Error Analysis of Silent Letter Mispronunciations Among Indonesian EFL Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31849/ehnjb821Keywords:
error a, EFL learners, English orthography, pronunciation errors, Silent lettersAbstract
This study aims to investigate the pronunciation errors made by Indonesian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners when pronouncing English words containing silent letters and to explain the factors contributing to these errors. This issue is critical since English orthography often lacks a direct correspondence between graphemes and phonemes, creating significant pedagogical hurdles for non-native speakers. A descriptive-qualitative method was deployed, involving students from SMAN 12 Kota Tangerang as research participants. The instruments consisted of structured pronunciation tasks where participants were asked to pronounce 30 selected English words representing 15 distinct types of silent letters. The collected audio data were transcribed phonetically and analyzed using the Surface Strategy Taxonomy within the error analysis framework proposed by Dulay, Burt, and Krashen (1982). The results demonstrated that pronunciation errors occurred across four systematic forms: addition, misformation, omission, and misordering. The most dominant type of error was addition, where learners explicitly pronounced letters that should remain silent—such as the /b/ in subtle or the /l/ in almond. The findings revealed that these persistent errors were largely influenced by three main factors: learners’ heavy reliance on English orthography, limited exposure to authentic spoken input, and negative interlingual transfer from Bahasa Indonesia, which employs a transparent and highly phonetic spelling system. Consequently, these findings suggest that an increased focus on explicit pronunciation instruction, extensive communicative listening practice, and heightened phonetic awareness is critically needed to help Indonesian EFL learners overcome persistent phonological interference caused by silent letters in English.
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