The purpose of this article is to predict the problems that will arise in teaching English pronunciation to native speakers of Kazakh and thus to provide a guide for the solution to these and other problems; to provide an insight as to what will constitute a problem in language learning. The basis for the prediction of pronunciation problems is a contrastive analysis of the two languages. There are different methods in teaching foreign languages. Any method is useful and helpful when it is used relevantly and suitable for the aim of teaching different aspects of language and at different stages of teaching. One of them is contrastive analysis method.
There are different methods in teaching foreign languages. Any method is useful and helpful when it is used relevantly and suitable for the aim of teaching different aspects of language and at different stages of teaching. One of them is contrastive analysis method. Of course there are pros and cons of this method as well as other methods. Proponents of this method such as Sapir, Lado, Valdman, Banathy, Fries, Trager, Waddle etc. base their work on this method and noted significance of it in teaching foreign language. We know that learners encounter difficulties with the differences between the structures of their native language and culture and that of the target language and culture. The task of the foreign language teacher is to be aware of these differences and to be prepared to teach them; the task of the learner is to learn them. This method will do and work when foreign language teacher is bilingual. Contrastive study of two languages presents particular interest to those teachers who are engaged in language teaching and in writing languageteaching materials. Of course, bilingual foreign language teacher can predict and describe difficulties in learning and these difficulties vary according to the structure of the native language of the learners. For example, some structures in English may locates the area of less difficulty and less time consuming for Russian speaking learners, where as Kazakh speaking learners have them more difficult because of the differences in structures of two languages. It is important and it requires bilingual foreign language teachers have a theory of contrastive linguistics into which they can plug complete linguistic descriptions of the two languages being contrasted so as to produce the correct set of contrasts between the two languages. As mentioned above, materials to be used in teaching English as a foreign language should be based on a comparison of the native language and the target language, English. Such a comparison may include any aspects of the language such as the phonology and the grammar as well. As learning any foreign language should be systematic and consecutive, learners are to begin learning pronunciation, studying its phonetic systems for it. For this purpose, it is necessary contrastive study of the segmental phonemes of English and Kazakh. Before introducing consonants or vowels of English for Kazakh speaking learners, there will be given recent analysis of English and the analysis of Kazakh as well. It is important to concentrate learners attention to the general differences of English phonetic systems as a whole.
There are nine vowels in Kazakh alphabet and so many corresponding sounds (some vowels have only invariants in Kazakh), where as in English there are six ones in the alphabet, but the number of vowel sounds doesn’t coincide with the number of those vowels in English alphabet. English has simple nuclei which phonetically short and lax. For example, while introducing vowels main differences between vowel systems of two languages should be underlined: 1. In English combination of two even three vowels is possible which is impossible in Kazakh. For example, in English words eat, faint, meet, built, tie, bye combinations of ea, ai, ee, ui, ie, ye are read in a different way, not as in an alphabet. But as for Kazakh, all vowels are read as they are sounded corresponding to their names in an alphabet. 2. Two or three vowels can be read as one sound which are different from Kazakh, for example, in the words audit, meat, pain, built, near combination of vowels are read as follows: au [o:], ea – [i:], ai – [ei], ui – [i], ie [i: ]. 3. One and the same vowel can be read differently according to its position in a word and types of a syllable, for example, the letter “ a” in different types of a syllable is also read as a different sound but not as in an alphabet. name ([neim]), pan – ([pæn]) , bar([ba:]), care ([ksj]), similar ([similj]). We see in the given examples the letter ” a” is pronounced as different sound. Kazakh speaking learners will have difficulties with English words such as ban – barn similar, me – meet – meat – mere her, fan – fun, tune – fur – pure, cot – caught, because one and the same letter in different cases is sounded in a different way and different vowels are read alike with each other i.e. as one and the same vowel, which are not characteristic to Kazakh vowels. 4. In English according to the articulation vowels are classified long or short sound. It means they can be pronounced long or short and it is very important to pronounce more distinctively long and short sounds because it can change the meaning of a word, but in Kazakh it doesn’t matter to pronounce vowels short or long. it doesn’t change the meaning of a word. 5. In English the letter “e” at the end of the word is not pronounced, it only shows the type of syllable (open) which also differs from Kazakh. All presented above characteristics of vowels are not existed in Kazakh.
