An Analysis Of EFL Students’ Difficulties In Speech Perception: A Qualitative Study On Misheard Minimal Pairs
Keywords:
Speech Perception, Minimal Pairs, Indonesian EFL, Vowel Contrast, Phonological AwarenessAbstract
Perception of speech is a fundamental skill in EFL learning that is very challenging for Indonesian learners due to the limitations of their L1 vocal system. Although previous studies have mostly used quantitative accuracy measurements, qualitative exploration of authentic experiences in the classroom is still limited, especially for university-level EFL students in the context of psycholinguistics. This study investigates the difficulties of fifth-semester English Education students at Nias University in perceiving minimal vowel pairs through a descriptive qualitative design. Data from 15 purposive sampling participants were collected through a minimal pairs listening test (20 items), semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. The results show the highest error rates of 87% for /ɪ/–/iː/ (ship-sheep) and 80% for /ʊ/–/uː/ (full-fool), caused by the Indonesian vowel system, which has only five monophthongs without length/tension contrast. Internal factors included L1 phonological interference and cognitive load, while external factors included poor classroom audio quality and environmental noise. Students relied more on context-based top-down strategies than bottom-up phonetic analysis. These findings reveal patterns of vowel perception difficulties characteristic of Indonesian EFL in an authentic learning context.
Downloads
References
Firdaus, Meisya Ivone. 2019. Listening Comprehension Strategies Used by EFL Students in State University of Surabaya. Vol. 7.
Flege, James Emil, Katsura Aoyama, and Ocke-Schwen Bohn. n.d. The Revised Speech Learning Model (SLM-r) Applied.
Georgiou, Georgios P. 2023. “Nonverbal Intelligence Does Matter for the Perception of Second Language Sounds.” Psych 5(1):123–32. doi:10.3390/psych5010012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/psych5010012
Holt, Lori L. 2025. “Speech Perception Is Speech Learning.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 34(4):218–24. doi:10.1177/09637214251318726. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214251318726
Kajiura et., al. 2023. Fast-Rate Multimodal Training Improves L2 Fast-Rate Multimodal Training Improves L2 Listening and Fast-Speech Adjusting Skills Names and Contact Information for All Authors Fast-Rate Multimodal Training Improves L2 Listening and Fast-Speech Adjusting Skills 2 3. https://ssrn.com/abstract=4467038. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4467038
Kogan, Vita V, and Joan C. Mora. 2022. The Effects of Individual Differences in Native Perception on Discrimination of a Novel Non-Native Contrast. https://doi.org/10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16995/labphon.6431
Lee, Kyunga, and Hyunkee Ahn. 2025. “Blended Phonetic Training with HVPT Features for EFL Children: Effects on L2 Perception and Listening Comprehension.” doi:10.3390/languages. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/languages10060122
Mackey et., al. 2022. Second Language Research. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003188414
Rakat, Bilqisti, Ika Handayani, and Delsa Miranty. 2024. “The Effectiveness of Using Minimal Pairs towards Students’ Pronunciation Mastery.” Journal of English Language Teaching and Cultural Studies 7(1):1–13. doi:10.48181/jelts.v7i1.22262. DOI: https://doi.org/10.48181/jelts.v7i1.22262
Rocabado, Francisco, Gianna Schmitz, and Jon Andoni Duñabeitia. 2025. “You Can Stand Under My Umbrella: Cognitive Load in Second-Language Reading.” Behavioral Sciences 15(8). doi:10.3390/bs15081051. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15081051
Sailuddin, Sartika Putri, Zainal Rafli, Muhammad Kamal, and Abdul Hakim. 2025. “Audio versus Multimodal Input: A Case Study of Speech Perception among Learners in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Context.” Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities 8:2025. doi:10.34050/elsjish.v8i4.49140.
Segretin, María Soledad, Gonzalo Daniel, and Tan Shaojie. n.d. Systematic Literature Review on Audio-Visual Multimodal Input in Listening Comprehension.
Tang, Chuanhong, Danfeng Huang, and Andrew K. F. Cheung. 2025. “Cognitive Constraints in Bilingual Processing an Entropy-Based Discrimination between Translation and Second Language Production.” Frontiers in Psychology 16. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1503147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1503147
Uchihara, Takumi, Michael Karas, and Ron I. Thomson. 2025. “High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT): A Meta-Analysis of L2 Perceptual Training Studies.” Studies in Second Language Acquisition 47(3):794–827. doi:10.1017/S0272263125100879. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263125100879
Yani Lubis, Afrohul Fadhillah Batubara, and Jihan Aldie Fathani. 2023. “Understanding English Minimal Pairs of Vowel.” CENDEKIA: Jurnal Ilmu Sosial, Bahasa Dan Pendidikan 3(3):164–75. doi:10.55606/cendikia.v3i3.1424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55606/cendikia.v3i3.1424
Zhang, Ye, Rong Ding, Diego Frassinelli, Jyrki Tuomainen, Sebastian Klavinskis-Whiting, and Gabriella Vigliocco. 2023. “The Role of Multimodal Cues in Second Language Comprehension.” Scientific Reports 13(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-023-47643-2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47643-2
