Филологические науки/7. Язык, речь, речевая коммуникация

К.филос.наук Злобина И.С.

Вятский государственный гуманитарный университет, Россия

Using Reduced Forms in Spoken American English

The most part of English learners and even most native speakers believe that speaking "good English" or "proper English" is the same as using formal English. Many of them consider that the use of weak forms, reduction, contraction, assimilation, etc. is a sign of lazy, sloppy, careless, or even slovenly English. Many linguists say these beliefs are wrong. For instance, the well-known phonetician Peter Ladefoged says: “There is, of course, nothing slovenly or lazy about using weak forms and assimilations. Only people with artificial notions about what constitutes so-called good speech could use adjectives such as these to label the kind of speech I have been describing. Weak forms and assimilations are common in the speech of every sort of speaker of both Britain and America. Foreigners who make insufficient use of them sound stilted.” [8, p. 93].

This mistaken belief about connected speech may occur because people also think that the use of colloquial speech is a sign of substandard, low-class, or low-status English. Richards has countered that claim by stating: “Colloquial speech is not necessarily non-prestige speech and should not be considered substandard. Educated native speakers of a language normally use colloquial speech in informal situations with friends, fellow workers, and members of the family. It is often difficult for language learners to realize that in certain situations colloquial speech is more appropriate than extremely formal speech.” [9, p. 63].

Connected speech is used in all levels of speech, including its most formal sorts. In all of those levels, connected speech may play an important "accentuation" role [3, p. 249], the understanding of which can help non-native speakers understand oral English and produce comprehensible spoken English. Research studies indicate that non-native speakers have a problem understanding or producing the features of connected speech [2,5,6,7]. Research also indicates that the elements of connected speech can be taught to non-native speakers of English. In many cases, the simple awareness of their existence can help enormously in enabling students to understand better the language they hear. Perhaps most important of all, learners enjoy learning about reduced forms because it is mostly new information that they find interesting.

American researcher Nina Wienstien (the University of California, Los Angeles) states that the statistically significant cause for reduced forms is not a sort of uneducated kind of speech or informality but speed of speech [10]. Though in informal speech we tend to speak more quickly, and people think it's the informality, but actually it's the speed of speech. She has found out that there are fifty to seventy common reduced forms that everyone should know from a listening point of view. The three most common reduced forms are:

· wanna (the spoken form of “want to”, “want a”)

I want to go for a spin (I wanna go for a spin).

Do you want a piece of cake? (Wanna piece of cake?)

· gonna (“going to” plus a verb). It is used to show the future, but never reduced when it means going from one place to another.

We’re going to grab a bite to eat (We’re gonna grab a bite to eat).

I’m going to the office tonight (I’m going to the office tonight).

· hafta ('have to')

Sorry, I have to leave now (Sorry, I hafta leave now).

They have to go to work soon (They hafta go to work soon).

One of these forms is used in spoken English about every two minutes. Let’s have a look how reduced forms are used in two dialogues:

I. Brian: Whenerya goin’ta Peking? (When are you going to Peking?)

Jim: I’m gonna go on Sunday. (I am going to go on Sunday).

Brian: Boy! I wish I were getting’ouda here fer a while. Ya gotcher plane ticket? (Boy! I wish I were getting out of here for a while. You got your plane ticket?)

Jim: No. I’ve gotta gedit tomorrow. (No. I have got to get it tomorrow).

Brian: Whaddya hafta do in Peking? (What do you have to do in Peking?)

Jim: I’ve gotta giv’em some lectures, but I also wanna do some sightseeing. (I have got to give them some lectures, but I also want to do some sightseeing).

Brian: Where’ll ya go? (Where will you go?)

Jim: I wanna gedouda Peking’n see the Great Wall. (I want to get out of Peking and see the Great Wall).

Brian: Okay, hav’ a good time. (Okay, have a good time).

Jim: Okay, g’bye. (Okay, goodbye).

