scholarly journals The Influence of English Pronunciation System on Spelling Errors Among Saudi Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Dheifallah Altamimi ◽  
Radzuwan Ab Rashid
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Spelling Errors ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Saudi Students ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Arab Students ◽  
Writing Task

This paper discusses how English pronunciation system causes spelling errors among undergraduate Saudi students. The research participants were five students in English Language Department at Tabuk University and five English language lecturers from the same department. Semi-structured interviews designed for the lecturers and students, as well writing task distributed to the students were used to generate data for the study. The findings reveal that phonological differences between English and Arabic cause difficulty in the learners’ spelling. The students strive to write words in a similar way to how they are pronounced as they are unaware of the rules of English pronunciation which is totally different from their mother-tongue. The confusion with English pronunciation system causes several spelling errors, such as the errors related to final [e], vowels, silent letters and double consonants. This paper concludes that the Arab students need to be familiarized with English pronunciation system and they need to be made aware that English words are not necessarily spelt as how they are pronounced, which is in contrast to their mother tongue.

scholarly journals Spelling Problems and Causes among Saudi English Language Undergraduates

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dheifallah Altamimi ◽  
Radzuwan Ab Rashid
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Education System ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Spelling Errors ◽  
Main Research

Arab students who learn English as a foreign language, especially Saudi students, face different challenges during the process of learning of the four English language skills, especially writing and its component (spelling). This paper aims to investigate the preceded causes of students’ spelling errors. The main research question sought to be answered is: What are the causes of spelling errors made by the Saudi university students? The research participants were 15 students in the English Language Department at Tabuk University and 15 English language lecturers from the same department. Group structured interviews were designed for the lecturers and students. The findings reveal that there are different causes of students’ spelling errors such as the education system and university syllabus, students’ learning attitude, and the interference between English and Arabic language. This paper concludes that the spelling errors which Saudi university students commit were caused by the negative impacts of their education system and syllabus, where the syllabus ignores the importance of spelling rules and techniques, and the interference between English and Arabic language when the learners refer to their mother tongue while writing in the English language. It is hoped that the findings revealed in this study will help the policymakers in taking necessary actions in improving the learning experience of Arab learners of English. This paper calls for a reform in the English language teaching in Saudi education system so that spelling is given the required emphasis as it is the foundation of English proficiency.

scholarly journals Teachers’ Perception about English as a Medium of Instructions: Evidence from the Government Higher Secondary Schools of Sindh, Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 362-371
Author(s):  
Abul Ala Mukhtar ◽  
Zafarullah Sahito ◽  
Abida Siddiqui
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Common People ◽  
British Rule ◽  
The Government ◽  
Set Up

This case study inquires the perceptions and experiences of teachers about the English as a medium of instructions at government higher secondary schools of Warah city of Sindh, Pakistan. It witnesses that a large chunk of the population is diversified to use their provincial or regional languages as destined by socio-political heritage. Because English was remained a paramount part of educational context in Pakistan during British rule. In Sindh, students learn English from their teachers at their schools, who by no means really acquire the required proficiency in the English language. The research design undertaken was qualitative in nature and revolved around the semi structured interviews. English as a medium of instruction has a daunting and remarkable role to set to be set up across the globe. The mother tongue has the supreme role to play in the organized system of social institutions, which has massive resources of linguistics pouring down to the common people in the forms of superb streams of dialects with definite code of syntax, semantics and pragmatism. The extra reading materials with the support of technology, the English lessons can play a pivotal role to give internalization and adaptation of English language as a medium of instruction.

scholarly journals L2 Learners’ Problems in Speaking English of Rural Background Engineering Students in Ap

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 5942-5946
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Rural Area ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Time To Learn

In Indian education system, learning English language is a second language (L2) which is unavoidable and undividable apart from their mother tongue (L1). An intellectual, physical and emotional contribution is necessary to learn a second language successfully and to communicate a linguistic message. Especially, the rural area of engineering students used L1 (Telugu) as a way of communication tool in some of the engineering colleges as they are facing many challenges while speaking English as a second language (L2). The present study would investigate the causes, problems and difficulties faced by the rural area students who came to study engineering courses in VIIT (A) College in Visakhapatnam, AP. The researcher has used a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews for 40 students includeing 32 male and 8 female rural area students for data collection. The collected data analyzed statistically and graphically. In the data analysis, the results revealed the reasons for failure like due to less time to learn English in the classroom, inadequate encouragement from teachers, family and friends. It is also found that the Teaching of English language in bilingual method and late foundation of English medium studies in previous academics. This piece of writing also facilitates the researchers who aim to investigate similar problems in speaking skills for rural area engineering students. The study also presented some of the suggestions and recommendations to overcome the struggle for the language teachers and students.

