University of Pedagogy Ho Chi Minh City

English Department

CONSTRATIVE ANALYSIS

ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE CONSONANTS

Instructor: PhD Nguyen Ngoc Vu

Student : Nguyen Thi Xuan Mai - 4A

Ho Chi Minh City 12/2010

Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

Abstract
It is inarguable that English language has become the international language for communication, and is
used widely in many countries in the world. As a developing country,

joining the World Trade

Organization, Vietnam, these days has a critically need for the international language English especially for those who are studying or working in places like foreign companies, holiday resorts, banks,
hotels, souvenir shops, universities, colleges, schools and other public places Despite the widespread
emphasis on the acquisition and use of English, very few people care about some common pronunciation
mistakes that they often make as the result of the mother tongue interference or lack of knowledge of how
the sounds are produced the most significant one is mistakes about consonants clusters. While it is true
to say that Vietnamese people are very good at grammar and seldom make grammar mistakes, their
attitude towards pronunciation and pronunciation mistakes is quite different. Pronunciation mistakes are
often considered less important and even ignored. Among the millions of people speaking English in
Vietnam, there are many people who make mistakes in pronunciation. This creates some typical features
of so-called Vietnamese English. We can easily make mistakes about ending consonant sounds such
as /t/ /s/ /z/ // . Therefore, as students majoring in English, I myself have enthusiastic about finding an
easy and effective way in order to help Vietnamese learners to minimize this mistake and pronounce
native like English speaker as much as possible. With this motivation, I am eager to do this research
English Vietnamese Consonants in order to investigate the root of the problem Where the
relationship of English and Vietnamese consonants and how Vietnamese learners can make use of these
figures to have a good pronunciation, and more than that, how an English teacher can teach their students
to pronounce an English word exactly and native like English speaker.

Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

I. Theoretical Background:
A.

Articulators:

According to Peter Roach, all sounds we make when we speak are the result of muscles
contracting We have a large and complex set of muscles that can produce changes in the
shape of the vocal tract, and in order to learn how the sounds of speech are produced it is
necessary to become familiar with the different parts of the vocal tract. These different parts
are called Articulators. Knowing clearly about articulators will help learner define where the
exactly place for articulation Place of Articulator that will be mentioned in the next part.
B. English consonants:
English has 24 consonant phonemes classified according to their respective point of
articulation, manner of articulation, voiced or voiceless. They are distinguished from each
other by the distinctive features characterized by the three-way distinction listed above. The

Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

consonants in English are patterned amazingly in pairs (except for the nasals) voiced/
voiceless.
a/ English Consonants in terms of phonetics:

Place of articulation:

Lips: Bilabial consonants /p, b, m, w/

Lips and teeth: Labiodentals consonants: /f, v/

Teeth: Interdentally consonants // , /

Alveolar ridge: Alveolar consonants /t, d, s, z, n, l/

Central palate: Palatal consonants/ /, , r, t, d, y/

Velum (or soft palate): Velar consonants /k, g, /

Glottis: Glottal fricative /h/

Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

Manner of articulation:

The process by which the moving column of air is shaped is called the manner of
articulation. For English, these are:

Stops: /p, t, k, b, d, g/

Fricatives: /f, v, , , s, z, , , h/

Affricates: / t, d/

Nasals: /m, n, / (sometimes called nasal stops)

Liquids: /l, r/

Glides: /w, y, h/

b/ English Consonants in terms of phoneme

Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

C. Vietnamese Consonants:
The consonant phonemes are the no syllabic sounds which precede or follow a vowel nucleus
or a syllabic sound in Vietnamese to form a word. Twenty - three consonant phonemes are
found in Vietnamese. They are described in terms of point of articulation and manner of
articulation, voice and voiced less. These phonemes are presented in the following chart:

