Teaching English pronunciation to multi-dialect first language learners: The revival of the Lingua Franca Core (LFC (original) (raw)
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Pronunciation for the Arab Learners of EFL: Planning for Better Outcomes
English Language Teaching, 2015
Arabic and English belong to two different linguistic families: resultantly, some Arabic speaking learners of English in both SL and FL situations have a major obstacle to overcome to be intelligible to other users, especially in the international context. Of the various skills one needs to acquire to become 'proficient' in a language Pronunciation is perhaps the one most relevant to real time usage. However, this is ironically also an area of training that is relegated to the 'not so important' category in the EFL classroom in Saudi Arabia as a result of which learner aspirations are not fulfilled in learning English. The current study empirically evaluates the present pronunciation proficiency of Saudi learners at Qassim University, KSA and checks the outcomes of a pronunciation intervention programme. Its aim is to document the specific linguistic elements of difference using empirical means. It further aims to suggest methods to bring the Arab learners' pronunciation closer to an optimum level of universal communication as well as arrive at generalizations to enable policy changes commensurate with learner aspirations.
Teaching Pronunciation for Arab learners of English: Using Gilberts' Prosody Pyramid
Developing proficiency in the target language requires sharpening one's repertoire in several competencies, including, linguistic, discourse, sociolinguistics as well as strategic competence which enable language learners to compensate any breakdown that usually occurs as a result of learners' limited knowledge whether in the system or pragmatic of the target language. However, all the above elements together play a major role in developing learners' overall communicative competence, they all be useless if the learners have not developed intelligible pronunciation in the target language. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate some of the pronunciation problems that Arab learners of English encountered regardless whether they belonged to the Arabic language interference or as a result of poor development in the intra-language systems. Henceforth, the paper depends on secondary data gathered from previous studies to reach a clear understanding about such problems and suggest some pedagogical techniques for teaching pronunciations to Arab learners of English, specifically with more focus to teaching the suprasegmental elements of phonology. The researcher recommends for English language teachers at secondary or tertiary levels to apply the Gilbert's Prosody Pyramid for teaching pronunciations to Arab students. Finally, the researcher explains how such model can be implemented in the classroom.
International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 2016
Pronunciation instruction had often been neglected in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes because it was generally associated with the mechanical drills reminiscent of the Audiolingual method and because it was considered to be incompatible with Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Recent research has, however, shown that explicit pronunciation instruction is quite compatible with CLT and that it results in improving the learner's comprehensibility and intelligibility. This study reports results of classroom-based experimental research on the effects of explicit pronunciation instruction on the learning of the segments and suprasegmental features of English by Tunisian EFL learners. It followed a pretest /posttest design. Two experimental groups (Groups 1 &2) received a special treatment in pronunciation using an eclectic approach. Group 1 was taught pronunciation with a focus on English segments, while with Group 2 the focus was rather on suprasegmental features. The performance of the two groups was compared to a control group (Group 3) that was taught the same content but following the traditional Audiolingual method. Native speakers of American English rated the comprehensibility of the participants and transcribed some of their utterances before and after the treatment. Results show that both the comprehensibility and the intelligibility of Tunisian EFL learners' speech improved significantly. Group 2 which had more practice in suprasegmentals obtained, however, better results than Group 1 which had more practice on segments. Implications for pronunciation teaching and syllabus design are hence put forward.
Factors That Affect Arab EFL Learners' English Pronunciation
2017
Majority of Arab EFL students reach the university with generally poor English and bad pronunciation in particular. Students in Arab countries have little opportunities to speak English where Arabic is their native language. Since correct pronunciation is very important to avoid misunderstanding when communicating with others and to build self-confidence when trying to speak in front of other people, the current paper investigates the reasons for Arab EFL students to face problems in English pronunciation. The participants were 10 Preparatory Intensive English (PIE) students of University Malaysia Pahang (UMP). Using an in-depth qualitative methodology which is individual interviews, all interviews were audio-recorded with the participants’ consent. The participants were undergraduate Arab EFL students who completed their high school and they do not have exposure to English language. All recorded interviews were analyzed manually. From the data analyzed some emergent themes were fou...
Review of the Importance of Teaching Pronunciation in the Arab Society
In spite of the long history of teaching English in the Arab world, little interest has been shown to English teachers. They usually consider teaching pronunciation in the EFL Arab classroom is less important than the other language skills such as reading and writing skills. This research is guided for three objectives. First: to describe the impact of pronunciation on the communication process in the classroom. Second: to illustrate the role of teaching segmental and suprasegmental features in the EFL classroom. Third: to provide some of classroom strategies through propounding some of pedagogical implications. The researchers depend on the secondary data sources. The researchers also suggested some pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research. Through second data analysis, the researchers tried to figure out the reasons that led to inefficiency in pronunciation among the Arab learners, to trace the effects of wrong pronunciation on the communication process. As long as showing the pedagogy that can be effective in teaching pronunciation.
Pronunciation instruction had often been neglected in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes because it was generally associated with the mechanical drills reminiscent of the Audiolingual method and because it was considered to be incompatible with Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Recent research has, however, shown that explicit pronunciation instruction is quite compatible with CLT and that it results in improving the learner's comprehensibility and intelligibility. This study reports results of classroom-based experimental research on the effects of explicit pronunciation instruction on the learning of the segments and suprasegmental features of English by Tunisian EFL learners. It followed a pretest /posttest design. Two experimental groups (Groups 1 &2) received a special treatment in pronunciation using an eclectic approach. Group 1 was taught pronunciation with a focus on English segments, while with Group 2 the focus was rather on suprasegmental features. The performance of the two groups was compared to a control group (Group 3) that was taught the same content but following the traditional Audiolingual method. Native speakers of American English rated the comprehensibility of the participants and transcribed some of their utterances before and after the treatment. Results show that both the comprehensibility and the intelligibility of Tunisian EFL learners' speech improved significantly. Group 2 which had more practice in suprasegmentals obtained, however, better results than Group 1 which had more practice on segments. Implications for pronunciation teaching and syllabus design are hence put forward.
