Subsidiary Variants of English Phonemes. Literature & Language Essay (Essay Sample)

Subsidiary Variants of English Phonemes
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Abstract
This research looked deep into the factors that are associated with the pronunciation of English allophones by English speaking Russians. It also looked at the words that make it hard for Russians to pronounce English words in the right manner. Seventy two native Russians who are considered to have vast knowledge in the English language were given a chance to read sentences and prose passages that were specially prepared for them. The seventy two native English speaking Russians were also allowed to express themselves concerning their daily routines and experiences. Additionally, they were asked questions concerning their attitude towards the language- English and were required to fill in some questionnaires. The three activities, which are among the various events that native English speaking Russians took part in, were later on rated by other native English speakers who are not Russians but are not experienced linguistically. Other linguistic experts also ranked the activities. The native English speakers who were inexperienced linguistically represented the common man on the street. The aspects of the age in which one has been speaking English as the primary language, the Russians' ability to imitate, sex, and the global proficiency in which they spoke in English. The linguistic experts were considered to be more lenient and reliable in the assessment that they did than the young ones. The results show that the factors that affect the pronunciation of English allophones mainly depend on the time in which one is exposed to the language and that the perception that other people have mostly depended on their linguistic experience. The results also suggest that the age in which one was exposed to the language is a significant determinant of how they pronounce English allophones.