Identifying and Analyzing Errors of Segmental Phonemes

This research investigates the errors of pronunciation made by students from two primary schools in Assarih, Jordan. It attempts to find out which English sound is more difficult to produce [consonant or vowel], to determine which is more difficult for students to produce-sounds in the initial, medial or in the final position and to look into any sex-related differences in pronunciation between girls and boys. Findings were achieved through three main tests carried out in the middle of January in the academic year (2008/2009). The number of students who participated in each test was 20 in which half of them were boys. They were selected randomly from the sixth grade (12 years old). The first test (Test A) concentrated on vowel and diphthong pronunciation which required students to pronounce a list of 21 words containing vowel between two consonants. For analysing purposes, all the tests were recorded. Sixty percent of the students pronounced the vowels correctly, while 50% pronounced diphthong correctly. The second test (Test B) intended to find out which is the more difficult consonant sounds to be produced by the students in three positions (i.e., initial, medial and final).

Autorentext

Majdi Tahat: Lecturer at Shaqra University in Saudi Arabia, he has Master Degree of English Language Linguistics/ UKM University/ Malaysia and Bachelor degree in English language and literature. His research of interest includes: segmental phonemes, Attitude towards Learning English, The Relationship of Language and Culture and Theory of ESOL.