Mother Tongue Influence on ESL Pronunciation: Best Practices for Teachers and Learners

Abstract

Language is a system of arbitrary symbol-based communication that conveys concepts, knowledge, feelings and wants. Language connects feelings, ideas and thoughts. Language is one tool for communication. The current study was designed to investigate the perception of teachers’ and learners’ about mother tongue influence on pronunciation. The study was descriptive in nature. The population of the study was teachers and ESL learners at The Islamia University of Bahawalpur. In this study two research instruments were used for mother tongue influence on ESL pronunciation: best practices for Teachers and ESL learners were consisted of 10 close ended questions on five point Likert scale.  The sample size was 30 teachers and 150 ESL learners were randomly selected. Data were collected it was analyzed by using SPSS software, which is statistical tool for social sciences. The results of the study indicate languages are capable of communication, many people choose to converse in English. People who do not speak English as their mother tongue also utilize it. Teaching English is vitally important in this era of globalization. The only universally understood official language in the world is English. There has been much discussion on the impact of the mother tongue on English language instruction and acquisition. Variations in spelling, symbols, and phonemes lead to mispronunciation mistakes. Using the model voice of a native speaker, the students should constantly practice these sound patterns using a native speaker's model voice. These actions will eliminate the mother tongue's influence on English language instruction and learning, accelerating the language acquisition process.