Factors That Affect Arab EFL Learners' English Pronunciation (original) (raw)
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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,
Pronunciation and Conversation Challenges among Saudi EFL Students
JEES (Journal of English Educators Society)
This study aims to identify the difficulties of pronunciation and conversation faced by EFL learners who undertook a Preparatory Year Program (PYP) in Saudi Arabia, It highlights the main issues in pronunciation and conversations (e.g., textbooks, teaching methods, and students' attitude and motivation) and techniques to address these problems. The instruments used in the study were classroom observations and teachers' discussions. The results revealed that firstly, students did not have a sound knowledge of grammar. Secondly, students' outside environment was influenced by their mother tongue. Thirdly, the teaching methods did not suit their proficiency levels. Finally, they were demotivated and thought that they have an impossible mission to improve their English pronunciation and conversation.
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.
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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.
The Pronunciation Problems Faced by Saudi EFL Learners at Secondary Schools
Education and Linguistics Research, 2015
This study investigates the difficulties of English pronunciation encountered by Saudi secondary school learners when pronouncing English consonants. It also aims to shed light on the area of English consonant clusters system. The instruments used for collecting data and information included were questionnaires, classroom observations and document collections. The results show that the participants had difficulties to pronounce eleven consonant sounds. The results also demonstrate that a great number of the participants, unintentionally insert a vowel sound in English syllable to break up consonant clusters. This study provides some useful pedagogical implications to prevent and cure English pronunciation problems.
Pronunciation is an area of L2 learning that has long been relegated to the status of secondary skill. However, it is a mistaken belief or wrong notion that correct pronunciation plays little role in communication. It is observed that in many cases, mispronunciation leads to unintelligibility of speech and/or misinterpretation of the message/information: a barrier to communication. This premise prompted the researchers to study the difficulty in pronunciation experienced by Saudi students. This paper is also an attempt at exploring the pronunciation problems faced by the Saudi students of English and aims to propound possible remedial measures. The researchers have included students enrolled in the English departments and their teachers at two universities in Saudi Arabia. Primary data was collected from the students and their teachers using surveys, interviews, and classroom observation of students' presentations. The study made some suggestions regarding materials that can help rectify the pronunciation of English among Saudi learners of English.
A Survey Study of Factors Influencing Iranian EFL Learners’ English Pronunciation Learning
International Journal of Research in English Education, 2020
English pronunciation is one of the most important and complicated parts of foreign language teaching and learning. Due to its complexity, pronunciation has been overlooked in English language teaching. Understandable pronunciation is an important part of communicative competence. Individuals who have acceptable pronunciation can easily improve their language skills better than those who have weak pronunciation. Thus, English pronunciation is very significant for successful communication. This study investigated the factors influenced Iranian EFL learners' English pronunciation learning. To this end, fifty Iranian EFL learners participated voluntarily in this study. A quantitative method was used as the design of this study. The researchers used a survey questionnaire as the instrument of this study. The collected data were analyzed via using frequency and percentage. The findings of this research indicated that factors such as pronunciation instruction, attitude, motivation, and error correction respectively were the most important factors that had the greatest effects on Iranian learners' pronunciation improvement. It was also concluded that when teaching pronunciation into their classes, EFL teachers and learners should be equipped with these factors that can considerably increase their success in the correct teaching and learning of English pronunciation.
English Pronunciation Difficulties Among Efl Students
CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research - Zenodo, 2022
Pronunciation skill is essential to acquire proficiency in English while learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The learners commit errors in pronunciation due to the differences in the sound system of the two languages, English vowel inconsistency, spelling and mother tongue interference while learning the target language. Learning the basics of English pronunciation through phonics will not only help students to speak effectively, but also will improve their listening comprehension and reading ability. Pronunciation and clear understanding of English speech are two skills which complement each other. English is not a phonetic language, as one letter does not correspond to only one sound. Obviously, EFL learners find it extremely challenging to acquire pronunciation of words in English from its spelling. The study investigated the pronunciation errors among EFL students whose first language is Arabic. The sample comprised 50 female undergraduate students of the
Pronunciation Challenges Faced by Undergraduate Students of Middle East
This research paper explores the pronunciation problems of Omani students and suggests remedies to improve it. Sample of population consists of undergraduate Omani students who face a communication setback while speaking English inside and outside classroom. Present study analyzes the recorded speech of Omani students in formal and casual surroundings. It evaluates the extent of interference of L1 in English language used by undergraduate Omani students as well as analyzes the types of errors made by them.
The Challenges of Spoken English Fluency among EFL Learners in Saudi Universities
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This study aims to investigate the problems and challenges which is usually experienced by English learner's students in the Saudi universities when trying to speak English. It also checks at the problems that students face when learning English language in Saudi universities and try to find remedies to this problem. The research uses a questionnaire, interviews, and descriptive methods in the collection of data about fluency in English language in universities in KSU as an example. The data was then statistically analyzed using the SPSS program. The results showed that there are various problems which hinder fluency of English learning in the universities and among them include: under-qualified teachers, unsuitable teaching materials and the methods used in teaching are also poor. The other problem is the psychological factor which makes student lack motivation while learning English. The study also contains ways in which these problems can be handled to bring efficiency in lea...