WRITTEN REPORT OF PHONOLOGY
Phonology course code 5658
VARIETY
IN THE PRONUNCIATION OF A WORD MAY PROVE DIFFICULT TO THE LISTENER IN
COMPREHENDING THE MESSAGE CONVEYED BY THE SPEAKER(s) AND HENCE MAY LEAD TO
CONFUSION.SELECT AT LEAST TEN WORDS THAT HAVE MORE THAN ONE PRONUNCIATION IN
PAKISTAN (FOR EXAMPLE: ’TODAY’ IS
PRONOUNCED AS / tadel / AS WELL AS / tidal / WHICH CREATES CONFUSION ON THE
PART OF THE LISTENER).NOW SELECT CERTAIN PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT WALKS OF LIFE
AND ASK THEM TO SPEAK OUT THESE WORDS.
FIND
OUT:
i.
WHAT ARE THE
VARIOUS PRONUNCIATIONS?
ii.
THE REASONS OF
DIFFERENT PRONUNCIATION.
iii.
WHAT SHOULD BE
THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION IN YOUR VIEW? GIVE REASONS FOR YOUR SOLUTION. PREPARE A
COMPREHENSIVE REPORT AND SUBMIT IT TO THE TUTOR.
REPORT IS
BEING SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS,
ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD PAKISTAN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF DIPLOMA OF TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE (TEFL)
SUBMITTED BY
COURSE CODE 5658
DATE OF SUBMISSION
DEPARTMENT OF
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS, ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY
ISLAMABAD PAKISTAN
DEDICATION
This Research Oriented
Activity is dedicated to my parents, and teachers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all I am very thankful to Almighty Allah
who is the most beneficent, the most merciful and have the power to create
things with one word “Kun”. This project was impossible for me without his
divine help.
I am grateful to all the Teachers who shared their
knowledge with me throughout Tutorials scheduled for Diploma TEFL program and enabling
me to reach this level and to accomplish this Research Oriented Activity.
Specially, I am grateful to Mr. Ahmed Sheikh my Teacher for this course whose
guidance was continuously with me throughout this whole activity.
I am also gratified to my friend Hafiz Qaiser
Hassan for his help during this activity. Thanks to all my friends for their
encouragement.
Naeem Haider Yazdani
AP504248
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1
OBJECTIVES:
In this report we shall
focus on the following objectives:
- To
find out the various pronunciations of certain words which create
confusion in Pakistani background?
- Selection
of at least ten words who have different pronunciations in Pakistan.
- To
clarify the reasons of different pronunciations.
- To
find out the ultimate solution.
- To
clarify reasons for the solution.
1.2
VARIOUS PRONUNCIATIONS
OF CERTAIN WORDS WHICH CREATE CONFUSION IN PAKISTANI BACKGROUND?
Proper pronunciation
means reproducing the sound of the word through speech in such a way that any
fluent speaker of the language would effortlessly know and understand the
message. Improper pronunciation causes a breakdown in communication and
requires more effort to understand. The meaning between the words like effect and affect are easily confused if the pronunciation is not clear.
Result of this study will be significant for all stake holders of Education
such as students, teachers, and curriculum developers they will know different
causes of poor pronunciation in English language and measures for improving the
English pronunciation.
Since Pakistani Society
is Multilingual society and all of us are forced from our early childhood to
learn many languages namely, Punjabi, Pushtoo, Sindhi, Balochi as mother tongue
and after that we are introduced to Arabic as Religious language and then
afterwards Urdu and English to cope with the world in which the learning of
these languages is assumed as the key to success.
Pakistani English is heavily influenced by Pakistan's languages as
well as the English of other nations. Many words or terms from Urdu, such as
'cummerbund', have entered the global language and are also found in Pakistan.
In addition the area which is now Pakistan was home to the largest garrisons of
the British Indian Army (such as Rawalpindi and Peshawar) and this, combined
with the post-partition influence of the Pakistan
Military, has ensured that many military terms have entered the local
terminology.
The
type of English taught (and preferred) is British
English. The heavy influence and penetration of American culture through
television, films and other media has brought in great influences of American
English.
Following are the selected ten words
that have more than one pronunciation in Pakistan, which creates confusion on
the part of the listener and after listening such pronunciation it is difficult
to understand the factual spellings of such words.
1. Vehicle – Although there is an H in the
word, to pronounce it is to sound hicky. Say /VEE-IKL/, not /vee-Hikl/.
2. Pronunciation – This word is a noun. It comes
from the verb pronounce, BUT it is not pronounced like the verb.
