Presentation

Nonnative Speakers’ Pronunciation Errors in Spoken and Read English

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Abstract

Adult foreign language learners typically reach a lower level of proficiency than do native speakers of the language. This is most obvious in pronunciation, where foreign accents are the norm and native-like accents the rare exception. When diagnosing pronunciation errors, teachers usually ask learners to read a passage that includes a variety of possible pronunciation targets. However, it is not clear that the errors that occur when reading are the same errors that learners demonstrate in spontaneous speech. This is especially true for foreign learners of English because of the indirect correspondence between English spelling and how words are pronounced. This study looks at the English speech of three people from each of four different first language groups: Korean, Malay, Chinese, and Spanish. Each speaker read a passage intended to sample all possible pronunciation errors in English. They also took part in a brief, semi-structured interview that elicited conversational, unplanned speech. The most frequent vowel and consonant errors in each learner’s read speech were identified and compared to the equivalent vowel and consonant features in their unplanned speech. The results suggest that the type of spoken language task influences the types of errors made by the speakers. Implications for diagnosing pronunciation are provided.

How to Cite:

Levis, J. & Barriuso, T. A., (2011) “Nonnative Speakers’ Pronunciation Errors in Spoken and Read English”, Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Proceedings 3(1).