /ʒ/..................................................................35
4.2.2. Suggested solutions to avoid consonant sounds errors and ending sounds
errors and have good pronunciation........................................................................37
4.3. Limitation of the study and suggestion for further research...........................42
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................44
REFERENCES............................................................................................................. I
APPENDIX 1.............................................................................................................III
APPENDIX 2.............................................................................................................VI
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
TMU

: Thuongmai University

E.g.

: example gratia

etc

: et cetera

EFL

: English as a Foreign Language

ESL

: English as a Second Language

N, V, A : Noun, Verb, Adjective

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LISTS OF TABLES, FIGURES, DIAGRAMS, CHARTS AND IMAGES


LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: Participants from six classes
Table 2.1: Example final consonants
Table 3.1: Learning English of students major at TMU background information
Table 3.2: Percentage of making mistakes frequency in these ending sounds and

consonant sounds faced by fourth-year students.
Table 3.3: Student’s opinion about solutions to deal with pronunciation errors.
Table 4.1: Example of homophones matching games
 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: Places of articulation (Roach, 1983:8)
Figure 2.2: The vocal tract showing the places of articulation
Figure 2.3: Classification of English consonants (Cawley, 1996)
Figure 3.1: Student’s interest in pronunciation
Figure 3.2: Student’s frequency of making pronunciation errors
Figure 4.1: Production of the sound /dʒ/
Figure 4.2: Production of the sound /θ/
Figure 4.3: Production of sound /ʃ/
Figure 4.4: Production of sound /ð/
Figure 4.5: Production of sound /ʒ/
Figure 4.6: Example of homophones exercise
Figure 4.7: Bingo games
Figure 4.8: Game about rhyming words match
 LIST OF DIAGRAM
Diagram 2.1: The manner of articulation

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

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 3.1: The percentages of the importance levels of factors in English speaking
Chart 3.2: The importance level of pronunciation in speaking English
Chart 3.3: Student’s experience in English pronunciation

Chart 3.4: Student’s common pronunciation mistakes
Chart 3.5: Factors affecting student’s English pronunciation
 LIST OF IMAGES
Image 4.1: Example of sound /dʒ/
Image 4.2: Definition of homophone
Image 4.3: Music

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CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
1.1. Rationale
In recent years, English has become a very popular language in the world and
Vietnam as well. People use English for communication, travel, culture and trade
exchanges and so many other fields in life. Vietnam is one of the countries which use
English as the second language and as a result, English has been adopted as one of the
most important subjects in many schools in Vietnam. Four English skills are essential
for every English learner of all ages, nonetheless, learners seem to focus on reading,
writing, listening rather than speaking. They spend a lot of time learning grammar for
weekly tests and examinations each semester, meanwhile, they are quite afraid of
speaking English. One of the problems that learners of English face are how to
pronounce. It is easily seen that during the time of studying at TMU, the author
recognizes that there are many pronunciation errors that fourth-year students of
English make such as word stress, sentence stress, intonation, length of vowel sounds,
ending sounds, and liking sounds, etc. To help better English pronunciation for
students of English at TMU, it is essential to research the most typical pronunciation
problem of them, which are, in this research, errors with consonant sounds and ending
sounds.
Secondly, although they are common errors made by learners, not all teachers
pay attention to them. The above conclusion results partly from personal observation

supporting this research. It is possible because the final consonants, for example, are
not pronounced so clearly as other sounds in an utterance so they are less noticed by
both learners and teachers.
Furthermore, pronunciation is an integral part of foreign language learning since
it directly affects learners’ communicative competence as well as performance.
Limited pronunciation skills can decrease learners’ self-confidence, restrict social
interactions, and negatively affect estimations of a speaker’s credibility and abilities.
Added to this, for fourth-year students in Business English of TMU who will use
English as their main occupation, or become future teachers, it is extremely significant
to realize their pronunciation errors. Following that, they can self-correct their English

