| dc.description.abstract | Vowels play an essential part in precise pronunciation. Regarding the production of
all vowels, that of tense and lax vowels is the angle that consumes the immense effort
of the majority of English learners. Therefore, this paper aims to acoustically analyze
the production of English lax and tense vowels /ɪ i: ɒ ɔ: ʊ u:/ by Vietnamese speakers,
thereby finding the most frequent differences in the production by Vietnamese and
native English speakers and unveiling the reasons for those dissimilarities. The
participants are 20 Vietnamese students who are English linguistics students from
different universities in Ho Chi Minh city. The acoustic differences that provide
insights into the issue under concern are explored based on acoustic analysis of
English vowels produced by Vietnamese and native English speakers. The results
indicate that most of the differences are recognized in the features of tongue height
and frontness/backness in the vowel production by the Vietnamese participants,
especially in that of back vowels. Furthermore, the production errors discovered in
this study indicate that Vietnamese English learners may have some trouble in their
production of English vowels. In fact, they are caused by the teaching and learning
method in Vietnam, the interference of their first language, and a lack of English
linguistics knowledge. | en_US |
