Mother-tongue interference in the production of the English /i:/ and /I/ vowel sounds among Chinese ESL speakers
The objectives of this research are to determine the extent Chinese ESL Speakers can differentiate between the English /i: / and /1/ vowel sounds, the extent of the influence of the language of instruction and mother-tongue on the production of these sounds. The respondents of this survey were ca...
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| Format: | Final Year Project Report / IMRAD |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University ofSouthern Queensland
1997
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| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10132/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/10132/8/Mother-tongue%20interreference%20in%20the%20production%20of%20the%20English%20i-and%20I%20vowel%20sounds%20among%20Chinese%20ESL%20speakers%28fulltext%29.pdf |
| Summary: | The objectives of this research are to determine the extent Chinese ESL Speakers can
differentiate between the English /i: / and /1/ vowel sounds, the extent of the influence
of the language of instruction and mother-tongue on the production of these sounds.
The respondents of this survey were categorised into two groups: the experimental
and control groups. Respondents from the experimental group consisted of 25
Chinese undergraduates from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). They were
further divided into two groups according to the language of instruction: Malay
medium and Chinese medium. Respondents from the control group consisted of a
native speaker and three undergraduates whose L1 is English. Data were collected
through the distribution of questionnaires and the recording of a short text. This
research found that Chinese undergraduates faced difficulty producing the /i: / sound
as compared to the /1/ sound. The findings also indicated that language/medium of
instruction bears no significance on the pronunciation of these sounds and finally,
due to absence of the /1/ sound in the Chinese language, Chinese ESL speakers do not
differentiate between the English /i: / and /I/ sounds. |
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