CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
When it comes to public speaking contests, where language proficiency is crucial, students frequently face a common challenge: pronunciation. These competitions serve as testing ground for improving public speaking abilities and developing confidence, although pronunciation is quite difficult. Whether it's overcoming phonetic complexity, figuring out regional slang, or interpreting foreign lexicons, competitors often face obstacles that reduces their effectiveness in communication (Grieve, J., 2016).
Pronunciation encompasses the way speech sounds are articulated, including factors such as stress, intonation, and the pronunciation of individual phonemes (Syafitri, et.al, 2018). In order to achieve good communication and audience engagement, participants must learn to navigate these geographical differences (Huang et al., 2016).
Chinese English language learners encounter substantial difficulties with pronunciation because of several factors, including their age, learning style, native language's phonetic structures, and a lack of knowledge about phonology and phonetics systems. Chinese phonetics frequently makes it difficult to replicate English sounds properly (Abdurashidovna et al., 2019). Like this, English language learners in the Philippines have significant challenges with pronunciation that are impacted by the phonetic features of the Filipino languages, as well as by their age, learning style, and lack of exposure to phonology and phonetics ideas. It might be challenging to pronounce English sounds correctly due to the phonetic patterns of Filipino languages (Piorac et al., 2019).
Locally, it is observed that some students unable to participate in competitions due to pronunciation issues, experience a variety of emotions, primarily frustration and disappointment. This often leads to a decrease in their self-confidence, self-doubt, and questioning of their abilities.
This study is vital as it clarifies the distinct pronunciation difficulties encountered by English language learners in the BARMM and provides information that is essential for customized educational interventions. In the end, this study advanced language instruction methods and promote socioeconomic growth, which are two larger objectives.
https://doi.org/10.65494/pinagpalapublishing.30
