Discuss the causes of pronunciation problems faced by Malaysian non-native English

speakers and how can the problem be overcome. (15 words!.

"n today#s globali$ed world% English is the lingua franca for most aspect of daily life.
&ccording to records% it is estimated of '(5 million )1 speakers% '(5 million )* speakers and
(5 E+) speakers (,raddol% 1--(!. "n Malaysia% English is often used as a second language
after .ahasa Malaysia or native mother tongues due to English being a compulsory sub/ect
in school during .ritish coloni$ation. 0ne of the problems faced by non-native English
speakers is limitation in pronunciation skills. 1a/adurai (*2! stated that the limitation in
pronunciation skills may affect the intelligibility of the speech% causing glitches in
conservation and strains in the part of the listener. 3his can cause disadvantage or
discrimination for the speaker% especially in the workplace where one#s command of English
can be used as a criterion for grading /ob performance and promotion. 3he official Malaysian
English have slight variation in phonology compared to 1eceived 4ronunciation (14! but it is
still internationally intelligible (1a/adurai% *2!. 5owever% many non-native English speakers
tend to stray from Malaysian English towards collo6uial% informal spoken form of Malaysian
English% making it sound accented and different from the 1eceived 4ronunciation. 3here are
several factors that can be identified as the cause for this problem.
0ne of the main factors is the influence of the native mother tongue in the
pronunciation of English words. +irst% when there is the absent of a sound in the native
language sound inventory or vice versa. )earners may not be able to produce or even
perceive the sound. 7ome phonemes found in English language are non-e8istent to the
native mother tongue of Malaysian non-native speakers. 3he unfamiliar phonemes are
appro8imated to the nearest similar sound found in the non-native speakers# mother tongue.
+or e8ample% Malay Malaysia tends to appro8imated 9f9 as 9p9% while for the :hinese
Malaysian% 9r9 as 9l9 and 3amil Malaysian% 9v9 as 9w9. 7econd% the difference in rules of
combining sounds into words between the native language and target language. 5art (1-2-!
observed that Malay and southern :hinese dialects (such as 5okkien% :antonese% 5akka!
have the rule where long tense vowels occur in open syllables (9:;<9! only while short la8
vowels in closed syllables (9:;:9!. .oth this patterns also occurs in English and cause no
difficulty for the non-native speakers to pronounce it correctly. 5owever% tense vowels can
also occur in closed syllables in English (9:;<:9!% which are not found in the native language.
3hese leads to non-native speakers having difficulties in pronouncing such English words
(e.g. English word sheep sound like ship!. 3hird% different pattern of stress and intonation in
the native language compared to the target language. )earners may apply these same
patterns from their native language into the target language% English. 7tress has the function
to differentiate a certain English word that can be a noun% verb or ad/ectives. +or e8ample%
the word =permit> as a noun (9#p?<m t9 ! or a verb (9p?<#m t9 !. & non-native speaker can
mi8ed up the stress position of the word% pronouncing the incorrect word form without ever
noticing it. 5owever% this can be easily notable by a native English speaker. 3his will lead to
confusion of what is said for the native English speaker while it sounds perfectly normal to
the non-native speaker% causing disruption in communication between non-native English
speaker and native English listener. &very and Ehrlich (1--*! gave an e8planation on three
ways how the sound system of a native language can influence the learners# pronunciation
of a target language% in this case English.
&nother factor is the neglect in teaching proper pronunciation in schools. Most
Malaysian non-native English speakers started learning English language in school as part
of the compulsory education syllabus. 3herefore% this is the best stage where 1eceived
4ronunciation can be taught. 5owever% there is a lack of emphasi$e on teaching and
learning pronunciation as teachers tend to emphasi$e on other English components that can
enhance e8amination grads. "n a study by @ayapalan A 4illai (*11! on a school in the Blang
;alley% the teachers does not conduct pronunciation learning activities regularly and direct
most of their teaching and learning time to other activities and tasks that have more
importance in students# English language e8aminations grades (e.g. writing% grammar and
literature!. &s pronunciation is not an important element for the e8aminations% it is often
neglected to less important slots. "n the study% the most common activity for teaching
pronunciation is by reading aloud. "n such activity% students are introduced to new words
from reading the prescribed te8ts and the teachers will grade and correct their students in
the correct way to pronounce the words. 0ther less carried out pronunciation learning
activities includes listening activities% language lab% choral speaking and role-playing.
.esides not having enough time to teach English pronunciation% some teachers avoid
teaching pronunciation because they have reservation in how to teach pronunciation
effectively. Cair et al (*2! reported from a discussion with 1* instructors from diverse
backgrounds in teaching English as 7econd )anguage (E7)! in Malaysia that the most of
the participants admitted to avoiding pronunciation activities as they did not know how to
teach pronunciation effectively. 3here is a general perception by the E)7 instructors that if a
student was generally fair or good in English% then the student should have little or no
problem at all with pronunciation. "n the case of students with weak command of English% the
teachers# tend to focus more on other =important> aspects of English such as reading and
writing compared to pronunciation. 3he researchers indicated that such problem is not only
happen in Malaysia but also in countries where English is the native language.
