English Spoken Utterances of Iraqi Students on Technical Terms

Abstract

The study examines the pronunciation of English technical terminology related to furniture and household objects by Iraqi EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. The study seeks to assess pronunciation accuracy and identify prevalent phonological difficulties among learners, acknowledging the growing significance of technical terminology in global communication. The present study used a random sampling method to select 50 students aged between 10 and 12 to participate in the investigation. Participants were instructed to pronounce 40 technical phrases, and their pronunciations were evaluated against standard models provided by Google Translate, supported by the pronunciation norms of the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were utilized to evaluate the incidence and categorization of pronunciation errors, such as stress misplacement, syllable omission, and vowel substitution. The findings indicated significant variability in pronunciation skills, with simpler and more familiar phrases achieving higher accuracy rates. The findings illustrate the difficulties faced by Iraqi students in comprehending the phonology of technical terminology and underscore the significance of employing audio-visual pronunciation aids in EFL instruction. This research advances the field of language education by offering insights into effective methodologies for enhancing oral proficiency within technical environments.