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pronunciation to be confident enough to do jobs relating to English or teach their
students in the future. It is obvious that some students notice their pronunciation errors
when they pronounce them erroneously, other students, on the other hand, do not
recognize their problem with pronouncing English words. The author believes a
particular study on English pronunciation errors will help students become well aware
of their pronunciation problems to which they might not have paid any attention
before. Then, the researcher mentions some solutions to help students practice
pronunciation individually and in groups. From the reasons mentioned above, the
author has decided to carry out this study entitled “Pronunciation errors made by
fourth-year students of English at TMU and suggested solutions”.
1.2. Previous studies
1.2.1. In the world
Researching errors in general and errors in pronouncing, in particular, has been
done by many authors around the world. Firstly, the research about “Teaching English
Intonation to ESL/EFL Students”, Mehmet Celik, (2001), Hacettepe University,
Turkey put forward a framework of English intonation as a second or foreign language

to non-native speakers of English. It is proposed that a framework of English
intonation should include four major intonational features in meaningful contexts with
realistic language and point out the need to consider intonation, not as a luxury but a
necessity for an efficient interchange in English. Although this framework in the field
of ESL/EFL (English as a Second Language/ English as a Foreign Language), it seems
to be rather general and theoretical.
Next, “English pronunciation errors made by Saudi Student” (Islam Ababneh,
2018). This paper dealt with English pronunciation errors made by two groups of
native Saudi Arab speakers. In particular, the author selected female students from two
departments at the University of Tabuk (one group majoring in English and the other
group is non- English major) and then asked the participants to pronounce a set of
words and phrases. The study uses a mixture of quantitative and qualitative
approaches. This study identified the pronunciation errors made by Saudi students in
pronouncing words of problematic nature to Arabs in general. The students in both
groups made vowel insertion and confusion, orthography, stress, intonation, errors; but
the more trained students in group 1 made fewer errors than the students in group 2.

2


The other study is “Factor affecting the pronunciation Abilities of Adult Learners
of English” (Karin Richter, 2018). In this paper, the author suck to shed light on the
question as to why some learners are more successful when it came to pronunciation
mastery than others. In this project, the changes in the perceived degree of the foreign
accent of a group of adult university students (N=55) were tracked over the entire
duration of their Bachelor studies. The learners were recorded twice, once at the
beginning and then again at the end of their studies, reading a text and narrating a
picture story. Also, questionnaires were designed to explore the impact of individual
factors that may have played a role. The statistical analysis of the data obtained
revealed that the overwhelming majority of the learners managed to ameliorate their

accent, yet no single factor could be identified as the most influential driver of
pronunciation learning.
1.2.2. In Vietnam
The study on the difficulties in perceiving and producing the minimal pairs of
phonemes experienced by the second-year students at college of foreign languages –
Danang University (Pham Hoai Nhi, 2010). In the research written by Pham Hoai Nhi,
she gave out the minimal pairs of phonemes such as /p/ - /b/, /t/ - /d/, /k/ - /g/, /s/ - /z/
experienced by the second- year students of College of Foreign Languages - Danang
University. The results data was collected from the questionnaires and diagnostic test.
The statistical analysis of the data showed that many students do not define minimized
sound pairs (52%). 83% of students had trouble distinguishing between different sound
pairs and 63% said they could not pronounce correctly because the sounds in each
minimum sound pair sound too similar.
1.3. Aims of the Study
Initially, the researcher wants to find out the attitudes of fourth-year English
major students at TMU and then, the most common pronunciation errors made by
them.
Next, the researcher desires to help fourth-year students at TMU realize their
consonants errors and ending sounds errors. It also helps students have awareness of
affecting factors toward pronunciation and give some suggestions to deal with their
consonants errors and ending sounds errors. More specifically, the study is an attempt
to answer the four research questions:

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- What are the attitudes of fourth-year English major students at TMU toward
English pronunciation?
- What are typical pronunciation errors that fourth-year English major students
of TMU often make?

