Phonetics and Phonology IV-Presencial -Viviana Billordo-Assignment n°1

PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY IV

1º ASSIGNMENT

TEACHER: RIVERO, DIEGO

STUDENT: BILLORDO, VIVIANA

YEAR: 2014.
Phonetics and Phonology IV-Presencial -Viviana Billordo-Assignment n°1

TEACHING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION. CHARPER 1

THE FACTORS AFFECTING PRONUNCIATION
THE MAN WHO WENT TO MALTA.

In order to establish the relation between the different factors which affect
pronunciation learning with the video “The man who went to Malta” I am going to
explain some of those factors I have seen in this video.

The video is about an Italian man who went to Malta where he has a lot of
problem with his English. His mispronunciation of some words cause really
important misunderstandings. For instance, when he wants to say two “piece” of
toast, the waitress understands “piss” that it means to urinate.
Firstly, in the video “the native language” plays a role very important. The sound
system of English is quite different from Italian one; as well as the combination of
vowels sounds, the rhythm and the intonation. But it is not a barrier to learning
English or to improve the pronunciation.
Secondly, the amount of exposure can have a significant effect in the
pronunciation skills of this man. He doesn’t live in an English-speaking country
because he is a tourist and their exposure is very short unlike other people who
live in non- English-speaking country, but they use the English in their
environment. For instance, at work or at school. So, the matter here is how much
interaction the person has with the language in order to improve their
communicative skills.
Finally, another factor to be considered is the “motivation and concern for good
pronunciation”. The man whom I refer doesn't care about to improve his
pronunciation. At the end of the video when no one understood what he wanted
to express he gave up and said, “I’m going back to Italia”.
To conclude, after have analyzed the different factors that may affect a good
pronunciation the video shows the importance of good pronunciation for ease of
communication.