LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 25:11 November 2025
ISSN 1930-2940

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Innovating Pronunciation Pedagogy in the Gulf: Teacher Cognitions and Practice-Based Challenges in English Language Classrooms

Dr. Abdulghani Al-Shuaibi

Abstract

This study investigates English language teachers' beliefs, practices, and challenges related to pronunciation instruction in two Gulf countries—Oman and Qatar—where Arabic-monolingual classrooms dominate English language teaching. Grounded in Flege's Revised Speech Learning Model (SLM-r), a mixed-methods design was employed, incorporating surveys (n = 60), classroom observations (n = 10), and interviews (n = 12). While teachers valued pronunciation for communicative competence, they reported limited training, inadequate curricular focus, and institutional barriers that constrain effective instruction. Segmental features were more frequently taught, whereas suprasegmentals such as stress and intonation were often overlooked. Findings highlight a gap between teacher cognition and classroom practice, shaped by systemic limitations in pedagogical preparation and policy. The study offers theoretical insights into pronunciation input delivery and pedagogical recommendations for professional development and curriculum reform in the Gulf region.

Keywords:pronunciation instruction, teacher cognition, Gulf EFL contexts, speech learning model, segmentals, suprasegmentals, Oman, Qatar, monolingual classrooms, second language pedagogy

Introduction

Pronunciation instruction has gained renewed attention in the field of second language acquisition (SLA), particularly in contexts where English serves as both an academic requirement and a marker of social capital (Couper, 2021; Derwing & Munro, 2015). Despite a growing body of research emphasizing the role of intelligible pronunciation in communicative competence, empirical studies exploring how pronunciation is actually taught and perceived by teachers in the Gulf region remain scarce. This study focuses specifically on Oman and Qatar—two Gulf nations that share linguistic, educational, and sociocultural similarities but diverge in their institutional approaches to English language education. By investigating teacher beliefs, pedagogical practices, and classroom challenges in these two contexts, the study contributes to a more localized and comparative understanding of pronunciation pedagogy in Arabic-monolingual English classrooms.

Unlike many Western or urban cosmopolitan contexts where multilingualism is common, English language classrooms in Oman and Qatar are overwhelmingly monolingual, with Arabic as the shared first language (L1) among learners. This linguistic homogeneity presents both pedagogical opportunities and limitations. On the one hand, it allows educators to draw on shared phonological features when designing instructional interventions; on the other hand, it increases the risk of L1 transfer effects becoming fossilized—especially when pronunciation is not systematically addressed in the curriculum (Alamer & Alrabai, 2023; Dorsey, 2018). Compounding this challenge is the fact that many English language teachers in both countries have limited formal training in phonetics or pronunciation pedagogy, and they often operate under curricular frameworks that emphasize grammar and vocabulary over phonological accuracy (Algethami, & Al Kamli, 2025; Elkouz & Munoz, 2023).

The urgency of enhancing pronunciation instruction is further heightened by national policy shifts in both Oman and Qatar toward English Medium Instruction (EMI) in higher education and certain public school streams. These policies, while intended to improve global competitiveness, have inadvertently magnified existing gaps in learners’ oral proficiency—particularly in prosodic features such as stress, intonation, and rhythm, which are rarely taught explicitly (Gitsaki & Zoghbor, 2023). In both nations, pronunciation is frequently marginalized in teacher education programs and omitted from high-stakes assessments, thereby weakening its perceived instructional value and reducing the likelihood of its consistent classroom implementation.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Dr. Abdulghani Al-Shuaibi
Assistant Professor of English
English Language Division, UKM-Qatar
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8998-5962
drgani2010@gmail.com
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