- What are the factors affecting fourth-year English major students at TMU in
learning pronunciation?
- What are solutions for fourth-year English major students to overcome English
pronunciation errors?
1.4. Research Subjects
Firstly, the aim of the researcher is to find out the attitudes of fourth-year English
major students at TMU towards pronunciation, and then typical pronunciation errors of
fourth-year English major students at TMU, especially ending sounds and consonant
sounds. Additionally, these are the factors affecting English pronunciation of fourthyear students of the English faculty at TMU. Last but not least, solutions for them to
overcome English pronunciation errors. All these mentioned above would be the main
research subjects of the study.
1.5. Scope of the Study
Because of the small scale of the study as well as the limitation of time, expense,
and experience, the study concretely places a focus on the fourth-year students of
English faculty of TMU. Furthermore, there are many errors of English pronunciation
that fourth-year students encounter when speaking. However, this study will not cover
all problems in learner’s pronunciation. Therefore, this research will focus on the most
common pronunciation mistakes of fourth-year English major students at TMU, those
are consonants and ending sounds. The author will concentrate on some consonants
and five common ending sound mistakes from a survey questionnaire chosen by 100
fourth-year students from classes at English faculty of TMU participating in this study
with a survey research design. Most of the students at TMU are in rural areas from
different provinces. Therefore, their pronunciation might be greatly influenced by the
local language, especially students in Ha Noi, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, so on.
Besides, in the process of learning English, they mainly focus on grammar for exam
preparation, vocabulary, not investing time to practice pronunciation skills and
speaking skills.

4

1.6. Research methodology
1.6.1. Setting
The quantitative data collection process was carried out through a survey
questionnaire with the participation of 100 students who were randomly selected from
six classes of English Faculty at TMU. After that, the author created a direct interview
to ask 7 out of the 100 selected students about attitudes in English pronunciation, the
mistakes they often make, and the methods they used to improve English
pronunciation skills.
1.6.2. Sampling
The participants in the research were fourth-year English major students at TMU.
There were in total 100 students from six classes who participated in the questionnaire.
Most of them are female, which really reflects the male-female ratio in TMU because
more than 80 percent of students in the English Faculty are female. All of the
participants had the same backgrounds in terms of English language education in their
state schools before. They currently have three subjects relating to English
pronouncing including the “Speaking Skills” (3 credits), the “Basic communication
English” (2 credits), and the “English Phonetics and Phonology” (2 credits), creating
approximately 300 minutes for a week to practice English pronunciation at school. The
researcher used the convenient sampling procedure. The findings from the sample
could not be generalized to all students; however, the larger number of participants can
compensate for this limitation to some extent.
The specific number of the participants from each class is as follows:
Class
K53N1
K53N2
K53N3
K53N4
K53N5
K53N6

Number of participants
13
19
15
25
15
13
Table 1.1: Participants from six classes
(Source: Survey table)

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1.6.3. Data collection
1.6.3.1. Data collection instruments
In the study, the researcher used two different types of data collection tools to
find out the answers to four research questions. The first is the survey questionnaire;
the second is personal interview.
1.6.3.2. Survey questionnaire
1.6.3.2.1. Aims of the questionnaire
According to Paul J. Lavrekas, questionnaire “is a set of standardized questions,
often called items, which follow a fixed scheme in order to collect individual data
about one or more specific topics” (2008). This research tool is the most popular,
effective and time-saving for data and information collection because the items in the
questionnaire in the study help to “gather relatively straightforward factual data in
response to closed questions” (Gillham, 2005, p.166). In addition, specific information
collected from a large number of respondents in a relatively short period of time makes
the questionnaire very suitable for quantitative and statistical analysis.
1.6.3.2.2. Questionnaire design

All information received from the questionnaire will be kept confidential in any
way. The questionnaire requires participants to provide their class for the purpose of
controlling the number of participants in each class answering the questionnaire.
In addition to asking participants to provide information about names, and
classes the researcher designed the questionnaire with five sections of 11 questions.
Part A of the questionnaire contains 2 questions relating to background
information about learning English of major students.
Part B is designed with 3 questions about student’s attitudes on English
pronunciation. These questions are relatively focused on the evaluation of the
Important level of factors such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc. as well as
the significance of pronunciation in English speaking. The final question contains 4
items concerning “How you like learning pronunciation”.
Next, part C with 4 questions starting with the question consists of 2 small items
to survey about the experience of the courses or lessons in English pronunciation. The
second question has 5 items to survey about the frequency of making mistakes in

6


English pronunciation. Then, these left questions are about pronunciation errors that
participants tend to encounter.
Part D relates to factors affecting English pronunciation.
The final part E is conducted to inquire student’s opinion about some suggested
solutions which can help them avoid pronunciation problems.
The content of the survey questionnaire is suitable for research because the
researcher wants to come up with an appreciate method to help improve pronunciation
skills. To prepare for the survey questionnaire, the researcher designed a systematic
series of detailed alternative questions carefully before conducting the survey (See
Appendix 1).
1.6.3.3. Personal interview

