13
The subjects for the investigation
were the students from
University of Sudan of Science and Technology (SUST). The objective
of the study was to observe the pronunciation of certain English language
sounds produced by the university students with Sudanese Arabic
language background during their speaking or reading in English.
Moreover, the research was aimed at selecting some problematic L2
consonant and vowel sounds, analysing the reasons for mispronunciation
of these sounds and suggesting some solutions to help the learners
overcome the pronunciation difficulty.
The data was collected by means of observation, recording test and
a questionnaire for the teachers from SUST.
As a result of observation
and recording tests, the most problematic cases of English sounds
pronunciation for Sudanese EFL learners turned out to be as follows: /v/
(as in
van, have, marvel
) is replaced with /f/; /p/ (as in
pen, map, happy
)
is replaced with /b/ and sometimes /b/ is replaced with /p/ (as in
Big
Ben
); /θ/ (as in
think, math, mathematics
) is replaced with /s/; /tʃ/ (as in
much, furniture
) is replaced with /ʃ/; /ð/ (as in
then, weather
) is replaced
with /z/. The pronunciation of some vowel English sounds also appeared
to be problematic. In the provided questionnaire the teachers were asked
to confirm the extent of problem cases of phonological interference and
to mention the reasons for the sounds mispronunciation.
According to the
results of the questionnaire, the reasons for L2
sounds mispronunciation were stated to be the following: lack of these
English sounds in the sound system of Sudanese Arabic language, the
difference between the sounds system of Arabic (general) and Sudanese
Arabic, inconsistency of some English consonant and vowel sounds,
variation of speech organ positions or breath control.
At
the conclusion of the research, some general recommendations
about how to deal with the pronunciation of the problem sounds were
provided by the investigator. However, it is worth mentioning that no
practical examples, instruction or pronunciation activities were suggested
by the researcher to the teachers who work with Sudanese EFL learners.
There were only some comments on the topic without giving any specific
solution to help the Sudanese EFL learners overcome
the difficulties in
pronunciation of the sounds that were studied in the research.
14
To conclude here, the author finds this investigation quite useful
from the point of view of the type of data collection methods. The idea of
using observation, recording methods and a
questionnaire for teachers
who work with Peruvian EFL learners were borrowed from the research
done by Elkhair Muhammad Idriss Hassan. Moreover, the connection of
the discussed research with the given investigation is related to some
similarities in the L2 consonant sounds mispronunciation among
Sudanese learners and Peruvian learners. For instance, such L2
consonant
sounds as /v/, /θ/, /ð/ cause difficulties for both Sudanese and Peruvian
EFL students due to their mother tongue influence: Sudanese Arabic and
Spanish of Peruvian variant. Of course, it is only a coincidence, however,
the results allow for contemplation about the reasons that brought about
these problems for both Sudanese and Peruvian learners. As it has been
mentioned above, the results of the questionnaire
completed by the
Sudanese teachers demonstrate that the reasons for mispronunciation are
different. The author of the present investigation took into consideration
the results of the mentioned questionnaire, did some research and studied
the question about the reasons for mispronunciation of the consonant
sounds among Peruvian learners. However, it was not the objective of the
present paper, the results helped the author to plan the strategy in search
for a solution.
The third research work is called “An action research study of
pronunciation training, language learning
strategies and speaking
confidence” performed by Patchara Varasarin at Victoria University in
2007
4
.
The subjects of the study were five volunteer teachers and twenty
volunteer summer school students (from 12 to 13 years old) from
Thailand whose mother tongue was Thai. The principal objective of the
study was to examine pronunciation training
and language learning
strategies. Additionally, the study aimed at analysing the extent to which
the proposed pronunciation training plan could cater for the improvement
of communicative competence of the Thai EFL learners in the classroom.
4
Varasarin, P. (2007):
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