II. —Who the' dell are ya? An' why ye brung me 'ere? (Who the devil are you? And why did you bring me here?)

— I want to ask you some questions and I want truthful answers. Now, tell me what happened just before the ship sank.

— Weel, I tell ye, it wam't much different from any other crossing, 'cepting it was a rough sea. (Well, I'll tell you. It was not much different from any other crossing, except it was a rough sea.)

— Was there a fire on board?

— Jes' a wee one in one o' the topsails. Warn't none on deck 'til she blew. Then they 'us fire everywhere. (Just a weak one in one of the topsails. Was not any on deck until she blew. Then there was fire everywhere.)

— What was in the hold?

— Gunpowder, a 'course. Helped load 'er meself. 'Ope 'e rots in 'ell who lit it. (Gunpowder, of course. I helped to load her myself. I hope he'll rot in hell who lit it.)

Informality actually is a very large part of American English. The majority of English is informal, though they do have situations that call for formality. English learners should not worry about their own use of the reduced forms because non-native speakers generally don't reach the speed of speech to have reductions. So their speech is not reduced naturally. Students shouldn’t unnaturally adapt these forms because they're a natural flow of spoken English. But if they want to sound more natural, regardless of whether it's an interview situation or just in everyday speech, they could adopt the three most common reduced forms in their speech because these are almost like vocabulary items. For example during the job interview non-native speaker should not use these fifty to seventy common reduced forms in his own speech. But he needs to understand the interviewer, who can use them.

English learners may also begin using gonna and wanna and similar connected speech forms in their writing if the genre is right. But they need to be cautioned about when and where to use the various forms of connected speech. For example, they need to learn that it is not appropriate to use connected speech forms in formal writing. However, written connected speech does often appear in dialogues, short stories, novels, and other forms of fiction. Sometimes learners who know only one or two forms like gonna or wanna may sound odd using them, especially, if they do not fully understand them [1, p. 89; 4, pp. 322-323]: I'm gonna San Francisco for I am going to San Francisco (gonna is only used before infinitive verb forms). The solution is not to abandon all efforts to teach connected speech, but rather, learners must be given a more complete picture of how connected speech works. When they understand connected speech and how to use it, they can steadily grow more comfortable using it.

References

1. Avery, P., & Ehrlich, S. Teaching American English pronunciation [Text] / P. Avery, S. Ehrlich. – Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. – 270 p.

2. Bley-Vroman, R., & Kweon, S. O. Acquisition of the constraints on wanna contraction by advanced second language learners: Universal Grammar and imperfect knowledge [Text] / R. Bley-Vroman, S.O. Kweon. – University of Hawai'i Department of SLS Brownbag Series, 2002.

3. Gimson, A. C. Gimson's pronunciation of English [Text] / A.C. Gimson. – London: Arnold, 2001. – 355 p.

4. Hill, C., & Beebe, L. Contraction and blending: The use of orthographic clues in teaching pronunciation [Text] / C. Hill, L. Beebe // TESOL Quarterly. – 1980. - № 14 (3). – pp. 299-323.

5. Ito, Y. (2001, Fall). Effect of reduced forms on ESL learners' input-intake process [Text] / Y. Ito // Second Language Studies. – Fall, 2001. - № 20 (1). – pp. 99-124.

6. Kim, H. Y. Intake from the speech stream: Speech elements that L2 learners attend to [Text] / H.Y. Kim // Attention and awareness in foreign language learning. – Honolulu, HI: Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center, University of Hawai'i Press, 1995. – pp. 65-83.

7. Kweon, S. O. The acquisition of English contraction constraints by advanced Korean learners of English: Experimental studies on wanna contraction and auxiliary contraction [Text] / S.O. Kweon. – Honolulu, HI, 2000.

8. Ladefoged, P. A course in phonetics [Text] / P. Ladegoged. – New York: Heine and Heinle, 2000. – 4th ed. – 280 p.

9. Richards, J. C., Platt, J., Platt, H. Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics: New edition [Text] / J.C. Richards, J. Platt, H. Platt. – London: Longman, 1993.

10. http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish