Abstract

Accurate and standard pronunciation is one of the key elements of evaluating the effectiveness of oral communication and the basic literacy of language learners. As Chinese students keep encountering difficulties in English pronunciation during their language acquisition process due to the interference of their mother tongue -- Chinese, it becomes even more necessary to be aware of the distinctions of the two languages and in what way one influences the acquisition of the other. Chinese and English phonetic systems have significant differences as well as the slight ones. So it is only common that EFL learners will from time to time find it difficult to sound like a native speaker, as they are influenced by their mother tongue to varying degrees.

 This paper illustrates the difficulties Chinese EFL learners may encounter while producing English vowels and consonants and explores the reasons of these common errors on the theoretical basis of negative transfer by exploring the differences between Chinese and English phonetic systems and that if the mispronunciation can be avoided. Furthermore, it provides suggestions on the ways to eliminate the effect of negative transfer of Chinese on English pronunciation so as to smooth away the difficulties in the acquisition of English pronunciation.

Key words: negative transfer; Chinese and English phonetic systems; contrastive analysis 

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction1

 1.1 Background and Significance of the Study1

 1.2 Layout of the Study2

2. Literature Review.3

 2.1 Previous Studies of Chinese and English Phonetic Systems.3

 2.2 Previous Studies of Language Transfer and Negative Transfer.3

3.A Contrastive Study of Mandarin Chinese and English Phonetic Systems, Common Mispronunciation and the Reasons.6

 3.1 A Contrastive Study of Chinese and English Phonetic Systems.6

  3.1.1 Vowels vs. Yunmus.6

  3.1.2 Consonants vs. Shengmus6

 3.2. Common Mispronunciation and the Reasons.7

  3.2.1 Common Mispronunciation7

  3.2.1.1 Errors Caused by Long Vowels7

  3.2.1.2 Errors Caused by Voiceless Consonants7

  3.2.1.3 Errors Caused by Consonant Clusters.8

  3.2.1.4 Errors Caused by Sound Voicing.9

  3.2.2 Causes (The Negative Transfer of Chinese on English Pronunciation)9

  3.2.2.1 Place of Articulation9

  3.2.2.2 Phonological Change.11

  3.2.2.3 The Assimilation Rule11

4. Implications13

5. Conclusion.14