Production and Perception of English Vowels

The present study basically conducted a qualitative-oriented research to identify the articulating and listening problems of eleven AE vowels for Taiwanese eighth graders. It aimed to examine the relationship between production and perception of English vowels. Gender differences were probed under this sound pronunciation and discrimination framework. A vowel articulating test followed by a vowel discerning test was administered to 42 eighth graders (M=21, F=21). In addition, post-survey interviews were given to further explore the learners’ vowel learning difficulties and to triangulate the data obtained from the oral and aural tests. The results showed that (1) The senior high students had more difficulties pronouncing and perceiving the central vowels and the front vowels than the back vowels. (2) They were mostly confused with /ʌ-ɑ/, /e-ɛ/, and /i-ɪ/ in both production and perception tests. (3) All the inaccuracies in the vowels /i/, /u/, and /o/ were caused by the participants’ ignoring the length and tensity of the vowels. (4) Inappropriate substitution was the major error patterns found in the vowel pair (/ʌ-ɑ /, /i-ɪ/, /e-ɛ/, /u-ʊ/, and /o-ɔ/). (5) There was no significant relationship between the production and perception performances in these vowels. (6) There was insignificant gender effect on both tests. (7) In the interviews, the students expressed their awareness of certain vowel learning difficulties, which was quite consistent with what was found in the study. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future studies were given to conclude the study.