English Phonological Awareness and Suprasegmental Pronunciation Skills of Education Students in a State University in the Philippines

Abstract

This study examined the level of English phonological awareness, the extent of errors in intonation and stress, and the relationship between phonological awareness and pronunciation skills among selected education students in a state university in Mindanao, Philippines. Utilizing a descriptive-correlational research design, the study employed phonological and pronunciation tests, with respondents’ oral outputs recorded and analyzed through frequency counts, means, Likert scale, scoring rubrics, and the Chi-Square Test of Goodness of Fit using SPSS. Findings revealed that students demonstrated a high level of awareness across most phonemes, particularly monophthongs, diphthongs, and consonants. However, limited awareness was observed in specific phonemes such as /æ/, /đ/, and /ʒ/. Both male and female respondents showed similar and relatively low error rates in intonation and stress. Furthermore, results indicated a statistically significant relationship between phonological awareness and pronunciation skills, suggesting that enhanced awareness of English phonology contributes to improved accuracy in intonation and stress patterns in spoken English.