An Analysis of Pronunciation Accuracy and Errors among EFL Students at SMP Negeri 1 Sirombu: A Phonological Perspective

Abstract

This small-scale study analyzes English word-stress accuracy and recurrent pronunciation errors produced by three EFL students (coded A, B, and C) at SMP Negeri 1 Sirombu. The dataset consists of a 50-item word list with 2- to 5-syllable words. Students read the list aloud, and their productions were transcribed in IPA and compared to the target stress placement. Quantitative results show moderate overall stress accuracy for Student A (26/50; 52%) and Student B (27/50; 54%), but substantially lower accuracy for Student C (14/50; 28%). Accuracy was highest on disyllabic words and decreased as syllable count increased, especially for tetrasyllabic and pentasyllabic items. Error analysis indicates systematic stress retraction or advancement, with a strong tendency to shift stress rightward (e.g., from first to second/third syllable) and to over-stress late syllables in morphologically complex words (e.g., -ate, -ity). From a phonological perspective, the patterns are consistent with limited lexical stress representations, orthographic influence, and possible L1 transfer from Bahasa Indonesia, which lacks contrastive lexical stress. The paper concludes with pedagogical implications, including explicit stress instruction, listening discrimination, and guided phonetic drilling to build suprasegmental awareness.