Examining the Challenges Encountered by Iraqi College Students Learning English as a Foreign Language in Word-Based Vowel Transcription

Abstract

This study seeks to examine the challenges
encountered by Iraqi EFL college students in transcribing
triphthongs and diphthongs in words. This paper intends to
address answers to those questions: 1. How and what challenges
do Iraqi EFL college students encounter in transcribing
triphthong and diphthong sounds? 2. What errors do Iraqi EFL
college students commit when transcribing English words that
contain triphthongs and diphthongs? The objectives supposed
to be fulfilled regarding the current investigation, the upcoming
approaches are formulated: Iraqi EFL college students
encounter challenges in English phonetic transcription,
particularly with triphthong and diphthong sounds. Iraqi EFL
college students struggle to differentiate between the phonetic
symbols of diphthongs and triphthongs during English word
transcription. To validate the study's hypotheses, the researcher
conducted a test involving groups of students. The sample for
this study comprised 25 students from the Department of
English at Al-Imam Kadhim College for the academic year
2020-2021. The study's findings indicate that Iraqi EFL college
learners excel in selecting symbols to complete word
transcriptions or to identify the correct transcription by circling
it; however, they struggle when tasked with transcribing the
provided words themselves. The findings indicate that students
perform significantly better in transcribing diphthong vowels in
words compared to triphthong vowels.