Jordanian EFL learners’ pronunciation difficulties with identical adjacent consonant letters in English words

Abstract

This research paper investigates the pronunciation difficulties faced by Arabic-speaking EFL learners, particularly with words containing identical adjacent consonant letters. This study aims to enhance pronunciation proficiency and identify effective pedagogical approaches. To this end, a questionnaire was distributed to 15 university educators in Jordan. Additionally, 48 seventh-grade students from Al‑Joufah Secondary School for Girls in the South Shuna District of Jordan participated in the study, where two teaching methods were tested: drilling and songs. The students were divided into two groups: one received explicit instruction on the phenomenon of adjacent identical consonant letters and practised repeating words that commonly present these difficulties, while the other group listened to songs containing the same words. The experimental results indicated that using songs was a more effective method for teaching the pronunciation of such words. Based on the questionnaire and experimental outcomes, effective pronunciation instruction methodologies were identified including the direct method, task-based language teaching (TBLT), audio-lingual method (ALM), and total physical response (TPR). Furthermore, the study highlights the crucial role of repetition in mastering the pronunciation of words with adjacent identical consonant letters.