Problems of pronouncing English Vowels Encountred by Libyan Studentes of First and Second Semester of English Language Department at Sebha University

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of the vowel production errors observed among EFL students Libyan students (first and second semester students) of English Language Department at Sebha University as well as  to discover reasons behind these problems in order to find out suitable solutions and pedagogical suggestions that may help the students in overcoming these problems. A descriptive quantitative method was used to analyze students' pronunciation errors. The participants of this study  were twenty students from first and second semester and ten teachers from English language department at Sebha university. This study was based on a pronunciation test for students in order to identify students' problems when pronouncing some English vowel sounds and a structured interview for teachers to find out reasons behind these problems and to offer to offer some solutions for these problems. The findings of this study  revealed that students' pronunciation problems with the English vowel sounds were mainly ; the substitution of the sounds /ɜ:/, /e/, /ɒ/, /ᴐ:/,  /ʊ/, and the insertion of the vowel sound /ɪ/ between consonant clusters as well as the omission of the vowel sounds /ǝ/ and /ɪ/ from initial, medial or final position. The study also found that such problems are due to the differences in the sound systems of the two languages, lack of knowledge and time.