1.6.3.3.1. Aims of the personal interview
The purpose of conducting a personal interview is to explore the responses of the
people to gather more and deeper information and at the same time, to observe the
behavior of the respondents.
1.6.3.3.2. Personal interview design
The researcher has a list of questions or key points that need to be mentioned and
interviewed methodically. Respondents will be asked similar questions, although
additional questions may be asked in some certain cases. For the interview to be highly
effective, the researcher will record the answers of the respondents with their
permission and take them home to summarize the obtained information for analysis.
1.6.4. Procedures for data collection and analysis
The researcher collected data through questionnaires and individual interview
surveys. All questions used are reasonable and consistent with the aims of the study.
After collecting survey questionnaires from 100 students of the classes while the
recordings obtained during the interview process are being processed, all the figures
and observation diagrams with information gathered from the participants were used
for analysis. All ideas and methods collected from students were counted in the table
and the results section. The quantitative data collected in survey questionnaires were
converted into percentages and displayed as charts and tables.

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Finally, data is processed by both statistical and interpretive methods. They have
been clarified and summarized into tables and charts for later generalization.
Comments and evaluations were given by the researcher relating to relevant
knowledge in previous studies are presented in chapter 1. From statistics and findings,
some solutions for the pronunciation errors of fourth-year students in K53 were found.
1.7. Organization of the study
The research is divided into four main chapters such as Overview of the study,

Literature review, Research findings, Recommendations and suggestions. More
specifically, the contents consist of four chapters are as follows:
Chapter one (Overview of the study) includes the rationale, previous studies and
the aims of the study. In addition, it provides the research subjects, the scope,
methodology and the organization of the study.
Chapter two (Literature review) presents theories related to the study. The
researcher discus the literature on typical English pronunciation errors including the
key terms together with the review of related studies.
Chapter three (Research findings), the researcher describes the research process,
presents and analyzes the research results.
Chapter four (Recommendations and suggestion) the researcher summarizes the
major findings, suggests some pedagogical implications from those findings,
acknowledges the limitation of the research and finds out solutions for the problem.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Chapter two “Literature Review” is devoted to the presentation of the theoretical
background relevant to the research. Firstly, the review of pronunciation and factors
affecting pronunciation learning are introduced. Then the literature related to English
pronunciation errors is given.
2.1. English Pronunciation
2.1.1. Definition of Pronunciation
To every English-speaking learner, the first thing they need to learn is
pronunciation. They have to know how to pronounce a word exactly before they learn
the other things, so what is pronunciation? In this part, the definition of pronunciation
will be presented to provide more information for all students.
According to Madden, et al (1997), “Pronunciation is often simplified to mean
the production of phonetic/ phonemic sounds of a language” (p.2)

In the AMEP Fact sheets that have been funded by the Department of
Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs through the AMEP Special
Project Research Program, the pronunciation was defined as: “The production of
sounds that we use to make meaning. It includes attention to particular sounds of a
language (segments), aspects of speech beyond the level of the individual sound, such
as intonation, phrasing, stress, timing, rhythm (suprasegmental aspects), how the voice
is projected (voice quality), and, in its broadest definition, attention to gestures and
expressions that are closely related to the way we speak a language. Each of these
aspects of pronunciation is briefly outlined below, and references for further study are
suggested.”
According to Fraenkel (1984), there are two main steps to learn how to
pronounce a language. The first step is the reception phase. By this stage, language
learners learn to distinguish important sounds and patterns by listening to the
language. The second stage is speaking, in which learners learn to say or create what
they have learned before.
Besides, pronunciation was also put as “the way in which a language is spoken”
(Oxford Advanced Learner’s Encyclopedic, 1992:718). The Oxford Advanced
Learner’s Dictionary, 8th end (2008) makes clear pronunciation is “the way in which a
language or a particular word or sound pronounced”.

