TEFL FORUM: Teaching English /r/ and /l/ to Asian EFL learners: a lexical approach ( Part I)

Teaching English /r/ and /l/ to Asian EFL learners: a lexical approach ( Part I)
 

Teaching English /r/ and /l/ to Asian EFL learners: a lexical approach
Part I


Charles Jannuzi
University of Fukui, Japan

Introduction

English /r/, /l/ and contrasts between these two categories of sounds are often cited as pronunciation and listening perception problems for a variety of EFL learners, most from E. Asia. The language backgrounds most often associated with these problems are Japanese, Korean, Chinese and some languages of SE Asia (e.g. Thai but also Cantonese Chinese). Other language speakers have also expressed an interest in improving their pronunciation of English /r/ and /l/, including Russian and German EFL learners. 

Perhaps the most well-known group to have a problem with the two categories of sounds is Japanese EFL learners. This could be because their native language background creates the most difficult problems to overcome. It could also be because Japan attained affluence before most of the rest of Asia and hired native speakers of English to help teach and model the language. So a lot of information based on knowledge and experience of Japanese and Japanese learners of EFL has been exchanged and discussed in 'global ELT'. 

In the case of Japanese learners of English, just what is the issue? The most common account is based on a simple 'contrastive analysis'. Japanese is said to have one categorical sound (or phoneme) whereas English has two. The Japanese sound is often referred to as a type of [r] that is tapped, flapped or trilled.  The Japanese sound never closes a syllable and has a very limited distribution in Japanese. One form of the Japanese /r/ helps to form the syllables used in grammatical inflections (such as verb forms). Word-initial Japanese /r/ is limited to words of foreign origin.

English-speaker descriptions of the Japanese sound or of the Japanese learner of English's sound represent the Japanese sound as variably resembling English /l/, /r/, or /d/ (especially [d] in the middle of a word, like in the word 'middle'). Phonetic descriptions have also said that the American medial voiced [t] of words such as 'little' are quite like the Japanese /r/. 

However, it is not really clear how useful a cross-linguistic, contrastive analysis of phoneme inventories is in diagnosing the problems or in helping Japanese learners of English to overcome them. For one thing, the often-read argument that Japanese has only ONE phoneme, Japanese /r/, is arguably wrong. That is because, using structuralist criteria for determining what is and what is not a phoneme, we can isolate at least two Japanese [r] sounds that are distinct: initial [r] in the word 'rou' ('candle') from palatalized intial [r] in 'ryou' ('dormitory').

It is also misleading to teach EFL learners that there is one English /r/ and one English /l/. That is because they will hear native and fluent speakers of English make a wide array of both sounds in actual speech. In terms of articulation, there is a wide variety within both categories of sounds. Interestingly, the distribution in the lexicon of English [r] sounds strongly parallels English [l] sounds: word-initial ('right' vs. 'light'), word-initial cluster unvoiced ('crime' vs. 'climb'), word-initial cluster voiced ('grow' vs. 'glow'), post-vocalic ('fear' vs. 'feel'), medial ('correct' vs. 'collect'), and unstressed syllabic ('batter' vs. 'battle').

There is some complementary distribution if we consider clusters: [tr-] as in 'true' but no [tl-], [sl] as in 'slide' but no [sr-], [shr-] as in 'shred' but no [shl] (except some loan words), and [l] can cluster with [r] post-vocalically, as in 'girl' or 'world' but not vice versa. Moreover, since both of these sound categories tend toward 'vowel-like', it is not surprising that in some cases they might reduce to a vowel or vowel lengthening in some accents, dialects and word contexts (such as post-vocalic [r] in London, Boston and NY Englishes, or the lost [l] of the word 'chalk').

Given the variety of English /r/ and /l/ sounds and how they parallel each other in the lexicon of English, it is little wonder that EFL learners, even after they have practiced making an English /r/ vs. /l/ distinction, lose the ability when actually communicating orally. Therefore, it is best to teach--over a period of time and through a variety of activities--the full parallel variety of English /r/ and /l/ sounds as found in the most frequent words of the lexicon. A proposed sequence is this: first the variety of English /r/s, then the variety of English /l/s, then /r/ vs. /l/ contrasts in common words, then a follow up on the variety of post-vocalic [r]s in rhotic accents, such as US and Canadian Englishes.

In the next installment, we will look at an instructional sequence which includes explanation of basic classroom procedures and many examples from the beginner's lexicon of English.   

