Pronunciation Problems: A Case Study on English Pronunciation Errors of Low Proficient Students

Abstract

Pronunciation plays a vital part in employability. Graduates are often unfairly judged when they fail to convince others of their capabilities due to poor pronunciation and not having the language to express themselves well. In order to present confidently to impress potential employers or enhance mobility, it is important to improve students’ pronunciation, especially those with low oral proficiency level. The primary step to counter this matter is finding out students’ problems in their pronunciation. The aim of this study is to identify the specific sounds that are commonly mispronounced by low oral proficiency Malaysian students. This study employed the qualitative methodology where data came in the form of reading aloud voice recordings. Based on the thematic analysis conducted, the sounds that were commonly mispronounced by the students were vowels (pure short vowels, pure long vowels and diphthongs), consonants (plosives, fricatives and affricates), silent letters, and the ‘-ed’ form. From the findings, this study recommends the use of the commonly mispronounced sounds as the content in producing an instructional pronunciation video for helping low oral proficiency students of the 21st century to address their pronunciation problems