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There are so many different definitions of pronunciation, this one from Oxford
Dictionary seems to be easier to understand: “Pronunciation is the way in which a
word is pronounced”.
2.1.2. The Importance of Correct Pronunciation
As mentioned above, pronunciation is very important in speaking. Many people
ignore it when speaking English, especially students. They take further notice of word
meanings while pronunciation is considered the most important factor in speaking. The

others cannot understand if words were pronounced wrong. Therefore, in order to
speak English correctly, pronunciation should be paid more attention to. Furthermore,
the right pronunciation can help with the process of acquiring new vocabulary.
Pronouncing words is often a part of memorizing them in second-language learning, so
getting a strong, basic foundation in correct pronunciation early on will equate to more
effective learning overall.
According to AMP Fact sheets of AMP Research Centre, “learners with good
pronunciation in English are more likely to be understood even if they make errors in
other areas, whereas learners whose pronunciation is difficult to understand will not be
understood, even if their grammar is perfect” and “Yet many adult learners find
pronunciation one of the most difficult aspects of English to acquire, and need explicit
help from the teacher (Morley 1994; Fraser 2000). Surveys of student need
consistently show that our learners feel the need for pronunciation work in class (egg
Willing 1989). Thus, some sorts of pronunciation work in class is essential”.
From Higgs Graph of Learner Needs, pronunciation is something that is very
important to beginners. It allows them to feel more comfortable when speaking.
Obviously, no one can deny the importance of pronunciation. It is considered as one of
the most significant factors in English speaking.
Hence, students should take pronunciation into account to have good speaking.
2.1.3. Aspects of Pronunciation
2.1.3.1. Articulatory phonetics
2.1.3.1.1. Articulators
We know that humans produce speech by bringing air from the lungs through the
larynx, where the vocal folds might or might not vibrate. That airflow is then shaped
by the articulators.

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In the book “English Phonetics and Phonology” (Peter Roach, 2000), it is

mentioned that all the sounds we make when we speak are the result of muscles
contracting. The muscles in the chest that we use for breathing produce the flow of air
that is needed for almost all speech sounds; muscles in the larynx produce many
different modifications in the flow of we call the vocal tract, which ends at the mouth
and nostrils; we call the part comprising the mouth the oral cavity and the part that
leads to the nostrils the nasal cavity. Here the air from the lungs escapes into the
atmosphere. We have a large and complex set of muscles that can produce changes in
the shape of the vocal tract, and in order to learn how the sounds of speech are
produced, it is necessary to become familiar with the different parts of the vocal tract.
These different parts are called articulators, and the study of them is called articulatory
phonetics.
The articulators include the following parts as larynx, pharynx, soft palate
(velum), hard palate, tongue, alveolar, nose, upper teeth, lower teeth, upper lip, lower
lip.
The place of articulation is the location of the obstruction of the air-stream in the
articulation of consonants. It describes the point at which the articulators actually
touch or are at their closest.
Look at the diagram below to see where each part of the articulators is:

Figure 2.1: Places of articulation (Roach, 1983:8)

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2.1.3.1.2. The process of pronouncing sounds
Besides mentioning the articulators above the larynx, the book “English
Phonetics and Phonology” (Peter Roach, 2000) also describes how the sounds are
produced in the following way: When we are making sounds, the air from the lungs
comes up through the wind-pipe and arrives first at the larynx. Then it goes through
the vocal cords into the pharynx and up the pharynx to the uvula. At this point, it may

go in either way. It may go into the oral cavity (if the soft palate is raised) and go out
of the mouth. Or it may go into the nasal tract (if the soft palate is lowered) and get out
through the nostrils.
2.1.3.2. English sounds
There are 44 sounds in English including 20 vowel sounds (with 12 vowels, 8
diphthongs) and 24 consonants sounds.
2.1.3.2.1. Vowel sounds
According to Peter Roach (2000), vowels are “the sounds in the production of
which none of the articulators come very close together so the passage of air-stream is
relatively unobstructed and the air can get out freely” (p.10).
They “are the types of sounds that depend mainly on the variations in the
position of the tongue. They are normally voiced.” Vowels are mainly divided into two
groups as monophthongs and diphthongs.
2.1.3.2.2. Consonant Sounds
In English phonetics and phonology (Peter Roach, 2000:10), the term consonants
can be defined as: “sounds in which there is an obstruction to the flow of air as it
passes the larynx to the lips”. The production of sounds, consonant was defined:
“Consonant sounds are the sounds, in the production of which one articulator moves
towards another or two articulators come together obstructing the air stream and the air
stream cannot get out freely.”
Marianne, Donna, and Janet (1996:42-43) presented that the consonants system
was classified according to place and manner of articulation.

