RESEARCH PROJECT OF CONTRASTIVE LINGUISTIC

“CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE PHONETIC ALPHABET BETWEEN THE

SPANISH AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES”

Statement of the problem

This research project will analyze the sounds and pronunciation of two of the most
prominent languages in the world: English and Spanish. English and Spanish,
together with Chinese, are currently the most spoken languages worldwide
although the former ones are perhaps the most influential languages in the world.
These two languages are considerably different regarding diverse aspects but for
Spaniards, at least, the most complex aspect of learning English is its
pronunciation. Being a native Spanish speaker myself and a student of English, my
aim here is to explore the main differences of English and Spanish pronunciation
through a contrastive analysis of the phonetic alphabets of these two languages
with the purpose of identifying the main problems that Spaniards have in order to
produce English sounds and to identify those characteristics of the Spanish accent
that English native speakers can easily recognize when speaking English.

Statement question

What are the differences and similarities that exist in the phonetic alphabet in
Spanish and English?

General Objective

Carry out a contrastive analysis of the phonetic alphabet of the Spanish and
English languages.

Specific objectives

 Describe the phonetic alphabet of the Spanish and English languages.

 Identify the differences that exist between both phonetic alphabets.
 Identify the similarities that exist between both phonetic alphabets.