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Common Pronunciation Problems of Learners of English

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 Common Pronunciation Problems of Learners of English

Anak Agung Sagung Laksmi Dharmika Yowani

Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Surabaya, Indonesia

A. Abstract
The purposes of this essay were to find out some frequently occurring
problems concerning pronunciation of English learners and recommending solutions.
Factors leading to these problems are interference of the native language, learners’
age, attitude, and their insufficient knowledge of phonology and phonetics systems of
the English language. Linking was also reported that it caused serious problems of
phonetics learning in supra-segmental level. Besides, phonetic ability was reported as
the factor mostly caused problems in phonetics learning. It could be concluded that
the opinion of difference of sound system between English and the native language
and some factors including phonetic ability, native language, prior English
pronunciation learning, instruction, and motivation caused the students’ problem in
phonetics learning as well. (Sahatsathatsana, 2017)

B. Introduction
Language is a means of communication in everyday life. Common people
have little regard the speaking ability as significant as linguists do. They just take it
for granted and think that speaking and understanding is as natural as breathing.
(Zhang & Yin, 2009) When learning a language, there are many things to study
including vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing and speaking. A key to good
speaking is good pronunciation (Ellis, 1997). Knowing grammar and vocabulary is
important for students, but they need to pronounce those structures or words correctly.
Besides, achieving good pronunciation should be the first goal of students.

The ability of speaking English embodies the correctness of pronunciation and

intonation and directly affects the appropriate communication in conversation.
Pronunciation instruction tends to be linked to the instructional method being used. In
the grammar-translation method of the past, pronunciation was almost irrelevant and
therefore seldom taught. In the audio-lingual method, learners spent hours in the
language lab listening to and repeating sounds and sound combinations. It became
popular in the 1950s. This involved a systematic presentation of the structures of the
second language, moving from the simple to the more complex. This approach was
strongly influenced by a belief using of a lot of practice mechanically and repeatedly.
At the time, “foreign-language learning is basically a mechanical process of habit
formation.” (George, 2002)

Learners encounter great difficulties in learning English pronunciation for

several reasons. Firstly, the English sound system has several sounds foreign to
learners. Secondly, the way English speakers pronounce the ending sounds is
 completely different from the one deeply rooted in learners, making it more difficult
for them to achieve appropriate English pronunciation. Consequently, learners have
been reported to make phonetic errors leading to incomprehensible speech in English,
which, to a large extent, weakens the learner’s confidence both in speaking and
listening. (Zhang & Yin, 2009)

The English pronunciation problems also impacted students’ performance in

classroom activities, their midterm and final tests, and grades. This essay would like
to find out the causes and factors affecting English pronunciation problems of
students. This essay would also like to meet the suitable solution or materials for
solving problems as proposed by (Yangklang, 2006) that there are many methods and
authentic teaching materials to improve students’ pronunciation such as textbooks,
tape recorders, televisions, exercises, drills, and multimedia.

C. Factors Influencing Pronunciation

In the past, several researchers have gone to great lengths to suggest the many
factors which affect students’ pronunciation. previous studies have repeatedly shown
that factors such as native language, age, exposure, innate phonetic ability, identity
and language ego, and motivation and concern for good pronunciation ability appear
to have an influence on the teaching and learning of pronunciation. (Zhang & Yin,
2009)

1. Native Language
According to (Avery & Ehrlich, 1987), learners who speak different languages
speak a target language in different ways. The way they speak the target language
is sometimes slightly different and sometimes highly different from that of native
speakers. (Kenworthy, 1987) also stated that the native language is the most
influential factor in accounting for students’ pronunciation, especially foreign
accents. If the students are familiar with the sound system of their native
language, they will be able to effectively diagnose their own difficulties. In this
sense, as asserted by (Senel, 2006), it should be noteworthy that interference or
negative transfer from the first language is likely to cause errors in aspiration,
intonation, rhythm, and melody in the target language. For example, these
problems can occur when the rules for combining the sounds in syllable forms are
different in two languages.

