Chapter published in:
English Pronunciation Instruction: Research-based insightsEdited by Anastazija Kirkova-Naskova, Alice Henderson and Jonás Fouz-González
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 19] 2021
► pp. 280–301
Vowel reduction in English grammatical words by Macedonian EFL learners
Ivana Duckinoska | Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje
Research into L2 vowel reduction shows that
learners find this phenomenon challenging to acquire, most likely
due to their inability to differentiate between stressed and
unstressed syllables. Consequently, their L2 speech is characterised
by overuse of strong forms, which may be detrimental to
intelligibility. This study explores vowel reduction in grammatical
words by Macedonian learners of English (N = 121).
Participants at B1, B2 and C1 proficiency levels completed 25 tasks
which elicited target words in spontaneous speech. The results
reveal that learners predominantly use strong forms. Moreover, weak
form use is significantly associated with learners’ proficiency
level and formal pronunciation training, but not with word category.
It was also observed that words with certain strong vowels are more
frequently reduced.
Keywords: vowel reduction, strong forms, weak forms, grammatical words, language proficiency, pronunciation training
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