are phonemic or contrastive: but would the Japenese English learners care?Normally, only phonetically similar sounds are contrasted; vowels and consonants are not usually contrasted since they often do not occur in the same position in a word. Likewise, sounds that are already phonetically quite distinct are not considered as variants of one sound; they are assumed to be two separate sounds (e.g., [m] and [r]).Every language system has rules about which sounds can begin and end a syllable or a word and which sounds can occur next to each other. A native speaker knows these patterns as a part of their linguistic knowledge. However, Japanese English learners will try to understand within their knowledge of Japanese. Implicational universals predict that a certain pattern or sound will occur if another similar pattern or sound is present in a given language. Such implicational universals include generalizations about sound inventories, the distribution of sounds, the acquisition of sounds by infants, and the process of language change. And for Japanese English speakers, it is extremely difficult to master English pronounciation and distinguish words in the sentence. Both precieving and producing. English uses an "uncommon" sound such as a nasalized vowel or an interdental obstruent, there will also be a more common sound similar to it (e.g., a non-nasalized vowel, an alveolar obstruent). And sounds that are less common in Japenese will occur in a more restricted set of positions in a syllable or word. Off course uncommon sounds are mastered later than the more common sounds. That is why Japanese people keeps on relying on purely Japanesed-pronounced sounds and do not try to produce the real sound. furthermore, less common sounds tend to be less stable than common sounds and are more susceptible to change. Substantive universals posit that every human language will have certain features or sounds. For example, all languages distinguish vow...
