Pronunciation
By Wai Maung
Pronunciation plays a key role in learning a language. Wrong pronunication may lead to wrong spelling which consequently convey wrong meaning. In short, wrong pronunciation may ruin the four skills writing, reading, speaking and listening. but to develop perfect pronunciation skill is not an easy task. Only the phonetic study of language may help accomplish the task. However, phonetics - a system of symbols used to show the pronunciation of words, is quite difficult for beginners to understand. Hence it will be wise to find easier way to gain access to the pronunciation skill. The most accessible method for the beginners at the earliest stage is to teach them recognize the consonant clusters of the English words.
Myanmar language, as it is obvious, is a open sound system. That is, whatever is spoken or uttered the mouth remains open. But English language is not so. For example, when we say "Sleep", the stress lays on the consonant cluster "P". So does the same on "d" in the case of "Stand". Here, it should be aware that if the stress, especially on the consonant cluster, is wrong the word may not be understood and it may sound awkward. So great care should be taken not to put much stress on the consonant clusters. If not, the sentence "This is a rose" may be read as "This isis a rosis". Besides, the beginners - the students of primary level, confuse the consonant cluster sounds "sh" and "ch". Thus the sentence "She was washing dishes after she had watched TV" may be written or read as "She was watching ditches after she had wash TV."
The students should therefore be encouraged to read aloud without shyness so that their wrong pronunciation, if there be any, can be corrected by their teacher. For wrong pronunciation cannot be corrected among themselves unless guided by the teachers.
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