THE PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH MONOPHTHONGS BY IRAQI EFL LEARNERS

Abstract

The study examines L1 transfer and proficiency level effects on the production of English
monophthongs by Iraqi EFL learners. It reports on the production test performed by four groups
of Iraqi learners who speak Baghdadi Arabic as their native language and differ in their level of
proficiency in English as measured by a placement test. Descriptive and statistical analyses of
data collected from the production test revealed that Iraqi learners face considerable varying
degrees of difficulty in the production of most English monophthongs. They all follow certain
prominent erroneous trends regardless of their proficiency level. The proficiency level effect is
found in the perception of the low proficient (elementary) group compared to the other three high
proficient groups. This effect is also noticed in the comparison between lower intermediate and
advanced groups' performance, yet this effect is no longer noticed when comparing between the
upper intermediate and the advanced groups. Some of the results of this study are accounted for
within SLM, yet the model fails to account for some others. The study concluded that the
pronunciation abilities of EFL learners can be improved with more experience and exposure to
the L2. Some confusing pairs of vowels indicated by the bi-directional production relations
found in this study should be taken account of by teachers and learners of English as well. These
relations indicate that learners’ errors are not random, but rather systematic.