Özet:

Segmental and suprasegmental features of English pronunciation may pose certain challenges to users from different linguistic backgrounds. In this regard, this study aims to investigate the patterns of lexical stress placement that may cause problems to Turkish L2 users of English. The data were collected from 11 participants through an elicitation instrument consisting of 45 isolated lexical items, which represent 9 typical stress patterns found in 2-syllable, 3-syllable, and 4-syllable words. The analysis was done via Praat in accordance with the acoustic correlates of the stress-accent of English speech, and the participants’ success rates were evaluated using a rubric. Findings have shown that the speakers tend to have difficulty in relatively longer items and in stress placements that are located towards word-final positions. It is accordingly argued that L2 users of English that come from a different prosodic background may need explicit instruction on concepts of stress-accent and rhythm. In this regard, the place of target language pronunciation in contemporary foreign language education is discussed in relation to focus-on-form instruction with a view to highlighting the importance of suprasegmental features in interpersonal meaning-making.

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