Article
English Pronunciation Errors by Jordanian University Students
Arab World English Journal
(2016)
Abstract
This paper presents some of the major English pronunciation errors made by Jordanian students at the University of Jordan. The corpus is designed to investigate the production of English consonants, vowels, consonant clusters, and word stress by informants. The tested consonants are /p - v - ʧ - ʤ - ŋ - ɹ - ƚ/. The tested vowels are /ɪ - ɛ - ɑ - ɔ: - oʊ - ə /. Words containing consonant clusters; square - explain or across words; best friend - ride and swim are tested for epenthetic vowels. The stress pattern is investigated in words such as isn’t- unfortunately. It is found that informants frequently confuse the following phonemes /p - ŋ - ɹ - ƚ/ with /b - nɡ - ɾ - l/ respectively. Moreover, informants frequently insert an epenthetic /ɛ/or /ɪ/ in consonant clusters whether within words; /sɪkɾi:m/ for /skɹi:m/ or across words; /bɛst ɪ fɾɛnd/ for /bɛst fɹɛnd/. Regarding vowels, informants commonly confuse the KIT-DRESS vowels produceing both as /e/. The realization of the schwa /ə/ is greatly influenced by spelling. The LOT vowel is produced similar to its RP /ɒ/ realization as [ɞ]even though most informants adopt a General American accent and should therefore produce the vowel as /ɑ/. The THOUGHT-GOAT vowel distinction is missing; both vowels are often merged as [o:]. Finally, the informants very often shift the stress pattern from its trochaic English stress pattern; /ɪ'zɪnt/ for /'ɪzɪnt/.
Keywords
- Arabic L1,
- carryover,
- consonants-clusters,
- English L2,
- vowels
Disciplines
Publication Date
Summer June 15, 2016
Citation Information
Arab World English Journal AWEJ and Raya Kalaldeh. "English Pronunciation Errors by Jordanian University Students" Arab World English Journal Vol. 7 Iss. 2 (2016) p. 394 - 416 ISSN: 2229-9327 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/arabworldenglishjournal-awej/82/