A Study on English Phonetic Learning by Senior High School Students in China

Abstract

This present study investigated the relationship between Chinese senior high school students’ mastery of pronunciation features and their speaking fluency. Sixty-six second-year Chinese senior high school students participated in this study. The first instrument measured subjects’ mastery of pronunciation features consisting of six categories: vowels, consonants, linking, assimilation, intonation and stress while the second one assessed their three aspects of speaking fluency by reading a text: pause, repetition and speech rate. The results of data analysis showed most subjects in this study performed well on segmental features, but their performance on supra-segmental features were weak. Moreover, subjects from the high supra-segmental group outperformed low supra-segmental group in the uses of stress, intonation and linking. Based on the results, employing consciousness-raising activities for teaching pronun- ciation were suggested for improving students’ pronunciation skills.