The functions of English fricative sounds to speech intelligibility in the education of English majors and the students of Aeronautical English

Abstract

Fricative sounds in English hold phonemic values in the English consonant inventory. By nature, they resemble the sibilant sounds in terms of acoustics. In speech, fricatives transmit most meaning as they are heard in minimal pairs by creating selective hearing. Sounds can be specified by their loudness and frequency or pitch degrees. Therefore, many non-native English majors, aircraft pilots, copilots, air traffic controllers, and other learners of English, such as English majors, may not be able to perceive with healthy hearing. In this study, some specific minimal pairs, homophonous words, inferences, and L1 interferences on affricative sounds of the English language will be proposed to be used in the education of English majors, pilots, and air traffic controllers in Aeronautical English.