Research on Iraqi EFL Learners’ Pronunciation: A Review Article

Abstract

Reviewing existing research is of paramount importance for educational policy makers, practitioners, and researchers as it plays an important role in providing an updated overview of the current research focuses and identifying gaps and needs for future research. In the current study, an attempt is made to explore the landscape of research on Iraqi EFL learners’ pronunciation. The examined corpus included 16 published research articles meeting established criteria for study selection. The included studies were scrutinized for their characteristics, design, strengths and limitations. The findings reveal that while the existing research employs a variety of research designs, collects both qualitative and quantitative data, and covers a wide spectrum of pronunciation-related issues, it is mostly limited to university undergraduate learners. Additionally, many studies suffer from small sample sizes, utilize basic data collection tools, and adopt traditional (and subjective) data analysis methods, often neglecting advanced statistical analysis techniques. The present review underscores the need for further research to diversify participants across different educational levels, increase sample sizes, conduct longitudinal studies, employ advanced analysis tools, and broaden the research focus to include interventional studies and examination of instructional methods.