Learning & Demonstrating Phonetics of English in Indian Frame of Reference

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VII, Issue IV, April 2020 | ISSN 2321–2705

Learning & Demonstrating Phonetics of English in Indian Frame of Reference

D. Amani¹, K. Chandrakala², Rinki Sanyal^3
1,2,3Assistant Professor, Department of Science & Humanities, St. Martin’s Engineering College, Dhulapally, Secunderabad, India

Abstract: The intelligibility of the variety of English spoken by Indians to the speakers of other varieties has become a big subject for both teachers and learners of English in India now. Pronunciation of English undoubtedly matters a great deal to demonstrating as well as learning in a country like India. Addressing this complex phenomenon of phonetics in terms of teaching is also equally complex. My experience as a learner and a teacher of phonetics has provided an impetus for this paper which helpfully suggests three crucial steps towards the betterment of pronunciation of English in the demonstrating and learning setting in India.

I. INTRODUCTION

English, which has risen to the level of one of the Indian languages, is still a tough nut to crack with regard to its alien pronunciation and mismatching spelling for both teachers and learners. It’s a fact that the teaching of English in India chiefly confines to its grammar, vocabulary, speaking, writing and reading leaving pronunciation behind. Though listening skill is taught considerably well, mostly the students are expected to listen to the fellow learners or their teachers for this. And in most of the cases, the teachers and the listeners share the same native language therefore, the students may not understand right pronunciation. To put it in other words, in India, the learner either listens to teacher who also shares the same language and thus may not produce certain sounds properly for the learners or listens to typical British pronunciation that is extremely above his or her head. At times, both the varieties the learner gets exposed to may even confuse him/her. As a learner, when I was instructed to practice pronouncing certain sounds listening to an audio that contains typical British English accent, I found many sounds extremely difficult to articulate as they are absent in my language. Furthermore, my teacher was not able to come to my aid as it was difficult for him too. Thus, in the phase of learning, incidents of this sort drove me to form a personal and false opinion that though we manage or learn to speak English, we cannot freely converse with native people because of the mutual unintelligibility. This subjective opinion, however, did not last for long as I made a constant effort to be a better articulator. After reaching certain heights as a learner in my graduation, I found my juniors also facing the same problem with the practice of pronunciation that I faced at my initial stage of learning.

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