Neuroscience and its criteria for strategies in phonetic discrimination and speech

Abstract

Phonetic discrimination in the English language is very complex, with intersections between neuroscience, psycholinguistics, and pedagogy. This study is a documentary-bibliographic study that considers the research of various authors to better understand how the brain receives and processes, holds, and produces sounds in language; it focuses on the importance of the neocortex, el neural networks, and phonological memory for the acquisition of sound. This study considers specific challenges related to how English sounds are pronounced, including certain consonant clusters, fricatives and interdentals that do not occur in Spanish; therefore, an auditory-based approach to the teaching of English needs to be undertaken so students can perceive the sound contrasts used to pronounce English accurately on the basis of both comparative analysis and an anatomical understanding of the articulatory system. The study further investigates the practicality of traditional methods of repetition for achieving accurate pronunciation, and indicates this method is ineffective for that purpose. In light of this, the study offers a proposal for the integration of neuroscientific criteria, along with constructivist principles, to create more effective methods for teaching phonetics. Furthermore, the study highlights the need for the creation of institutional phonological records and the development of a neuro-centric approach to educational pedagogy as part of the process of improving phonetic discrimination for learners of English through the articulation of cognition, symbolization, and educational experience.