The Acquisition of Parameters for Word Stress Production and Perception among Iraqi EFL Learners: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This study investigates the acquisition of the parameters of word stress production and perception by 10 Iraqi learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). It aims at investigating Iraqi learners’ difficulties in resetting the parameters of word stress production and perception in L2. Two experiments are conducted to test the learners’ production and perception of word stress in isolation and in sentences. The first experiment is the production test and the second one is the perception test. The learners’ responses of word stress in both experimental tasks are elicited manually and analysed according to [7] model of metrical parameters   which is used to investigate the acquisition of parameters of word stress production and perception by Iraqi learners. The findings reveal that Iraqi EFL learners are able to reset the parameters of L2 but even though they failed in resetting all the parameters completely. Besides, the learners used more ranking level kinds of the parameters in the perception task than in the production task which may cause Iraqi learners assign wrongly the word stress placement.