What is it about?
This study examines EFL learners’ perception and production of stress in suffixed English words. The objective is to investigate Arab EFL learners’ specific stress-related challenges when confronted with suffixed English words and to propose pedagogical strategies aimed at enhancing their proficiency in stress placement. The study involved a set of eighty base words, comprising forty disyllabic and forty trisyllabic words, each combined with twenty derivational suffixes categorised into four groups, with five suffixes in each. Subjects (n = 210) were initially administered a production test in which they generated the stimuli, followed by a perception test. In the perception test, subjects listened to native speaker pronunciations of the stimuli and were tasked with identifying the stressed syllable. Data analysis revealed that Arab learners encountered significant difficulties in producing suffixed words, while stress identification posed fewer challenges. Notably, subjects performed well in the perception test. However, after completing a training course focused on English stress placement, the subjects’ performance improved significantly. In light of these findings, it is recommended that academic institutions in the Arab world prioritise word stress activities within their classrooms. Additionally, leveraging available computer software and mobile applications can be a valuable resource to aid learners in mastering English word stress.
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Why is it important?
This study is important because it addresses a persistent yet underrepresented difficulty in EFL learning: accurate stress placement in morphologically complex, suffixed English words. By showing that Arab learners experience greater difficulty in production than in perception, the study refines our understanding of stress acquisition and the perception–production relationship in L2 phonology. Its evidence that targeted stress training leads to significant improvement underscores the need to prioritise explicit word-stress instruction and technology-enhanced practice in EFL curricula, particularly in Arabic-speaking contexts.
Perspectives
Theoretical perspective: The study contributes to L2 phonology by clarifying how derivational morphology interacts with lexical stress in Arab EFL learners, an area that remains underexplored in stress research. Methodological perspective: By systematically examining both perception and production across controlled suffix categories, the study provides a detailed account of stress behaviour in morphologically complex words. Pedagogical perspective: The findings demonstrate that targeted stress training substantially improves learners’ performance, supporting the integration of explicit word-stress instruction and technology-assisted practice in EFL classrooms.
Dr Safi Eldeen Alzi'abi
Isra University, Jordan
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Arab EFL learners’ stress performance on suffixed words: enhancing their lexical stress proficiency, Language Testing in Asia, November 2025, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1186/s40468-025-00413-5.
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