Language is a means of communication in everyday life. Common people have little regard the speaking ability as significant as linguists do. They just take it for granted and think that speaking and understanding is as natural as breathing. So many English learners prefer learning “DUMB ENGLISH” to paying attention on studying English pronunciation, the results being that learners are shocked whenever they meet difficulties in oral communication. Among many other factors, the most prominent is phonetics, which, to a large extent, weakens the learner’s confidence both in speaking and listening .In the case of some senior students at the university, a reasonable accuracy in the pronunciation of individual sounds should certainly have been achieved, however, many students still fail to attain perfection. Xu Li Hua (1991) pointed out: “The Chinese students are comparatively quiet and shy, which works to their disadvantage in speaking. They are afraid of making mistakes. They feel uncomfortable in their first attempt at speech in English and they are afraid of failure, laughter and ridicule”. This comment is very true. Observations that limited pronunciation skills can undermine learner’s self-confidence, restrict social interaction, and negatively influence estimations of a speaker’s credibility and abilities are not new(Morley,1998).
The ability of speaking English embodies the correctness of pronunciation and intonation and directly affects the appropriate communication in conversation. This paper explores some factors influencing English pronunciation from the objective factors and analyzing two sounds systems by comparing English and Chinese pronunciations, and then provides some practical suggestions for teaching and learning it.
Pronunciation instruction tends to be linked to the instructional method being used. In the grammar-translation method of the past, pronunciation was almost irrelevant and therefore seldom taught. In the audio-lingual method, learners spent hours in the language lab listening to and repeating sounds and sound combinations. It became popular in the 1950s. This involved a systematic presentation of the structures of the second language, moving from the simple to the more complex. This approach was strongly influenced by a belief using of a lot of practice mechanically and repeatedly. At the time, “foreign-language learning is basically a mechanical process of habit formation.” (George, 2002).
Nowadays, it would be hard to find a linguist who would agree with the statement, yet versions of the audio-lingual method are still very commonly used in language learning. With the emergences of more holistic, communication methods and approach to ESL instruction, pronunciation is addressed within the context of real communication. Although there are different versions of how to create ‘communicative’ experiences in the L2 classroom, they are based on a view that the functions of language (i.e. What it is used for) should be emphasized rather than the forms of the