The / æ / and / Ç / Contrast as a Case of Fossilized Pronunciation Error for Turkish English Teachers

Abstract

The [æ], called “ash†and  [ Ç ], called “schwa†are very frequent phonemes in English language that confuse the Turkish teachers of English. The main reason for this confusion is that both of them do not exist in modern standard Turkish. Another reason is the reduction of  [æ] into [Ç] in word formation process with the accompaniment of the change of primary stress to another syllable. For example, milk mán, post mán, and gate mán are phrases by nature, but in a process of compounding they take the morphological form of milkmÇŽn, póstmÇŽn, and gátemÇŽn through a phonological decay of the / æ / phoneme into / Ç / phoneme with the reduction of the primary stress of the free word mán into the weak stress form like -mÇŽn, relegating it into the position of a bound morpheme. This article, through a model lesson plan, will explore such sound changes that confuse the Turkish English teachers.