Say /PRO-NUN-CI-A-TION/, not /pro-nounce-i-a-tion/.
3. Old-fashioned – This adjective is formed from a
past-participle: “fashioned.” Don’t leave off the ED. Say /OLD-FASHIOND/, not
/old-fashion/.
4.
Library – Notice where the R comes in the
word. Say /LI-BRAR-Y/, not /li-ber-ry/.
5. Jewelry – The word has three syllables. Say
/JEW-EL-RY/, not /jew-el-er-y/. The pronunciation /jewl-ry/ is common but not
correct, as it removes one syllable from the word.
6. Hierarchy – The word has four syllables.
Say /HI -ER-AR-KY,/ not /hi-ar-ky/.
7. Accessory – the first C has a “hard” sound.
Say /AK-SESS-OR-Y/, not /ass-ess-or-y/.
- RISK- Many people say /Ri-ks/ although
we should say it /Risk/.
- Candidate – Notice the first d. Say
/KAN-DI-DATE/, not /kan-i-date/.
10. Anyway –
The problem with this word is not so much pronunciation as the addition of an
unnecessary sound. Don’t add an “s” to make it “anyways.” The word is /ANYWAY/.
In addition to above mentioned words
there is long list of such words with variety of pronunciation in practice in
Pakistan.
1.3
EXAMPLES
OF VARIOUS PRONUNCIATION OF TEN WORDS
I have given these above mentioned
words to different races of people belonging to the different profession and
the I have collected following different pronunciations from them which are
written as under:
1. Vehicle – was pronounced by a shopkeeper
by saying /vehee-kl/, a student of 10th class pronounced this word
in following manner /vahi-kil/, a laborer said this word like /vehi-kul/ and a
teacher correctly said /ˈviːəkəl/.
2. Pronunciation: was
pronounced by a shopkeeper by saying /pro-nounce-ation/,a student of 10th
class pronounced this word in following manner /pro-nounce-i-a-tion/, a laborer
said this word like / pro-nouncee-i-a-tion / and a teacher correctly said/ prəˌnənsiːˈeɪʃən/.
3. Old-fashioned: was pronounced by a shopkeeper by
saying /ould-pha-shun/,a student of 10th class pronounced this word
in following manner /old-fae-shun-d/, a laborer said this word like /old-pha-shun/
and a teacher correctly said / [Old-fashioned] /.
4. Library: was
pronounced by a shopkeeper by saying /lay-bray-re/,a student of 10th
class pronounced this word in following manner /lae-bray-ri/, a labourer said
this word like /lub-ray-ree/ and a teacher correctly said / laɪˌbreri /
5. Jewelry – was pronounced by a shopkeeper by
saying /jeo-lary/,a student of 10th class pronounced this word in
following manner /jew-el-ry/, a laborer said this word like /juo-lry/ and a
teacher correctly said / ˈdʒuːəlri /
6. Hierarchy was pronounced by a shopkeeper by
saying /hi-rar-ki/,a student of 10th class pronounced this word in
following manner /hi-rar-chi/, a laborer said this word like /hi-rur-chy/ and a
teacher correctly said / ˈhaɪˌrɑrki /
7. Accessory: was pronounced by a shopkeeper by
saying /ak-ses-ri/,a student of 10th class pronounced this word in
following manner /aces-ry/, a laborer said this word like /auk-sis-ree/ and a
teacher correctly said / ɪkˈsesəri /.
8.
RISK: was pronounced by a shopkeeper by
saying /raes-k/,a student of 10th class pronounced this word in
following manner /ris-k/, a laborer said this word like /riks/ and a teacher
correctly said /ˈrɪsk:/
9.
Candidate: was pronounced by a shopkeeper by
saying /kani-day-t/,a student of 10th class pronounced this word in
following manner /cani-date/, a laborer said this word like /kuni-day/ and a
teacher correctly said ˈ/kændəˌdeɪt/
10. Anyway: was pronounced by a
shopkeeper by saying / ay--ni-way/, a student of 10th class
pronounced this word in following manner /ae-ne-way/,a laborer said this word like
/ay-ni-ways/ and a teacher correctly said/ [anyway]/.
1.4
THE REASONS OF DIFFERENT PRONUNCIATIONS:
All
the above examples clearly show following various reasons on the part of
Pakistani Society:
1. LACK OF
EDUCATION: In all the above examples we can see that normally
less educated and illiterate people mispronounced these words and those who are
literate they correctly pronounced the words.
2. PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND:
In all the above examples people are from different professional background. They
have Knowledge of English Language according to their profession. Here we can
see that the person who are related to the Educational Background have
comparatively better knowledge of pronunciation in English.
