Abstract: This paper details a study on the perception and production of 7 English front vowels and diphthongs by 40 first-year English major students in read-aloud tasks before and after a 15-week pronunciation correction course. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design with a pretest, a posttest and a delayed posttest to compare the subjects’ rates of errors of vowel production in the read-aloud tasks of the three tests.  The results of the subjects’ reading of the three tests, together with their performance in the perception test, show that (1) the pronunciation correction course contributed to the subjects’ marked decrease of the vowel production inaccuracy, but did not guarantee long-term retention of the effect as the accuracy rate of the subjects’ vowel production after about a month’s winter break generally dropped compared with that at the end of the 15-week course; (2) the least improved as well as the most poorly retained vowels were front vowel /i:/ and diphthong /ai/; (3) low achievers demonstrated less improvement in vowel production accuracy, and average retention rate of the pronunciation correction effect; (4) there was no significant correlation between the subjects’ perception and production of the 7 English vowels and diphthongs. Suggestions are proposed for teaching English vowels in classroom settings in China.

Keywords: pronunciation correction; vowel perception; vowel production; paired vowels

摘要： 本文报告了40名英语专业一年级学生在15周正音教学之前和之后对7个英语前元音和双元音的感知及产出情况。研究采用前测、后测和延迟后测方案的准实验研究方法，对比了受试在3次篇章朗读测试中的元音产出错误率。分析3次测试结果，结合受试在感知测试中的表现，本文发现：（1）15周正音教学后，受试元音产出的错误率整体上降低了，但经过一个寒假后正音效果保持并不理想；（2）正音效果最差和效果最难保持的元音音段是前元音/i:/和双元音/ai/；（3）起始语音水平较低的受试进步幅度小，其正音效果保持处于平均水平；（4）元音音段的感知与产出整体上相关性不强。基于这些发现，本文提出了对课堂环境下英语元音教学的一些建议。

关键词: 正音, 元音感知, 元音产出, 元音对