Although there are final consonants in Vietnamese, they are never pronounced or
heard. That is the reason why Vietnamese learners of English often omit final consonants of
words in English. Theoretically, there is alveo-palatal in
Vietnamese, but in practice, ////// are not aspirated and sounds as if both /t/ and /h/
are involved and connected respectively but immediately, and found only in the initial
position. // and // are typical Vietnamese sounds as they are produced by the
contact between the surface palate of the tongue and the hard palate (front of the palate
for // and the middle of the palate for //). These features of Vietnamese consonants
should be taken into consideration when teaching pronunciation for Vietnamese learners
of English as they may tend to affect the pronunciation of English sounds. This is the
whole charts of Vietnamese consonants There are totally 23 consonants in Vietnam,

Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

according to Trung Tam tu dien hoc, in consequence with 23 consonants, there are 24
consonants in terms of phonetic and 27 consonants in terms of writing equivalents which are
describes in the below charts:

Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

Place of articulation:
(a) Bilabial:

/p , b , m , w/

(b) Labio-dental: /f , v/
(c) Dental:

/, t, s, z, l/

(d) Alveolar:

/d,n/

(e) Retroflex: These consonants are articulated with the tip of the tongue curled up and back
so the bottom of the tip touches the roof of the mouth: /, , /
(f) Palatal:

/c , , j/

(g) Velar:

/k , , x , /

(h) Glottal:

/h/

Manner of articulation :
(a)

Stops:

/p , b , , d ,c , k/

(b)

Fricatives: /f , v , s , z , , , x , , h/

(c)

Nasals:

/m , n , , /

(d)

Laterals:

/l/

(e)

Approximants: /w , j/
Voice :

(a) Voiced :

/b , d , v , z , , , m , n , , , l , w , j/

(b) Voiced less : /p, t , c , k , f , s , , x , h/

II. ANALYSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE

CONSONANTS:

Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

By recognizing the similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese consonants,
the learners as well as the teachers can figure out the right ways to get the native like
speaking intonation. Below are the similarities and differences of English and Vietnamese
consonants:
Place of articulation:
Both English and Vietnamese have:
+ 4 bilabial :

/p, b, m,w/

+ 2 labio dental :

f,v/

+ 2 alvelar:

/d,n/

+ 1 palatal:

/j/

+ 2 velar:

/ k,n/

+ 1 glotal:

/h/

Manner of articulation :
Both English and Vietnamese have :
-

5 Stop consonants: /p , b , t , d ,k/

5 Africative consonants: /f , v , s , z , h/

3 Nasal consonants: / m, n, /

1 lateral consonants: /l/

2 Approximants consonants: /w, j/

Voiced and Voiced less:

10 Voiced consonants : /b , d , v , z , m , n , , l , w , j/

6 Voiced less consonants : / p , t , k , f , s , h/

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Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

The similarities above somehow can help the learners to pronounce English a little bit more
easily by finding the equivalent in their L1 and making use of that. It is the differences between
English and Vietnamese consonants that make Vietnamese learners find it hard to pronounce
exactly a difficult English word:
Vietnamese consonants are found in the initial or final positions of a word, but the final
consonants are never heard. The English consonants under investigation are often heard and
pronounced in three positions: initial, medial and final, except // which is rarely found in
the initial position. Therefore, Vietnamese learners usually make mistakes in pronouncing these
consonants. Below are some common mistakes which are classified in 4 pairs:
1- // -/s/
2- // -/z/
3- /d/ -/z/ or /s/
4- //- / /.
Through all the theorical background above I can figure out these main reasons:
1) Failure in distinguishing the differences
2) Influence of the mother tongue
3) Perceptions of mistakes
4) Inadequate drills and practice and is
5) Discussed by comparing the 4 above-mentioned sound pairs.

<1> Sound pair / / - /s/

For the first pair, // is often pronounced as /s/ due to:
- Failure in distinguishing the difference between the two sounds.

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Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

- Negative influence of the mother tongue: the learners are too much affected by the way
they pronounce the Vietnamese / / in

their Hanoi dialect /s/, thus do not attempt to

pronounce these two sounds differently although they are well aware of the difference.
Examples: She /i: / is often pronounced incorrectly as /si: / in sea. The same mistakes occur
with nation, intonation, should, shut, push, share, finish, astonish, etc. It is really funny if //
is pronounced as /s/ in the following sentence: She sells sea shells on the sea shore.
<2> Sound pair // -/z/
With Hanoi dialect, many of Vietnamese learners of English fail to pronounce / /
As a fricative sound. Instead they pronounce it as /z/. This is due to the fact that in
Vietnamese, the fricatives are not used although

formal Vietnamese

consonants

include

fricative consonants .Thus, all these fricative consonants in English are pronounced as
Vietnamese /z/. For examples: measure, pleasure.

