Pronunciation Problems of Words’ Stress Placement in English by Saudi Students at Albaha University, Saudi Arabia. A case Study at Almandag

Abstract

This study attempts to investigate into the problems of correct words stress placement in English. Words that can be both nouns and verbs in a group of Saudi university students, in Almandag, at Albaha University. The researcher used the Descriptive Statistical Method and two tools to analyse the data, which were collected by two means: recorded and written tests. The data were then analysed by using ‘Praat soft wave’ to measure the acoustic properties of English words for the recorded test and SPSS for the written test. The study arrived at the following results: Students ignored the rules of words stress placement. they did not have sufficient practice in stress placement; and the curriculum in previous educational stages had not provided them with information on correct stress placement. The recommendations of this study are that students need to study the rules of words’ stress to distinguish between verbs and nouns. They need to know that the stress of verbs and nouns is different, so must be pronounced differently. Finally, students need more practice in correct words stress placement in daily conversations and in the classroom.