scholarly journals Teachers and Students’ Perceptions on the Effectiveness of the Writing Task in the Foundation Year at the ELI

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 360
Author(s):  
Reem Alsanie ◽  
Wafa’a AlRezqi ◽  
Danyah Al-Sayeud ◽  
Nadia Shukri
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
King Abdulaziz University ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
Preparatory Year ◽  
English Language Institute ◽  
Writing Task

<p><em>The current study investigated the perceptions of Saudi female teachers and their preparatory year students on the Writing Task (WT) used in the English Language Institute (ELI) at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah, KSA. To obtain a deeper insight, mixed methods were used through quantitative questionnaires and qualitative semi-structured interviews. While quantitative data were analysed using a descriptive SPSS analysis, qualitative data were analysed using a thematic analysis by NVivo. The sample consisted of 50 students (mean age: 19) and 6 teachers with different qualifications and years of experience. First, a questionnaire was distributed to elicit student’s perceptions</em><strong> </strong><em>on the WT then the 6 teachers were interviewed. The results indicated that the students had negative perceptions towards the effectiveness of the WT and that it was not beneficial in developing their writing skills, unlike some of the teachers who expressed positive views towards the WT. The findings offer future instructional implications that will help in enhancing the WT of the ELI. Some of these implications indicate that extensive writing classes must be given to students to improve their writing skills and that the writing topics must be contextualised and taken from the students’ daily life to keep them interested.</em></p>

STRATEGIES FOR ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (23) ◽  
Author(s):  
Preeti Singh
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
English Teacher ◽  
Ideal Model ◽  
Government Schools ◽  
Regional Language ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Correct Pronunciation ◽  
Main Language ◽  
Lying Down

Rajasthan is basically a Hindi speaking state, in government offices and schools Hindi is main language, very few people use written and spoken form of English. Those who use English are not efficiently using it. Therefore it is an urgent requirement to study status of English pronunciation and also to suggest strategies for improving English standard (Pronunciation) in government schools of Rajasthan, here people speaks many languages and dialects. So, the correct pronunciation of the words is a major problem in teaching second language because the pronunciation is greatly influenced by the regional language and dialect. The sounds of words which are not used in the mother tongue, is difficult to pronounce correctly. The teacher should provide appropriate situation and opportunities to the students by imitating the words, by using lingua phone and language laboratory, drill technique in classroom the skill of correct pronunciation can be developed among the students. This paper will suggest various strategies for correct pronunciation of words in government schools of Rajasthan. Although the content given is of basic nature but should necessary be taken seriously by them. In order to improve correct pronunciation and their by help in upbringing the standard of English language in government schools of Rajasthan. The faculty of speech is a natural gift. Education plays an important role to polish and improve the speech in our schools. It provides various opportunities to its natural development. So the teacher is an ideal model before the students. Therefore an English teacher should be more careful to his own pronunciation for lying down the correct speech habits of his students.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF MULTILINGUALISM IN INFLUENCING STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IN AN OUTSKIRT MALAYSIAN PRIMARY SCHOOL

2019 ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
Siti Norain Duka ◽  
Azlina Abdul Aziz
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
National Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Spoken English

Malaysia, as a multilingual country, sets a platform for language learning. Bahasa Malaysia is a language for national unity and English is the second language and other languages as the third language. A child may speak a native language at home, speak the local national language at school and also learn at least a foreign language. The fluency of our second or third language may not be as fluent as the first language. As a result, many studies have been conducted about the learners’ mother tongue and the code-switching process. However, a study for the English teachers to overcome the influence of the mother tongue in the Iban community towards their spoken English has not been located. Therefore, a qualitative case study has been conducted in order to provide the description of case-related individuals’ and give deeper understanding of the 1) multilingual learners’ perceptions toward their English spoken language, 2) exploring multilingual influences in their spoken English and 3) To examine the influence of other languages (Bahasa Malaysia and Iban language) towards English. The participants identified are Ibans from Year 3 primary students; that is located at the outskirt primary school in Kanowit in which they are learning standard Iban language, Bahasa Malaysia and English language at school. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, and field notes (i.e. classroom observation). The findings were structured into themes: the frequency in communicating the three languages among the three pupils at school in a day, home language support in learning, peers’ influence in communicating the English language, learners’ effort towards learning English and the mental process in learning the language.

scholarly journals The role of curriculum design and teaching materials in pronunciation learning

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-333
Author(s):  
Sharif Alghazo
Keyword(s):  
Curriculum Design ◽  
English Language ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
English Major ◽  
Teaching Programs

