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English， speak it better！ When I was a student， my teachers always said it to us！ And now， I am a teacher， I always say it to my students！ But， how to speak it better？ The answer is pronunciation. As we all know， language is the tool of communication， speaking is the best and convenient way！ Each of us has a mind， a private world filled with thoughts， feelings， and memories. Speaking to each other is one of the most interesting things that we human beings do. So， if you want to get the best communication， you should articulate correctly. It is the basic！ Then， the science of phonetics appeared. In the year of 1886， in London， The Phonetic Teachers’ Association was found by the phonetics teachers of Europe countries， later， it is changed into International Phonetic Association. The most important achievement of the phoneticians is， in 1888， they published their work International Phonetic Alphabet （IPA）. One symbol one phoneme is the principle of International Phonetic Alphabet （IPA）. There are 44 phonemes in International Phonetic Alphabet （IPA）. They can be used to represent the sounds of any language. In English， there are 26 letters. The phonemes include consonants and vowels. The consonants are 24， the vowels are 20. The vowels are divided into two groups： the pure vowels and the diphthongs. In the pure vowels， there are the front vowels， the back vowels and the central vowels. In the diphthongs， there are the closing diphthongs and the centring diphthongs. In this article， I’d like to categorize the errors which the junior middle school students often made in English learning according to my survey about the front vowels.
1.The front vowels
In English language， while the consonant sounds are mostly articulated via closure or obstruction in the vocal tract， vowel sounds are produced with a relatively free flow of air. They are all typically voiced， loud. With the majority of single vowel sounds， the vocal organs remain relatively steady， so the sounds are clear. the front vowels are the cardinal vowels， the most basic vowels. Because of the tongue tip influenced， the front vowels sound loud and clear than others， which gives the eye of your speaking. At the same time， if you articulate them exactly， your English appears a sense of sweetness， very beautiful and distinctive. In English， there are four front vowels / i：/， / i/， /e/ and /?/.
1.1The general character of the front vowels
The tongue tip is close to the lower teeth. The tongue tip is raised to the upper alveolar， but not to touch.
The air flow passes through lungs， then the trachea， and last， it comes out from mouth， without any block， no any friction.
1.2The specific property of the front vowels
The different position and height of the tongue tip raised to the upper alveolar decide the different phonemes of the front vowels.
The tongue position of / i： i e ? / is from high to low.
The jaw height of / i： i e ?/ is from small to big.
FIGUR 1 The tongue position of the front vowels
1.2.1 The front vowel No. 1 /i：/
The tongue tip is close to the lower teeth.
The front of tongue is raised， but does not touch the upper alveolar.
The lip configuration is flat.
The jaw height is a little， near to close.
FIGURE1.2.1 -1.2.2 The tongue position of No.1 /i：/ andNo.2 //
1.2.2 The front vowel No.2 /i/
The tongue tip is close to the lower teeth.
The front of tongue is raised less high than/i：/.
The lip configuration is flat.
The jaw height is bigger than /i：/， near to half-close.
1.2.3 The front vowel No. 3 /e/
The tongue tip is close to the lower teeth.
The front of tongue is raised less high than /i/.
The jaw height is bigger than /i/， near to half-close and half-open.
The lip configuration is flat.
FIGURE1.2.2 - 1.2.3 NO.2 /i/and NO.3/e/
1.2.4 The front vowel No.4 / ?/
The tongue tip is close to the lower teeth.
The front of tongue is raised， but its tongue position is the lowest in these four sweet vowels.
The jaw height is the biggest in these four sweet vowels， between the half-open and open.
The lip figuration is naturally flat.
FIGURE1.2.3-1.2.4 The tongue position NO.3 /e/and NO.4/ ? /
2. The statement of testing material and students
2.1 Testing material
To test the students’ pronunciations efficiently and accurately， I choose a short passage from Junior’ English （Go for it！）. This short passage is very good for us to test our front vowels because it includes the four all， and the four phonemes， each appears many times in it， which will help us find errors easily！ Please look at the passage following：
In ten years， I think I’ll be a reporter. I’ll live in Shanghai， because I went to Shanghai last year and fell in love with it. I think it’s really a beautiful city. As a reporter， I think I will meet lots of interesting people. I think I’ll live in an apartment with my best friends， because I don’t like living alone. I’ll have pets. I can’t have any pets now because my mother hates them， and our apartment is too small. So in ten years， I’ll have many different pets. I might even keep a pet parrot！ I’ll probably go skating and swimming every day. During the week I’ll look smart， and probably will wear a suit. On the weekend， I’ll be able to dress more casually. I think I’ll go to Hong Kong on vacation， and one day I might even visit Australia. 2.2 The statements of the students who attended the test.
