Pronunciation Errors in Second-Year University Students’ Oral Assignments

Abstract

Pronunciation error analyses in university students’ oral assignments, in particular, are relatively rare. This study explores and investigates EFL learners' pronunciation errors that lead to unnatural accent and miscommunication. Fifty oral assignments of second-year college students in phonology class are selected to be analyzed. The study samples are selected from students in the English department, college of Education at Salahaddin university, in the academic year 2021-2022. Various pronunciation errors are observed in the oral assignments regarding single vowels, consonants, sound clusters, stress and intonation. The findings show that the pronunciation errors are primarily due to the strong influence of students’ mother tongue, some deep-rooted learnings from their primary and elementary stage education, and other inaccurate pronunciation models.