Native Spanish speakers tend to mispronounce or to omit the -ed morpheme when it comes to regular English verbs in simple past. (example: managed, arranged, crowded). It is important to remind oneself of the fact that “[t]he basic morphological unit, however, is not the word, but the morpheme […], the smallest meaning-bearing unit of a language” (Kortmann, Bernd. English Linguistics: Essentials).
So, when the –ed morpheme is omitted the listener cannot discriminate whether the person speaking is talking in simple present or in simple past. This might lead to confusion and to serious misunderstandings. I personally found that native speakers of Spanish face serious problems when it comes to the pronunciation of English words.
In all the months I spent in Spain I somehow thought about those difficulties that occur constantly and when giving English lessons to Spanish teenagers I finally came to the conclusion that I have to investigate at least one aspect of the phenomenon of the mispronunciation of English words by native speakers of Spanish.
Table of contents
1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction of the participants
2. Analysis of the experiment
2.1 Graphic illustration of the mistakes committed
2.1.1 Diagram 1 – Test results of Jorge
2.1.2 Diagram 2 – Test results of Noel
2.1.3 Diagram 3 – Test results of David
2.1.4 Diagram 4 – Test results of Martín
3. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this study is to investigate the hypothesis that native Spanish adult learners of English struggle with the accurate production of the English regular past tense morpheme –ed, often resulting in its omission or mispronunciation.
- Phonological analysis of the regular past tense morpheme –ed (allomorphs [t], [d], [ɪd]).
- Evaluation of error patterns among four male adult native Spanish speakers.
- Examination of the impact of language exposure and personal history on pronunciation accuracy.
- Comparison of production difficulties between voiceless and voiced consonant environments.
- Discussion of pedagogical implications for L2 English acquisition.
Excerpt from the Book
1. Introduction
Native Spanish speakers tend to mispronounce or to omit the –ed morpheme when it comes to regular English verbs in simple past. (example: managed, arranged, crowded). It is important to remind oneself of the fact that “[t]he basic morphological unit, however, is not the word, but the morpheme […], the smallest meaning-bearing unit of a language” (Kortmann, Bernd. English Linguistics: Essentials).
So, when the –ed morpheme is omitted the listener cannot discriminate whether the person speaking is talking in simple present or in simple past. This might lead to confusion and to serious misunderstandings. I personally found that native speakers of Spanish face serious problems when it comes to the pronunciation of English words. In all the months I spent in Spain I somehow thought about those difficulties that occur constantly and when giving English lessons to Spanish teenagers I finally came to the conclusion that I have to investigate at least one aspect of the phenomenon of the mispronunciation of English words by native speakers of Spanish.
Chapter Summaries
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the research hypothesis regarding the omission or mispronunciation of the English regular past tense morpheme by Spanish speakers and discusses relevant background on L2 perception.
1.1 Introduction of the participants: This section provides a detailed overview of the demographic and linguistic background of the four study participants, including their educational and international experiences.
2. Analysis of the experiment: This section describes the methodological approach to the experiment, detailing how mistakes were recorded and categorized based on phonetic observations of each participant's performance.
2.1 Graphic illustration of the mistakes committed: This chapter utilizes diagrams to visualize the specific error types committed by each participant across two test parts.
2.1.1 Diagram 1 – Test results of Jorge: This section details the performance of the first participant, showing that he maintained a relatively high level of accuracy compared to others.
2.1.2 Diagram 2 – Test results of Noel: This section analyzes the performance of the second participant, highlighting his frequent omission and mispronunciation errors.
2.1.3 Diagram 3 – Test results of David: This section examines the persistent systematic errors made by the third participant throughout the experiment.
2.1.4 Diagram 4 – Test results of Martín: This section reviews the errors of the final participant, contrasting his specific patterns with those of the other test subjects.
3. Conclusion: This final chapter synthesizes the experimental findings, confirming the original hypothesis and discussing the influence of motivation and authentic language immersion on acquisition.
Keywords
Language Acquisition, English Phonology, Spanish Learners, Past Tense, Morpheme, Pronunciation, L2 Production, Allomorphs, Linguistic Competence, Phonetic Interference, Error Analysis, Second Language, Consonant Clusters, Morphology, Communication Misunderstandings.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this research paper?
The paper investigates whether native Spanish-speaking adults learning English face specific difficulties in accurately pronouncing the regular English past tense –ed morpheme.
What are the primary themes discussed in the study?
The study focuses on phonology, the role of L1 interference, the difference between voiced and voiceless stops, and the impact of learner experience on L2 pronunciation accuracy.
What is the main research hypothesis?
The hypothesis states that native Spanish adult learners of English tend to either completely omit or mispronounce the English regular past tense morpheme –ed.
Which scientific methods were employed?
The author conducted an empirical experiment using twelve test sentences, recorded the speech of four male native Spanish participants, and analyzed the phonetic output compared to target English forms.
What does the main body of the paper cover?
The body includes an introduction of the participants, a detailed analysis of their phonetic performance via individual diagrams, and a comparison of error patterns found during the experiment.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Language Acquisition, English Phonology, Past Tense, Morpheme, Pronunciation, Error Analysis, and Spanish Learners.
How do Spanish speakers typically struggle with English past tense?
The study shows a tendency to either omit the morpheme entirely, which masks the tense, or to substitute it with the syllabic allomorph [ɪd] even when not contextually appropriate.
Why does Jorge show better results than the other participants?
Jorge’s higher accuracy is attributed to his previous immersion in an authentic, English-speaking environment, which likely lowered his "affective filter" and improved his phonetic sensitivity.
- Quote paper
- Lea Lorena Jerns (Author), 2015, Omitting the "-ed". The tendency of Native Spanish adult learners to mispronounce the English past tense morpheme, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/308721
