PRONUNCIATION PROBLEMS OF THE TURKISH EFL LEARNERS

Abstract

This study examines the problems in pronunciation that Turkish EFL learners experience as English language learners. The participants in this study were university students studying in the ELT Department of Dicle University in Diyarbakır, Turkey. In total, 43 students participated in the study and their English proficiency levels ranged from intermediate to upper-intermediate. In order to collect data, ten class sessions were recorded by the researcher. The information obtained were compared to the list prepared by the students who noted their commonly mispronounced words. Finally, an interview was conducted with the students, to learn the causes of their mispronunciations. It was found that, among other factors, English spelling played a large role in the students' mispronunciations. Because of the irregularities in English spelling, students are unsuccessful when they guess the correct pronunciation of words; they also tend to make overgeneralisations. The results of the study may be useful for teachers trying to teach English to Turkish learners.

Keywords

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İNGİLİZCEYİ YABANCI DİL OLARAK ÖĞRENEN TÜRK ÖĞRENCİLERİN KARŞILAŞTIKLARI TELAFFUZ SORUNLARI

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı İngilizce öğrenen Türk öğrencilerin karşılaştıkları telaffuz sorunlarının nedenlerini incelemektir. Çalışmaya katılanlar Dicle Üniversitesi, İngilizce Öğretmenliği Anabilim Dalı, birinci sınıf öğrencileridir. Çalışmaya İngilizce yeterlikleri orta ve üst-orta seviyeler arasında değişen toplam 43 öğrenci katılmıştır. Veri toplama amacıyla, araştırmacı tarafından Dinleme ve Telaffuz dersinin işlendiği 10 ders saati kaydedilmiştir. Daha sonra bu derslerde öğrenciler tarafından yanlış telaffuz edilen kelimelerin dökümü yapılmıştır. Son olarak, öğrencilerin yanlış telaffuzlarının nedenlerinin öğrenilmesi amacıyla kendileri ile görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Başka nedenlerin yanı sıra öğrencilerin yanlış telaffuzlarında İngilizce kelimelerin yazımının önemli bir rol oynadığı sonucuna varılmıştır. İngilizcenin yazımındaki düzensizlikler nedeniyle öğrenciler kelimelerin gerçek telaffuzunu tahmin etmekte zorlanmakta ve aşırı genelleme yapmaktadırlar. Bu çalışmanın sonuçlarının Türk öğrencilere İngilizce öğretmeye çalışan öğretmenler için faydalı olacağı düşünülmektedir.

Keywords

• İngilizce öğretimi, İngilizcenin yazımı ve telaffuz

References

1. In Turkey, language tests do not contain oral-aural components. This makes it unnecessary to teach pronunciation, for language teachers’ own success is determined by the success of their students on language tests (Bekleyen, 2007). In their turn, students do not try to improve their pronunciation because they think it is unnecessary. The first thing that should be done is to make both the teachers and the students aware of the importance of pronunciation in learning a language, because incorrect pronunciation may lead to unintelligible speech (Hebert, 2002).
2. Additionally, pronunciation problems may also affect listening performance in the classroom, since students who do not know the correct pronunciation of words are unable to recognize them in listening activities. As suggested by Field (2003), sometimes learners recognize words while reading, but not while listening to the spoken language. This produces comprehension problems in listening.
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