<3> Sound pair // /z/ (or /s/)

As mentioned above, there are no affricates in the Vietnamese consonant system so many
Vietnamese learners of English find it hard to pronounce /d/, for which they have to
make great effort to place their tongue at the point to make a plosive /d/ then quickly
move their tongue a little back to make a fricative //. They often change /d/into /z/ or /s/.
Thus, judge /dd/is pronounced /zz/ or /zs/. Mistakes can also be found in the
pronunciation of job, general, danger, object, age, village, etc.
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Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

<4>Sound pair / /- //
As described in table 4 and 5, Vietnamese // is produced by the contact of the blade of the
tongue against the front part of hard palate, voiceless and aspirated, whilst the English // is
produced as a palato-alveolar consonant and voiceless with the tongue rolls a little bit. What
causes the confusion is indicated in the table below.

When learners make a mistake, they fail to make // alveolar and affricate, but instead,
they make it plosive stop. Like /d/, // is produced beginning with a plosive stop sound and
finishing with a fricative sound. First the tongue touches the ridge of the upper front teeth for
/t/, then instead of releasing quickly for a plosive sound like /t/, the tip of the tongue moves
(further back than that for /s/) to the place for the fricative //. Most RP speakers have
rounded lips for //, but in reality the roundness of the lips depends on the surrounding
sounds. Vietnamese learners of English mispronounce // like Vietnamese //, which is a
voiceless palatal stop and which is produced with the blade of the tongue touching the
hard palate. This sound can be found both in initial and final positions, e.g. cho (meaning give),
cht (meaning die), sch (meaning book). Therefore, English // in chair is incorrectly
pronounced like Vietnamese // in Vietnamese che ch.

Mistakes can also be found in the

Pronunciation of cheese, chicken, future, question, which, March, etc.

III.

Teaching Implication:
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Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

Acknowledging all the every details in theoritical background especially the place of
articulation, manner of articulation and voiced/ voiced less, these are the conclusion that
Vietnamese learners make the mistakes for the following reasons:
- Lack of knowledge of the manner and the place of articulation of two English fricative
consonants //, // and two English affricatives /d/, //.
- The negative interference of the mother tongue, i.e. The English sounds are pronounced in the
Vietnamese way.
- Lack of consciousness of being standard: learners are taught about how these sounds are
produced. They only pronounce them correctly in their pronunciation lessons in the
classroom and in examinations, but not in real communication.

Insufficient drills and practice: Despite having some knowledge about

pronunciation of these sounds, many Vietnamese learners do not have enough opportunity
to use them in communication. For them, their only language environment is the
classrooms, and they speak Vietnamese outside the classroom. Making mistakes is,
therefore, unavoidable for Vietnamese learners who are learning English as a foreign
language in a difficult environment where Vietnamese is used as the official language.

Suggestion solutions for Vietnamese learners and teachers of English:

First of all, it is essential that learners could be introduced to the presentation of the man
head, seen from the side, displayed as though it had been cut in half or they may be
required to look at the inside of their mouth in a mirror. Once they can recognize different
places of articulation of sounds, they are taught to make sounds taking into account voice,

