An Assessment of EFL Learners’ Ability to Produce Semi Vowels

Semi- vowels are defined as independent vowelglides in which the speech organs start by forming a close or fairly close vowel and immediately move to another vowel of greater prominence, the initial vowel- position is not held on for any appreciable time. It is the rapid gliding nature of these sounds, combine with the use of rather weak force of exhalation, that renders them consonantal. In English there exist two semi vowels; they are represented phonetically by the letter W and J (Johns, 1936: 19).