14459: Schweissing: ESL/Creole Phonology (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Daniel Schweissing <dan_schweissing@hotmail.com>

Greetings,

My wife and I have been teaching an ESL class for Haitians here in Nassau.
We have noticed that most beginning students tend to pronounce words such as
"arm" or "ear" as "harm" or "hear".  Obviously, Haitian Creole has many
words that begin with a vowel sound but I'm wondering if, phonologically, it
is not permissable to start a word with the vowels in the above examples in
Haitian Creole.  Hence, the tendency to add the "h" sound in front of the
vowel.  Or, perhaps our students are imitating a slight "h" sound in
Bahamian prononciation of these words that we, as North American
English-speakers, are unable to detect.

I would appreciate input from some of language experts on this list
regarding:

1) What is a plausible phonological explanation for the pronunciation
problem our students are having?

and

2) What kinds of exercises might be recommended to help students improve
their pronunciation of these kinds of words?

Thanks for your help!

Daniel Schweissing

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