Singing in a Second Language: Pronunciation Errors Made by Sri Lankan Decedent Students' when Singing Sinhala Songs Under the Influence of the Australian English Language

Abstract

When a speaker/vocal performer sings in a second language, the pronunciation can be labelled as a different or fake accent compared to the native speakers. On a theoretical level, it is very difficult for learners of a second language (L2) to get rid of the phonetic effects of (L1) and sometimes impossible, unless the language learner can process both languages from birth. This research aims to identify the pronunciation errors made by Sri Lankan decedent students' according to the consonant sounds of the Inattentional Phonetic Alphabet when they sing Sinhala songs under the influence of the Australian English Language. This research specifically questions what consonant substitutes are employed by the aforementioned speakers for the irreplaceable consonant identity of Sinhala sound production. In this research, Sinhala and English phonemes were compared based on the data from Cox & Palethrope (2007), Rajapakshe (1994 & 1997) and previous research of this researcher (Penahetipola, 2011). The research fundamentally employs a comparison of the phonetic inventory of both languages based on the IPA charts and data from spectrogram analysis of speech sounds made by 45 Australian-born children of Sinhala migrants who are 10-12 and study Sinhala as a second language. Prenasalised stops and nasals have been identified as the most noticeable substitutes. Also, retroflex, palatal, and bilabial are the concerned sound production. The finding is very useful in developing language-speaking programs for speakers and vocal performers who practice Sinhala as their second language.