I chose ten students to read the short passage. They are junior students， aging from 13—14. And they are all from town. Their English level and learning experiences are nearly equal.
3. The pronunciation errors which students made on the front vowels in reading the passage
3.1 Problems in Pronouncing the phoneme / i：/
In this short passage， the phoneme / i：/ is in these words ： be，
meet， people， even ，keep and week. In turn， they should be read [bi：]， [mi：t]， [pi：pl]， [i：vn]， [ki：p] and [wi：k]. But in fact， in my class， my students always misread them.
phoneme words standard pronunciation mispronounces
3.2 Problems in Pronouncing the phoneme / i /
In this short passage， the phoneme / i/ is in these words： in， think，
reporter， because， live， with， it， beautiful， city， will， interesting， living ， different， skating， swimming， visit and is. In turn ， they should be read as [in]，[ink]，[rip：t]，[bikz]，[liv]，[wi]，[it]，[bju：tiful]，[citi]，[wil]，[intristi]，[livi]，[difrnt]，[skeiti]，[swimi]，[visit] and [iz]. But in fact， in my class， my students always misread them.
phoneme Words and letters Standard pronunciation mispronounces
3.3 Problems in Pronouncing the phoneme / e /
In this short passage， the phoneme / e/ is in these words： ten， went ， fell， best， friends， pets， any， many ， every， weekend and dress . In turn， they should be read as [ten]，[went]，[fel]，[best]，[frends]，[pets]，[eni]，[meni]，[evri]，[wi：kend]and [dres]. But in fact， in my class， my students always misread them.
phoneme Words and letters Standard pronunciation mispronounces
3.4 Problems in Pronouncing the phoneme / ? /
In this short passage， the phoneme / ?/ is in these words： and ，as， an ，have， parrot and casually. In turn， they should be read as [?nd]， [?z]， [h?v]， [p?rt] and [k?зjuli]. But in fact， in my class， my students always misread them.
phoneme Words and letters Standard pronunciation mispronounces
4.Analyze the target problems
From the transcriptions of the students’ recording， we can find the three common mistakes which students always made.
The first is that they always confuse the four phonemes on their tongue position and the jaw height！ From / i：/ ，/i/， /e/ to //， the tongue position of them is from high to low， the gap is tiny. The jaw height of them is from small to big， the gap is also tiny. So， confusion is easy and accuracy is difficult. The second is that students can’t grasp the length of the four vowels .Form /i：/， /i/， /e/ to // ， their length is from long to short， the gap is also tiny. So， they are confused！
The third is that the mispronounces /Λ/， /ei/ and // appeared. Why did they run away so far？ I think there are two reasons， one is mishearing and the other is the influence of the dialect.
5.Solve the target problems
Firstly， we teachers should improve our pronunciations， especially the front vowels， when your pronunciation is sweet and appealing， the students will be aroused to imitate you. They will think I want to say that and I will be that， and then they will pay attention to learn that.
Secondly， we teachers should choose suitable ways to show the front vowels one by one. During the course， try best to lead our students to feel and find the tiny differences among them， high or low， long or short， small or big， voiced or voiceless and nervous or relaxed and so on.
Thirdly， to train them and guide them practice more is necessary.
After having a hard practice， thinking and feeling until they can show correct production and internalize standard perception .Then， sweet appears， beautiful English flies.
Fourthly， to tell students the importance of the standard mother language， and ask them to practice their mother language themselves. That is very important for us to learn English well.
References
Wang Wenzhen. English Phonology. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 1999.
George Yule. The Study of Language.（Second edition） Cambridge University Press.1985，1996. and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. 2000.
Peter Roach. Phonetics. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2003.
