When Sounds Don’t Connect: A Phonological Analysis of Students’ Struggles in Speaking English

Abstract

Many Indonesian learners of English face significant challenges in achieving spoken fluency, even after years of formal study. This paper investigates the phonological roots of this struggle, analyzing how differences between the sound systems of Indonesian and English—such as vowel inventories, consonant clusters, and stress-timing—create barriers to intelligibility. Observations fromEFL classrooms reveal that learners often avoid speaking due to anxiety about mispronunciation, while instruction tends to prioritize grammar over phonology. Through a contrastive analysis, this study identifies common interference patterns (e.g., substitution of English /θ/ with /t/, syllable-timed rhythm) and proposes pedagogical interventions, including phonemic awareness drills, targeted listening practice, and communicative activities designed to build confidence. The findings argue for integrating explicit phonological training into EFL curricula to help learners bridge the gap between "knowing" and "speaking" English.