Teaching English Pronunciation
Difficulties and Remedies among Iraqi EFL Teachers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64169/dje.133Keywords:
Encountered difficulties, teaching pronunciation, EFL learners, English language teachers (ELTS), Iraqi contextAbstract
This study investigates the major difficulties faced by English Language Teachers (ELTs) in Iraq, particularly in Babylon Province, while teaching pronunciation to EFL learners. The main aim is to identify these challenges and suggest effective remedies to overcome them. A quantitative research method was employed, and data were collected from Iraqi ELTs. The analysis involved calculating the mean, standard deviation, percentage, and estimated levels. The results show that ELTs face a number of challenges such as lack of institutional backing of the Ministry of Education, lack of awareness of phonetic elements among learners, lack of teaching resources, and enough time, which the curriculum should dedicate to pronunciation. The study suggests the use of professional development programs, certification courses, revised and specific pronunciation material, explicit phonetic instructions and application of technology to interactive and personalized learning to curb the issues. The research will assist in minimizing the teaching difficulties in pronunciation and improving pronunciation intelligibility as well as general language proficiency among the Iraqi EFL learners.
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