Analysis of Phonetic and Phonological Constraints of Saudi EFL Learners

Al-Rubaat, Atalah M.; Al-Shammari, Hammad

doi:10.5539/elt.v13n1p63

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Ababneh (2018) also pointed out that the Saudi EFL learners confused the vowel /e/ sound with /i/. The same result was also reported by Ali (2013); Kalaldeh (2016); Al-Rubaat and Alshammari (2020). This difficulty in production may further lead to difficulty in the perception of these vowels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Production of English Vowel by Libyan EFL learners: Insights from Unnormalized and Normalized Data

Ramadan¹,

Yap²

2021

IJARBSS

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Previous studies have established that male and female speakers differ in their production of foreign language (FL) vowels due to biological differences in the vocal tract. These differences present a challenge when subjects recruited for an instrumental analysis of speech sounds include speakers of both genders. Most previous studies, therefore, focus on only one gender to avoid the problem of biological differences between males and females. However, different gender groups may perform differently in speaking tasks as their language experience may be influenced by other social factors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the differences between Libyan male and female speakers in the production of English vowels, by examining the data with and without the use of normalization to determine the most difficult English vowels for Libyan male and female speakers. To achieve this goal, seventy Libyan participants (35 male and 35 female) were recruited to perform a speech production task of eleven English vowels embedded in carrier sentences. The data were collected and analyzed using PRAAT to extract the F1 and F2 formant frequencies for each vowel and to calculate the Euclidean distance (ED) of the English vowels produced by using the centroid as the reference point. With the unnormalized data, more overlaps were found for the male speakers when compared to the female speakers as the vowel space were more centred for the males compared to the females. With the unnormalized data, different pairs of vowel contrasts were identified as potentially problematic. However, with the normalized data, better categorical distinction is found in general. Only three vowels emerged as potentially problematic as the other pairs could potentially be disambiguated using vowel duration as a cue. The study demonstrated the utility of the Lobanov method for normalizing speech data to reduce variability associated to gender differences. The efficacy of the Lobanov method of normalization remains to be tested further to verify if the predictions made about difficult vowel pairs for Libyan EFL learners are indeed attested in their discrimination of these vowel pairs in future research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Production of English Vowel by Libyan EFL learners: Insights from Unnormalized and Normalized Data

Ramadan¹,

Yap²

2021

IJARBSS

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“…During the last decade, researchers investigated pronunciation problems made by EFL Arab learners in terms of learning difficulties in English phonology. Al-Rubaat & Alshammari (2020) discovered that EFL learners had difficulty correctly pronouncing the first three consonant clusters and the final three in English. He concluded that learners were mistakenly pronouncing these clusters as employed reduction, substitution, or deletion as alternate methods.…”

Section: Jahara and Abdelradymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The researchers of that study achieved their goal by implementing two main instruments: a pronunciation sensitivity response experiment and two interview formats. (Al-Rubaat & Alshammari, 2020). They found that: initial consonant cluster, ending consonant cluster, multi-syllabic words, novel sounds, vowels, and voiced or voiceless phonemes were among the six phonetic and phonological problematic patterns experienced by EFL students (Al-Rubaat & Alshammari, 2020).…”

Section: Jahara and Abdelradymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pronunciation Problems Encountered by EFL Learners: An Empirical Study

Jahara¹,

Abdelrady²

2021

AWEJ

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Arabs often mispronounce many sounds of English due to a lack of exposure to English as a foreign language. This research article focuses on pronunciation problems encountered by Arab undergraduate EFL learners. It uses questionnaires, recorded speech samples, and pronunciation tests as part of its methodology to analyze learners’ performance orally through repetition drills to help participants articulate the sounds of English through Blackboard Collaborate Ultra Learning Management System. This research emphasizes the main question on the common problems encountered by EFL undergraduates with pronunciation skills. The study aims to train the students with pronunciation tests and phonemic inventory by repetition and imitation to overcome pronunciation miscues and fossilized miscues to enhance their pronunciation. This study is significant because it proposes feasible pedagogical techniques for imparting English sounds and initiating the learners to produce and acquire sounds more accurately, which will help Arab undergraduate EFL learners with their pronunciation problems. To achieve this goal, it proposes feasible pedagogical techniques to impart sounds of English and initiate the learners to produce and acquire sounds more accurately. One of the main findings of this research revealed that our EFL undergraduates have improved in their pronunciation through constant motivation and willingness to participate in the designed tests through Blackboard. Recommendations for further research would be on phonological awareness as an aid in learning EFL.

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“…In spite of the crucial role of pronunciation in oral communication, Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' English pronunciation is poor (Al-Rubaat & Alshammari, 2020;Naser & Hamzah, 2018). Although Saudi EFL students learn the English language for six years at school (Shehzad, Alghorbany, Lashari, & Lashari, 2019a;Shehzad, Alghorbany, Lashari, Lashari, & Razzaq, 2019b;Shehzad, Razzaq, Dahri, & Shah, 2019c), they still face difficulties in communication and pronunciation (Naser & Hamzah, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies indicated that Saudi EFL learners' poor pronunciation could be attributed to several factors including first language interference (Al-Rubaat & Alshammari, 2020; Hago & Khan, 2015), incompetent teachers (Naser & Hamzah, 2018), ineffective teaching methods (Alfehaid, 2015) and learners' attitudes towards learning pronunciation (Naser & Hamzah, 2018). However, there is scarcity of research in the psychological factors that can affect the pronunciation skills of Saudi EFL learners (Al-Rubaat & Alshammari, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The nexus between grit and pronunciation performance among EFL learners: the mediating role of pronunciation self-efficacy beliefs

Shehzad

Hasan

Ahmed

et al. 2022

LTHE

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PurposeGrit is a novel, rather an important psychological variable that has been associated with performance in the English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) context. However, there is a dearth of research on the relationship of grit and pronunciation performance among EFL learners. Consequently, the current study sought to establish the association between grit and the pronunciation performance of Saudi EFL learners by employing pronunciation self-efficacy beliefs as a mediating variable.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative correlational research design was deployed in this research. Data were collected from 350 Saudi university EFL learners using questionnaires and a pronunciation test.FindingsFindings indicated that both the dimensions of grit (i.e. perseverance of effort and consistency of interest) showed a significant and positive association with the learners' pronunciation self-efficacy beliefs. Also, the pronunciation self-efficacy beliefs showed a significant and positive association with the pronunciation performance. Lastly, findings indicated that pronunciation self-efficacy beliefs mediated the association between girt (i.e. perseverance of effort and consistency of interest) and pronunciation performance.Originality/valueThe study’s findings have implications for the EFL classroom. By incorporating grit and self-efficacy beliefs into students, teachers can enhance their students' English pronunciation performance.

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Analysis of Phonetic and Phonological Constraints of Saudi EFL Learners

Cited by 10 publications

References 7 publications

Production of English Vowel by Libyan EFL learners: Insights from Unnormalized and Normalized Data

Production of English Vowel by Libyan EFL learners: Insights from Unnormalized and Normalized Data

Pronunciation Problems Encountered by EFL Learners: An Empirical Study

The nexus between grit and pronunciation performance among EFL learners: the mediating role of pronunciation self-efficacy beliefs

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