Attitudes and Beliefs of Research Scholars on English Pronunciation
A Research Project carried out at
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar
under Dr. Rajakumar Guduru
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December 2019
Why is English language important?
English is the lingua franca in many countries across the globe. It is the official language of 53 countries, proving itself as an efficacious medium for broadcasting and circulation. In fact, one out of every five people on earth can speak English to some level of competence. So, a basic knowledge of English language can help one meet new people, gain wide exposure, and opens up a plethora of career opportunities.
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Coming to the academic context, more than three-quarters of scientific papers today are published in English—and in some fields, it is more than 90 percent, according to data compiled by Scott Montgomery in his book Does Science Need a Global Language? Evidently, the ratio of scientific papers written in English to those that have been written in Dutch is a surprising 40:1.
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Apart from this, English also exerts its influence in the realm of entertainment through movies, TV series, and books. As per the survey results of W3Techs, an online surveying website, 56.3% of all content on the web is in English while 7.4% of the content is in Russian, which is a distant second. Thus, English is quite handy in surfing the internet as there’s a clear monopoly of English language content on it.
Role of Pronunciation in effective use of English language
English pronunciation plays an important role in highlighting and adding value to an individual speaking English. Learners who aim to succeed in the English language should give pronunciation skills a higher priority. They should try to get a good grip over English pronunciation as it is very useful for effective communication and makes it more attractive and intelligible. Incorrect pronunciation changes the words’ meaning, which leads to the distortion of the message. If the sentence intended to be communicated is misheard there is a chance of it being misinterpreted by the listeners.
Pronunciation for research scholars
Pronunciation proves to be advantageous for research scholars as the research work performed by them need to be projected or expressed in a coherent manner. Usage of correct pronunciation eventually improves their confidence and manifest themselves eloquently at international level when they visit foreign countries. In addition to this, a good grip on various accents of English can help them comprehend lectures that are delivered at various conferences, seminars, symposiums and workshops. Accurate pronunciation is immensely useful while expressing ideas lucidly with the fellow scholars and faculty at the time of progressive seminars, open-vivas, registration seminars and paper presentations.
What is pronunciation?
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken and articulated. In other words, it is the form in which the elementary symbols of language, the segmental phonemes or speech sounds, appear and are arranged in patterns of pitch, loudness, and duration (Britannica Encyclopaedia). It usually refers to certain agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word.
Factors that affect learners’ pronunciation
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The following are the factors that contribute to the inadequacies in pronunciation skills of Indian research scholars:
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Mother Tongue Influence (MTI): Usually, a person’s pronunciation is influenced by his/her native language. The manner /place of articulation is dependent on the mother tongue.
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Less emphasis on pronunciation: Most scholars do not put in any effort to learn English pronunciation. They don’t realize its importance and do not bother to improve their pronunciation.
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Lack of teachers’ knowledge of pronunciation: Very few numbers of English teachers are well-trained in pronunciation.
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Exclusion from the curriculum after a certain level.
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Lack of pronunciation practice over a long period of time: The lack of practice of English speaking reflects in their incompetence in the pronunciation of English words.
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Lack of awareness: Most of the learners have little knowledge of the resources and tools available to learn pronunciation.
Beliefs and Attitudes
A questionnaire was circulated among the research scholars of scientific and technical background in order to test their beliefs and attitudes on pronunciation.
The Google Form link to the form I created: https://forms.gle/QewGEJfqBbnsVyoP6
Based on the gathered data, the following observations were made:
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Most of the scholars (85%) reportedly had never attended or taken a formal training on phonetics. It clearly shows that pronunciation was neglected by both- the students as well as schools/colleges.
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More than half (53.3%) of the respondents never attempted to learn pronunciation outside the class. This shows their lack of awareness of the importance of pronunciation.
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Only 1/3rd of the scholars completed their studies in English medium (partially or completely). About 2/3rd of the respondents felt that their native language affects their English pronunciation. This information clearly shows the influence of MTI on their pronunciation errors.
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More than half (53.3%) of the respondents were of the opinion that their English teacher didn’t accurately pronounce words and lay emphasis on pronunciation. From this data, it’s evident that most of the teachers weren’t formally trained in it.
