Perception of English lexical stress: some insights for English pronunciation lessons for Iraqi ESL learners
One basic factor that influences perception of lexical stress is the number of syllables found in the word and the syllable weight as lexical stress is often assigned to heavy syllables. However, what is considered as a heavy syllable is language specific and this causes problems when two different...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universiti Putra Malaysia Press
2018
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66273/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66273/1/15%20JSSH-3116-2018.pdf |
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| author | Al-Thalab, Hasan Shaban Ali Yap, Ngee Thai Nimehchisalem, Vahid Rafik-Galea, Shameem |
| author_facet | Al-Thalab, Hasan Shaban Ali Yap, Ngee Thai Nimehchisalem, Vahid Rafik-Galea, Shameem |
| author_sort | Al-Thalab, Hasan Shaban Ali |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | One basic factor that influences perception of lexical stress is the number of syllables found in the word and the syllable weight as lexical stress is often assigned to heavy syllables. However, what is considered as a heavy syllable is language specific and this causes problems when two different language systems interact as in the case of second language learning. This paper reports the findings of a study that examined the identification of lexical stress by ESL learners to identify specific syllable structure in English that may pose difficulty to Iraqi learners of English. The results showed that Iraqi Arabic subjects performed poorer in trisyllabic words compared to disyllabic words. High error rates were obtained when the words had two superheavy syllables or two or more equally heavy syllable. Words with long vowels and final consonant clusters, considered as superheavy syllables, often attract stress in Iraqi Arabic but the distribution of such syllables is often more restricted in Arabic. However this is not the case in English and this difference in the distribution of heavy and superheavy syllables influences perception of lexical stress among Iraqi ESL learners. The results show that Iraqi Arabic learners' ability to correctly identify lexical stress is influenced by their native language experience, in particular the L1 stress patterns and strong dependence on syllable structure in lexical stress assignment in Iraqi Arabic. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T11:27:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-66273 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T11:27:05Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Universiti Putra Malaysia Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-662732019-02-12T07:01:34Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66273/ Perception of English lexical stress: some insights for English pronunciation lessons for Iraqi ESL learners Al-Thalab, Hasan Shaban Ali Yap, Ngee Thai Nimehchisalem, Vahid Rafik-Galea, Shameem One basic factor that influences perception of lexical stress is the number of syllables found in the word and the syllable weight as lexical stress is often assigned to heavy syllables. However, what is considered as a heavy syllable is language specific and this causes problems when two different language systems interact as in the case of second language learning. This paper reports the findings of a study that examined the identification of lexical stress by ESL learners to identify specific syllable structure in English that may pose difficulty to Iraqi learners of English. The results showed that Iraqi Arabic subjects performed poorer in trisyllabic words compared to disyllabic words. High error rates were obtained when the words had two superheavy syllables or two or more equally heavy syllable. Words with long vowels and final consonant clusters, considered as superheavy syllables, often attract stress in Iraqi Arabic but the distribution of such syllables is often more restricted in Arabic. However this is not the case in English and this difference in the distribution of heavy and superheavy syllables influences perception of lexical stress among Iraqi ESL learners. The results show that Iraqi Arabic learners' ability to correctly identify lexical stress is influenced by their native language experience, in particular the L1 stress patterns and strong dependence on syllable structure in lexical stress assignment in Iraqi Arabic. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2018 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66273/1/15%20JSSH-3116-2018.pdf Al-Thalab, Hasan Shaban Ali and Yap, Ngee Thai and Nimehchisalem, Vahid and Rafik-Galea, Shameem (2018) Perception of English lexical stress: some insights for English pronunciation lessons for Iraqi ESL learners. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 26 (them. Dec.). pp. 209-224. ISSN 0128-7702; ESSN: 2231-8534 http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JSSH%20Vol.%2026%20(T)%20Dec.%202018/15%20JSSH-3116-2018.pdf |
| spellingShingle | Al-Thalab, Hasan Shaban Ali Yap, Ngee Thai Nimehchisalem, Vahid Rafik-Galea, Shameem Perception of English lexical stress: some insights for English pronunciation lessons for Iraqi ESL learners |
| title | Perception of English lexical stress: some insights for English pronunciation lessons for Iraqi ESL learners |
| title_full | Perception of English lexical stress: some insights for English pronunciation lessons for Iraqi ESL learners |
| title_fullStr | Perception of English lexical stress: some insights for English pronunciation lessons for Iraqi ESL learners |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perception of English lexical stress: some insights for English pronunciation lessons for Iraqi ESL learners |
| title_short | Perception of English lexical stress: some insights for English pronunciation lessons for Iraqi ESL learners |
| title_sort | perception of english lexical stress: some insights for english pronunciation lessons for iraqi esl learners |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66273/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66273/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66273/1/15%20JSSH-3116-2018.pdf |