Phonemic awareness plays a crucial role in oral language development
and constitutes a foundational skill for effective pronunciation and listening
instruction in English language teaching. This qualitative case study investigates
English phonemic awareness among Indonesian pre-service English teachers, with
particular focus on (1) how students demonstrate awareness of English phoneme
structures in pronunciation and listening contexts and (2) phoneme-related
difficulties they recognize in oral language experiences. The participants were six
English Education students at UIN Antasari Banjarmasin who were undertaking
their teaching practicum. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews
and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that participants
demonstrate phonemic awareness primarily at a conceptual and reflective level,
especially following formal instruction in phonetics and phonology. Students
showed the ability to recognize English phonemes as discrete sound units and to
articulate sound-based challenges affecting their pronunciation and listening
comprehension. However, this awareness was not consistently reflected in stable
phoneme production or accurate perception during spontaneous communication.
Several recurring phoneme-related difficulties were identified, including vowel
contrast confusion, consonant substitution, weak articulation, phoneme–grapheme
mismatch, and challenges in perceiving phoneme variation across English accents.
These difficulties were perceived by participants as directly influencing their oral
performance and comprehension. The study concludes that English Education
students possess developing but incomplete phonemic awareness, which functions
more as emerging metalinguistic knowledge than as an automated communicative
skill. The findings underscore the need for explicit and sustained phonemefocused
instruction
in
teacher
education
programs
to
strengthen
pronunciation
and

listening
competence.