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第 8期
ISSN (2021 年 4 月下)
1009-5039 Overseas English 海 外 英 语
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A Review of the Research on English Pronunciation Self-concept

ZHANG Xin
(Kaili University, Guizhou 556011 , China)

Abstract: English pronunciation self-concept is a personal judgment based on pronunciation. It is English learners’self-percep⁃
tion as well as the judgment of their English pronunciation competence as well as pronunciation learning ability, which is formed as
they develop their skills in pronunciation. A higher level of English pronunciation self-concept can promote students’self-assur⁃
ance in foreign language learning. Through the analysis, this paper summarizes the scholars’studies about English pronunciation
self-concept as follows: 1) Formation and characteristics of English pronunciation self-concept; 2) Relevance between English pro⁃
nunciation self-concept as well as English learning.
Key words: English pronunciation self-concept; formation and characteristics; English learning
中图分类号：G424 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1009-5039(2021)08-0117-02

This paper reviews the previous research results and the rele⁃
vant literature at home and abroad on English pronunciation self-
concept. The paper first gives the definition of English pronuncia⁃
tion self-concept.
1 Definition of English Pronunciation Self-concept
English pronunciation self-concept refers to personal judg⁃
ment based on pronunciation (Sun, 2015). It is English learners’
self-perception as well as the judgment of their English pronuncia⁃
tion competence as well as pronunciation learning ability, which is
formed as they develop their skills in pronunciation. No matter
whether an individual’s view of his/her English pronunciation is
correct or consistent with that of others, it will make a difference to
the individual’s English learning in the future. The impact may be
positive or negative.
2 Studies on English Pronunciation Self-concept
Studies on English pronunciation self-concept focus on two
points, namely“formation and characteristics of English pronuncia⁃
tion self-concept”and“relevance between English pronunciation
self-concept as well as English learning”. Quantitative research
methods are still the main research methods in the study of English
pronunciation self-concept, although some scholars have gradually
begun to pay attention to qualitative research methods such case
studies (Maraía Dolores López Gonzáz, 2010), and have obtained a
wealth of research data and results, long-term follow-up studies
based on case studies are rare.
(1) Formation and Characteristics of English Pronunciation
Self-concept
The formation of English pronunciation self-concept is divid⁃
ed into three parts: (1) Self-assessment of pronunciation. Self-as⁃
sessment of pronunciation is our subjective and direct experience
of our pronunciation appearance or the self-concept derived from
our pronunciation. (2) The reaction of others to pronunciation. The
reaction of others to pronunciation refers to the reaction and feed⁃
back of significant others in life to our English pronunciation, from
which we know the quality of our pronunciation. Significant others
enhance or lower their self-esteem or self-awareness by strength⁃
ening or weakening their sense of security and sense of helpless⁃
ness. For the students, teachers and classmates are the most signifi⁃
cant others in the process of forming self-evaluation. (3) Social
comparison of pronunciation. The social comparison of pronuncia⁃
tion means that by comparing with the pronunciation of others, we
can understand the quality of our pronunciation in the group, and
then establish our pronunciation self-concept. The other person
here refers to anyone who is within the range of contact or knowl⁃
edge that the individual can come into contact with or know. The
three parts of English pronunciation self-concept are displayed in
Figure 1.
Figure 1 Composition of English Pronunciation Self-concept
Characteristics of English pronunciation self-concept are
shown in four aspects: (1) Self-concept is learned. Individuals are
not born with pronunciation self-concept. Individuals learn about
their pronunciation level through interaction with others (such as
classroom discussion, oral test, chatting with foreign teachers, etc.),
and gradually form pronunciation self-concept through feedback
from others (such as teachers’evaluation, oral test results, feed⁃
back from classmates, etc). (2) Significant others in life have the
greatest influence on forming of pronunciation self-concept. This is
further confirmed by Li’s study (2017) of the relationship between
significant others’evaluation as well as English self-concept from
the perspective of English pronunciation. The study examines the
role of important others in the relationship chain between English
pronunciation self-concept as well as English self-concept. Main

收稿日期：2020-11-15 修回日期：2020-12-20
作者简介：张欣(1984—) ，女(回族) ，贵州凯里人，凯里学院，副教授，硕士，主要研究方向为英语教学理论与实践。

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Overseas English 海 外 英 语
findings of the empirical survey are as follows: first, evaluation of
English proficiency by significant others is highly related to Eng⁃
lish self-concept; second, evaluation of pronunciation and English
proficiency by significant others is significantly related to English
self-concept; third, English pronunciation self-concept, as well as
significant others’evaluation of pronunciation and English profi⁃
ciency are closely related. (3) English pronunciation self-concept
is not necessarily objective, sometimes it is inconsistent with the
views of others, and sometimes it is not consistent with the facts.
(2) Relevance between English Pronunciation Self-concept as
well as English Learning
Many domestic researches have shown there is a positive rele⁃
vance between college students’English pronunciation self-con⁃
cept as well as their overall English proficiency. Müller and
Schmenk (2017) investigated the relation between English pronun⁃
ciation self-concept as well as actual proficiency of junior middle
school students and pointed out that in the initial stage of the devel⁃
opment of English learning self-concept, how well you learn pro⁃
nunciation will affect the whole English learning. He believes that
learners with good English pronunciation tend to keep up with the
progress of learning at the beginning stage, while learners with poor
pronunciation are likely to be left behind. However, with the pas⁃
sage of time in learning English and the gradual shaping of English
learning self-concept, at an advanced stage of learning, the rele⁃
vance between pronunciation as well as English learning weakens.
He put forward the“hypothesis of English pronunciation learning”,
which means English pronunciation self-concept affects growing
and alteration of overall English learning self-concept and can pro⁃
mote or hinder English language study. For the sake of testing this
hypothesis, Professor Wang conducted an investigation and re⁃
search from the following three levels: 1) relation between English
learning self-concept as well as related variables in the hierarchi⁃
cal structure of self-concept, especially the role of English pronun⁃
ciation self-concept; 2) whether self-assessment of English learn⁃
ing is the same as that of others; 3) relevance between English pro⁃
nunciation self-concept as well as English overall self-concept.
Zhu (2005) paid attention to the relation among English pronuncia⁃
tion self-concept, English overall self-concept as well as English
classroom learning anxiousness. It is considered there is a negative
relevance among Chinese English learners’English overall self-
concept, their English classroom study anxiousness as well as Eng⁃
lish pronunciation self-concept, and this correlation changes as
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