Joanna Radwanska-Williams. Teaching English Phonetics and Phonology：Problems of Assessment. Journal of Foreign Language Education
David Nunan. Go for it！ Copyright?2007. People’s Education Press and Cengage Learning Asia Pte Lrd.
作者简介：
聂枫（1976.08-），女，宁夏固原人，陕西师范大学外国语学院在读硕士，北方民族大学图书馆馆员，主要从事图书馆理论与实践和外语教学法研究。
通 联：宁夏银川市西夏区文昌北路北方民族大学图书馆采编部
[1]聂枫（1976.08-），女，宁夏固原人，陕西师范大学外国语学院在读硕士，北方民族大学图书馆馆员，主要从事图书馆理论与实践和外语教学法研究。
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1.The front vowels
In English language， while the consonant sounds are mostly articulated via closure or obstruction in the vocal tract， vowel sounds are produced with a relatively free flow of air. They are all typically voiced， loud. With the majority of single vowel sounds， the vocal organs remain relatively steady， so the sounds are clear. the front vowels are the cardinal vowels， the most basic vowels. Because of the tongue tip influenced， the front vowels sound loud and clear than others， which gives the eye of your speaking. At the same time， if you articulate them exactly， your English appears a sense of sweetness， very beautiful and distinctive. In English， there are four front vowels / i：/， / i/， /e/ and /?/.
1.1The general character of the front vowels
The tongue tip is close to the lower teeth. The tongue tip is raised to the upper alveolar， but not to touch.
The air flow passes through lungs， then the trachea， and last， it comes out from mouth， without any block， no any friction.
1.2The specific property of the front vowels
The different position and height of the tongue tip raised to the upper alveolar decide the different phonemes of the front vowels.
The tongue position of / i： i e ? / is from high to low.
The jaw height of / i： i e ?/ is from small to big.
FIGUR 1 The tongue position of the front vowels
1.2.1 The front vowel No. 1 /i：/
The tongue tip is close to the lower teeth.
The front of tongue is raised， but does not touch the upper alveolar.
The lip configuration is flat.
The jaw height is a little， near to close.
FIGURE1.2.1 -1.2.2 The tongue position of No.1 /i：/ andNo.2 //
1.2.2 The front vowel No.2 /i/
The tongue tip is close to the lower teeth.
The front of tongue is raised less high than/i：/.
The lip configuration is flat.
The jaw height is bigger than /i：/， near to half-close.
1.2.3 The front vowel No. 3 /e/
The tongue tip is close to the lower teeth.
The front of tongue is raised less high than /i/.
The jaw height is bigger than /i/， near to half-close and half-open.
The lip configuration is flat.
FIGURE1.2.2 - 1.2.3 NO.2 /i/and NO.3/e/
1.2.4 The front vowel No.4 / ?/
The tongue tip is close to the lower teeth.
The front of tongue is raised， but its tongue position is the lowest in these four sweet vowels.
The jaw height is the biggest in these four sweet vowels， between the half-open and open.
The lip figuration is naturally flat.
FIGURE1.2.3-1.2.4 The tongue position NO.3 /e/and NO.4/ ? /
2. The statement of testing material and students
2.1 Testing material
To test the students’ pronunciations efficiently and accurately， I choose a short passage from Junior’ English （Go for it！）. This short passage is very good for us to test our front vowels because it includes the four all， and the four phonemes， each appears many times in it， which will help us find errors easily！ Please look at the passage following：
In ten years， I think I’ll be a reporter. I’ll live in Shanghai， because I went to Shanghai last year and fell in love with it. I think it’s really a beautiful city. As a reporter， I think I will meet lots of interesting people. I think I’ll live in an apartment with my best friends， because I don’t like living alone. I’ll have pets. I can’t have any pets now because my mother hates them， and our apartment is too small. So in ten years， I’ll have many different pets. I might even keep a pet parrot！ I’ll probably go skating and swimming every day. During the week I’ll look smart， and probably will wear a suit. On the weekend， I’ll be able to dress more casually. I think I’ll go to Hong Kong on vacation， and one day I might even visit Australia. 2.2 The statements of the students who attended the test.
I chose ten students to read the short passage. They are junior students， aging from 13—14. And they are all from town. Their English level and learning experiences are nearly equal.
