A new ESL teaching program = new North American dialect?

[Tom Zurinskas]

There is a new free internet program from Canada that teaaches N American English pronunciation. It has only 10 vowels representing English, including no diphthongs and the ah/awe merger. Is this the way to teach N American English?

"I have deliberately kept the vowels to ten. Diphthongs aren't a major problem in my research, and certainly don't contrast with the ten I have. I don't have the two /a/ contrast because I follow the principle of less is better. It's a common debate, I know, but researchers such as Jennifer Jenkins have me convinced that we should only teach what is essential - not having that contrast will not cause intelligibility issues for learners, while having it will cause an unnecessary burden for learners. I should also point out that it's not just in Canadian English that the contrast doesn't exist. It's quickly disappearing from many North American varieties of English. "

Not a good idea.  It does create intelligiblity issues.  Einstein said "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."


Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now Fl 9.
See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org