An Experimental Study Of The Negative Transfer Of Voiceless Plosive Endings By Cantonese EFL Learners

Voiceless plosives are one of the most difficult parts for Cantonese students in English learning. Focused on the errors concerning the monosyllable with voiceless plosive endings, two experimental researches have been carried out between Cantonese students and Mandarin speakers. The experiment procedures are as follows:firstly, with voice analysis software Praat, the author statistically analyzed the errors of English monosyllabic voiceless plosive endings made by Cantonese students; secondly, base on the experimental data and auditory discrimination, the author made a comparison between Cantonese learners and Mandarin students. The author finally chased down the cause of errors, and then discussed the pedagogical implications of the findings in this study.The study shows that there is a significant difference in pronouncing English voiceless plosive endings between the Cantonese students and the Mandarin speakers. For the Cantonese students, the performance of the voiceless plosive endings is always too weak to audible. They tend not to release voiceless plosive endings. This is because the students are affected by the negative transfer of their mother tongue. They use the entering tone of Cantonese to acquire the voiceless plosive endings in English. Aiming at these principal errors, the author gave some advices on teaching and learning of English voiceless plosive endings for Cantonese learners.