Positive Transfer of Chinese Pinyin on English Phonetic Learning

Abstract

In the process of learning English for the first time, Chinese students will transfer some pronunciation habits in Chinese Pinyin to English pronunciation. This is an inevitable phenomenon and a process that English beginners cannot avoid. Although Chinese and English belong to different language families, the common physiological structure of the human vocal organs suggests that many pronunciations are also similar. Interviews and questionnaires showed that a considerable number of students in primary schools used Chinese Pinyin to read English words and their interest and confidence in learning English is largely decided by their correctness of English pronunciation. By comparing English and Chinese in terms of vowels and initials, consonants and finals, and syllables between English and Chinese, this paper analyzes the positive impact of Chinese Pinyin on English phonetic learning from the perspective of positive transfer, and establishes English beginners' confidence in learning English phonetics.