An Analysis of Phonological Processes Involved in Spoken English of Hong Kong Primary Pre-service Teachers

Cynthia B Leung,Alejandro E Brice

doi:10.1186/2229-0443-2-2-42

Cynthia B Leung, Alejandro E Brice

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/2229-0443-2-2-42

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Abstract

Abstract This study investigated the English phonological processes and speech articulation of adult Cantonese-English speakers residing in Hong Kong. The Phonology Test for Cantonese Speakers of English (PTCSE) was developed to assess English articulation and phonological processes of native speakers of Cantonese. Data from 37 adult participants, analyzed descriptively, yielded a total of 466 phonological process deviations. Two syllable words presented the most difficulty, followed by three and single syllable words. Results indicated this group of Cantonese-English speaking participants displayed a wide variety of articulatory patterns, some of which were not evidenced by the literature. Phonological processes noted in this study included: (a) stopping; (b) fronting; (c) deaffrication; (d) gliding; (e) devoicing; (f) lip rounding; (g) backing; (h) affrication; (i) voicing; (j) pre-vocalic singleton omission; (k) post-vocalic singleton omission; (l) consonant sequence reduction; (m) vowel deviations; and, (n) vowel additions. Five suggested instructional strategies focusing on speech production are provided.

Highlights

This paper focuses on the articulation and phonological processes that occur in the English spoken by Cantonese L1 speakers and reports on the development of a phonology test to identify English phonological processes of Cantonese speakers
Studies of English phonology spoken by Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong have identified a number of substitutions or changes in articulation when English is spoken by Cantonese L1 speakers (Chan & Li, 2000; Hung, 2000; Shibbard, 2004).In Table 1 we identify the phonological processes involved in the substitutions and assimilations found in these studies
The present study aims to investigate the phonological processes and speech articulation of adult Cantonese-English speakers residing in Hong Kong who are primary pre-service teachers of English

Summary

Introduction

This paper focuses on the articulation and phonological processes that occur in the English spoken by Cantonese L1 speakers and reports on the development of a phonology test to identify English phonological processes of Cantonese speakers. We focus on the English spoken by primary pre-service teachers studying to be teachers of English in Hong Kong schools. Use of phonological processes is typically discontinued by the time the child reaches a certain developmental age. The ages by which the child discontinues the use of phonological processes has been shown to vary by languages (So & Dodd, 1995). May not overcome this developmental progression and continue to exhibit phonological process deviations (Selinker &Lamendella, 1980; Wei 2008). These phonological process simplifications may include syllable structure processes, substitution processes, and/or assimilation processes. Within each of these overall classifications are numerous specific phonological process deviations; such as, epenthesis, final consonant deletion, cluster reduction under syllable structure processes; stopping, fronting, backing under substitution processes; and, voicing, labial assimilation, alveolar assimilation under assimilation processes

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