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Increasingly Chinese students are pursuing their studies abroad in English speaking countries, such as the USA, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Despite the fact that they have studied English as a compulsory subject for a number of years and have passed multiple English proficiency tests, many still find it is difficult to communicate well in spoken English. One of the major obstacles for oral communication is undoubtedly English pronunciation, which hinders many Chinese students' ability to be understood by native speakers or English learners from other language backgrounds.
Foreign language (FL) learners' mispronunciations are not random, as a foreign accent produced by learners largely reflects the phonetic features and intonation characteristics of their first language (L1) (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992; Ohata, 2004; Swan & Smith, 1987). This article first examines some of the differences between Chinese and English phonological systems and then summarizes some of the English pronunciation problems for Chinese learners. Ideally, this article will help TESOL practitioners become aware of the way in which learners' L1 backgrounds may influence their English pronunciation. In particular, it is useful for English teachers with Chinese students to have some knowledge of the phonological differences between English and Chinese as well as the major problematic areas in terms of pronunciation.
Analysis of problems
Chinese learners of English have problems with English pronunciation both in segmental aspects and in suprasegmental aspects.
Problems in segmental aspects are primarily concerned with the articulation of single phonemes or combinations of phonemes in both vowels and consonants. In suprasegmental areas, Chinese learners are found to have problems with stress and intonation. In the following paragraphs, these problems are presented by contrasting the phonology of Chinese and English. Additionally, possible causes are identified and detailed examples are provided to illustrate problematic pronunciation.
Problems with vowels
In comparing the phonological systems of Chinese and English, Chinese and English differ greatly in the number of vowels. While English has 15 vowels (Ohata, 2004), Chinese has only 5 vowels (San, 2007). Because of this difference, Chinese learners need to learn how to pronounce many new vowels when they start to learn English.
Even when a vowel exists in both Chinese and English, the sound's manner of articulation and place of articulation is different from that...