3. The pronunciation errors which students made on the front vowels in reading the passage
3.1 Problems in Pronouncing the phoneme / i：/
In this short passage， the phoneme / i：/ is in these words ： be，
meet， people， even ，keep and week. In turn， they should be read [bi：]， [mi：t]， [pi：pl]， [i：vn]， [ki：p] and [wi：k]. But in fact， in my class， my students always misread them.
phoneme words standard pronunciation mispronounces
3.2 Problems in Pronouncing the phoneme / i /
In this short passage， the phoneme / i/ is in these words： in， think，
reporter， because， live， with， it， beautiful， city， will， interesting， living ， different， skating， swimming， visit and is. In turn ， they should be read as [in]，[ink]，[rip：t]，[bikz]，[liv]，[wi]，[it]，[bju：tiful]，[citi]，[wil]，[intristi]，[livi]，[difrnt]，[skeiti]，[swimi]，[visit] and [iz]. But in fact， in my class， my students always misread them.
phoneme Words and letters Standard pronunciation mispronounces
3.3 Problems in Pronouncing the phoneme / e /
In this short passage， the phoneme / e/ is in these words： ten， went ， fell， best， friends， pets， any， many ， every， weekend and dress . In turn， they should be read as [ten]，[went]，[fel]，[best]，[frends]，[pets]，[eni]，[meni]，[evri]，[wi：kend]and [dres]. But in fact， in my class， my students always misread them.
phoneme Words and letters Standard pronunciation mispronounces
3.4 Problems in Pronouncing the phoneme / ? /
In this short passage， the phoneme / ?/ is in these words： and ，as， an ，have， parrot and casually. In turn， they should be read as [?nd]， [?z]， [h?v]， [p?rt] and [k?зjuli]. But in fact， in my class， my students always misread them.
phoneme Words and letters Standard pronunciation mispronounces
4.Analyze the target problems
From the transcriptions of the students’ recording， we can find the three common mistakes which students always made.
The first is that they always confuse the four phonemes on their tongue position and the jaw height！ From / i：/ ，/i/， /e/ to //， the tongue position of them is from high to low， the gap is tiny. The jaw height of them is from small to big， the gap is also tiny. So， confusion is easy and accuracy is difficult. The second is that students can’t grasp the length of the four vowels .Form /i：/， /i/， /e/ to // ， their length is from long to short， the gap is also tiny. So， they are confused！
The third is that the mispronounces /Λ/， /ei/ and // appeared. Why did they run away so far？ I think there are two reasons， one is mishearing and the other is the influence of the dialect.
5.Solve the target problems
Firstly， we teachers should improve our pronunciations， especially the front vowels， when your pronunciation is sweet and appealing， the students will be aroused to imitate you. They will think I want to say that and I will be that， and then they will pay attention to learn that.
Secondly， we teachers should choose suitable ways to show the front vowels one by one. During the course， try best to lead our students to feel and find the tiny differences among them， high or low， long or short， small or big， voiced or voiceless and nervous or relaxed and so on.
Thirdly， to train them and guide them practice more is necessary.
After having a hard practice， thinking and feeling until they can show correct production and internalize standard perception .Then， sweet appears， beautiful English flies.
Fourthly， to tell students the importance of the standard mother language， and ask them to practice their mother language themselves. That is very important for us to learn English well.
References
Wang Wenzhen. English Phonology. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 1999.
George Yule. The Study of Language.（Second edition） Cambridge University Press.1985，1996. and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. 2000.
Peter Roach. Phonetics. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2003.
Joanna Radwanska-Williams. Teaching English Phonetics and Phonology：Problems of Assessment. Journal of Foreign Language Education
David Nunan. Go for it！ Copyright?2007. People’s Education Press and Cengage Learning Asia Pte Lrd.
作者简介：
聂枫（1976.08-），女，宁夏固原人，陕西师范大学外国语学院在读硕士，北方民族大学图书馆馆员，主要从事图书馆理论与实践和外语教学法研究。
通 联：宁夏银川市西夏区文昌北路北方民族大学图书馆采编部
[1]聂枫（1976.08-），女，宁夏固原人，陕西师范大学外国语学院在读硕士，北方民族大学图书馆馆员，主要从事图书馆理论与实践和外语教学法研究。
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