The Influence of Pronunciation Errors in Changing the Meaning of Words among EFL Learners

Abstract

The study investigated the errors made by EFL learners in pronunciation and the effects of such pronunciation in changing the meaning of the words. The study hypothesized that some sounds in English constitute difficulty to the Sudanese students learning English as a second language and that mispronunciation may hinder the process of communication due to the change in the meaning of words. The subjects of the study are second level university students at Sudan University of Science and Technology. The researcher used the qualitative approach to describe and analyze the statement of the problem by using the tools of test and questionnaire. The study is analyzed via using SPSS method of analysis. The researcher found out that some students who mispronounce some English words e.g. /b/ and /p/, /s/ and /θ/, /z/ and /ð/ as well as some vowel sounds and that meaning is changeable in the sense that the changing of one sound with another can change the meaning of the word as in the word [pan] which could be pronounced as [ban] with completely a different meaning. Based on the main findings, the researcher recommended that teachers should focus on the pronunciation errors and try to correct the students and / or let the students make self – correction to their mistakes and that there should be a model loud reading for any word by the teacher in order to help the students in the course of pronunciation