The purpose of this study is to analyze diphthongs that are contained in English text books and to learn how well Korean middle school students recognize and pronounce English diphthongs which are remarkably different from Korean's.
A test that was c...
The purpose of this study is to analyze diphthongs that are contained in English text books and to learn how well Korean middle school students recognize and pronounce English diphthongs which are remarkably different from Korean's.
A test that was carried out to students was to read aloud words that contain diphthongs. The test material is based on the frequency of words with diphthongs from eight English textbooks and on American English pronunciation.
A class of the third-grade students in a middle school underwent this test and only 12.5% of them have scored 80-100, which have less than 10 errors. 50% of them have scored 50-80, and 37.5% have scored less than 50.
They mostly took similar mistakes of pronouncing the words as it seems. This result shows that many Korean students who are familiar with Korean phonetics which has different features from English phonetics are not aware of the changing possibility in English spelling system. They especially have difficulty in pronouncing diphthongs because they occur in many different spelling patterns.
But accuracy in speaking affects communication in many cases. It is also very important not only to deliver clear opinion but to understand what other speakers say.
Still, many classrooms in Korea are not paying enough attention to educate how to pronounce accurately. Since English has a character that spelling and pronunciation don't always match, Korean students who learn English as a second language are subject to their mother tongue which has contrast features to English phonetic system. Given that even Native American speakers would have difficulty in reading a single word if they have never seen it and the spelling has a possibility of being pronounced in many different ways, it is not surprising Korean learners take so many mistakes in pronunciation when they are not adequately educated.
Furthermore, it is necessary to speak more accurate English to live up to the current stream that pinpoints the importance of using a language for communication purpose.
Therefore, it is required that teacher should give students more specific information about the difference between Korean and English phonetic systems(including diphthongs) and also give frequent practice in pronunciation in classrooms to acquire accuracy in speaking English.
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