Chris Lonsdale, psychologist, linguist, educator, and an entrepreneur in China, said that you can learn a language in 6 months, based on his five principles and seven actions. One of those actions, he says, is you need to speak the language when communicating; speaking is hard work, he says, and it uses a lot of face muscles. Listen and pay attention to sound, pattern, rhythm, etc. of the language.
In relation to this, Malaysians have over the years, grasped the English language, albeit at different levels of mastery. Most Malaysians speak English fairly well, without much thought about trivialities such as grammar, vocabulary and structure; perhaps rightly so because for many, it is the meaning that’s important and not form. However, these elements of language become significant in more formal settings such as in academia and workplace settings. Inaccuracies in both spoken and written communication can cause misunderstandings and be seen to reflect carelessness, a lack of attention to detail, and general incompetence.
Pronunciation in speaking is an area where many of us have seen to be trivial. After all, if we say ‘plumber’ with the ‘b’ sounded, and ‘salmon’ with the ’l’ sounded, the listener would still understand us. Unfortunately, this has carried over to many other sounds of English words. Many of us may not realise it but for many others who listen to a string of mispronounced words, they are often left puzzled.
There are approximately thirteen main pronunciation features of Malaysian English which are different from the ‘standard’ English pronunciation, as described by experts such as Peter Roach (1971 up to 2013). The following are the three most common examples:
- Lack vowel lengthening distinction between pair words; they become homophones (two words are homophones of each other if they sound alike but have different meanings and spellings) /iː, ɪ / , / uː, ʊ/, / ɑː, ʌ /, /ɔː ɒ/ lack contrast ) e.g. hid and heed, food and good, heart and hut, pot and port, sheep and ship, cell and sell, cent and scent, etc.
Example:
- brake/break: When teaching my daughter how to drive, I told her if she didn’t hit the brake in time, she would break the car’s side mirror.
- for/four: I purchased four new pairs of shoes for my upcoming vacation.
- heal/heel: If the heel breaks on your shoe, you might fall. However, your injuries will heal over time.
- Fricatives /ð/ and /θ/ are produced as /d/ and /t/ respectively, e.g., thick vs. these, this vs. those, etc.
Examples:
- think/those Let us think about how we can help those children as soon as possible.
- birthday/mother Lisa had the best birthday party ever because her family, especially her mother, was there.
- athlete/smooth After John was voted athlete of the year, his journey to the Olympics was long but smooth.
- Incorrect stress patterns, i.e., shifting stress sound to a different position.
- Camera /ˈkæmərə/ – ME speakers produce /kəˈmerə/
- Pandemic /pænˈdɛmɪk/ – ME speakers produce /pandəmɪk/
- Calendar /ˈkælɪndə/ – ME speakers produce /kəlandə/
There are more pronunciation errors like these that we make.
Till the next time then!