2. Prior English Pronunciation Learning

Prior experiences with pronunciation instruction may influence learners’
success with current efforts. Learners at higher language proficiency levels may
have developed habitual, systematic pronunciation errors that must be identified.
As we know, the first impression is very important in every occasion. Some
students failed to pronounce some words correctly from the beginning. As they
become accustomed to their own version of pronunciation, they would be more
likely to miscomprehend when these words are not correctly pronounced. It is also
 worth of noticing that the most often misunderstood words are those pronounced
similarly. Such as, sheep, ship and house, horse etc. So learners must have a good
habit of learning correct pronunciation at the beginning. (Zhang & Yin, 2009)

The lack of opportunity to practice English pronunciation is another prominent

problem in the improvement of English pronunciation. Several studies compared
the accuracy of pronunciation of people living in English-speaking countries and
those who did not. They revealed that learners who did not live in an English
speaking country faced problems in mastering English pronunciation. These
studies suggested that students with poor pronunciation, who are regarded as less
experienced, had more language transfer problems than those with good
pronunciation. (Sahatsathatsana, 2017)

For this reason, the students with good pronunciation would improve more
easily than those with poor pronunciation. (Haymes, 2000) and (Senel, 2006)
pointed out that learners living in an English-speaking country or community
where English is the second language have many more opportunities to listen to
and to use the target language. In addition, success in learning and teaching
English depends on both students’ ability and their exposure to the target
language. Teaching a conversation or a dialogue is, therefore, not enough to help
students improve their speaking skills. In short, students could simply improve the
development of their pronunciation competence if they are sufficiently motivated
and have strong incentives to expose themselves to the target language.

3. Phonetic Ability
According to (Brown, 1992), phonetic ability was sometimes called phonetic
coding ability. It is a common view that some people have better listening skills
for a foreign language than others. For example, they are able to discriminate
between two sounds more accurately than others and also to imitate sounds better.
(Kanoksilapatham, 1992) suggested that some elements of learning are a matter of
awareness of the different sounds. Additionally, learners’ pronunciation ability
can be improved by making a greater effort and concentrating on particular
sounds.

4. Learner’s Age
Children seem to pick up accents very quickly; and the ability to do seems to
diminish with age and the knowledge of their native language to a large extent
acts as annoying interference while to their second language learning. Meanwhile,
Pronunciation is considered to be the most difficult parts of a language for adult
learners to master. One important reason is that, younger learners are able to learn
the sound system more effectively, while the learning process of adult learners
may be more likely to be hindered because of their age. (Zhang & Yin, 2009)
 The debate over the impact of age on language acquisition and specifically
pronunciation is varied. Some researchers argue that, after puberty, lateralization
(the assigning of linguistic functions to the different brain hemisphere) is
completed, and adults’ ability to distinguish and produce native-like sounds is
more limited. Others refer to the existence of sensitive periods when various
aspects of language acquisition occur, or to adults’ need to re-adjust existing
neural networks to accommodate new sounds. Most researchers, however, agree
that adults find pronunciation more difficult than children do and that they
probably will not achieve native-like pronunciation. Yet experiences with
language learning and the ability to self-monitor, which come with age, can offset
these limitations to some degree. (Zhang & Yin, 2009)

5. Learner’s Attitude and Psychological Factors

Attitude towards the target language learning can influence achievement in
pronunciation. It is not common to find that quite a few students resist
coordination with teachers in phonetics classes. Sometimes some other students
pronounced separate phoneme uncorrected, these students laughed at them. That
needs a correct attitude to learn English pronunciation. A number of researchers
have claimed that work on pronunciation should need to be tied in with on the
individual’s value set, attitudes and socio-schemata (Pennington M. C., 1994).
Sometimes, motivation for learning can accelerate the learners’ attitude formation.
Attitude for learning can either support or hinder pronunciation skills
development. Similarly, the way an individual pronunciation has much to do with
his or her personality and psychological or emotional state at a given time.

6. Intonation Factor in the Target Language

Intonation, the rises and falls in tone that make the ‘tune’ of an utterance, is an
important aspect of pronunciation of English, often making a difference to
meaning or implication (Chen, 1983). Stress, for example, is most commonly
indicated not by increased volume but by a slight rise in intonation . Intonation
patterns in English sentences primarily indicate the degree of certainty of an
utterance, i.e. whether is a statement, questions, or suggestion. Most questions in
rising intonation, however, Wh- questions (who, what, where, when, why, and
how) end with falling intonation. It is important for students to learn these patterns
not only in order to communicate meaning, but also in order to avoid unwittingly
sounding rude or indecisive. (Zhang & Yin, 2009)

7. Motivation
The learner’s motivation for learning the language determined whether the learner
will develop native-like pronunciation. Research has found that having a personal
or professional goal for learning English can influence the need and desire for
native-like pronunciation. Adults can become highly proficient, even native-like
speakers of second languages, if motivated to do so. (Moyer, 2007) found that
experience with and positive orientation to the language appears to be important
 factors in developing native-like pronunciation. Therefore, in addition to focusing
on pronunciation and accent in class, teachers should encourage learners to speak
English outside the classroom and provide them with assignments that structure
such interactions.

