ERIC Number: EJ1250556
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2148-225X
EISSN: N/A
Pronunciation Problems of Turkish EFL Learners in Northern Cyprus
International Online Journal of Education and Teaching, v5 n4 p877-893 2018
This study investigated the pronunciation problems of Turkish EFL learners in state schools in Girne, TRNC. The researcher collected data through a pronunciation test and school visitations. The performance of thirty participants was video-recorded. In order to increase the validity of the results, two native raters listened to the recordings and rated the problematic sounds as correct or incorrect. Microsoft Excel was used to calculate the coded and analysed data, and SPSS (Version 20) was used to find the percentages and the frequencies of the data. The findings indicate that Turkish EFL learners have serious problems in pronouncing certain English consonants (i.e., /[voiceless dental fricative]/, /[voiced dental fricative]/, /w/, /v/, /[voiced velar nasal]/) and some English vowels and diphthongs (i.e., /[close front unrounded vowel]/, /[near-close back rounded vowel]/, /[open-mid back rounded vowel]/, /[schwa][near-close back rounded vowel]/, /[open back unrounded vowel][near-close back rounded vowel]/). Mother tongue interference seems to be the main cause of these errors since Turkish lacks most of these sounds. Moreover, a lack of sufficient exposure to target language and inadequacy in training can also be potential causes of these errors as most of the participants have never heard or practiced the correct pronunciation of these sounds. Similarly, English spelling may have played an important role in students' mispronunciation. The results of the study are thought to be useful for EFL and ESL teachers.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, English (Second Language), Second Language Instruction, Pronunciation, Language Proficiency, Phonemes, Vowels, Error Patterns, Turkish, Familiarity, Spelling, High School Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Cyprus
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A