Achieving Speaking Proficiency For Professionals: Segmental And Suprasegmental Challenges

Indonesian professionals face significant challenges in achieving English-speaking proficiency due to phonological hurdles encompassing segmental and suprasegmental aspects. Difficulties with consonant sounds (/θ/ and /v/), vowel quality, stress patterns, and intonation impede effective communication, impacting clarity, comprehension, and professionalism. Initial observation shows that there has been an increase of awareness of professionals to improve their speaking proficiency for professional purposes. Yet, the baseline reveals insufficient proficiency of their speaking. This study examines common segmental and suprasegmental errors that prevent professionals from better speaking proficiency. For the purpose, this descriptive qualitative study involves 235 professionals as participants. A set of questionnaires and records of their speaking voice are used as source of data. For robust analysis, error analysis is also applied for phonological issue encountered by the participants. Results show that difficulty with /v/ sound, misplacement of word stress, intonation errors, difficulty with /θ/ sound and vowel reduction are still a struggle for them to achieve the expected speaking proficiency