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1 For Citation: Isei-Jaakkola, Toshiko (2017) Teaching phonetics is essential in English education. In: Reinelt, R. (ed.) (2017) From active learning to optimizing in new FL teaching and learning. Rudolf Reinelt Research Laboratory EU Matsuyama, Japan, p Matsu17 1

2 Teaching phonetics is essential in English education Toshiko Isei-Jaakkola Department of English Language and Culture, College of Humanities, Chubu University

3 Contents 1. Introduction 2. Survey 3. Minimally important phonetic issues 4. Conclusion

4 1. INTRODUCTION The ability to use standard pronunciation is important in aiding Japanese learners of English communicate with other language speakers. Teaching phonetics is essential in English education. Based on the survey with my students, and from some research results, I suggest the focus on minimally necessary methods to teach phonetic knowledge.

5 About my students: Major in English 1. INTRODUCTION Approx. 65% of them will study/have studies for four months in a university in the USA. In addition, approximately 20% of the students will take/have taken English courses in the UK, Australia, and Canada. Their TOEIC scores vary largely with the range of On average, their listening score is 1.5 times higher than their reading score. For students with higher scores, their pronunciation is not good enough to communicate clearly.

6 2. SURVEY At the beginning of every semester each year, a survey is conducted with my students. The contents of the survey are as follows: Students cognition of English pronunciation Students learning experience of English pronunciation Students phonetic knowledge Students memory retention of what they learnt Students opinions on when to start of phonetic education Here, I will report some results of the survey, which I have conducted recently. The participants comprised 19 male and female junior students (their age ranged between yrs old).

7 Results (1) Survey Questions: Students cognition of English pronunciation

8 On English pronunciation Q. Do you think that having good English pronunciation would contribute positively to your (future) life? No 0% A. Yes = 100 %, No = 0 % Yes 100% Matsu17 8

9 On English pronunciation Q. Have you felt that having good English pronunciation benefits you? No 21% A. Yes = 79 %, No = 21 % Yes 79% Matsu17 9

10 Experience of English pronunciation Q. Have you been praised for your good English pronunciation in Japan or abroad? Yes 37% A. Yes = 37 %, No = 63 % No 63% Matsu17 10

11 Cognition of English pronunciation and Q. Do you think that pronunciation is important for communication? A. Yes = 74 %, No = 26 % communication No 26% Yes 74% Matsu17 11

12 Cognition of phonetic knowledge and communication Q. Do you think that phonetic knowledge is important in listening? 5% A. Yes = 95 %, No = 5 % 95% Matsu17 12

13 Results (2) Survey Questions: Students learning experience of English pronunciation

Q. Did you learn English pronunciation before

elementary school days In junior and senior high

14 Q. Did you learn English pronunciation before entering the university? A. Not taught = 84 %, In junior and senior high school days = 11 % In senior high school days = 5 % 0 % in elementary school days In junior and senior high school days 11% Not taught 84% In senior high school days 5% Matsu17 14

15 Q. What technical terms did you learn if you were taught English pronunciation before entering university? A. For those who have learnt English pronunciation before, the content taught was very limited. Place of articulation GA, RP Syllable Vowels, Consonants Matsu17 15

16 Results (3) Survey Questions: Students phonetic knowledge

17 Q. Can you write English vowels and consonants in phonetic symbols (in IPA)? Q. Can you pronounce English vowels and consonants in phonetic symbols? can write most of them 0% can hardly write 47% can write ca. 50% 0% cannot write very much 53% can pronounce most of them 0% can hardly pronounce 37% cannot pronounce very much 53% can pronounce ca. 50% 10% A % have negative memory power Matsu17 17

can most of it 0% cannot most of it 42% can ca.

