CONTENTS

Page

1. Introduction..................................................................................................... 1
2. Plural formation ................................................................................................ 1
3. Students have troubles producing the sounds /b/ as in boys and /v/
as in voice......................................................................................................... 7

4. References ....................................................................................................... 8

1
OPTION A.

Take two distinct problems of transfer between Spanish and English (Spanish
speakers with English as the target language) which you consider to be
obstacles to efficient communication. The problems can either be segmental or
suprasegmental.

1. Introduction

In this essay I will refer to two segmental problems of transfer between Spanish and
English. The first one concerns plural formation. Most beginners and low students
have problems forming the correct plural of words.
The second is the pronunciation of the sounds /v/ - /b/. Students often substitute /v/
for /b/, and it causes misunderstanding and communications break down.

Communication is one of the main objectives in the place where I work, in my opinion
students since beginners should be aware of these pronunciation aspects to help them
minimize the risk of bad pronunciation and loss of enthusiasm when not understood
properly.

The students addressed in this study are children between 11 and 12 years of age,
with an A1 level. They have been exposed to 10 hours of English teaching per week.
Their native language is Spanish, they learn better when involved in hands on activities
and online activities.

2. Plural formation

Spanish plural formation is quite regular. In general we can say that Spanish forms
its plural just adding an “s” or “es” or if the word ends in “s” no other “s” is needed, in
short words an “s” is common to all kind of plural in Spanish. While in English there are
different ways of forming it.
In this problem I will focus on the regular and irregular plural, because they offer an
obstacle to Spanish people learning English. As an example, the word goose, which
plural is geese, but for a Spanish person in the initial phases would be gooses.
Wrong plural formation may cause some communication misunderstandings when the
students are speaking to other students or to me. Wrong plural formation may change
the meaning of what is meant.

The most likely causes of this wrong plural formation are:

2
 • Students transfer Spanish plural formation regularity to English, as a result the
word doesn’t receive the correct plural.
• Students do not know the different nouns that take irregular plural in English, so
the plural formation is over generalized.
• Students have not received proper and enough instruction on this topic and
correction has not taken place.

To work on this problem, I will make students aware of the English regular and
irregular plural formation and explain the importance of its knowledge; I will not teach
separate lessons on plurals but integrate it into my everyday lessons.
The exercises will be oriented by the: “Exposure, Exercise and Explanation”
paradigm according to Dalton and Seidlhofer (1994)

To begin I will Explain that plural in English has different rules for its formation, thus it
has irregular plural formations that are completely different from the Spanish plural
formation.
The Rules of Regular and Irregular Plurals
For nouns ending in s, x, z, ch
For most nouns, just add -s or sh, add -es
Singular Plural Singular Plural

hand hands box boxes

rabbit rabbits pitch pitches

key keys wish wishes

clock clocks boss bosses

football footballs buzz buzzes

door doors glass glasses

However, for some words ending

For some words ending in o, add -es in o, just add -s
Singular Plural Singular Plural

potato potatoes cello cellos

tomato tomatoes disco discos

hero heroes hairdo hairdos

echo echoes logo logos

banjo banjoes patio patios

photo photos
The plural of many words ending in o can
piano pianos
be spelt with -s or -es.
radio radios

For some words ending in f, change the f to a However, for some words ending
v and add -es in f, just add -s

3
 Singular Plural Singular Plural

half halves chef chefs

loaf loaves cliff cliffs

elf elves ref refs

leaf leaves roof roofs

self selves

shelf shelves The plural of some nouns ending in f can

thief thieves be spelt using either variation.

wolf wolves

For common nouns that end with

For some nouns ending in ife, change the f to consonant + y, change the y to
a v and then add -s an i and then add -es
Singular Plural Singular Plural

wife wives poppy poppies

life lives fly flies

knife knives penny pennies

spy spies

nappy nappies

sty sties

For some nouns, change other

Some nouns are the same in both singular letters or just change the word
and plural from completely!
Singular Plural Singular Plural

fish fish person people

sheep sheep child children

deer deer ox oxen

tuna tuna foot feet

salmon salmon tooth teeth

trout trout goose geese

mouse mice

louse lice

man men

Taken from:
http://www.firstschoolyears.com/literacy/word/other/plurals/resources/rules.htm

To make this clearer I will Expose the students to the above list of regular and
irregular nouns, and will ask them to observe their plural formation and make emphasis
in their pronunciation.