2021
Intelligible pronunciation is an essential component of communicative competence as learners who have adequate pronunciation can easily improve their speaking skills better than those who have weak pronunciation. Pronunciation is, therefore, vital to achieving successful communication. A large number of learners believe that the main difficulty they encounter when speaking a second/foreign language is pronunciation and consider this difficulty as the main source for their communication problems. Despite the fact that pronunciation is key to communicative competence, it is neglected in many Arabic teaching programmes. In view of this, the motivation for this presentation is the increasing unpopularity of the pronunciation aspect of teaching Arabic as a foreign language. This has caused a fewer efforts to be taken in improving learners' pronunciation skill despite this being quite a concern among professionals in educational environments that demand intelligible spoken Arabic. Accordingly, this presentation aims to provide both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the issue. It will present the latest data exposing learners’ perception of pronunciation instructions as well as teachers’ view on the un/necessity of teaching pronunciation and the lack of teaching materials that help them in teaching phonetic and phonological aspects of Arabic. This will be followed by discussion on the impact of pronunciation on other language skills, namely writing, reading, listening and speaking. A further focus will be on the phonetic and phonological difficulties encountered by learners such as the production and perception of Arabic sounds, scrutinising various factors and variations contributing to such difficulties and thus proposing the most appropriate methods and approaches that are recommended for Arabic teachers to tackle such challenges. This is concluded by examining how technology can help with teaching pronunciation inside and outside of the classroom and the latest technology tools utilised in language classrooms to meet pronunciation teaching and learning goals.
Difficulties Encountered by Arab Students in Pronouncing English Correctly
Australian International Academic Centre PTY. LTD. (AIAC PTY.LTD.) , 2018
Since spoken language is the most important channel of communication, it is supposed to be the first skill to master when learning a language. However, in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, learners encounter various problems limiting their abilities. One of the remarkable phenomena in English as a foreign language (EFL) learning is the inability of most students to utter English correctly and fluently. The present study investigates the difficulties that hamper high school students from pronouncing English vocabulary and simple sentences correctly and fluently. This research was carried out in an attempt to assess the English course outcomes that were reflected in learners disabilities of correct and fluent English pronunciation. The data were collected through surveying second-year high school students’ responses to two instruments. A questionnaire was addressed to a sample of 100 Saudi male students from 4 secondary schools, and semi-structured interviews with 5 students from the population were conducted to provide deeper diagnosis regarding problems of English pronunciation. In order to provide further details about the subject studied, analyses of the syllabi are presented. The study recommends remedial pronunciation activities, practice of confusing words, and phonics practices throughout the course.
THE EFFECT OF IRAQI EFL LEARNERS' PROFICIENCY LEVEL ON THEIR PRONUNCIATION OF NON-ARABIC CONSONANTS
Volume 8(2) September, 2021
The effect of EFL learners' proficiency level on their pronunciation has been a debatable issue as some scholars reported a positive effect of proficiency level on pronunciation learning process, while others did not report any positive effect. Previous researches have investigated the impact of experience on the pronunciation of EFL learners, who belong to various linguistic and dialectal backgrounds; yet, Iraqi EFL learners have not been examined in terms of their pronunciation of consonants that are not found in their L1 sound system. Hence, the current study investigated the effect of Iraqi EFL learners' proficiency level on the pronunciation of the non-Arabic consonants (/ŋ/, /ӡ/, /p/, /g/, /v/, and /tʃ/). The study aimed to identify the sounds that are difficult to pronounce, the error patterns shown by learners, and the effect of learners' proficiency level on their performance. To this end, thirty Iraqi learners were divided into three groups (advanced, intermediates, and beginners) based on their results in a general English proficiency test. A production test was administered to ask learners to produce words containing the six non-Arabic sounds. Their pronunciation was directly recorded via mobile phones. The results showed that /ŋ/, /ӡ/, and /p/ sounds were problematic for Iraqi learners, while /g/, /v/, and /tʃ/ sounds were not. These results can be accounted for based on learners' dialect transfer, which makes the pronunciation of non-Arabic consonants easier than expected. The results also showed that proficiency level did not have statistically significant effect on Iraqi learners' pronunciation of non-Arabic consonants.
Saudi EFL Learners Views on English Pronunciation
Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies, 2014
The current study attempts to find out the main causes of errors Saudi EFL learners make in English pronunciation. The participants in the study are students who passed their secondary school and were enrolled in the Preparatory Year Program at Najran University. The results show that lack of proper attention towards teaching English pronunciation, and lack of motivation among the learners towards learning pronunciation lead the EFL learners into faulty pronunciation. The results also demonstrate the students' unawareness and ignorance regarding the sound system of English that is equally important component in the situation of EFL pedagogy. This study works as an eye opener and suggests EFL teachers and material designers to focus on teaching the sound system of English to the students. Teaching the sound system of English to the students will reduce problems of English pronunciation among Saudi EFL learners. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Wahba (1998) investigated the problems faced by Egyptian learners of English as a second language. His study was basically on stress and intonation. Barros (2003, as cited in Al-saidat 2010) studies the difficulties encountered by Arabic speakers when pronouncing English consonants. The researcher found eight English consonants, namely,