TEFL Forum: Japan's Rakuten, Uniqlo opt for total immersion in global English

Japan's Rakuten, Uniqlo opt for total immersion in global English

The Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER) has published a report about how two new 'new economy' companies in Japan, Uniqlo (casual clothing similar to the Gap) and Rakuten (a web-based 'shopping mall'), are making English the official language of their company.

These bold, controversial decisions come about mostly because their executives see overseas markets as the key to future growth. Moreover, Uniqlo is a retailer centered in Japan, but its clothing and accessories are almost entirely manufactured overseas, in China.

Japan, with its low birth rate and aging society, has actually started to record decreases in population. Although the economy has been alternating between government-subsidized low growth and stagnation for the better part of two decades, Uniqlo and Rakuten have both experienced rapid (if at times uneven) growth. Long before this, Sony Corporation, an OLD 'new economy' company (they still relied on hardware manufacturing for most of their sales) said that it was going to use English as its primary language for international operations, but it didn't ban Japanese.

The JCER piece is here, and can be downloaded in .pdf.

http://www.jcer.or.jp/eng/research/pdf/maeda20100715e.pdf

Japan Times ran an article on the phenomenon, found at the link and excerpted below.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fd20100822bj.html

Why so drastic an approach? Rakuten says English skills will be critical to achieve its plan of entering 27 overseas markets, where it expects to become the leading player, particularly in the field of online shopping. That part of the plan isn't so surprising. Many of Japan's major corporations are eyeing overseas markets, having largely given up on Japan's, which has been stagnating for the last decade or so and where the population is graying rapidly.

Nor is Rakuten's take-no-prisoners approach to English unique. Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., purveyor of Uniqlo casual clothing stores, announced its own in-house English-only policy this spring. Meetings with at least one non-Japanese in attendance are all to be conducted in English, and internal reports will need to be written in the language. Staff are being asked to achieve a score of at least 700 on the Test of English for International Communication, or TOEIC.

CNN recently ran TV and online stories also, link and excerpt below.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/11/15/ilist.japan.englishization/index.html?eref=rss_latest&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+Most+Recent%29

By 2012, Mikitani's pledge is to make Rakuten an English-only corporation. All communication, verbal and email, would be sent not in Japanese, but in English. It's a daunting task for a Japanese company headquartered in Tokyo.

Last year's Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) rankings showed Japanese test takers scored second worst in the East Asia region, below North Korea and Myanmar. Only Laos ranked lower than Japan.

More multimedia coverage is available at Japan Probe.

http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/08/12/english-only-at-rakuten/

Japan Times online guide to studying at a university in Japan

This is a very good English-language guide to universities in Japan that accept and support international students. 

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/universities/japanese_universities.html

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: TEFL FORUM: TEN REASONS WHY ENGLISH LEARNING IN JAPAN FAILS

This is one of the most visited articles up at ELT-J. It was originally a 'TEFL Forum' piece done for Japan HEO.

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: TEFL FORUM: TEN REASONS WHY ENGLISH LEARNING IN JAPAN FAILS

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: Demographic Disaster for Higher Ed in Japan? Parts II-III

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: Demographic Disaster for Higher Ed in Japan? Parts II-III

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: The End of Japan's National Development and Reform Eras for Higher Education

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: The End of Japan's National Development and Reform Eras for Higher Education

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: Demographic Disaster for Higher Ed in Japan? Part I

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: Demographic Disaster for Higher Ed in Japan? Part I

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: Teaching as a Foreign National at Japanese Universities

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: Teaching as a Foreign National at Japanese Universities

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: FACTOID #2: Are universities and colleges in Japan accredited?

JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: FACTOID #2: Are universities and colleges in Japan accredited?

Global University Web Rankings, Directory and Search Engine at 4ICU.ORG

While a university's 'webometric' type ranking might not mean much of anything in terms of the institution's overall quality, the 4ICU site is a very useful directory and search engine of universities and colleges worldwide. And a webometric ranking makes some sense in terms of a given institutions 'web impact', especially since prospective students rely on websites to find insitutions and programs.

Here is a sample of what you find at the 4ICU site:

2010 World University Rankings

• TOP 200 UNIVERSITIES IN THE WORLD
  • Top 100 Universities in North America
  • Top 100 Universities in Latin America
  • Top 100 Universities in Europe
  • Top 50 Universities in Oceania
  • Top 100 Universities in Africa
  • Top 100 Universities in Asia