Error Pattern of English Rising Diphthongs of Chinese EFL Learners: A Syllable-Coda Context Perspective

Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) frequently experience difficulties in articulating English rising diphthongs, thereby hindering their speech efficacy in communication. This research employed an empirical approach to examine the accuracy rate exhibited by Chinese EFL learners while producing five English rising diphthongs (/eɪ/, /aɪ/, /aʊ/, /əʊ/, /ɔɪ/) and the impact of syllable-coda contexts. Pronunciation samples by 111 Chinese EFL learners were assessed by three raters and results were statistically analyzed. Our results indicated that the accuracy of these rising diphthongs produced by Chinese EFL learners was significantly influenced by syllable-coda contexts, but not by the diphthong type itself, and more interestingly that (1) diphthongs in the CVm'n context were the most challenging and (2) a lower accuracy in producing rising diphthongs in CVm/n context was consistent across different dialectal regions in China. These findings suggested that the accuracy of English rising diphthongs produced by Chinese EFL learners varies across different syllable-coda contexts, providing valuable insights for teaching pronunciation.