Factors which Affect Pronunciation Learning

From: Mr. Nonthipoth Buranavityawut
Date: 9/6/00
Time: 6:18:13 PM
Remote Name: 194.83.240.42

Comments

Kenworthy (1987) observes that there are many factors affecting pronunciation learning. First of all, he claims that native language plays an important role in learning English pronunciation. Many researches have tried to predict the troubles the learners could face in learning English pronunciation by comparing the sound systems of English and the learner's native language. The results showed that the more differences the sound systems are, the more difficulties the learner will face.

The second factor is the age of learners in which they started to learn English. Someone who have learned English since they were young tend to have better English pronunciation than others who have learned when they are old.

The third factor is the length of time the learners live in an English-speaking environment. It doesn't matter in term of place or country but it depends on how much they use English in their life. The more they spend their time for listening and speaking English, the better their English pronunciation will be.

The next factor involves hearing abilities of the learners themselves. Different people have different level of hearing abilities. The better their abilities are, the better the learners can imitate or differentiate the sounds, which result in their pronunciation skill developments. For normal people training can improve their hearing abilities but to a certain extent.

The last factors that strongly determine the accuracy of learners’ pronunciation are a person’s “sense of identity” and feelings of “group affiliation”. If the learners are positive and opened-mind towards the English speakers, they are likely to adopt and imitate English accent easily.

In conclusion, the author claims that the amount of exposure to English and motivation and concern for good pronunciation are the only two factors that the learners can change now.

In my opinion, I agree with the author that the more frequent the learners use English, the sooner their English pronunciation improvement will be. In addition, the learners’ willingness to have a better pronunciation is also an important factor.