Some problems of learning English in Chinese universities

The status of English as an International Language can be attributed to its dominance in a variety of international, economic and cultural arenas. English is currently spoken in more than 70 countries as a first language or as official (second) language and approximately 380 million people speak English as a first language. However, Cristal (2003) estimated that more than a billion people use it as a second (or additional) language and it was expected that this number would increase [Hyejeong Ahn, p.35]. China is one of the world’s larges countries (its population numbers over 1.38 billion people) with one of the largest economy of the world. But it doesn’t mean that average English proficiency in China is good. According to the result of Education-First English Proficiency Index (EF-EPI) in the world, China is on the 11th place among 16 examined countries in the Asian region. Some reasons and possible solutions of this problem are described in this article.

Chinese students are comparatively quiet and shy, which works to their disadvantage in speaking. They are afraid of making mistakes. They feel uncomfortable in their first attempt to speak English and they are afraid of failure, laughter and ridicule”. This comment is very true. Observations that limited pronunciation skills can undermine learner’s self-confidence restrict social interaction, and negatively influence estimations of a speaker’s credibility and abilities are not new (Morley, 1998).

Most researchers agree that the learner’s first language influences the pronunciation of the target language and is a significant factor in accounting for foreign accents. So called interference or interference from the first language is likely to cause errors in aspiration, stress, and intonation in the target language. Some Chinese students tend to have difficulty with English sounds because they are deeply influenced by similar Chinese sounds. However, they are very different from each other. A particular sound which does not exist in the native language can therefore pose a difficulty for the second language learners to produce or some times to try to substitute those sounds with similar ones in their mother tongue. These sounds include both vowels and consonants, such as /p/.

Therefore learners have trouble first of all in perceiving these sounds, and consequently try to find nearest equivalents to substitute those new sounds. A typical example will be the substitution of /s/ or /z/ for the English /р/, /ai/ or /e/.

A sound does exist in the native language, but the place of articulation and the manner of articulation of the sound in two languages are quite different. The erroneous substitution takes place here as well. For instance, the English /r/ and ‘pronunciation’, ‘rose’ and ‘rise’ are uncomfortably heard when they are produced by ESL learners.

Chinese is a syllable-timed language while English is a stress-timed language and therefore they have a great deal of differences in stress and rhythmic patterns. The basis for Chinese rhythm is the number of syllables, and the production of every syllable virtually takes the same amount of time, while the basis for English rhythm is that of stresses and the stressed syllable takes more time to pronounce. With no knowledge of this significant feature, Chinese learners of English often clearly articulate every English syllable and word in speeches. This results in a foreign-sounding accent, and possibly misunderstanding.

Another difference between Chinese and English is that Chinese is a tone language while English is an intonation language. A number of studies have found that English spoken by different Chinese dialect groups have different accents (Bolton & Kwok, 1990). The distinctive system of pronunciation and intonation of Chinese as compared to English may cause Chinese to be perceived as rude and inconsiderate. More serious intonation transfer may even affect comprehension.

Chinese learners of English must be aware of this distinction in order to avoid making errors in intonation. Of course utterances in Chinese have intonation as well and the intonation also falls on the word endings. However, every Chinese word has a fixed tone thus the intonation of the whole sentence must be greatly constrained, and the intonation is actually a slight variation on the basis of the word tone. While for English, intonation can mean life and death. Some phoneticians compare vowels and consonants as the body of English and intonation as the spirit of it. Some linguists claimed that the important thing is not what you say but how you say it, thus placing much emphasis on intonation. The knowledge of intonations and the perception of functions of different intonation patterns will facilitate learners’ acquisition of the target language phonological system in great measure.

Stress, for example, is most commonly indicated not by increased volume but by a slight rise in intonation. Intonation patterns in English sentences primarily indicate the degree of certainty of an utterance, i.e. whether it is a statement, questions or suggestion. Most questions in rising intonation, however, Wh- questions (who, what, where, when, why, and how) end with falling intonation. It is important for students to learn these patterns.

