The Impact of First Language Accent on the Acquisition of Second Language Pronunciation: Taking Rhotic as an Example
Abstract
With the advance of information globalization and economic globalization, it is of great importance for non-native speakers to master English or another widely spoken second language to involve themselves in international communication better. Nonstandard accents in second language pronunciation, assumed to originate from first languages’ pronunciation habits, and their influence on communicating with native speakers have triggered foreign speakers’ concern accordingly. The paper, through literature review, theoretical analysis, and experiment, explores the impact of first language accent on the pronunciation habit of the second language, specifically on the rhotic-related words in both languages (Chinese and English). The paper finds that speakers' Chinese accent does affect how they say rhotic-related words in English, even when the approach to learning a second language is taken into account. This helps build theories about the link between how people pronounce words in their first language and how they pronounce words in their second language Further research and more generalized experiments are needed to support a universal conclusion.
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