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L2 English Learners’ Perception of English Diphthong /uə/ and Chinese Pinyin (wo) /uo/ (nest) in Phonetic Contexts
- 1 South China University of Technology
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
In English phonetics instruction, vowels often present challenges for second language learners. The articulation of vowel is complex and can be difficult for learners to be accurately grasped, making it hard for them to perceive the precise where English vowels are produced. Additionally, the vowel systems of English and Chinese differ significantly. Native Chinese speakers have internalized the Chinese vowel system, leading to pronunciation patterns that do not easily align with those of English. This paper examines the differences between the vowel systems of the two languages and the extent to which second language learners perceive specific vowels through a literature review. The findings suggest that the collected research on English and Chinese vowel system differences will serve as a valuable foundation for the upcoming experiment on the comparison and perception of the diphthongs /uə/ and /uo/. Furthermore, the review finds that conducting experiments on the perception of diphthongs with native Chinese speakers can provide valuable insights for further development in bilingual classrooms of second language learning.
Keywords
L2 English learning, vowel systems, diphthongs, phonetic perception.
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Cite this article
Wen,W. (2024). L2 English Learners’ Perception of English Diphthong /uə/ and Chinese Pinyin (wo) /uo/ (nest) in Phonetic Contexts. Communications in Humanities Research,43,134-139.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
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