Challenges in Teaching Pronunciation in Malaysian Secondary Schools: Novice Teacher's Perspective

Abstract

Pronunciation is a key component of speaking skill and providing students with sufficient knowledge on correct pronunciation will help to improve their overall speaking skills. However, pronunciation remains a contentious issue in English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching and learning process as teaching pronunciation has often been avoided by language teachers. There are many factors that make teaching pronunciation a challenge for teachers and can be divided into internal and external challenges. This study was conducted to examine challenges faced by teacher trainees in teaching pronunciation and ways in which these challenges were managed. This study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. A set of self-developed questionnaire with two main sections and a total of eight items was distributed to 34 teacher trainees, six of whom were interviewed to gather data for this study. Challenges in teaching pronunciation found in this study can be divided into two categories which were internal and external challenges. Internal challenges consist of i) lack of confidence, ii) lack of sufficient knowledge and iii) pedagogical issues. On the other hand, external challenges faced by novice teachers in this study included i) lack of priority, ii) limitation of time; and iii) lack of teaching materials and resources. Although novice teachers face both internal and external challenges in teaching pronunciation, three main methods were employed by the respondents to manage these challenges. The management of these challenges showed that novice teachers were aware of the importance of teaching pronunciation and therefore did not allow these challenges to become a barrier.