Investigating knowledge of Syllable Structure and Stress Use among Sudanese EFL University Learners

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the awareness of syllable structure and stress use among Sudanese University EFL learners. The aims of this study are; investigate the students' awareness of English syllable structure, and to know to what degree students are able to use stress correctly. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher designed and administered a test for a sample of 50 of the third year students majoring in English. The researcher has followed the quantitative analytical method to analyze the results. The validity and reliability of the tool mentioned above were measured. The study was based on two hypotheses, the first one stated that students are no aware of English syllable structure, and it was rejected according to the participants' responses. The second one claimed that students are not able to use stress correctly, and it was confirmed according to their performance. The findings of the study revealed that students are aware of English syllable structure, and they are not able to use stress correctly. Based on the findings the researcher recommended paying stress area more attention, because of its importance in pronunciation. The researcher also recommended giving phonological awareness a considerable portion in the learners' store of linguistic information. Finally, the researcher suggested the following; conducting studies in another area of stress, which is sentence stress, applying the same study to other levels, using other instruments for testing the subjects' syllable and stress knowledge. In addition, comparative studies could be conducted to find the similarities and dissimilarities between English and Arabic regarding the characteristics of syllable and stress.