3. INFREQUENT
LISTENING HABITS: All
the above examples shows inadequate listening habits of our people who don’t
listen English news and therefore their pronunciation possess various kinds of
colors.
4. LACK OF SPEAKING PRACTICE: All
the participants who were asked to pronounce different words did not have any
practice of English speaking, hardly some of them some words in their daily
life.
5. ENVIRONMENT/SURROUNDINGS:
Surroundings
play vital role in learning of speaking skills of a language, if all the people
use same language although with different dialects then anyone who possess
another language will have to speak and understand their language, resultantly
he will be a good speaker of that particular language in no time.
6. LOCAL LANGUAGE
ACCENTS: We can
see the effect of different local language accents on the English
pronunciation. The knowledge of L1, plays crucial role in learning the speaking
skills of a Foreign language like English. For example sikh people speak
English in Punjabi style and our Pakistan people speak English according to
their provincial language styles.
7. OVER EMPHASIS ON
WRITING AND READING OF ENGLISH NOT ON SPEAKING:
According to the results of all above mispronounced
examples of the words it can easily be understand that those people have not
been provided any opportunity to speak English rather in Pakistan focus has
been given only on reading and writing
English language. That’s why people of Pakistan generally mispronounce a lot of
words.
1.5
CONCLUSION
The
following conclusion was drawn on the basis of this written report.
1. The people have no knowledge of phonetics and phonology.
2. The people of Pakistan do not listen to the BBC, CNN and Voice of
America for information and correct pronunciation.
3. The people do not watch, English drama, films and documentaries for
learning English and correct pronunciation.
4. There are limited institutions
of teaching English as a language in Pakistan.
5. Audio Visual aids are not used during
their English classes.
6. The people do not use the dictionary of phonetics system for improving their
pronunciation.
7. The people do not pay attention in learning English speaking skills.
1.6
RECOMMENDATIONS
AND SUGGESTIONS
1. The people may be given proper training in pronunciation especially in
Phonetics and Phonology.
2. The people may be motivated to listen to the different news channels and
to watch English programmes in order to improve their English speaking skills.
3. Special institutions may be established in the country which teaches
English as subject such as NUML.
4. The people may be encouraged to use different types of AV aids and
equipment during their classes.
5. The people may be encouraged to use different talking and pronunciation
dictionaries.
6. Like other English language skills or sub skills courses, such as
reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary etc., English pronunciation is very
important for EFL learners to develop their communicative efficiency. It is one
of the basic skills required for the students in their English language
learning.
7. While learning pronunciation in the classroom, the student should be
conscious about this important factor. The students may have different
competency levels such as learning speed and styles. The teacher should give
proper attention to the students and their special needs and problems. The teacher
should also conduct a students’ needs analysis regarding pronunciation.
According to the needs of the learners, the teacher should develop some
appropriate materials and strategies to present in the class to reduce the
learners’ problem.
8. There is a need for the creation of language guidelines for multilingual
workplaces, not be implemented by workplace trainers - not
(emphatically), to teach or assess English as a Second Language (ESL) pronunciation,
which should be done by specialists, but to encourage interaction between
native and non-native speakers and create opportunities for the informal
conversation practice which is such an important component of learning
pronunciation.
9. English teachers need to be provided with courses and materials to help
them improve their effectiveness in teaching pronunciation. They also need to
be better supported in the context of the many demands that the changing system
is placing upon them.
10. There is a need for high quality, effective materials, especially computer-based
materials with audio demonstrations, for learners of English pronunciation,
both for self-access and for use in classes where the teacher needs support of
this kind.
11. There is a great need for increased scholarly research on English pronunciation
teaching and for a more systematic approach to resolving debates about the
relative effectiveness of methods and materials
A): INTRODUCTION OF THE STUDENT
|
LAST DEGREE OBTAINED:
|
M.A ENGLISH
|
|
ORGANIZATION’S NAME:
|
PUNJAB FORENSIC SCIENCE AGENCY ,HOME DEPARTMENT THOKER
NIAZ BAIG LAHORE
|
|
DESIGNATION:
|
ASSISTANT (ADMIN)
|
|
EXPERIENCE:
|
3 YEARS
|
B): BIBLIOGRAPHY
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistani_English.
- http://project-modelino.com/english-phonetic-transcription-converter.php?site_language=english
- http://www.mcser.org/images/stories/JESRJOURNAL/January_2012/gulap.pdf
- Phonolgy
course code 5658, Department of English Language & Applied Linguistic,
Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad.
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