18 Q. Can you the phonetic phenomena since there are various sound changes in English that do not occur in Japanese? Q. Can you English assimilation? can most of it 0% cannot most of it 42% can ca. 50% 0% cannot very much 58% can most of it 0% cannot most of it 47% can ca. 50% 5% cannot very much 48% A % have negative memory power Matsu17 18

19 Q. Can you English accents? Q. Can you English intonation? can most of it 0% can ca. 50% 0% cannot most of it 26% can most of it 5% can ca. 50% 11% cannot most of it 32% cannot very much 68% cannot very much 58% A % have negative memory power Matsu17 19

20 Q. Can you the difference between phonetics and phonology? can almost 0% cannot most of it 53% cannot very much 47% can ca. 50% 0% A.100% have negative memory power Matsu17 20

21 Is it too late to study English pronunciation and phonetics at the university level?

22 Results (4) Survey Questions: Students memory retention of what they learnt

23 Q. Did you take the Pronunciation Clinic course in the first year? No 0% Yes 100% A. 100% of the survey participants affirmed taking the Pronunciation Clinic course (one semester) in the first semester of the first year Matsu17 23

24 Q. Then, one and half years later, the following result was obtained: Forgot almost everything Almost A. 6% remember 11% Don't remember very much 61% Relatively remember 22% Approximately 67% of the students have forgotten most of what they had learnt Matsu17 24

25 Q. Did you take the English Pronunciation (English Phonetics) course in the first semester of the third year? No 53% Yes 47% A. 47% of the survey participants affirmed that they have taken the said course in their third year Matsu17 25

Q. Then, two months later, the following result was

very much 39% Almost remember 15% Relatively

Approximately 39% of the students did not remember

26 Q. Then, two months later, the following result was obtained: Forgot almost everything 0% Don't remember very much 39% Almost remember 15% Relatively remember 46% A. Approximately 39% of the students did not remember much of what they have learnt although they have not forgotten everything Matsu17 26

27 Phonetic knowledge Q. Can you English accents? Q. Can you English intonation? can most of it 0% cannot most of it 32% cannot very much 68% can ca. 50% 0% can most of it 5% cannot most of it 26% cannot very much 58% can ca. 50% 11% Matsu17 27

28 Is it too late to start studying English pronunciation and phonetics at the university level?

29 Results (5) Survey Questions: Students opinions on when to start of phonetic education

Q. When do you think is appropriate to start teaching pronunciation?

school From junior high school From senior high school A.

30 Q. When do you think is appropriate to start teaching pronunciation? 5% 0% 11% 5% 79% From 1st grade of elementary school From 4th grade of elementary school From junior high school From senior high school A. 75% of the students opined that teaching English pronunciation should start from the first grade of elementary school. Note: At present, English is first taught to fourth and fifth graders in the elementary school. How about teaching pronunciation (phonetics)? Matsu17 30

31 Summary from the survey The students retention of prior learning appears to be weak, or it may be too late for them to start learning pronunciation and phonetic knowledge at the university level. Students think that having good English pronunciation benefits them, which, in turn, contributes positively to their life. They are aware of the importance of pronunciation (phonetic knowledge) in speech. They think that early phonetic education should start from the elementary school level.

32 3. MINIMALLY IMPORTANT PHONETIC ISSUES Articulatory efforts (incl. prosody) Respiratory control

33 In terms of articulatory efforts, the following features are extremely important since it is not easy to control the tongue: Lip protrusion/lip rounding: applicable to not only vowels but also consonants Lip spreading rounding vowels Lip (vertical) openness; jaw vowels (+consonants)

34 Difficult English vowels for JEFL Monophthongs /ɪ,, æ, ʌ, ɑ, ɒ, ɔ, ǝ, ɚ, ɛ, ɜ, ɝ, ʊ/ Diphthongs combinations of short vowels Triphthongs combinations of diphthongs and schwa/rhotic vowels Monophthongs are the most essential! Lips are protruded and rounded : /ʊ, u, ɔ, o/ Lips are spread: /ɪ, i/ Lips are opened or narrowed : /, ʌ, ɑ, ɒ, ǝ, ɚ, ɛ, ɜ, ɝ/ Lips are spread and opened: /æ/

35 Importance of visualization

36 IPA vowel chart It is not easy to understand lip-protrusion and roundness. There is no or little lipprotrusion in Japanese vowels Matsu17 36

spreading Lip spreading The program show the difference between

37 Five Japanese and six American English short vowels on three-dimensional vowel formant chart Lip openness Lip spreading Lip spreading The program show the difference between them visually. (Cf., [1],[2],[3],[4],[5],[6],[7],[8],[9]) Matsu17 37

38 Lip-spreading Japanese /i/, EL2 s /ɪ/, and GA /ɪ/ in front view by F1 &F2 Japanese /i/, EL2 s /ɪ/, and GA /ɪ/ in side view by F3 Does this help? It is important to illustrate the difference in vowels for adult students Matsu17 38