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Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

manner and place of articulation. Therefore, Teachers should make use of teaching aids like this
in order to show Students exactly the way they will pronounce a sound. Nowadays, we also have
many video on the Internet which can do this task perfectly.
Secondly, learners should be given enough practice both inside and outside classroom. This may
help them become more fluent and automatic in pronouncing the sounds. Practice makes
perfect and can be done in the forms of a variety of exercises and games.Consequencely, in terms
of teaching, a teacher should give students as many speaking practices as possible and help them
correct the prononciation.At the same time, teacher can use these books to teach pronunciation
and teacher can suggest students using these to get more practices as well: Pronunciation Tasks,
English Pronunciation in Use, Understanding English pronunciation, Three or Tree, Ship or
Sheep, American Training etc. Besides, above is just a very general suggestion, teachers also
should recognize the level of the students so that teacher can have the best teaching method. I
myself think that teaching pronunciation for kids and young learner are the most important duty
for the teacher, therefore teacher should be more cautious when teaching these levels. Here are
some suggestion activities for teaching pronunciation:
1. Repeat fricative and affricates pairs.
2. Say A if you hear the word on the left.
Say B if you hear the word on the right.
3. Listen and repeat.
4. Write these nationality words in the
Correct column.
5. Complete the conversation using words
From the box.

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Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

6. Write the correct words.

7. Circle the correct word you hear.
8. Transcribe the underlined part of the word.
9. Match questions on the right with
Answers on the left.
10. Tick the correct box.
Learners may also be asked to do some simple research on the use of sounds from a
listening or reading passage. For example:

1. Listen to a talk recorded on CD or tape and count the number of times a certain sound is
heard.
2. Underline all words that begin/ end with a sound.
3. Listen to a student in class reading a short passage and spot the mistakes.
4. Carry out a survey to find out how many students in the class mispronounce a sound.
5. Suggest some possible ways to correct certain mistakes.
6. Discuss some reasons why students make mistakes and solutions.
7. Students write journals/diary about their learning of pronunciation.
8. Students are required to make a comparison or contrastive analysis of the phonetic features of
the confusing sounds in English and also with those of the Vietnamese //.

Thirdly, mistakes should be identified, explained and corrected frequently, either

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Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

Directly or indirectly. This can be done mostly by the teacher and sometimes by the students.
Therefore, teachers play an essential role in helping students to find out their mistakes and get
the right correction.

Fourthly, in order to make the classroom atmosphere more relaxing and pronunciation
learning more interactive and communicative, it is advisable that students should be given
pronunciation games so that they find learning more enjoyable. The games can be taken from
books on pronunciation games or generated by the teacher or by the students.
Finally, it is essential that students should have an opportunity to communicate with a
native speaker or speakers so that they feel more confident that they are actually learning
from authentic sources.

In conclusion, pronouncing a new language word is not really difficult. We can make mistakes
anytime and that is not a big problem because we are definitely not native speaker. However,
with the knowledge about how a word, particularly a consonant is pronounced as well as what
articulator helps us to pronounce a word, a learner can learn how to speak it right and the teacher
will know how to teacher their student it is clearly useful that when knowing the relationship
between English and Vietnamese consonants, the teacher can acknowledge where their students
usually make mistakes and its roots as well For Vietnamese teachers

of

English,

mispronunciation is considered mistake that need to be corrected and improved by giving

the learners more practice, mistake correction and teaching - learning procedures in which
more attention should be paid to English pronunciation at the initial learning stage.

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Constrative Analysis English and Vietnamese Consonants

REFERENCE

Celce Murcia, M & Brinton, D.M. & Goodwin, J.M. 1996 Teaching Pronunciation A
Reference to Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Langugages. Cambridge
University Press.
L Quang Thim ( 2004). Nghin Cu i Chiu Cc Ngn Ng. H Ni : Nh xut bn i hc
quc gia H Ni.
P.Roach, English Phonetics and Phonology, (2nd edition), Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1991.
Ng Thanh Vn (2005). Phonetics and Phonology. Ho Chi Minh: University of Education.
Ngonngu.net m v v h thng m v ting Vit
http://ngonngu.net/index.php?p=64
Thi Thu Thao Nguyen, Rearch Paper Difficulties for Vietnamese when pronouncing English
consonants.
http://www.essays.se/essay/1b6d6ed746/
English Phonology, English Consonants, Chart of consonant phonemes in English
http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/english/fajardo/teaching/eng520/phonology.htm
Duong Thi Nu, Journal of Science, Foreign Language, Mistakes of Vietnames English
www.js.vnu.edu.vn/nn_1_09/b6.pdf

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