8. Instruction
Foreign language instruction generally focuses on four main areas of
development: listening, speaking reading and writing. Generally, foreign language
curricula emphasize pronunciation in the first year of study as it introduces the
target language’s alphabets and sound system. However, pronunciation instruction
rarely continues this focus in the higher level. Many researchers have explored the
question of whether explicit instruction helps second language learners. In the
end, there was a significant improvement in the intelligibility, and better ratings
over time of comprehensibility and accent. They showed that 30 language learners
could alter their pronunciation in a reading task (Derwing & Rossiter, 2003).

The previous research studies and reviewed literatures mentioned above

confirm the roles of motivation, phonetic ability, prior English pronunciation study,
the particular native language, and instruction concern for good pronunciation in
studying a language as important factors affecting learners’ pronunciation.
Consequently, these causes and factors affecting the English pronunciation learning of
students were employed in the questionnaire for collecting the data from students.

D. Suggested Solutions
Despite its acknowledged importance, pronunciation is an aspect of language
teaching that has been given little attention. The essay shows that there was an argent
need to find a solution that could help the English students to encounter such a
problem. This section discusses some of the solutions to help learners with
pronunciation problems.

1. Virtual Interaction
Technology is able to provide virtual interaction where there are no people
around us to talk in English, or when people want to talk in English with people
from a different country. Therefore, technology can be used to maintain speaking
English in a country where there is no generation who is able to speak English
because technology can replace the unavailability of native speaker of Englush in
this setting and technology provides opportunity to interact to other people
virtually with the assistance of internet connection. (Rintaningrum, 2016)

2. Parental Support
The role of parents is one factor that has an influence on language learning.
Although parents do not have a direct role, such as coaching or supporting
students’ learning, an indirect role, such as providing facilities and paying for an
additional English course for their children, helps improve how learners work to
 learn English. (Rintaningrum, I Find It Easy To Learn English When ………:
Lecturers’ Perspective , 2016)

3. Provide Pronunciation Training-Courses to Teachers

(Ma, 1995) agreed that universities should prepare ESL teachers in English
phonology and the teaching of pronunciation. If the teachers can produce
intelligible English pronunciations, the students' pronunciation should be
intelligible, too.

4. Teachers Should Keep on Lecturing in English

Students like to negotiate with teachers that they want to be taught in their native
language so that they can understand the class easier. Sometimes the teachers
compromise and lecture in their native language and keep on lecturing in their
native language. We understand this group of teachers and sometimes we did the
same. But it is very harmful to English teaching. Students can learn a lot if
teachers keep on lecturing in English. At least the teacher's pronunciations can
help them check whether their pronunciations are intelligible or not. English
teachers should be more serious when they teach their students English, and give
their attention to the phonological language interference for the students during
their speaking or reading. In addition, test them periodically to check their
advance pronunciation. (Wei & Zhou, 2002)

5. Persistence
Learners are likely to improve their skills in English if they are persistent in
learning English. The learning involves a desire to learn, putting in effort to learn
English and never giving up learning English. (Rintaningrum, I Find It Easy To
Learn English When ………: Lecturers’ Perspective , 2016)

6. Practice in Different Contexts

The important part of learning theoretically is when a learner is able to practice in
different contexts. Learners learn English easily through teaching others,
practicing speaking, practicing reading, practicing listening, singing, practicing
some test strategies, and practicing doing different test items in English. Learners
having a job as a lecturer of English helped them improve their English since they
had more opportunities to use English and the opportunity to learn English
through teaching, developing the latest teaching methods as well as undertaking
evaluation. (Rintaningrum, I Find It Easy To Learn English When ………:
Lecturers’ Perspective , 2016)

7. Pronunciation Exercises
Curriculum planners should introduce many exercises focusing on pronunciation
and listening. Students should be given many exercises focusing on the English
pronunciation, follows with a lot of practice for problems relating to voicing
distinctions. (Al-Zayed, 2017)
 8. Improving Self-Motivation for Learners
Students should have a self-motivation for improving their English language
pronunciation. In addition, look for some sources to acquire the English language
from the native speaker of it, what makes them know the accurate pronunciation
for the English words. (Al-Zayed, 2017)

