Difficulties in Pronouncing Unfamiliar English Phonemes: Perceptions and Solutions by English-Majored Students at Can Tho University

Abstract

Pronunciation has been recognized as an essential strength in developing effective communication. This paper reports a descriptive study that explored English-majored students’ perceptions of pronouncing unfamiliar English phonemes and their suggested solutions to deal with these challenges. Mixed methods were employed in this study by using a questionnaire survey and a semi-structured interview as quantitative and qualitative approaches. The participants in this research included 80 students for the questionnaire survey and 6 students who were among these participants for the interview section. The findings indicated that students believed accurate pronunciation contributes to proper information transmission as well as creates natural and straightforward conversations. Therefore, participants were aware of and pointed out several unfamiliar English phonemes such as /θ/, /ð/, /ʒ/, /ʃ/, /dʒ/, /tʃ/, /æ/, /e/, /ɪ/, /i:/ and consonant clusters that are difficult to articulate correctly. The data collection also revealed students’ perceptions of the factors that cause their pronunciation problems, including the influence of mother tongue, low motivation, limited English input exposure, and lack of sufficient practice and training. Finally, this study delved into strategies from learners to improve pronunciation errors, for example, participants based on repetition and imitation techniques, practiced through IPA, pronunciation applications, and multimedia resources. Additionally, they proposed some strategies to apply in the classroom, like utilizing minimal pairs exercises, visual aids, teacher and peer feedback, and interactive teaching approaches. This information analysis presents a deep understanding of English-majored students’ diverse perspectives and solutions, which are considered a meaningful foundation for further studies of pronunciation aspects.