THE PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH MONOPHTHONGS BY IRAQI EFL LEARNERS

Abstract

The study examines L1 transfer and proficiency level effects on the production of English monophthongs by Iraqi EFL learners. It reports on the production test performed by four groups of Iraqi learners who speak Baghdadi Arabic as their native language and differ in their level of proficiency in English as measured by a placement test. Descriptive and statistical analyses of data collected from the production test revealed that Iraqi learners face considerable varying degrees of difficulty in the production of most English monophthongs. They all follow certain prominent erroneous trends regardless of their proficiency level. The proficiency level effect is found in the perception of the low proficient (elementary) group compared to the other three high proficient groups. This effect is also noticed in the comparison between lower intermediate and advanced groups' performance, yet this effect is no longer noticed when comparing between the upper intermediate and the advanced groups. Some of the results of this study are accounted for within SLM, yet the model fails to account for some others. The study concluded that the pronunciation abilities of EFL learners can be improved with more experience and exposure to the L2. Some confusing pairs of vowels indicated by the bi-directional production relations found in this study should be taken account of by teachers and learners of English as well. These relations indicate that learners’ errors are not random, but rather systematic.