对中国英语学习者英语元音卷舌化现象的分析（英文）

An Analysis of the Rhotacization of English Vowels by Chinese EFL Learners

一些中国英语学习者会将非卷舌音发成卷舌音,例如将breakfast说成['brekfrst]。本研究的目的是描述中国英语学习者的英语元音卷舌化情况。研究发现,尽管存在个体差异,中国学习者的英语元音卷舌化是有规律可循的:1)[]、[■]以及[■]都容易被发成卷舌音;2)卷舌容易出现在非圆唇元音和非重读音节处;3)非卷舌词(尤其是含有[■]或含有较少音节的词)在文章朗读中比在单词朗读中更容易被误读。在感知与产出的关系方面,研究发现发卷舌音的学习者都在听辨标准美式英语的卷舌音与非卷舌音上存在问题。他们在听时比在说时更频繁地混淆卷舌音与非卷舌音。但通过比较被试的实验表现可知,在产出方面对非卷舌词掌握较好的学习者未必能更好地听辨卷舌音与非卷舌音。

It has been observed that some Chinese EFL learners rhotacize vowels in nonrhotic words. For example,they may pronounce breakfast as ['brekfrst]. The purpose of this study is to describe the rhotacization of English vowels by Chinese EFL learners. The results indicate that despite the presence of individual variation,there are general tendencies of Chinese EFL learners' rhotacization of English vowels. First,rhotacization is likely to occur in a word that has the sound[],[■],or[■]. Second,it occurs more often in unrounded vowels and in unstressed syllables.Third,nonrhotic words,especially words with [■] or with fewer syllables are more likely to be pronounced as rhotic in the passage reading task than in the single word reading task. In terms of the relation between the perception and production of rhotic sounds,the speakers who rhotacize English vowels have difficulty distinguishing rhotic pronunciations from nonrhotic ones when listening to Standard American English. They perceive nonrhotic words as rhotic more often than they produce nonrhotic words as rhotic. However,a comparison of the speakers' performance shows that better production of nonrhotic words does not result in better perception.