Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Petra Jureková The Pronunciation of English in Czech, Slovak and Russian Speakers Bachelor‟s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: PhDr. Kateřina Tomková, Ph.D. 2015 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………… Author‟s signature 2 I would like to express gratitude to my supervisor, PhDr. Kateřina Tomková, Ph.D., and thank her for her advice, patience, kindness and help. I would also like to thank all the volunteers that participated in the research project. 3 Table of contents List of tables ...................................................................................................................... 5 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 7 1.1. English as an important language for international communication .................. 7 1.2. Acquisition of a foreign language ...................................................................... 8 1.2.1. English as a foreign language ..................................................................... 8 1.2.2. Pronunciation .............................................................................................. 8 1.3. About the thesis .................................................................................................. 9 2. English phonetic system ......................................................................................... 11 2.1. Segmental level ................................................................................................ 11 2.1.1. Vowels ...................................................................................................... 11 2.1.2. Consonants ................................................................................................ 15 2.2. Suprasegmental features in connected speech ................................................. 22 2.2.1. Stress ......................................................................................................... 23 2.2.2. Rhythm ...................................................................................................... 27 3. Introduction to Czech, Slovak and Russian languages ........................................... 29 3.1. Czech and Slovak sound systems ..................................................................... 30 3.1.1. Segmental level ......................................................................................... 30 3.1.2. Suprasegmental level ................................................................................ 37 3.2. Russian sound system ...................................................................................... 40 4 3.2.1. Segmental level ......................................................................................... 41 3.2.2. Suprasegmental level ................................................................................ 45 3.3. Comparison of the errors .................................................................................. 47 4. Practical section ...................................................................................................... 49 4.1. Procedure .......................................................................................................... 49 4.2. Recordings ........................................................................................................ 50 4.3. Results .............................................................................................................. 52 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 60 Reference list .................................................................................................................. 63 Summary (English) ......................................................................................................... 66 Summary (Czech) ........................................................................................................... 67 Appendix A: The text ..................................................................................................... 68 Appendix B: The CD ...................................................................................................... 69 Appendix C: The questionnaire ...................................................................................... 70 5 List of tables Table 1: The distinctive consonants of English .................................................... 16 Table 2a and 2b: The review of voiced and voiceless consonants ....................... 17 Table 3: Pronunciation of /ð/ or /θ/ when th occurs .............................................. 20 Table 4: Compressing of the syllables .................................................................. 28 Table 5: Classification of the Slavonic languages ................................................ 29 Table 6: System of Czech consonantal sounds ..................................................... 33 Table 7: System of Slovak consonantal sounds .................................................... 34 Table 8: English pronunciation errors in three respective Slavic languages ........ 48 Table 9: Rate of accentedness ............................................................................... 53 Table 10: Rate of intelligibility ............................................................................. 54 Table 11: Rate of phonaesthetic evaluation .......................................................... 55 Table 12: General overall assessment ................................................................... 56 Table 13: Overview of respondents‟ guesses about the speakers‟ nationalities ... 58 6 1. Introduction 1.1. English as an important language for international communication At the present time to have a command of English means to have more opportunities, to be able to communicate with the outer world and also to understand it better. The English language has spread to such an extent that it has penetrated into almost every sphere of life. Apart from travelling, English also plays a major role in the entertainment industry, since it is the most preferred language for films, songs and games (Foley, 2007, p. 3). David Crystal, famous writer, editor and lecturer, says that: English is the language of international air traffic communication, and its usage is growing in maritime, policing, and emergency services. Most scientific, technological, and academic information in the world is expressed in English; over 80% of all information stored in electronic retrieval systems is in English. (as cited in Short, Boniche, Kim, & Li Li, 2001, p. 3) Crystal further remarks that English stands out from other languages since it has become the worldwide lingua franca of interaction. People from countries where English is not their native language are trying to learn English to be able to participate in international activities (as cited in Short et al., 2001, p. 3). Mastering the English language can have an essential role in people‟s careers, too. There are three main ways of making professional use of speaking English well. (a) English as a global language gives people the opportunity to go and work abroad since the knowledge of it is often enough, even in countries with the first language other than English. (b) Another possibility is to apply for a better paying position with a higher prestige in one‟s native land as it is common nowadays that business companies belong to international trade 7 and cooperate with other countries and English can be a helpful tool for the partnership. (c) The third possibility refers to teaching. As the number of those who choose to learn English increases, the number of teachers needed for performing this profession grows as well. 1.2. Acquisition of a foreign language 1.2.1. English as a foreign language Mastering a foreign language involves a long process of studying its grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. English is nowadays taught at most schools as a compulsory subject. However, based on the author‟s own experience from Slovak schools and the information gathered from Czech students, teaching of English pronunciation at primary and secondary schools in both Slovak and Czech Republics often seems to be underestimated by teachers. Attention is given mostly to grammar, vocabulary and other features, but not to pronunciation (Tichý, 2014, p.6). Due to this, those who try to achieve a good level of English often do not realize how important correct pronunciation can be. 1.2.2. Pronunciation Pronunciation is a very noticeable aspect in oral communication. With improper pronunciation speakers lose a certain degree of understandability and thus often the purpose of the utterance is lost as well. For this very reason, even more attention should be paid to pronunciation when a person is learning a foreign language. As the well- known English phonetician A. C. Gimson (2008) at the beginning of his work suggests, for the acquisition of spoken language skills of one‟s mother tongue a long process consisting in imitating the recurrent sound patterns is needed (p. 5). That implies more difficulties and often only a partial success in mastering a foreign language learnt later 8 in life (Gimson, 2008, p. 6). The different sound systems contain sounds