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Teach English in Beiping Zhen - Linfen Shi

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This essay represents the most common problems for English learners in Ukraine. Given that almost all the problems are based on the native language, they are pretty similar to other East Slavic countries such as Russia and Belarus. The primary problem is the different alphabet. Speakers of East Slavic languages use Cyrillic alphabet, so a lot of initial work is necessary. At the same time, it could be an advantage in the further steps because students wouldn't mix the pronunciation rules with their L1, which is quite common for the non-English users of the Roman alphabet. Still, it doesn't make English pronunciation easier for Ukrainians. There are some sounds in English that do not exist in Slavic languages, such as [θ] and [ð]. Also, the difference between [v] and [w] could be not distinct enough for students, and their [r] may sound too hard. Another phonetic problem that might be unobvious for learners is replacing short vowels with long vowels. This distinction is difficult to notice because there are no long and short vowels in Slavic languages, so students have to be especially attentive with them. Furthermore, learners may have problems not only with sounds of speech but with rhythm and intonations, due to the fact that they are considerably different from the English ones, so Slavic intonations during communication in English may sound unfamiliar and rough for English speakers. At the same time, listening also creates difficulties for Ukranian learners for the same reasons. In brief, both receptive and productive skills would be a challenge to develop because of different letters, sounds and speech patterns. Another source of problems for learners is English grammar. It causes difficulties for Ukrainian students because their L1 has different structure and inner logic. First of all, Slavic languages don't have a fixed order of words as English does, and secondly, they have no articles, so students have to reshape the way they think. Otherwise, they would mix up the articles in their speech even if they know the difference between "a mistake" and "the mistake". Next and probably the most common challenge for learners are the English tenses. There are only three tenses in Slavic languages: past, present and future, so students may have difficulties with understanding the usage of every tense. In addition, misusing the verb "to be" in the present is a hardly noticeable mistake that Ukrainian students often do. It happens because this verb is used differently in Slavic languages, so learners may put it where it isn't necessary. For instance, they can say "I'm don't want to do it". These are the most fundamental problems, but aside from them, there are many other hidden traps for learners. I'll illustrate one more to show the distinction between the logic of these languages. It could be very tricky for learners to answer a negative question like "don't you know?", as in Slavic languages answer addresses the truth condition of the statement rather than the question itself. So, if you do know, in the Ukrainian language you should answer "No, I do know". In English it's the opposite. The last thing that can be a problem is the fact that the English language usually does not exist in the daily life of a typical Ukrainian. It happens because Ukraine is not a popular tourist destination (except for three cities) and because, according to official statistics, only 23% of Ukrainian citizens have ever been abroad. In the author's opinion, it causes two problems. Firstly, students could lack sufficient motivation to learn English, given that they don't have the opportunity to use it outside of their classes. And secondly, they don't have the possibility of exposure to the language. Fortunately, both problems can be solved by Computer-Aided Language Learning. Summary, most of the problems follow the differences between English and L1. To solve them, a student has to study grammar attentively and to surround himself with the English language, absorbing its logic. Their teacher should help them with these tasks as the model of correct English language usage, and a computer can provide students with an abundance of English texts, videos and songs. Also, the Internet helps find interlocutors and penfriends, which is good support for increasing communicative skills.


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