12


Figure 2.2: The vocal tract showing the places of articulation
(Source: />According to place of articulation, consonants are classified into 9 types:
Bilabials: are the sounds made with the two lips pressed together or coming
together, including: /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/

Labio- dentals: are the sounds which are produced with the lower lip touching the
upper front teeth, including: /f/, /v/
Dentals: are the sounds which are produced with the tip or blade of the tongue
touching the upper front teeth, including: /θ/, /ð/
Alveolars: are the sounds which are produced with the tip or blade of the tongue
touching or approaching the alveolar ridge, including: /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/
Retroflex: is the sound that is produced with the tip of the tongue curling back
towards the back of the alveolar ridge, including: /r/
Palato- alveolars: are the sounds which are produced with the tongue tip or blade
coming close to the area between the back of the alveolar ridge and the front of the
hard blade, including: /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/
Palatal: is the sound which is produced with the front of the tongue coming close
to the hard palate,including: /j/
Velars: are the sounds which are produced with the back of the tongue touching
the soft palate, including: /k/, /g/, /ŋ/

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Glottal: are the sounds which are produced without the active use of the tongue
and other parts of the mouth, including: /h/
Manner of articulation is the way in which the air-stream is obstructed or altered
in the production of speech sounds. It describes the types of obstruction caused by the
narrowing or closure of the articulation. The manners can be illustrated as in the
following diagram:

Consonants

Plosivesss

Nasals

Fricatives

Affricativess

Laterals

Approximants

Diagram 2.1: The manner of articulation
(Source: Peter Roach (2000), English Phonetics and Phonology)
Oral stops (Plosives): are the sounds, which are produced with the air-stream
being stopped in the oral cavity and the soft palate is raised blocking off the nasal
cavity. Then the two articulators come apart quickly and the air escapes through the
oral tract. E.g. /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/
Nasal stops (Nasals): they are produced with the airstream being stopped in the
oral cavity but the soft palate is down so that the air can go through the nose. E.g.
/m/, /n/, /ŋ/
Fricatives: are the sounds in the production of which two articulators come close
together but there is still a small opening between them so the airstream is partially
obstructed and an audible friction noise is produced. E.g. /f/, /v/, /ʃ/,
/ʒ/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/,/ h/
Affricatives: are the sounds which are produced when a stop is immediately
followed by a fricative. E.g. / tʃ/, /dʒ/
Lateral: is the sound which is made when the air-stream is obstructed at a point
along the centre of the oral tract, with incomplete closure between one or both sides of
the tongue and the roof of the mouth. / l /

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Approximants: are the sounds in the production of which two articulators come
close together but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a
friction noise is produced /r/, /w/, /j/

Figure 2.3: Classification of English consonants (Cawley, 1996)
2.1.3.2.3. Ending sounds
Ending sounds are called Codas: “The coda is the final consonant or consonant
cluster.” (Barbara and Brian, 1997). According to Rachael-Anne Knight, 2003,
University of Survey-Roehampton (Understanding English Variation, Week 3).
There are 4 consonants in a coda. If there are no consonants at the end of the
word, it has a zero coda. A single consonant is called the final consonant. Any
consonant except “h, r, w and j” may be a final coda.

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Example final consonant sounds in English are listed as below:
 /p/ - keep, stop, cheap
 /b/ - transcribe, crab

 /tʃ/ - teach, watch, much

 /t/ - start, smart, seat, meat, wet

 /dʒ/- bridge, large, village

 /d/ - ride, sad, bread, road,

 /m/- come, some, warm, time

 /k/ - pick, speak, peak

 /n/ - than, man, sun, tin, cone

 /f/ - leaf, belief, roof, half, sniff

 /ŋ/ - sing, spring, wrong, wing

 /v/ - leave, arrive, live, love, five

 /l/ - pool, smile, veil, call, girl

 /θ/ - earth, health, worth

 /ʒ/ - message, garage, massage

 /ð/ - breathe, clothe, with

 /g/ - beg, dog, clog, bag

 /s/ - stress, goes, rice, bus, six

 /ʃ/ - crash, wash, rush

 /z/ - these, plays, buzz, prize
Table 2.1: Example final consonants
(Source: />When there are two or more consonants standing at the end of the word, the
terms “pre-final” and “post-final” consonants are used.

