An Analysis of Pronunciation Errors of Iranian EFL Learners

Abstract

As oral skills are increasingly seen as a high priority, phonology and pronuncia<br /> tion teaching are occupying a central position in the teaching and learning of other<br /> languages. The present study is an attempt to shed some light on identifying and<br /> exploring the diffculties of Iranian EFL learners in phonology and pronunciation.<br /> To achieve this goal, 3 male language learners (elementary, intermediate, and advanced)<br /> were randomly selected and were required to articulate 3 different types<br /> of material. Having analyzed the data, the study revealed that, first, pronouncing<br /> /ɪə/ as /eə/, /æ/ as /e/, /ɑ:/ as /ɔ:/, /ʊ/ as /u:/, /aɪ/ as /ɔɪ/, /ɪ/ as /i:/, /əʊ/ as /ɔ:/, /w/ as /v/,<br /> /ð/ as /d/ or /z/, /θ/ as /t/ or /s/ and /ŋ/ as /ng/ and mispronouncing /ɒ/, /ʌ/, /ɜ:/, /ə/,<br /> /ɔɪ/, /eə/, /r/ and /aʊ/ are the most frequent errors among Persian-speaking<br /> learners. Second, the study indicated that the speed of reading was inappropriate<br /> for all the beginning, intermediate, and advanced learners.<br /> Keywords: phonology, pronunciation errors, speed of reading