Peculiarities of teaching English pronunciation and enunciation in vocal performances

The article reviews methodological recommendations regarding peculiarities of speech apparatus functioning, particularly focusing on diction and articulation, with the purpose of training correct pronunciation while singing in English. There is special emphasis on the importance of using correct articulation and clear diction in vocal performances and the main differences of vocal enunciation compared to orthoepy in regular speech. The author focuses on the peculiarities of English pronunciation in Ukrainian singers’ vocal performances. The article highlights effective methods of working on sound formation and the peculiarities of their pronunciation while singing. In particular, it focuses on the difficulties that arise in singing and are predominantly connected to the pronunciation of consonants and some vowels while singing in English. The author emphasizes particular methods and ideas on how to improve vocal performances.  The article describes peculiarities of using words which contain difficult for vocal enunciation unvoiced consonants and techniques of replacing them with corresponding voiced consonants, as well as connecting consonants at the end of the word to the beginning of the next one. It also covers the importance of the differences between English and Ukrainian pronunciation. The author offers methods of overcoming pronunciation difficulties in English, particularly those sounds that are either absent in Ukrainian or significantly different from Ukrainian pronunciation. The author points out that sound formation in these two languages differs greatly and highlights the importance of using training techniques that may help to effectively improve the pronunciation of particular English sounds and sound combinations while singing. The article also describes various methods and demonstrates their usage on training phrases created by the author. The author concludes that improving vocal enunciation depends on the right approach, using appropriate English diction and articulation training methods, which require further development of training exercises. Therefore, the author believes the topic remains insufficiently studied and needs further research.