Acoustic Analysis of English Monophthong Vowels Produced by Junior High School Students Using Praat

Abstract

This study used the Praat software to analyze the acoustic characteristics of English monophthong vowels produced by junior high school students as non-native speakers. The study applied a quantitative descriptive method and focused on the first formant (F1) and second formant (F2) frequencies to examine vowel production accuracy. The participants were four junior high school students, and the data were collected through audio recordings of selected English words containing target vowels. The recordings were analyzed and compared with native speaker pronunciation models taken from the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The results showed that the students’ vowel production was different from native speaker patterns. Most vowels produced by the students had higher F1 values, which indicated lower tongue positions, and inconsistent F2 values, which showed inaccurate frontness or backness of the tongue. Only a few vowels, such as /e/ and /ɪ/, were close to native pronunciation. In contrast, vowels such as /iː/, /uː/, /ʌ/, and /æ/ showed clear differences in tongue position and articulation. The findings indicated that the students still had difficulties controlling tongue height and tongue position when producing English vowels. These differences were influenced by first language interference, limited exposure to native pronunciation, and a lack of pronunciation practice.