Perception and production of five English front vowels by college students

Abstract

This study was to explore whether college students could perceive and produce five English front vowels well or not. It also examined the relationship between English speaking and listening. To be more specific, the study attempted to probe which vowels that learners could be confused easily in speaking and listening. The results revealed that participants perceived the best in /i/-/I/ pair and /e/-/æ/ pair but the worst in /e/-/e{open}/ pair, /e{open}/-/æ/ pair and among /e/-/e{open}/-/æ/ pair. They produced the best in the vowels of /I/ and /e{open}/ but the worst in the vowels of /i/, /e/ and /æ/. Moreover, there was a strong and positive correlation between production and perception of English vowels by college students.