Challenges in Teaching Pronunciation: Secondary Level English Teachers’ Perspectives

Abstract

Effective communication hinges on accurate pronunciation, which is a crucial factor bolstering students’ speaking proficiency. Yet, the teaching of pronunciation in the realm of English as a Second/Foreign Language (EFL/ESL) remains marginalized, especially within Nepal’s secondary education landscape. This qualitative inquiry probes the multifaceted challenges facing secondary-level English instructors when teaching the pronunciation skill. Employing purposive sampling, this study chose six experienced teachers engaged in teaching secondary-level English as participants. Primary data was gathered using semi-structured interviews. Employing a thematic approach to data analysis, the study enearthed nine salient challenges, which collectively illustrate the intricacies surrounding pronunciation education. The challenges include priority conflicts, foundational inadequacies, oversight of mispronunciations, temporal constraints, educators’ limited proficiency, peer emulation, paucity of educational resources, students’ reading limitations, and limited exposure. The study proposes prioritizing pronunciation instruction, refining skills, integrating feedback, immersive practice, enriching resources, fostering reading habits, and realworld learning.

Keywords: Instruction, challenges, perspectives, pronunciation, speaking