Learning English vowels by Iraqi EFL learners: perceived difficulty versus actual performance

Acquisition of second language (L2) phonology is possibly the most challenging task for L2 learners. As a result, many tend to preserve a foreign accent in their speech even after they have attained a high level of proficiency in other aspects of L2 use. The difficulty in acquiring an L2 phonologi...

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Main Authors:	Al-Abdely, Ammar Abdul-Wahab, Thai, Yap Ngee
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2016
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9704/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9704/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9704/1/9276-33928-1-PB.pdf

id	ukm-9704
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-97042016-12-14T06:50:35Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9704/ Learning English vowels by Iraqi EFL learners: perceived difficulty versus actual performance Al-Abdely, Ammar Abdul-Wahab Thai, Yap Ngee Acquisition of second language (L2) phonology is possibly the most challenging task for L2 learners. As a result, many tend to preserve a foreign accent in their speech even after they have attained a high level of proficiency in other aspects of L2 use. The difficulty in acquiring an L2 phonological system has been attributed to factors such as age of L2 perceptual learning, quality and quantity of L2 input and interference from the first language phonological system. This paper contributes to ongoing discussions on the acquisition of L2 phonology by examining the difficulties encountered by two groups of Iraqi EFL learners in the perception of English vowels and the accuracy of perceived difficulty by Iraqi EFL teachers and learners. The results on perceived difficulty were compared with performance in a speech perception task. The findings show that Iraqi EFL learners encounter varying degrees of difficulty in the perception of English vowels. The findings also show that there is an effect in the level of proficiency on the accuracy rate for some vowel categories but two vowel categories, /ɒ/ and /æ/, were persistently difficult for most subjects regardless of their proficiency level in English. Iraqi EFL teachers and learners reported that they encountered difficulty learning some English vowels; however, the vowels that were identified as difficult differed considerably from those identified in the perception task. Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9704/1/9276-33928-1-PB.pdf Al-Abdely, Ammar Abdul-Wahab and Thai, Yap Ngee (2016) Learning English vowels by Iraqi EFL learners: perceived difficulty versus actual performance. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 22 (1). pp. 1-18. ISSN 0128-5157 http://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/751
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Acquisition of second language (L2) phonology is possibly the most challenging task for L2 learners. As a result, many tend to preserve a foreign accent in their speech even after they have attained a high level of proficiency in other aspects of L2 use. The difficulty in acquiring an L2 phonological system has been attributed to factors such as age of L2 perceptual learning, quality and quantity of L2 input and interference from the first language phonological system. This paper contributes to ongoing discussions on the acquisition of L2 phonology by examining the difficulties encountered by two groups of Iraqi EFL learners in the perception of English vowels and the accuracy of perceived difficulty by Iraqi EFL teachers and learners. The results on perceived difficulty were compared with performance in a speech perception task. The findings show that Iraqi EFL learners encounter varying degrees of difficulty in the perception of English vowels. The findings also show that there is an effect in the level of proficiency on the accuracy rate for some vowel categories but two vowel categories, /ɒ/ and /æ/, were persistently difficult for most subjects regardless of their proficiency level in English. Iraqi EFL teachers and learners reported that they encountered difficulty learning some English vowels; however, the vowels that were identified as difficult differed considerably from those identified in the perception task.
format	Article
author	Al-Abdely, Ammar Abdul-Wahab Thai, Yap Ngee
spellingShingle	Al-Abdely, Ammar Abdul-Wahab Thai, Yap Ngee Learning English vowels by Iraqi EFL learners: perceived difficulty versus actual performance
author_facet	Al-Abdely, Ammar Abdul-Wahab Thai, Yap Ngee
author_sort	Al-Abdely, Ammar Abdul-Wahab
title	Learning English vowels by Iraqi EFL learners: perceived difficulty versus actual performance
title_short	Learning English vowels by Iraqi EFL learners: perceived difficulty versus actual performance
title_full	Learning English vowels by Iraqi EFL learners: perceived difficulty versus actual performance
title_fullStr	Learning English vowels by Iraqi EFL learners: perceived difficulty versus actual performance
title_full_unstemmed	Learning English vowels by Iraqi EFL learners: perceived difficulty versus actual performance
title_sort	learning english vowels by iraqi efl learners: perceived difficulty versus actual performance
publisher	Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM
publishDate	2016
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9704/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9704/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9704/1/9276-33928-1-PB.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:55:29Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:55:29Z
_version_	1777406500966236160

Learning English vowels by Iraqi EFL learners: perceived difficulty versus actual performance

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