Stress Placement and the Difficulties Encountered by Female EFL Students in Saudi Arabian Context

Abstract

One of the most essential skills for English Foreign Language learners is to learn how to assign stress on words correctly for efficient communication. The current paper aims at investigating the problems that faced English foreign language Female Students at the Faculty of Languages and Translation, King Khalid University in assigning stress accurately. Besides, it attempts to identify the reasons of the inapplicability of the rules practically and adequately. The researchers use the descriptive- analytical approach as a method used in this study. A questionnaire consists of 10 items was given to 60 students, the sample of the study. The study is useful to teachers and learners as well as it exposes them to word stress assignment. The results indicate that Participants did not show evidence of rule application, even though they learn word stress placement rules. Lack of overexposing them practically and adequately to word stress placement, performance conditions as time limitations, absence of oral exams, and a large number of the students in the classroom are the essential reasons behind the insufficient command of the rules. Moreover, teachers are in need of more training in teaching pronunciation to be ready for their teaching work. The researchers suggested that more attention should be given to oral production alongside with teaching word stress placement rules.