36HOW TO TEACH THE PRONUNCIATION PROBLEMS OF UZBEK LEARNERS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Muhabbat Sakbaeva
Lecturer of Termez State University
ABSTRACT
As demonstrated by an increasing global study body, teaching and learning in English as a second language and English as a foreign language contexts are mainly overlooked [1; 5; 12; 14; 16] EP shares the same modest status in Uzbekistan in different countries around the globe. Like most other nations in the globe, Uzbekistan has historically used "teacher-centered, book-centered, and grammar-translation techniques" to teach EFL, where students showed "a good deal of reliance on the teacher" [2; 3]. Activities of learning and teaching place excellent emphasis on grammar, reading and writing, while educators and learners seemed to ignore oral skills. Therefore, EP became a language learning element that was not essential and was dedicated to it for a short time. At that moment, the primary purpose of studying and teaching was to pass exams or obtain certificates. This strategy resulted in "learners being able to obtain the greatest results in the tests but failing to demonstrate their excellence in performance in actual life" [4]. In Uzbekistan's modern EFL, many educators no longer depend solely on grammar translation techniques, but complement them with other learning techniques, recognizing English to play an increasingly important role. EP has now gained more attention in Uzbek communications with the outside world, as Uzbek people understand it is a key factor that can assist contribute to their successful English communication. EP is not simple to learn, however, particularly from Uzbeks. Scholars have shown that while Uzbek learners spend many years in college domestically learning English, foreigners still find it difficult to understand.
Keywords: pronunciation, global, ESL, simple, college
Many studies have been performed in an effort to explain what makes EP so hard for Uzbek people to master, and most of them concentrate on the phonological distinctions between English and Uzbek. Therefore, this research seeks to explore the objectives and problems that learners and educators have when learning and teaching EP. Ultimately, this research hopes to shed light on EP elements in kindergartens that could make learning
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and teaching methods easier. My personal teaching experience and observations are based on a strong motivation for this research. All that I learned in my English teaching career came through my Uzbek English teachers, and my EP is no exception. I rarely used English to explain things to my students in my very first years of teaching as I myself thought my EP didn't sound great enough. Many years later, I used English more frequently and felt more comfortable and confident in speaking it to my learners of all ages from all areas of Uzbekistan, although I knew my EP still required enhancement for some. I knew that because of my own longstanding exposure to and use of English, that important shift occurred to me. It was not a matter of my EP understanding such as phonology, phonemes or stress and intonation, but rather a matter of trust, self-esteem or private attitude and faith in my oral English abilities; Efforts to use English in my actual life activities; and the effect of social and cultural circumstances linked to the whole setting in which my English could be used. I thought other learners might have the same trouble as I had with EP, including my own students, or their problems might be even more severe. Every day, I witnessed my students struggling with English oral skills, some hated it, some liked it, but didn't know how to enhance. They spent many years studying English, but what they usually accomplished was some understanding of grammar and vocabulary-even a single term in English was rarely heard. Many of my learners complained that they knew how to pronounce a word, but it became a totally distinct word when they opened their mouths to create that word. They told me to clarify why they had such problems, why they spent years studying English, but there was no improvement in their English, and requested me to demonstrate them how to know English well. I really want to do something to assist them with their EP with all that I've seen and heard from my learners. The second objective is to fill a gap left unaddressed by previous research focusing on the phonological and phonemic aspects of EP, rather than the use of English in specific everyday contexts where factors such as attitudes, perceptions and beliefs are crucial to language development. The other sees language as a type of social exercise, that is, as inseparable from many human activities, as being used as an essential part of it ". With respect to the former perspective, language is officially defined as "the spoken or written communication scheme used by a nation, individuals, community, etc. [5], or ' a set of (finite or endless) phrases, each finite in duration and built from a finite set of components. In reality, the nature of language is very complicated" [7]; It is also perceived as "a communication instrument.... To achieve ends that
go beyond the language itself "[8], and language does not consist
