Mother Tongue Influence on Spoken English

Pronunciation is not so much of a Problem in a language classroom, until it hinders meaning making. For instance, when dealing with minimal pairs, it becomes essential to pay attention to the pronunciation. This paper, explores how the sounds of second language get influenced by the sounds of the mother tongue and provides classroom activity suggestions to reduce the effect of mother tongue on second language pronunciation. In the Indian context, Hindi is the mother tongue of a majority of the population and the number of speakers of English as a second language is also on the rise. A good number of people use the two languages and the impact of Hindi on English pronunciation is evident. This paper talks about the differences in the sounds systems of two languages (English and Hindi in this case) and how these differences cause problem in acquisition of second language sound system. The study attempts to identify the sounds of English which are the most affected by the sound of Hindi, and, to suggest teaching methods to reduce this effect. From the identified problem areas, selected problem were worked on by providing intervention. Local games were modified and activities were created to help learners speak better. This paper also presents a few of the activities created to the purpose.