The academic paper titled "The Use of Stress in English Among Undergraduate Students at Zarqa University" focuses on identifying the most frequent types of word stress errors made by first-year and fourth-year undergraduate students at Zarqa University. It also seeks to explore the factors contributing to these errors from the students' perspectives.
The purpose of the study is to reveal which types of word stress errors are most common among students at different stages of their university education and to understand the underlying causes of these errors. The study is significant as it aims to help educators and curriculum designers address these issues, ultimately improving students' pronunciation skills.
The methodology involves interviews with 30 undergraduate students from the Department of English Language and Literature at Zarqa University, with 15 students from the first year and 15 from the fourth year. The students were asked to prepare and read a task of 46 English words aloud. Their readings were recorded, and stress assignment errors were identified. Additionally, 12 students with the most errors were interviewed to explore the reasons behind their incorrect stress placement.
The key findings reveal that first-year students made more stress errors than fourth-year students, with compound adjectives being the most problematic, followed by two-syllable nouns. Lack of practice was identified as the most significant factor contributing to these errors, followed by inadequate knowledge of syllabic structure, mother tongue interference, mispronunciation of vowels, the method of teaching stress, and low student motivation.
In conclusion, the study highlights the importance of practice and proper instruction in improving English pronunciation among Arab students. The findings suggest that targeted teaching strategies and increased practice opportunities could help students overcome difficulties with English stress patterns, thereby enhancing their overall communicative competence.