Overview of English-learners' pronunciation
Non-native pronunciations of English result from the common linguistic phenomenon in which non-native speakers of any language tend to transfer the intonation, phonological processes and pronunciation rules of their first language into their English speech. They may also create innovative pronunciations not found in the speaker's native language.
Overview.
Non-native English speakers may pronounce words differently than native speakers either because they apply the speech rules of their mother tongue to English ("interference") or through implementing strategies similar to those used in first language acquisition. They may also create innovative pronunciations for English sounds not found in the speaker's first language.
The extent to which native speakers can identify a non-native accent is linked to the age at which individuals begin to immerse themselves in a language. Scholars disagree on the precise nature of this link, which might be influenced by a combination of factors, including: neurological plasticity, cognitive development, motivation, psychosocial states, formal instruction, language learning aptitude, and the usage of their first (L1) and second (L2) languages.
English is unusual in that speakers rarely produce an audible release between consonant clusters and often overlap constriction times. Speaking English with a timing pattern that is dramatically different may lead to speech that is difficult to understand.
Phonological differences between a speaker's native language and English often lead to neutralization of distinctions in their English. Moreover, differences in sound inventory or distribution can result in difficult English sounds being substituted or dropped entirely. This is more common when the distinction is subtle between English sounds or between a sound of English and of a speaker's native language. While there is no evidence to suggest that a simple absence of a sound or sequence in one language's phonological inventory makes it difficult to learn, several theoretical models have presumed that non-native speech perceptions reflect both the abstract phonological properties and phonetic details of the native language.
Non-native speech patterns can be passed on to the children of learners, who will then exhibit some of the same characteristics despite being native speakers themselves. For example, this process has resulted in many of the distinctive qualities of Irish English and Highland English which were heavily influenced by a Goidelic substratum.
Examples.
Arabic.
General features among most or all Arabic speakers:
E.g. "phase" can be pronounced like "face" (even though Catalan has both and phonemes).
E.g. "stop" being pronounced "estop".
E.g. "instant" being pronounced "instan"
E.g. "the blackbird" vs. "the black bird."
E.g. "with sugar or without sugar?" (the second "sugar" is more heavily stressed)
Czech.
These are the most common characteristics of the Czech pronunciation of English:
Dutch.
These are some of the most notable features a Dutch speaker might have:
Indonesian.
The following are some characteristics of the English pronunciation by Indonesian speakers:
Italian.
Studies on Italian speakers' pronunciation of English revealed the following characteristics:
In addition, Italians learning English have a tendency to pronounce words as they are spelled, so that "walk" is , "guide" is , and "boiled" is . This is also true for loanwords borrowed from English as "water" (water closet), which is pronounced instead of .
Portuguese.
Brazilian speakers of English as a second language are likely to exhibit several non-standard pronunciation features, including:
E.g. "the blackbird." vs. "the black bird."
E.g. "with sugar or without sugar?" 
(the second "sugar" is more heavily stressed)
Vietnamese.
Note: There are three main dialects of Vietnamese, a northern one centered on Hanoi, a central one centered on Huế, and a southern one centered on Ho Chi Minh City.
References.
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