English pronunciation difficulties of students in the sub-urban areas of Sylhet : a secondary scenario

Abstract

This research paper tries to find out the English pronunciation difficulties of Bengali medium students in the sub-urban areas of Sylhet and the possible barriers that work behind this problem. It also tries to investigate the fact that whether their local or Sylheti accent is responsible to mispronounce some particular sounds or not. It gives an introduction on a general scenario of the Bengali medium schools in sub-urban areas in Sylhet division and to what extent importance is given on pronunciation skill in there. In theoretical part, along with other theories it covers detail information about what is pronunciation, why is it important, and why is it being overlooked in our country. It also tries to bring out the responses of teacher while teaching pronunciation and the reasons of English pronunciation difficulties of Bengali medium students of overall Bangladesh and particularly in Sylhet area. A survey has conducted among some Bengali medium schools in Sylhet, to finds out the possible barriers that demotivate them to develop their pronunciation skills. The data of the survey was collected from both the students and teachers and it shows the reasons that prominently responsible for this problem. Finally, this paper concluded with some possible solution to overcome the pronunciation difficulties in the sub-urban areas of Sylhet.