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A majority of the respondents (71.7%) felt that they did not possess good pronunciation skills. Almost all (96.7%) of the respondents said that the pronunciation of English must be given more importance at school and college level and attributed their incompetency to their educational roots.
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Only 20% of the respondents said they were never or occasionally nervous while pronouncing new words. This indicates that the majority of them lack confidence in English pronunciation. In addition to this, 80% of scholars opined that pronunciation errors can reduce one’s confidence level.
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Almost all respondents (95%) were of the opinion that pronunciation increases your confidence. From this data, it is evident that almost all scholars believe that good pronunciation skills boost their confidence.
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Almost all (96.7%) were of the opinion that self-practice or rehearsing could enhance their pronunciation. In addition, the majority of the respondents (81.7%) agreed that listening to native English can improve their pronunciation.
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When asked about which techniques they would like to adopt in further improvement of their pronunciation, it was found that a majority of the respondents (63.3%) were in favor of watching English movies/TV series with English subtitles. It was closely followed by talking to friends and family in English (61.7%) and watching English news (55%).
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The following techniques were adopted by them to enhance pronunciation skills:
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Listening and imitating authentic English (80%)
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Practical phonetics classes (23.3%)
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Contact with native English speakers (40%)
Tools and Resources
Digital tools are helpful to access information quickly and easily. Learners can learn pronunciation at their own pace without any assistance from trained professionals. The following digital tools can be used to enhance pronunciation skills of the learners:
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Voice-recorder on a smartphone: Learners can evaluate their own pronunciation by comparing it with native pronunciation.
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WhatsApp: The audio recording option enables the learners their voice and share it among their peers. It also is a medium to share activities for improvement in pronunciation.
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Sounds of Speech: A website developed by the University of Iowa to improve pronunciation skills of learners. It demonstrates the articulation of sounds through animations and interactive slides.
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Phonetics Focus: A website by Cambridge Online English Dictionary that features many interactive games and activities in order to strengthen pronunciation skills in a learner-centric way.
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YouTube videos: These give access to the accents of native English speakers. This can be utilized to get acquainted with native English pronunciation and to observe the articulation of sounds.
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Apps: TFlat English Pronunciation, ELSA, and Orai apps help in self-evaluation and practice phonemic sounds regularly.
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Online dictionaries: Like Wiktionary, Google Dictionary, Dictionary.com, etc. help learners by providing them access to accurate pronunciation.
Strategies
The following strategies can be adopted by learners to overcome their MTI and learn pronunciation skills in a better way:
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Listening and imitating:
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Listening to the pronunciation of native speakers.
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Listening to English songs/podcasts/running commentaries/audiobooks.
Uttering:
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Talking with friends in English.
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Reading aloud
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Using voice search on browsers such as Google
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Watching and observing:
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Watching English TV series/movies/documentaries/short videos
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Observing how native speakers articulate various sounds.
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Practicing:
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Using English in everyday life, wherever possible in order to increase exposure to the language.
Suggestions
The following suggestions are made based upon the attitudes and beliefs of research scholars:
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Research scholars should communicate with each other in English to overcome their native influence.
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There should be a foundation course on pronunciation for all research scholars.
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Newspaper reading sessions should be conducted regularly.
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Research scholars should have a basic knowledge of phonetic transcription.
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Every research scholar should carry a pocket dictionary along with them or use a dictionary app.
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Scholars can try new methods like conversing with Google Assistant/Siri/Alexa. This would improve pronunciation skills and enable learners’ to have frequent conversations in English.
What I concluded...
It was found that pronunciation doesn’t get adequate importance in the curriculum at the university level. It was also observed that scholars pay less attention to pronunciation and are quite reluctant to devote time to learn it. This is because of the less emphasis given to pronunciation at school and college level. A majority of them agreed that pronunciation was important in boosting confidence and for attaining academic excellence.
Newer and more interactive digital tools are mainly suggested as scholars can have access to them at any time and at any place. Moreover, these tools are learner-centric and enable learners to learn pronunciation at their own pace even without the guidance of a trained professional.
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