Concerning to the articulation of vowels there are also difficulties, even there are similar sounds, but articulation of them is different from vowel sounds in Kazakh. For example in English sounds [a:], [x], [o], [u], [u:] etc. look similar in Kazakh [a], [o], [y]. But their articulations are different. In Kazakh vowel sounds corresponding to English ones [a], [o], [u], are classified as labials, and in English they belong to complex nuclei. In Kazakh [u] is front sound, but in English it isn’t. English [i:] and [u:] are long and slightly higher than the corresponding Kazakh vowels. For this reason, English [i:], [u:] tend to be identified by speakers of Kazakh with their [i], [u] and reproduced accordingly. In Kazakh thirty three consonants, English has twenty three (or twenty two, depending on how affricates are analyzed) consonants. What’s new and unfamiliar for Kazakh speaking learners is: 1. There are also combinations of consonants readings of which are different from that of in the alphabet i.e their reading changes as exceptions. For example, consonant combinations such as th, ph, ng, wh, wr, sh, ch, etc. are read as one sound and sound different from their alphabet name. What is important to pay attention f to is that these combinations of consonants are read differently. In Kazakh all consonants are read corresponding to their name in their alphabet. One consonant is read as one sound. There are no combinations of consonants. Kazakh has no sequences of more than two consonants. Since English has as many as four consonants in close transition, and as many as six or seven with intervening juncture, the Kazakh speaker has obvious difficulty with English consonant sequences and supplies intrusive vowels, which act as cluster breakers.2. In English here may occur omission of consonants, which is also not acceptable in Kazakh. For example, in consonant combinations kn,lf, sc, mb, bt, mn one of the consonants is not read, i.e combinations of two consonants are read as one consonant sound. That’s why Kazakh speaking learners will encounter difficulties in reading English words know, knife, knit, science, scissors, tomb, bomb, column, debt, cash, shelf etc. English consonant sounds [ð], [θ], [w] don’t occur in Kazakh. Kazakh speaking learners usually substitute these sounds for [s,z, v]. Hence, English contrasts such as thistle –this’ll, ether – either, think – sink, bath – bus, breathe – breeze, will – yield, want – vote are troublesome for Kazakh speaking learners. English [t], [d], are alveolar but in Kazakh they are dental. However this difference doesn’t constitute a major problem in learning of English, since substitution of the dentals for the alveolars doesn’t materially affect or impair communication in English. But in Kazakh dental consonant sounds are pronounced without any aspiration, and in English they pronounced with an aspiration especially at the end of the word or in an isolated word.
The conventional use of letter “r” in the transcription of English and Kazakh completely obscures the fact that the sounds so symbolized in the two languages are entirely different; in Kazakh ‘r’ represents an apical trill, in English a slightly retroflex resonant continuant. Kazakh speakers have no difficulties with ‘r’ in all environments and substitute [r] which acceptable to Kazakh speaking learners in items such as girl, her, skirt, turn, sulfur etc. English [ŋ] is not difficult for Kazakh speaking learners as far as such sound exists in Kazakh. Contrastive study of the phonetic systems of English and Kazakh shows that Kazakh speaking learners have difficulties with the segmental phonemes of English: differences in the number of contrasts, differences in the permissible sequences, and differences in the phonetic expression of similar contrasts. English has many more vowel contrasts, and more consonant contrasts than in Kazakh. Both English and Kazakh have consonants which are conventionally symbolized [t], [d], [s].[z].
In English, these present alveolus where as in Kazakh they present dentals. All of these mentioned differences constitute a major source of difficulties for the speaker of Kazakh. So by using contrastive method foreign language teacher can predict and describe the patterns that will cause difficulty in learning, and those that will not cause difficulty, by comparing systematically the language to be learn with the native of the student. Besides, the most efficient materials for teaching and learning are those that are based upon a scientific description of the language to be learnt, carefully compared with the parallel description of the native language of the learner. It is important, and helpful in writing language teaching materials and also less time consuming. Of cause, the usage of this method is possible for bilingual foreign language teachers who know both languages i.e native language of the learner and foreign language to be learnt. In most cases, similarities will facilitate learning, while the obvious differences will be problems simply they are different. Resulting from native habits of pronunciation which appear to be different from those of the foreign language. That’s why foreign language teachers before writing language learning program will take into consideration and predict what structure or phenomenon of the target language cause more difficulties and to focus on them to prepare learners to cope with the problems. It is chiefly a matter of knowing the learners beforehand, at least one respect, so less time and energy have to be spent on getting to know them at the moment of instruction.
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