THE PRACTICE OF TEACHING SPANISH LANGUAGES: SOUNDS DENOTED BY LETTERS Y AND LL

Abstract

Spanish language teaching has become popular in Lithuania. Even though the techniques that allow hearing a live language are accessible, the teachers of Spanish language face the same problems: there is not enough material about the pronunciation of Spanish sounds in Lithuanian, and the existing material is re-copied from one publication to another, therefore, contradictory, and little attention is paid there to the pronunciation analysis and practical exercises. Contemporary Spanish language teaching practice and theory do not meet the teacher and students’ need to teach and learn how to pronounce Spanish sounds correctly. Students repeat essential pronunciation mistakes that teachers do not correct due to the above mentioned reasons, leaving further pronunciation improvement develop as it might. One of the biggest problems that is faced by Lithuanian students studying Spanish at the beginners’ level and teachers who teach them is presented for this discussion. The former find it difficult to separate and pronounce Spanish sounds denoted by y and ll signs, while the latter – to explain the multi-rate norm and offer the most effective articulation method. Phonological factors that determine different pronunciation of the sounds denoted by these letters are taken into account: an overall evolution of the Spanish language, conservative linguistic movements, pronunciation variations of the corresponding sounds, shifts in the modern Spanish language, including yeismo, and other reasons leading to these changes. The article, which is based on the author’s practical activity, is grounded on the declarative research. The main goal of the research is to reveal the problems faced by Lithuanians learning Spanish pronunciation, focusing on the most common mistakes faced by groups of students and possible solutions to this problem, seeking to avoid making these mistakes. Proper “tools” are sought for that would help a student to find methods that would help them during a conversation to pronounce the necessary sounds correctly without feeling any tension. Having compared the Lithuanian and Spanish sound systems, it was discovered that Lithuanian language has a very rich inventory of sounds that concur with Spanish sounds. Having paid adequate attention to the possible difficulties in pronunciation in time, it is possible to prevent making mistakes, if the student learns more about the origin, function, and nature of pronunciation of the sound. Having introduced the students with the variants of the same grapheme embodiment existing in the Spanish language, it is possible to ensure the effectiveness of the communication and, consequently, contribute to the development of multilingualism. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2335-2027.3.9