QUESTION 3 : Phonological knowledge permits a speaker to produce sounds that form meanin meaningful gful utteran utterances ces !h" is this this knowle knowledge dge importa important# nt# $iscus $iscuss s and %ustif" "our answer
Pictur Picture e a primar primary y schoo schooll pupil pupil asking asking his peer “ Do you you /knə /knə ʊ/ (‘know (‘know’) ’) that that my /f ʌtə(r)/ (‘f (‘fat athe her’ r’)) is worki orking ng on an / ˈɪsl ʌnd / (‘island’) ? Due to the mispronunciation! mispronunciation! supposedly! that particular peer should not "e a"le to answer the #uestion asked "ut what if $ told you that he actually managed to answer it without a single dou"t% &hat does it imply here? 'tudents 'tudents are making maor pronunc pronunciati iation on mistakes mistakes in nglish nglish unconsciously and are actually getting "y it without any guilt% Picture how nglish would sound then! in the ten years to come* $t is certainly not fair to "lame the little ones solely for this "ig mistake when phonological ignorance has long "een a part of our li+es! for many of us* $ronically! we are all li+ing in a world which now "elie+es that language is all a"out deciphering and knowing the meanings of words "y heart! "ut sadly not much attention is gi+en to the pronunciation of words* ,his particular wrong perception of language has to "e changed immediately% &hy is it so important for all of us! "e it "eginners! or e+en good speakers themsel+es! to learn phonological knowledge? -ow does it actually "enefit us in life? .nly with phonological knowledge! can we impro+e our pronunciation* ike it or not! it is the only way* 0ou 0ou can ne+er rely on a person! e+en your teachers! as a matter of fact! in order to help you with the pronunciation of e+ery single word* +eryone is constantly in the process of learning after all* 1ccording to Paul 2ord’s article titled! “,hree nglish Pronunciation 3istakes dated 45 th .cto"er 4677! speakers of 1sian and uropean languages! including nati+e speakers themsel+es face the common difficulty of pronouncing the phoneme ‘th’* -owe+er! -owe+er! this could easily "e corrected "y identifying identifying the e8act place of articulation of the phoneme through the guidelines and pictures pro+ided in phonology* $t is through discreteness! a property of the nglish language! one actually learns that each letter produces produces a different different sound and thus! the phonemes should "e pronounced accordingly to a+oid any distortion of meaning* ,his is how we would "e a"le to identify the different pronunciation of the minimal pair! ‘dip’ and ‘tip’!
e+en though there is only one letter which is different in each word* -as it e+er occurred to you that the ignorance of phonology causes a student to use the same phoneme for the particular letter in each word they come across? 2or instance! the words ‘apple’ and ‘alike’* ,his is why many are una"le to ma8imi9e the usage of a dictionary* 'ince only correct pronunciation helps one to memori9e newly learnt words easily! how is one a"le to do so without the capa"ility of reading phonetic sym"ols? ,he true "enefit of using a dictionary which is to widen our +oca"ulary and writing skills can only "e e8perienced with good phonology* ikewise! when we stum"le o+er heteronyms! the a"ility to differentiate their phonemes happens to "e the sole way of learning them without mere confusion* 2or e8ample! the words ‘present’ (+er") and ‘present’ (adecti+e/noun)* 1part from that! phonology "oosts a person’s self:esteem to face the pu"lic* &ith good pronunciation! we would fret no more to ha+e +isits to the "anks or offices where nglish is used as the main medium nowadays* ,his is +ery +ital! especially for those who are in a top position of an organi9ation* ;esides gi+ing people the impression that we are not one who can easily "e taken for a ride! we would also "e acknowledged with a higher le+el of standard*
'peaking and listening is one of the elements that "uilds up an effecti+e communication* 3iscommunication! on the contrary! always occurs due to the mispronunciation of words "y either party* et me shed some light "y gi+ing you an e8ample of a situation where things go haywire due to the ignorance of phonological knowledge in daily life* $magine a man going to a furniture shop and asking the shopkeeper the price of a cup"oard "ut pronounces it as / ˈk ʌp" ɔː(r)d / instead* ,he shopkeeper will certainly get confused and might misinterpret the word ‘cup"oard’ as ‘card"oard’ or e+en as a ‘cup’ and a ‘"oard’ perhaps% =ood pronunciation always sa+es a whole lot of hassle and confusion when communicating with others* $n addition! mastering phonological knowledge would allow one to con+erse with nati+e speakers without any dou"t or hesitation* ,o make things clearer! let us ha+e a look at a con+ersation "etween a school student and her nglish teacher who originates from the >nited ingdom* $magine what would "e going through in her teacher’s mind when she asks her “0ou /meɪt/ (made) this yourself?! upon seeing a "ookmark on her ta"le* -er incapa"ility of pronouncing the phoneme ‘d’ has "rought an entirely different meaning to her #uestion* 'ince nglish happens to "e the only language which can connect these two "eings! would it not "e +ery much confusing and pu99ling for the teacher? $f only the student pronounced the phonemes correctly! it would certainly ensure an effecti+e two:way communication*
understand accents and the language +ariation of students in order to teach them the proper and right pronunciation instead% -owe+er! try and picture how things would "e for an educator who failed to see the importance of phonology "efore she graduated*
&ith a strong foundation of phonological knowledge! $ guarantee you that you will ne+er mar+el again at how good nati+e speakers can con+erse! "ecause you too! can now speak nglish as good as them or e+en "etter! at times%
