TaiwanPofLee
Member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2014
- Member Type
- Academic
- Native Language
- Chinese
- Home Country
- Taiwan
- Current Location
- Taiwan
How many vowel phonemes should I teach students of English now? And, what are they?
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I don't think it's difficult, so much. It's probably that no one wants to tell you, because you're not going to believe them anyway. You will teach what you will, and use your own made up symbols.Why is this question so difficult to answer?
Doesn't Chinese have different pronunciations?
What about Cantonese?
I am not sure what might be the subject of discussion here. The question you are asking seems to be of the type teachers generally have to face somewhere between needs analysis and course planning. The target language may vary considerably depending on the students - quite a few might be much better off with just problem phonemes, the-so-called minimal pairs that can cause misunderstanding. At least, that's how we tackle this question in this country. (How it could help you is beyond my understanding as I am fairly sure my and your students won't ever meet in this life)How many vowel phonemes should I teach students of English now? And, what are they?
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...I'm teaching my students of American English in Taiwan 19 vowel phonemes, using my own phonetic symbols.
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I am asking this question for the purposes of discussion, enlightenment and facilitating teaching methods.
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If only English had unified standard vowel and consonant phonemes as Chinese!