Identifying Pronunciation Challenges for Cantonese EFL Learners: A Focus on Intelligibility

Abstract

This study investigates the intelligibility of Cantonese-accented English by examining segmental pronunciation errors and their impact on native English listeners’ ability to accurately transcribe spoken sentences. Building on a previous production experiment, this research focuses on identifying which vowel and consonant mispronunciations most hinder intelligibility. Ten native English listeners transcribed 1,000 sentences produced by Cantonese speakers, and transcription accuracy was calculated for each target sound. The results reveal that dark /l/ (e.g., “cold”), final consonants like /g/ (e.g., “bag”), and the vowel /æ/ (e.g., “pan”) had the lowest accuracy rates, while sounds like /n/ (e.g., “no”) and /ʃ/ (e.g., “sheep”) were consistently transcribed correctly. These findings highlight the importance of targeting specific pronunciation difficulties in Cantonese EFL learners to improve intelligibility. The study supports the prioritization of intelligibility over accent reduction in pronunciation instruction, providing practical implications for teaching pronunciation in Cantonese-speaking contexts.