39 Are rhotic vowels difficult? The tongue does not have to be retroflexed, as it is sufficient for the tongue to be drawn backward. Vowel+/r/ retroflex vowel rhotic vowel : GA /er/=/ɚ/, /eːr/=/ɚː/ non-rhotic vowel :RP /er/=/ə/, /eːr/=/əːr/

40 There can be 11 difficult English consonants for JEFL /f, v, ʧ, ʤ, ʃ, ʒ,, ð, ɹ/. Six out of 11 English consonants, which are difficult for the Japanese to pronounce, are protruded: / ɹ, w, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/ Simply calculated, 55% of difficult English consonants have lip-protrusion.

41 Lip protrusion 3DCG training system (movies) Front view of the lip protrusion Side view of the lip protrusion Does this help? (Cf., [11],[12],[13],[14],[15],[16],[17],[18]) Matsu17 41

42 There is a difference between production (speaking) and perception (listening).

43 Discrimination of vowels Discrimination of consonants In the listening tests, Japanese learners of English as a foreign language (JEFL ) could differentiate vowels more than consonants (58%), thereby implying that English phonemes are difficult for JEFL in speaking (particularly vowels) but not necessarily so in listening. (Cf., [14]) Should a course phonetics in listening be provided? ɔː/oʊ ɔː/ɑ ɑ/ʌ ɑːr/ǝːr æ /ʌ iː/ɪ 0% 50% 100% z/ʣ r/w s/ʃ ð/z θ/s b/v f/h l/r n/ŋ m/ŋ m/n 0% 50% 100% Matsu17 43

44 In terms of prosody, In terms of linguistic timing, English is a stresstimed language whereas Japanese is a mora-timed and pitch-accented language. It is difficult for JEFL to produce the so-called stress. (Cf., [15],[16]) However, they can control pitch rather easily. Thus, they can raise the pitch as an alternative for the stress. Also, by widening the pitch range (register), JEFL can produce better intonation.

45 In terms of respiratory efforts, It is important for JEFL to become conscious of BOTH chest and abdominal muslce movements. (Cf., [17],[18],[19],[20],[21],[22])

音声 (mv) 腹 (mv) 胸 (mv) 音声 (mv) 腹 (mv) 胸 (mv) 音声 (mv) 腹 (mv) 胸 (mv) EL1 and JEFL uttered a story, utilising strain-gauge respiratory transducers on chest- and abdomen. EL1 (USA) EL1 (UK) 0:00:07.750 1.

46 音声 (mv) 腹 (mv) 胸 (mv) 音声 (mv) 腹 (mv) 胸 (mv) 音声 (mv) 腹 (mv) 胸 (mv) EL1 and JEFL uttered a story, utilising strain-gauge respiratory transducers on chest- and abdomen. EL1 (USA) EL1 (UK) 0:00: :00: RC m Eng N Wind 2 Jan MS Eng N Wind 3 Jan The chest and abdominal muscles are coordinated. 15 Longer pauses are observed for native English speakers ( EL1) than for JEFL. JEFL Matsu :00: JP TY m Eng NW :00 1:10 The re is no co-ordination.

47 Summary from the research Lip-protrusion/roundness, lip-spreading and lipopenness should be focused in articulatory efforts. JEFL take advantage of raising pitch for widening register and for stress. There is a difference between production and perception. JEFL must become aware of chest and abdominal muscles during speech. JEFL should have longer pauses in speaking English.

48 4. CONCLUSION The presenter s previous surveys with students, which have spanned for decades, show similar tendencies with the present survey. Specifically, students believe acquiring flawless English pronunciation is beneficial for their future. The presenter s claim is reflected in the students survey responses they want to learn English pronunciation and acquire phonetic knowledge since it helps them communicate with foreign language speakers.

49 The survey results reveal that there is insufficient instruction in English phonetics or pronunciation to students prior to entering university. Learning pronunciation and phonetics is timeconsuming. Students opined that phonetic education should start from the elementary school level. This implies that English teachers must have phonetic knowledge and the ability to apply phonetics in the class. Hence, those who wish to be English teachers must take an English phonetics course, and universities should include such instruction in the curriculum.