Chinese is a language with musical word stress (or tonic word stress). In such a language, prominence is mainly achieved by variations in pitch level, the main acoustic parameter being fundamental frequency. The meaning of the words in Chinese language depends on the pitch levels of their syllables. Every syllable in Chinese has an essential component tone, which is the pitch pattern of the voiced part of the syllable. The pitch and change in pitch of a syllable makes for a difference in meaning. For example, ‘mai’ (to buy) is the third tone; ‘mai’ (to sell) is the fourth tone. Both syllables (and, words) have the same initials and vowel sounds, but because their tones are different, their meanings are also different.

Chinese language is a tonal language while English is not, and this is the reason for one of the problems – pronunciation. In Chinese language are 4 tones of vowel sounds, and one word with different tones has different meanings. That’s why Chinese speak monotonically and try not to do accents in sentences. This feature complicates understanding of them.

The next problem is related to unequal distribution of financial resources for learning English. The main financial streams are in majors cities, not in rural areas.

The final problem is the English exam, it is, but there is no sense, because education system is focused on passing the exam. That is why Chinese cannot speak fluently English, quite the contrary. They can only read English, but can not understand it by listening.

These all problems are the cause of low English proficiency in China, and nowadays it is a bad index for so large and important in global economy country. So what can they do to improve their proficiency?

First thing, which they can do, using various online-resources which are focused on learning English. These resources can be used also in rural areas and they will get the same proficiency in English as in major cities.

The next thing which they can do find new qualified English teachers among native speakers. In such a way Chinese will listen to their speech and try to speak with the same intonation and make the same accents in the sentences. Also they would practice their speech while speaking with a native speaker and the speaker could correct them in their speech.

And the final thing, which I can advise them, is to change their education system, make it focused more on reading and speaking, not on passing of the exams only.

In conclusion it is worth mentioning that in order to learn English well, the second language learners should pay attention of the importance of the English pronunciation learning. The factors mentioned above influencing Chinese students pronunciation of English, which is the first language interference by interference of mother tongue in learning English pronunciation, learners’ age, attitude, psychological factor and prior pronunciation instruction and the learners’ insufficient knowledge of phonology and phonetics to a large extent affecting the acquisition of the English pronunciation. On the other hand, imitation, listening and speaking, readings aloud are good suggestions for pronunciation improvement of English learners. Certainly, there is a long way for Chinese learners to go to achieve high English proficiency.

Научный руководитель – Т.П. Сидорова, ст. преподаватель кафедры «Иностранные языки» СибАДИ, Омск.

Библиографический список

 

1. Acton, W. (1984). Changing Fossilized Pronunciation.TESOL Quarterly (1):69-83.

2. Bolton, K. & H. Kwok. (1990). The Dynamics of the Hong Kong Accent: Social Identity and Sociolinguistic

3. Bowen, J.D. (1983). Discourse Analysis. London: Cambridge University Press.

4. Speakers of Other Languages. London: Cambridge University Press.

5. Pennington, M.C. (1994). Recent Research in L2 Phonology: Implications for Practice. London: Cambridge University

6. http://ru.gbtimes.com/fokus/uchit-li-kitayu-angliyskiy-yazyk

7. http://ru.gbtimes.com/fokus/est-li-u-kitaya-problemy-sangliyskim yazykom

8. http://www.rusnauka.com/5_SWMN_2014/Philologia/5_158950.doc.htm

 

УДК 811.124

студенты Бондаренко А.И., Корнельзен Д.А.

Оренбургский государственный медицинский университет, Оренбург

Abstract: The article is devoted to the role of Hippicrates in medicine and medical ethics. On the base of analyses Asclepiades (Hippocratic) Oath the author describes main ethical principles in medicine, introduced by Hippicrates.

 

Аннотация: Данная статья посвящена роли Гиппократа в становлении принципов медицины как науки и медицинской этики как неотъемлего фактора медицины. На основе анализа клятвы Гиппократа выделяются основные этические принципы медицины, определяющие характер врачебной профессии, регулирующие воплощение в жизнь функциональных и профессиональных особенностей врача.

Key words: Asclepiades (Hippocratic) Oath, ethical principles, medicine.

 

Ключевые слова: клятва Гиппократа, этические принципы, медицина.