Diagnosing Saudi Students' English Consonant Pronunciation Errors

Autor/inn/en	Alzinaidi, Manahel Hamad; Latif, Muhammad M. M. Abdel
Titel	Diagnosing Saudi Students' English Consonant Pronunciation Errors
Quelle	In: Arab World English Journal, 10 (2019) 4, S.180-193 (14 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Alzinaidi, Manahel Hamad) ORCID (Latif, Muhammad M. M. Abdel)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2229-9327
Schlagwörter	Phonemes; Morphemes; Error Analysis (Language); Foreign Countries; Pronunciation; Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; English (Second Language); Arabs; Grammar; Females; Language Proficiency; Language Tests; College Students; Semitic Languages; Saudi Arabia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Fonem; Morphem; Error analysis; Language; Fehleranalyse; Ausland; Aussprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Arab; Araber; Grammatik; Weibliches Geschlecht; Language skill; Language skills; Sprachkompetenz; Language test; Sprachtest; Collegestudent; Arabisch; Hebräisch; Saudi-Arabien
Abstract	Diagnosing the pronunciation difficulties second language (L2) learners encounter assists in identifying their training needs. Since a clearer profile of Arab students' English pronunciation difficulties is yet to be reached, this study tried to identify which English consonant sounds and clusters Saudi English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students have difficulty in pronouncing, and examine how students' language proficiency levels may influence their English consonant pronunciation performance. Forty Saudi female university students with two different English proficiency levels (lower-intermediate versus intermediate) took part in the study (20 students in each group). They completed a 4-section productive pronunciation test diagnosing their errors in pronouncing problematic consonant sounds and clusters in varied word positions. The data analysis showed that the participants' highest error percentages were in pronouncing: /Ezh/, /agma/, /p/, /alveolar approximant/ and/voiceless postalveolar affricate/; /t/ and /d/ of the regular past morpheme -ed; and the 4- and 3-consonant clusters. It was also found that the lower-intermediate level students made more errors than the intermediate ones in pronouncing the majority of the consonant sounds and clusters, and that the variance between their errors is generally higher in the word-initial positions than the word-medial and -final ones. The study indicates that the consonants in the word-initial and -final positions are likely to cause more pronunciations difficulties than the ones in the word-medial position. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Arab World English Journal. 10602 Davlee Lane, Richmond, Texas, 77407. e-mail: editor@awej.org; e-mail: info@ASELS.org; Web site: https://awej.org/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01