This paper aims to provide insights into the role of curriculum design and teaching materials in the development of English pronunciation skills in EFL contexts. One of the main contextual factors negatively affecting the development of pronunciation abilities of EFL learners relates to the ‘often-unchanging’ curriculum design and the ‘blind’ choice of teaching materials without regard to students’ needs and goals. This study utilises structured interviews and focus group discussions (N=2 sessions) to elicit the views of a group (N=71) of third- and fourth-year English-major students at a university college in Saudi Arabia on the appropriateness of the curriculum design and teaching materials to their learning expectations in the area of English pronunciation. The results show that the great majority of students spoke unfavourably about the overall curriculum and teaching materials and considered those to be among the obstacles that they encounter in their learning of English pronunciation. This finding raises the question of curriculum design of English language teaching programs and the extent to which these curricula meet the needs of learners. The study suggests that a reformation of the structure of the curriculum in the study context is urgently needed and that more involvement of students’ perspectives on the design of curricula is of major importance.

scholarly journals Challenges of teaching oral English in Nigerian high schools

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Usman
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Research Participants ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Senior Secondary Schools ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Senior Secondary

This study advocates for greater emphasis on the acquisition of oracy skills whereby this component of English is totally neglected in our higher schools. It identifies and examines some of the major challenges that the teaching of oral English could face; thereby proffering some possible solutions that could improve the teaching of oral English in our secondary schools. Questionnaires were used to seek teachers’ and students’ opinions concerning the problem. The research participants consisted of the teachers of English Language and students, particularly, Senior Secondary Schools Students (SSSI-SSS III) within four selected schools. The results have shown that interference of mother tongue, unqualified teachers and dearth of relevant teaching materials are the major challenges. The study suggested that (i) a high degree of motivation in both students and teachers, and (ii) the teachers’ competence in the subject and their mastery of the techniques of imparting knowledge in it are the basic the solutions. Teachers and Language instructors should identify these problems, face the challenges through practical classes and improvisation and also insist on standards.

scholarly journals Causes of Saudi Students’ Unwillingness to Communicate in the EFL Classrooms

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Rasha Fawzi Kadi ◽  
Abeer Ahmed Madini
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Saudi Students ◽  
Preparatory Year ◽  
English Language Institute

It can be argued that the ultimate goal of ESL\EFL pedagogy is to enable students to have communicative competence. To achieve this, EFL teachers implement various techniques and strategies that aim to produce communicatively competent students. Nevertheless, one of the major challenges teachers encounter is that students are often passive, unresponsive and unwilling to speak in the classroom. Accordingly, the current study seeks to investigate the causes of Saudi students' unwillingness to communicate in the EFL classroom. A total of 136 Saudi female preparatory year students at the English Language Institute (ELI) in King Abdulaziz University (KAU) participated in this study. To gain a deeper understanding of the causes of this phenomenon, a mixed methods approach was adopted. Two data collection instruments were utilized in this study: an online questionnaire with 126 participants and semi-structured interviews with 10 participants. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data obtained from the questionnaire, and the qualitative data obtained from the interviews were analyzed thematically using NVivo. The findings of the study revealed that the unwillingness to communicate is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that can stem from multiple causes. The main causes reported by the participants were fear of making mistakes, low language proficiency, fear of negative evaluation, shyness, lack of self-confidence, inefficient school education, and teacher\classmates related factors. The study concluded by briefly stating some of the limitations, offering recommendations for future research, and providing valuable suggestions for English language practitioners and policymakers to enhance this communication obstacle

scholarly journals Difficulties Encountered by Arab Students in Pronouncing English Correctly

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Mohammed Abdulgalil Abugohar ◽  
Kamariah Yunus
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Students ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Arab Students ◽  
Course Outcomes ◽  
Simple Sentences

Since spoken language is the most important channel of communication, it is supposed to be the first skill to master when learning a language. However, in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, learners encounter various problems limiting their abilities. One of the remarkable phenomena in English as a foreign language (EFL) learning is the inability of most students to utter English correctly and fluently. The present study investigates the difficulties that hamper high school students from pronouncing English vocabulary and simple sentences correctly and fluently. This research was carried out in an attempt to assess the English course outcomes that were reflected in learners disabilities of correct and fluent English pronunciation. The data were collected through surveying second-year high school students’ responses to two instruments. A questionnaire was addressed to a sample of 100 Saudi male students from 4 secondary schools, and semi-structured interviews with 5 students from the population were conducted to provide deeper diagnosis regarding problems of English pronunciation. In order to provide further details about the subject studied, analyses of the syllabi are presented. The study recommends remedial pronunciation activities, practice of confusing words, and phonics practices throughout the course.

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