INTRODUCTION The teaching of English as a Second language (ESL) today takes place in a wide variety of contexts with learners

coming from different language backgrounds. Every ESL classroom is influenced by various contextual factors. These include the role of English in the society, linguistic and cultural attitudes toward ESL, the school itself and the students background. In Malaysia, English is used to access the vast amount of information currently available in English and also to contribute to this knowledge base. As far as government policy is concerned, English is viewed as vital for the nations growth. Although it may not be the medium of instruction in public or private school, accessing key information in a great variety of fields is often dependent on having reading and speaking ability in English. Educational institutions in Malaysia have always focused on promoting the quality of English language program for their respective students to enhance their ability to communicate fluently in English. A better understanding of language learners can have a beneficial effect on the process of attempting to help them in learning English as a Second language. Examining learners patterns of language use, attitudes and phonology training preferences will enable us to cater for their needs and to foster proficiency in the ESL class.

Statement of problems
Pronunciation teaching and learning have not been popular with both teachers and learners. Many ESL learners are still not aware of the importance and significance of learning pronunciation. However, research from the learners perspective on learning pronunciation is still very limited. This is especially unfortunate because not many teachers give due emphasis on pronunciation while teaching English in the ESL classroom and many pronunciation learners are not satisfied with the teaching and learning process.

I faced three (3) kinds of problem in my past 7 years experiences of teaching phonics;

1. Students dont like to speak out in class As a language teacher, my students usually silence and not willing interrupted themselves with my teaching and learning activities. This was the major problems among my students because they shy and not able to answer my question during my teaching and learning activity. This occurred because of their ability to speak in English Language is low. As a teacher, I opined that pronunciation could only improve if the students used the language. However, they stressed that practice with pronunciation needed to occur within a communicative context in which language use appeared in a realistic environment. This conclusion was drawn after a lengthy discussion on the usefulness of practices with pronunciation drills that I felt students could not connect with. Therefore, I concluded that pronunciation had to form an integral part of speaking activities in the ESL classroom and it needed to be packaged in a way that offers encouragement and guidance.

2. There isnt enough time

On this point, the curricula and assessment tools in primary, secondary school downplayed pronunciation. As a teacher who teaches in a national-type primary school in a sub-urban acknowledged that pronunciation was indeed a problem for my level 2 students. However, completing what was in the syllabus was already a daunting task and introducing my young students to phonetics would only serve to make the learning of English more stressful for them. I felt that pronunciation could be integrated into the current ESL syllabus without requiring much extra time.

3. Correcting is intrusive

My experience exposed me to this kind of teaching style, that correcting my students pronunciation. For quite sometimes after I done that, they will stop to speak English Language to me and to their friend - Afraid of been corrected by me. I think that correcting my students pronunciation was an important part of teaching them English, it was interesting to note that teachers of students in upper secondary classes and also at universities often chose not to draw attention to flaws in pronunciation. I felt that correcting pronunciation would only frustrate our students more. I wonder- was there, for example, a need to follow standard pronunciation spelled out by native speakers of English? I felt that making such demands of ESL learners amounted to discrimination on the basis of accent. What was important was that teachers ensure that students are generally able to speak in a way that is easy for others to understand, though not necessarily like a native speaker. As a teacher, we had to make an effort to correct the pronunciation of our students but cautioned that it had to be done in a respectful and positive way. Ignoring problems with pronunciation was not the answer to boosting the confidence of students to speak in English.