A Study On The Influences Of Putonghua Over The Acquisition Of American English Vowels

American English is one of the most important branches of English accents. Nowadays, it has become more and more popular among foreign language learners in China.Putonghua, as the common Chinese language is widely used in China. The influences of native language pronunciation over the acquisition of foreign language pronunciation have been one of the important fields of studies by many linguists. Though scholars have done plenty of studies on the influence of Putonghua over the acquisition of English pronunciation, but few of them have studied the impact of Putonghua over the acquisition of American English pronunciation, particularly, the influences of Putonghua vowels over the acquisition of American English vowels and so on. Therefore, the present research focuses on the investigation and analysis of the influence of Putonghua vowels over the acquisition of American English vowels.Based on the theories of Language Transfer and Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis, this research investigates30Putonghua students who acquire American English through using the methods of field investigation and perception test, aiming to explore the influence of Putonghua vowels over the acquisition of American English vowels and the reasons of the pronunciation errors made by Putonghua students. Moreover, this research not only provides some demonstrations for Language Transfer Theory to a certain extent, but also provides some useful references for teachers and students in the course of teaching and acquiring American English vowels so that they can overcome the negative transfer of Putonghua vowels during the acquisition of American English vowels.The present study is conducted by focusing on three research questions:1) What are the differences or similarities exist between British English vowel system and American English vowel system, Putonghua vowel system and American English vowel system?2) What are the influences of Putonghua vowel pronunciation over the acquisition of American English vowels and the reasons of the influences?3) What teachers and learners should do to avoid the pronunciation errors caused by the influence of negative transfer of Putonghua? The questionnaire results show that there are some problems existed in the Putonghua students’ acquisition of American English pronunciation. The research indicates that the pronunciation of American English vowels/(?)/,/(?)/,/(?)/,/(?)/,/(?)/,/r/,/e/,/O/,/(?)/and/(?)/by Putonghua students are negatively transferred from their habits of Putonghua-speaking, which are mainly reflected in the following aspects:Putonghua students tend to use Putonghua vowel’ai’[ai] to replace American English vowels/(?)/and/ae/; use Putonghua vowel’e’[r] to replace American English vowels/(?)/and/(?)/; use Putonghua vowel ’ei’[ei] to replace American English vowel/e/; use Putonghua vowel ’u’[u] to replace American English vowel/(?)/; use Putonghua vowel’i’[i:] to replace American English vowel/r/; use Putonghua vowel’ou’[ou] to replace American English vowel/o/; use Putonghua vowel’ai’[ai] to replace American English vowel/(?)/and use Putonghua vowel’ao’[au] to replace American English vowel/au/.The research shows that in the process of Putonghua students’acquisition of American English vowels, Putonghua vowels produce the effect of negative transfer. Therefore, teachers and students should pay attention to the differences of the two languages’vowel systems and the pronunciation rules. Meanwhile, teachers should focus on the vowels which are difficult for the students and correct students’pronunciation errors so as to improve the students’ American English pronunciation level.