Re-final includes: /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /s/
Post-final includes: /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, /θ/
Two consonant clusters:
Pre-final: /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, is followed by a final consonant
Consonant plus post-final /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, /θ/
Example: help, bank, books, blind, etc.
Three consonant clusters:
Pre-final plus final plus post-final (e.g: stopped, speaks)
Final plus post-final plus post final /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/, /θ/ (e.g: next, thousands)
Four consonant clusters:
Most are pre-final plus final plus post-final (e.g. twelfths, prompts). Occasionally
there are one final and three post final consonants (e.g. sixths, texts.).

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2.1.3.3. Stress
Stress is an extra force exerted on a particular syllable or a particular word in
spoken language. This stress syllable or word is said with greater energy. “It is
pronounced with more strength, it lasts longer, and it reaches a higher pitch than the
surrounding syllables, it also differs from them because it has a full vowel as opposed
to schwa, which is the most central and hence the most neutral of all vowels.” (Roach,
1995).
There are two types of stress. They include the stress placed on syllables within
words is called word stress or lexical stress and the stress placed on words within
sentences is called sentence stress or prosodic stress.
In order to decide on the stress placement, it is necessary to make use of some or
all of the following information:
+Whether the word is morphologically simple or complex. (Whether the word is
a simple, derived, or compound word)

+The grammatical category to which the word belongs to (N, V, A, etc);
+The number of syllables in the word
+The phonological structure of the word.
There are some lexical stress principles cited in “English Phonetics and
Phonology” (Roach, 1995)
- Two-syllable words
+ In most two-syllable nouns and adjectives, the first syllables take on the stress.
E.g: SAMples, CARton, CLEVer, etc.
+ In most syllable verbs and prepositions, the stress is on the second syllable.
E.g: preSENT, to exPORT, aMONG, aSIDE, etc
+ About 80% of two-syllable words get their stress on the first syllable.
Note: There are many two-syllable words in English that can be pronounced in
two different ways. The stress also changes the part of speech of the word.
E.g: - PREsent= a gift (noun)
- preSENT= to give something to someone (verb)
-Three-syllable word

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+ For three-syllable words ending with the suffixes er or ly, the stress is placed
on the first syllable.
E.g: Silently, Lovingly, Easier, GARdener, etc.
+ The stress is going to be on the syllable right before the suffix such as able, ial,
cian, iblem, ic, ics, ion, ia, ient, ious, (o)sis.
E.g: ADDable, CRITical, phySIcian, SCEnery, ciVILian, TERRible, plaTOnic,
diaBEtics, vegeTAtion, MEdia, PAtient, reLIgious, Punish, hypNOsis.
+ Words that use the suffix –ade, -ee, -ese, -eer, -que, -ette or –oon have the
primary stress actually placed on the suffix.
E.g: cruSADE, guaranTEE, baLOON,etc.

Note: This applies to words of all syllable lengths.
+ Words ending in –cy, -ty, -phy, -gy, and –ies, -ate stress on the third from end
syllable.
E.g: deMOcracy, phoTOgraphy, ADvertise, etc.
- Compound words
+ In compound noun, the most stress is on the stressed syllable of the first word.
E.g: BLACKbird, SEAfood, etc
+ In compound adjectives, the most stress is placed in the stressed syllable of the
second word.
E.g: bad-TEMpered, ten-Meter, etc.
+ In compound verbs, the stress is on the second or on the last part.
E.g: overFLOW, deTESTS, etc.
+ In noun + compound noun, the stress is on the first word.
E.g: AIRplane mechanic, BOARD member, etc.
2.1.3.4. Intonation
“Intonation is the melody of the sentence. Intonation is created by changes in the
pitch of the voice (the voice goes higher and lower, remains on the same level; rises or
falls), by sentence stress (strong stress on important words; weak stress or no stress on
less important words), and by rhythm (stress syllables occur at more or less equal
intervals).” (Roach, 1995)

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