3o overcome the pronunciation problems faced by Malaysian non-native English
speakers% the role that English teachers play are paramount since they are the main guide
for most non-native speakers in learning English. Cair et al. (*2! outlines several
suggestions to improve teaching of pronunciation in schools such as improving the current
curriculum% focus on suprasegmentals% academic research and classroom e8periment%
methods and material development% and proper teacher training. English teaching curriculum
should be designed with long term goals and ob/ective that is realistic% able to e6uip students
with the speech abilities that have functional intelligibility and communicability% and enhance
self-confidence of the speaker. 3he curriculum should also include pronunciation as a key
element in the assessment for English language e8amination grades. &nother of the
suggestions is to focus on the suprasegmental features of pronunciations. 3eaching students
at the very basic level can help non-native speakers learn the difference between the way
their native language and English language pronounce words% allowing them to improve their
English intelligibility. &s each class is different from another% teachers must always
e8periment with various teaching methods and adapt% improvise and improve previous
methods to suit with the need of the class. Methods used to teach English pronunciation
should not only be simple for students to understand the lessons but also must be realistic
for daily uses and engaging to gain their attention to participate in the activity. 3eachers can
e8periment with different methods to access the effectiveness and responsiveness of the
students in learning pronunciation. +eedback from students are then gathered and used to
evaluate and improve further the techni6ues.
+raser (*! states that help should also be given for teachers to improve their level
of skills and confidence in dealing with pronunciation problems. 3he best way to improve the
skills of the non-native English speaker is to have a competent and knowledgeable teacher.
E8isting teachers should be given professional development in pronunciation teaching (e.g.
short courses% training% workshops! while trainee teachers should receive such courses
during their training. &s such training can be variable due to differing approach by different
pronunciation specialists% there need to be a more unified and concerted effort to discuss
and agree to a coordinated approach to pronunciation teaching. 0ther than developing the
capability of the teacher% high 6uality teaching materials should also be provided. 3eachers
face the lack of 6uality materials and technologies in helping them to teach pronunciation
beyond e8isting te8tbooks and whiteboard. 5igh 6uality and effective materials such as
computer-based materials with audio demonstrations and self-accessibility for students can
be used to facilitate and aid teachers in pronunciation lessons. 0ther materials such as
taped recordings of advertisements% news broadcasts% telephone conversations% poem
readings and English movies should also be used to e8pose students to the various aspects
of spoken English.
"n conclusion% the pronunciation problems faced by Malaysian non-native English
speakers can be caused by influence of their native language and lack of proper teaching
and learning pronunciation during schools. 0ften overlooked by teachers and students alike%
pronunciation plays a vital role in helping non-native speakers in understanding and
communicates fluently in English. Dith ade6uate help to identify and correct the mistakes
that they made% non-native speakers would be able to master English pronunciation and
apply them to their daily life.
1eference )ist
&very% 4. and Ehrlich% 7. (1--*!. 3eaching &merican English 4ronunciation< & 3e8tbook and
1eference Manual on 3eaching the 4ronunciation of Corth &merican English% Dritten
7pecifically for 3eachers of English as a 7econd )anguage (E7)!. England< 08ford
Eniversity 4ress.
+raser% 5. (*!. :oordinating improvements in pronunciation teaching for adult learners of
English as a second language. :anberra< DE3F& (&ustralia Cational 3raining &uthority
&dult )iteracy 4ro/ect! 1etrieved from the webpage
http<99www.personal.une.edu.au9Ghfraser9docs95+H&C3&H1E4013.pdf
,raddol% D. (1--(!. 3he +uture of English I< & ,uide to +orecasting the 4opularity of the
English )anguage in the *1st :entury. EB< .ritish :ouncil
5art% D.:. (1-2-!. 7ome English 4ronunciation Difficulties in Malaysia. E)3 @ (1-2-! JJ"""
('!< *(-*('
@ayapalan% B. A 4illai% 7. (*11!. 3he state of teaching and learning English pronunciation in
Malaysia< & preliminary study. Malaysian @ournal of E)3 1esearch. ;ol ((*!% 2'-K1.
Cair% 1.% Brishnasamy% 1. and de Mello% ,. (*2!. 1ethinking the teaching of pronunciation
in the E7) :lassroom>. 3he English 3eacher% JJJ;% *(- L.
1a/adurai% @. (*2!. 4ronunciation issues in non-native conte8ts< & Malaysian case study.
Malaysian @ournal of E)3 1esearch% 1*% L*-5-.