BY
A. C. Gimson
Reader
in Phonetics, University College, London
Secretary of the Inernational Phonetic association
In the modern world, English is no longer an instrument for communication merely for those who have it as a mother tongue. Its importance as an international tool --- as a second or as a foreign language --- is increasing, especially in Asia and Africa. Yet its rapid and widespread use is accompanied by dangers which are already apparent. Although English differs little throughout the world in the matter of its grammar and lexis, its pronunciation in many areas begins to show growing divergencies from the British or American norms which have hitherto supplied the models.
It is, of course, natural that a language should develop along different lines in different environments, but if such linguistic development proceeds too far along its natural, uninhibited path, we are in the end likely to be faced with forms which take on the characteristics of a new language. In particular, unrestricted development in the pronunciation of English may lead to the emergence of new forms of the language which, in speech at least, are mutually unintelligible. There are signs that this is already happening; and, with it, the possible decline in effectiveness of English as a truly international spoken means of communication. It is for this reason that any teaching manual, such as that of Mr Huang's, which describes English in terms of one of the recognized norms, is to be welcomed as providing some assurance for the future. It is not, of course, suggested that students in, for instance, Hong Kong should aim at reproducing every feature of British or American English pronunciation, but the fact that they aim in one direction will ensure that some curb is placed upon too great local divergence.
Today, it is no longer necessary --- as it was earlier in this century, when Daniel Jones was carrying out his pioneer work --- to stress the importance of an adequate pronunciation in language learning. It is now recognized that the spoken language is to be considered as its prime form and that, however thorough the command of grammatical structures or however extensive the vocabulary, the result is ineffective if it fails in the transmission stage. The degree of competence to be attained will obviously depend to some extent on the circumstance. Yet all should be able to understand without difficulty a range of style of spoken English; and, as far as performance in speaking English is concerned, easy intelligibility must clearly be a first requisite for all to aim at. The practising or intending teacher must aim higher --- at a very near approximation to the model he has chosen; he has this responsibility to his pupils, who, especially if they are very young, will easily and faithfully imitate any faults of pronunciation or intonation he may have.
In addition, it is now recognized that, in teaching English as a second or foreign language, it is not necessary for the leaner to be exposed with equal intensity to the whole descriptive statement of the model chosen. A Chinese-speaking student will have difficulties which are different from those encountered by, say, a Hindi or a French speaker. The difficulties in question can be predicted and made clear from a comparative study of English and the mother tongue. A manual, such as that of Mr Huang's, sets out to do just this, with the result that emphasis in teaching can be placed on the divergencies. What is more, Mr Huang rightly sets great store by ear-training. It is idle to expect a leaner to produce the correct sound or tune if he cannot perceive the opposition operating with the English system and also the differences between features of English and those of his own language. The training in perception and discrimination and the simple comparative description of articulation contained in Mr Huang's book should prove of great value to Chinese learner of English.
A. C. Gimson
London, may 1965.
ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION explained with diagrams by Raymond Huang より引用
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