PRONUNCIATION PROBLEMS

PRONUNCIATION  PROBLEMS

It is often seen that learners of English become proficient in speaking but the way they say the words
and sentences makes it difficult for others to understand them. For non-native speakers of English, one of the key challenges is to get the pronunciation right. This means getting the diction, the stress and intonation right when speaking English. It is not uncommon for new learners of English to struggle with these aspects. In this unit we will discuss the issues and problems related to English pronunciation, especially in the context of Indian learners.

For any non-native speaker of English, getting the pronunciation right involves understanding the concepts of varieties of English, accent in the context of English and becoming conscious of how one's mother tongue influences the pronunciation of a new language.

English is the most widely spoken language today with countries from all the continents using it as their mother tongue or a second language. With such a wide geographical spread it is quite natural that it will have different varieties in different countries. Significant differences in pronunciation are also found in different regions within the same country. Though variations, dialectal and otherwise, in a language are a natural phenomenon, a standardized form is always important for a widely spoken language like English.

As far as pronunciation of English goes Standard British English and General or Standard American
English, are the two chief varieties of English and are mostly adopted as models elsewhere for learning English. Within Great Britain there are differences in pronunciation in different regions but the pronunciation acquired through education in the public schools and universities in the country has been accepted as a common standard of pronunciation referred to as Standard British English or RP (Received Pronunciation).

Similarly, there are different varieties of pronunciation within the United States of America. However, certain tendencies are common amongst large number of educated speakers in the country, which is referred to as General American Pronunciation