Study of phonological fossilization in the process of the english language acquisition

Abstract

Nowadays the process of globalization requires excellent knowledge of English in all spheres of our life. According to recent studies, in Ukraine English language proficiency ranks quite low, specifically 28th out of 32 in Europe. The differences between the phonological systems of Ukrainian and English can pose significant challenges for Ukrainian students when learning to speak English. We can see that they differ significantly in the field of vocalism and consonantism. In this article, we provided an overview of the differences in consonant and vowel systems between English and Ukrainian. This article highlights the importance of addressing Ukrainian students' pronunciation difficulties in learning English. Research has indicated that teaching English to Ukrainian students can be challenging due to a lack of awareness regarding the pronunciation of some sounds, rhythm, intonation, and fluency in a natural language environment. This deficiency can result in a high frequency of errors and misunderstandings, which, in turn, can lead to a psychological barrier that hinders the learning process. It suggests that teachers can provide targeted training on English phonemes and address common errors made by Ukrainian students to overcome them. Ukrainian students most often make mistakes by involuntarily drawing a parallel to their mother tongue. We underline the importance of paying special attention to the main differences in the phonological systems of the Ukrainian and English languages. Phonological fossilization is related to the difficulty in distinguishing all the sounds of the English language by ear, maintaining the length and shortness of vowels, following the Ukrainian intonation, incorrect division of speech into meaningful groups, the absence of diphthongs, triphthongs, and reduction in the Ukrainian language and so on. The authors emphasize that teachers should use a balanced approach to error correction that caters to the unique needs of each learner in order to optimize the English language teaching process. It was concluded that through appropriate preventive measures, Ukrainian students can overcome phonological fossilization and achieve a native-like level of proficiency in a target language.