Textbooks on phonology and on teaching ESL （English as a Second Language） often present the place of articulation of the sibilant/s/and its voiced counterpart/z/as a settled matter. The/s/and/z/are described and lis...Textbooks on phonology and on teaching ESL （English as a Second Language） often present the place of articulation of the sibilant/s/and its voiced counterpart/z/as a settled matter. The/s/and/z/are described and listed in phonological charts as ＂alveolar fricatives＂, meaning that the tongue is raised and the apex approaches the alveolar ridge. Those teaching pronunciation or remediating speech problems often use these descriptions by the IPA （International Phonetic Association） as models for teaching these phonemes. A number of linguists and instructors, however, have suggested that an acceptable/s/and/z/sound can be produced in English by other means This study attempted to determine the prevalence of the acceptable alternative placements for the/s/and/z/sounds in a sample of 50 English-speaking university students. Results revealed that 64% of participants used alternate tongue positions to that described in the literature as standard. Implications for speech pathology and ESL instruction are discussed.展开更多
文摘Textbooks on phonology and on teaching ESL （English as a Second Language） often present the place of articulation of the sibilant/s/and its voiced counterpart/z/as a settled matter. The/s/and/z/are described and listed in phonological charts as ＂alveolar fricatives＂, meaning that the tongue is raised and the apex approaches the alveolar ridge. Those teaching pronunciation or remediating speech problems often use these descriptions by the IPA （International Phonetic Association） as models for teaching these phonemes. A number of linguists and instructors, however, have suggested that an acceptable/s/and/z/sound can be produced in English by other means This study attempted to determine the prevalence of the acceptable alternative placements for the/s/and/z/sounds in a sample of 50 English-speaking university students. Results revealed that 64% of participants used alternate tongue positions to that described in the literature as standard. Implications for speech pathology and ESL instruction are discussed.