4
Then, to Exercise, I will play the game bingo, where the students write nine nouns on
nine squares but in singular. The teacher calls out the same nouns but in plural.
This activity will be done in order to make students aware of the difference in
pronunciation and formation from singular to plural.
Words: foot, tooth, fish, deer, vita, cactus, child, man, woman, goose, mouse, louse,
leaf, ox, roof, chef, penny, boy.

Also, the dictionary will be used to show them how they can find the plural formation in
some dictionaries.
Example:
Goose. N. Pl. Geese.

a. Any of various wild or domesticated water birds of the family Anatidae, and especially of the
genera Anser and Branta, characteristically having a shorter neck than that of a swan and a
shorter, more pointed bill than that of a duck.
b. The female of such a bird.
c. The flesh of such a bird used as food.

Students will develop exercises where the objective is to complete the sentences with
the correct plural of the word. They will visit this site, where a game on plural formation
is offered:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/spelling/plurals/pluralrules/index.shtml

3. Students have troubles producing the sounds /b/ as in boys and /v/ as in
voice.

These two sounds are pronounced without any difference by Spanish speakers
born in Latin and Central America, such as: Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Bolivia,

5
Argentina, etc. Both sounds are referred as bilabial, because sounds, ( /b/ and /v/), are
articulated with both lips.
In English these two sounds have two different pronunciations, due to their different
articulation. /B/ is articulated as bilabial, both lips are used, as in: boy, bear, beach,
etc. /V/ is articulated with the lower lip and upper teeth, as the sounds (f) and (v), some
words are: video, vocal, vaccination etc. The pronunciation of these two sounds is
problematic for my students. Because they are perceived as the same sound and there
is no difference in meaning in their native language.

To help the students overcome this situation I will make students aware of the
communication problems they might face if the words using these sounds are not
properly pronounced. I will tell them some personal anecdotes that will show them the
importance of the correct sound articulation to communicate a correct message.
I will show the students the correct articulation through exercises, and explain that the
sound /b/ is pronounced by putting both lips together, as in birthday, bear, bird, beer;
and the sound /v/ is pronounced by putting the lower lip against the upper teeth, as in:
vest, veterinarian, voice, etc.
I will use the following activities to expose the students to the differences between
these two sounds:

Activity 1: word and sentence pair activities, where the students listen and pronounce
words using both sounds.
/b/: berry, best, marble, boys, what a marble
/v/: very, vest, marvel, voice, what a marvel.
Activity 2: words dictation. The students are dictated a group of words and asked to
sort them out according to the sounds. Words: baby, voice, bat, vest, best, blackberry,
victim, boys, belt, Valentine, love, give, oven, bear, beach, baseball, etc
Activity 3: tongue twister. The students will make up a tongue twister mixing the two
sounds and asked to participate saying it out loud.

REFERENCES

• Mastin, Kaye. (). Irregular plural list. Available: http://www.english-

zone.com/spelling/plurals.html. Last accessed 21st Feb 2011.

6
• First School Years. (30th September 2006). The Rules of Regular and Irregular
Plurals. Available:
http://www.firstschoolyears.com/literacy/word/other/plurals/resources/rul
es.htm.

• Dale, Paulette and Poms, Lillian (October 1999). English Pronunciation

Program Guide. USA: Berlitz Publishing Company, Inc.. p54.

• Ball, Phillip (2009). Teaching pronunciation. Bogota: FUNIBER. p61 - 63