An Acoustic Study of English Monophthong Acquisition by Chinese English Learners in Different Phonological Environments

This paper presents an acoustical analysis of English Monophthongs produced by Chinese English Learners. The research is conducted wherein Chinese college students and English native speakers to investigate the impact of different phonological environments on vowel production, namely “vowel nasal consonant ‘n’ ” and “vowel lateral consonant ‘l’ ”, both in the details of vowel resonance peaks and duration by using acoustic measurements such as the Praat speech processing software. The study finds out that (1) the ten monophthongs produced by Chinese students form five pairs in the articulatory vowel space, namely /ɒ-ɔ:/, /ʌ-ɑ:/, /e-æ/, /I-i:/ and /ʊ-u:/, with little distinction between each pair. While native speakers show a more significant distinction between each pair. In terms of duration, Chinese students produce both tense and lax vowels significantly shorter than native speakers. (2) “vowel nasal consonant ‘n’ ” has a small impact on articulatory vowel space and duration of Chinese students’ monophthongs production. While the articulatory vowel space of native speakers shifts backward and upward and their vowel duration shortens due to the influence of the nasal consonant “n”. (3) “vowel lateral consonant ‘l’ ” also has little impact on articulatory vowel space and duration of Chinese students’ monophthongs production. While native speakers show a larger articulatory vowel space and shorter duration due to the influence of lateral consonant “l”.