50 Monophthongs are very important. JEFL should consciously use lips, pitch, chest and abdominal muscles, and longer pauses if they want to pronounce English fluently like native English speakers. English educators should show visual effects (possibly using tools) as much as possible in teaching pronunciation and phonetics.

51 5. REFERENCES [1] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 中貴俊フォルマント母音図の 3D 可視化の試み日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会 [2] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 中貴俊, 広瀬啓吉目標言語母音達成のための 3D フォルマント母音図における母音二重表示日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会, [3] Toshiko Isei-Jaakkola, A three-dimensional visualization of monophthongs of L2 中部大学人文学部研究論集第 22 号 53-62, 中部大学 [4] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 中貴俊, 広瀬啓吉 3 次元母音図で見る日本人大学生 EL2 の短母音の問題 (1) 日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会 [5] Toshiko Isei-Jaakkola, Takatoshi Naka, Keikichi Hirose, A multilingual 3D vowel chart for monophthongs based on formants, Nordic Prosody, Martti Vainio, Reijo Aulanko, Olli Aaltonen (eds.), , Peter Lang, 2009: Frankfurt am Main. (ISBN ) [6] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 広瀬啓吉 3 次元母音図で見る日本人大学生 EL2 の短母音の問題 (2) 日本音響学会論文集 , 日本音響学会

52 [7] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 中貴俊, 広瀬啓吉 3 次元母音図の 4 次元可視化に向けた基礎研究映像情報メディア学会技術報告 ITE Technical Report, Vol.34, No.11, HI , 3DIT , 43-46, [8] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 中貴俊 3 次元母音図に見る日本人 EFL における英語短母音構音の問題 /æ/ について平成 22 年度電気関係学会東海支部連合大会講演論文集 C1-1, CD-ROM, [9] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 広瀬啓吉日本人 EFL の英語短母音における問題 - フォルマントと長さの制御日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会 [10] Toshiko Isei-Jaakkola, Takatoshi Naka and Keikichi Hirose, Problems Encountered by Japanese EL2 with English Short Vowels as Illustrated on a 3D Vowel Chart, Proc. of INTERSPEECH, , [11] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 鈴木茂樹, 広瀬啓吉, 森島繁生音と同期した 3DCG を用いた日本人英語学習者に苦手な構音運動のためのトレーニングシステム唇の突き出し日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会 [12] 鈴木茂樹, ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 森島繁生, 広瀬啓吉英語流音学習のための音と同期した 3DCG による構音運動日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会 [13] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 鈴木茂樹, 森島繁生, 広瀬啓吉英語音声教育のための 3DCG による舌の動きと音声のリンク開発の試み - 語彙との同期映像メディア学会技術報告, ITE Technical Report Vol.32, No.15, 29-32,

53 [14] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 越智景子, 広瀬啓吉 JEFL が生成聴取上苦手な英語音素の不一致とその音響的要因日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会 [15] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 広瀬啓吉 JEFL による英語語彙アクセントの知覚 (1) 日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会 [16] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 広瀬啓吉 EFL による英語語彙アクセントに関する生成の問題 (1) 日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会 [17] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 大山玄呼吸ピックアップを用いた呼気圧制御と言語リズム JEFL と EL1 に関するパイロットテスト中部大学人文研究論集第 23 号 81-89, 中部大学 [18] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 大山玄呼吸ピックアップと音響特徴から見た英語リズムに関する一考察物語朗読文の場合日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会 [19] Toshiko Isei-Jaakkola, A linguistic rhythm observed from the respiratory muscle movements and speech waveforms by English, Japanese and Chinese L1 and L2 - the recitation of a story, Proc. 17th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences Hong Kong, , [20] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 広瀬啓吉朗読における声の高さと強さと声帯振動と腹筋胸筋の関係 (1) 日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会 [21] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 広瀬啓吉朗読における声の高さと強さと腹筋胸筋の関係 (1) 日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会 [22] ヤーッコラ伊勢井敏子, 広瀬啓吉胸筋腹筋の動きと音響特徴の相関に基づく言語リズムの考察日本語話者, 英語話者, フィンランド語話者の比較日本音響学会講演論文集 , 日本音響学会

54 Thank you very much for your listening!

鹿大広報149号

鹿大広報149号 No.149 Feb/1999 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Learned From Japanese Life and Experiences in Kagoshima When I first came to Japan I was really surprised by almost everything, the weather,