9. Length of Practice
Another factor that has an influence on how easy a learner finds it to learn English
is length of practice. Length of practice can be defined as the number of years of
exposure to English. Longer time for learning English means that learners have
more time and more experience in learning English that helps them acquire
English easily. (Rintaningrum, I Find It Easy To Learn English When ………:
Lecturers’ Perspective , 2016)

E. Conclusion
The essay has shown that the students had problems in studying English
pronunciation at the supra-segmental levels. The students experienced the problem of
linking sound and some final sounds. The differences in the sound systems between
the first language and the target language might negatively affect the students’
pronunciation leaning in the English Phonetics course. Whereas, the main factors
which negatively affect their ability in pronouncing English sounds effectively are
reflected in a wide range of problems from the most problematic to the least
problematic which include the difference of the mother language and target one,
individual differences in ability, and past learning experiences. The consonant cluster
articulation could also be the problem for students. (Sahatsathatsana, 2017)

A large number of suggestions and various ideas are obtained and recorded.
The perspectives obtained from the essay are expected to give some new insights for
teachers of English to guide their students to learn pronunciation easily. The results of
the study imply that teachers of English need to take into consideration the above
factors that make the learning of pronunciation easy if they want to take some
advantages in teaching of English as a foreign language. Moreover, the results of the
study indicate that some factors influence how the learners of English learn
pronunciation easily. These findings can be used to help other people who find it
difficult to learn pronunciation. Those people can learn that they can learn
pronunciation easily if they feel enjoyment in learning English, persistence, have rich
vocabulary, practice in a variety of context, and have parental support. (Rintaningrum,
I Find It Easy To Learn English When ………: Lecturers’ Perspective , 2016)

F. References
Al-Zayed, N. N. (2017). Non-Native Pronunciation of English: Problems and Solutions.
American International Journal of Contemporary Research , 86-90.

Avery, P., & Ehrlich, S. (1987). Preliminary considerations in the teaching of pronunciation.
London: TESL Center.

Brown, A. (1992). Approaches to Pronunciation Teaching. London: Macmillan .

Chen, W. (1983). Strucutres and functions of English Intonation. Shanghai: Shanghai

Foreign Language Teaching Press .

Derwing, T., & Rossiter, M. (2003). The effects of pronunciation instruction on the accuracy,
fluency, and complexity of L2 accented speech. Applied Language Learning , 1-17.

Ellis, R. (1997). Second Language Acquisition. New York: Oxford University Press .

George, Y. (2002). The Study of Language( Second edition). Foreign Language Teaching
and Research Press .

Haymes, J. (2000). The development of interactive oral proficiency in the classroom.

Kanoksilapatham, B. (1992). An analysis of English pronunciation of third year English

major students. Silpakorn University: Nakhon Pathom.

Kenworthy, J. (1987). Teaching English pronunciation. New York: Longman .

Ma, L. (1995). Production of Five American English Front Vowels By Adult Mandarin
Chinese Speakers. (Doctoral dissertation, Texas A & M University-Kingsville, 1995).
Dissertation Abstract International, 1187.

Moyer, A. (2007). Do language attitudes determine accent? A study of bilinguals in the USA.
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Pennington, M. C. (1994). Recent Research in L2 Phonology: Implications for Practice.

London: Cambridge University Press .

Rintaningrum, R. (2016). I Find It Easy To Learn English When ………: Lecturers’

Perspective . Jambi International Seminar On Education , 14-23.

Rintaningrum, R. (2016). Maintaining English Speaking Skill in Their Homeland through

Technology. Asian EFL Journal , 107-119.

Sahatsathatsana, S. (2017). Pronunciation Problems of Thai Students. Journal of Education,

Mahasarakham University , 67-84.

Senel, M. (2006). Suggestions for beautifying the pronunciation of EFL learners in Turkey.
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 Warisara, Y. (2006). Improving English final /-l/ pronunciation of Thai students. Doctoral
Dissertation, Suranaree University of Technology .

Wei, Y., & Zhou, Y. (2002). Insights into English Pronunciation Problems of Thai Students.
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Zhang, F., & Yin, P. (2009). Asian Social Science A Study of Pronunciation Problems of
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