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of sentences; it consists of text or discourse-the exchange of meanings in interpersonal contexts of one kind or another. Language is seen by this last definition as a cultural semiotic, that is, "language within a socio-cultural framework in which culture itself is interpreted in semiotic terms" [9]. It is evident that studies on EP teaching and learning have, with sounds, words and phrases (i.e. language as a scheme), placed the primary focus on the language itself. With sounds, words and phrases (i.e. as a system language). Factors linked to the teaching and learning of EP in a socio-cultural context (i.e. English as social exercise) were mainly unexplored and therefore need to be investigated through studies. Because of "traditional pedagogy [in Uzbekistan] emphasizing the acquisition of grammar and vocabulary rather than communicative skills," a large number of graduates with years of learning English still have such poor English listening and speaking skills that they cannot put them to practical use, for instance, to take up a place in Uzbek-based overseas business. With the desire for a better career future, many Uzbek learners are turning to enhance their English oral skills. Fourthly, my thesis aims to find responses to three primary issues of studies: 1. What is Uzbek learners ' primary objective in terms of English pronunciation teaching? 2. What are the problems encountered by Uzbek English learners and educators when learning and teaching English pronunciation? 3. Who thinks Uzbek learners / teachers can best teach Uzbek learners English pronunciation? Why? By answering these questions, this study seeks first of all to obtain a greater knowledge of what is really the primary objective of students in studying EP whether they want to attain native pronunciation or just intelligible English, defined "as to what extent the speaker's voice signal can be recognized as the words the speaker meant to generate"[10]. Then recognize the problems that learners and educators experience when learning and teaching EP; and finally whether local or foreign professors are regarded to be Uzbek students ' best EP professors. Hopefully, the results will provide better data to all two stakeholders to comprehend each other's issues and determine if learners need to revisit their objective; Learn and set realistic and achievable objectives, and eventually whether it is time for a fresh socio-cultural strategy to teach EP in Uzbekistan to be implemented. As mentioned above, a great deal of research has been conducted worldwide to demonstrate the phonological and phonemic differences between English and L1 to help learners understand better what EP is with the hope of gaining a higher English level. This understanding is undoubtedly essential and crucial for any English learner. Knowing EP with understanding of sounds, words, phrases and phrases alone is not enough, however, as there are many variables
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that can have a significant effect on EP learning and teaching, such as learning correct EP from the very young preschool ages, learning and teaching techniques, the language environment for English practice and use, or the confidence of educators.
"Pronunciation was not given due attention in the field of language education despite being recognized as a significant element of linguistic learning" [11; 12; 14; 16]. Pronunciation is undeniably a significant element of second language learning, It's function in English programs differs significantly, and its time depends mainly on the language educators themselves, and there is no assurance that pronunciation is part of periodic class and student self-study activities. Even long before the beginning of the communicative age, many scientists argued that pronunciation was not given as much attention as other abilities [1]. For instance, pronunciation was the "Cinderella of linguistic learning", i.e., kept out of sight and behind doors. Likewise, echo that pronunciation suffered from "the syndrome of Cinderella" [6]. Pronunciation as "an orphan in English worldwide programs" [18]. Scientists have clearly acknowledged that pronunciation teaching in English language schools is not typically what it should or might be, and there may be deep consequences for learners. "Pronunciation is perhaps the most open to judgment linguistic feature. As a most noticeable phenomenon of surface structure, one's accent readily evokes the biases of people. For the same reason, pronunciation was the language training element that was most prescriptively taught [5]. Teaching pronunciation has never been a simple job and even experienced and well-trained non-native English speaking educators may feel insecure about the scenario where they use their own speech as a learning practice template [16]. As a consequence, many English language educators tend to prevent teaching pronunciation as they lack abilities, understanding and trust. In addition to these problems, Burgess and Spencer claim that educators are faced with many problems in teaching English pronunciation, including selecting pronunciation characteristics; The ordering of the chosen characteristics; the type(s) of discourse in which pronunciation is to be practiced; the selection of techniques to produce the most efficient outcomes; and the quantity of detail to be used at distinct phases. Burgess and Spencer also claim that marking the distinction between phonology and pronunciation when it comes to teaching English pronunciation is essential and helpful.
REFERENCES
[1] Ahmad, J. (2011). Pronunciation Problems among Saudi Learners: A Case Study at the Preparatory Year Program, Najran
University Saudi Arabia. Language in India, 11(7).
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[2] Beinhoff, B. (2014). Perceiving Intelligibility and Accentedness in Non-Native Speech: A Look at Proficiency Levels. Concordia Working Papers in Applied Linguistics
[3] Brown, A. (1992). A survey of attitudes and teaching practices related to pronunciation teaching. Professional Development Unit, Adult Migrant Education Service-WA.
[4] Burgess, J., & Spencer, S. (2000). Phonology and pronunciation in integrated language teaching and teacher education. System, 28(2), 191-215.
[5] Canagarajah, S. (2005). Editor's note. TESOL Quarterly, 39, 365-366.
[6] Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J. M. (1996). Teaching pronunciation: A reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages. Cambridge University Press.
[7] Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton.
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