This research was undertaken with the purpose of determining the degree of appropriateness with which junior students majoring in English as a second language at Veraguas University Branch pronounced some contrastive and non- contrastive segments and some phonological features of English that make up the backbone of the phonological system of this language. A good articulation and pronunciation of the target language sounds will ensure an effective communication which can olny take place if speakers are able to encode and decode the actual and the intended message of interlocutors; in this sense, pronunciation is of fundamental impórtance in achievement this objective. Therefore, taking into account the trendy movement of Education in Panama towards a more bilingual country, this paper aimed at analyzing first, the ocurrence of pronunciations of utterances and the assigning of non-contrastive features to the segments; second, determining the degree of first language interference or transfer; and finally, discussing the impact of proper instruction regarding the sound system of the English language. To conduct this research, a sample of 10 out of a population of 25 junior English students from the University of Panama, Veraguas Branch were randomly selected to participate in this study. The instrument used to collect information was a reading consisting of a seven-line poem which depicted a midwestern pronunciation from the United States. They were recorded using a video camera and tape recorder to determine the position of their articulators while they were reading. After the analysis of the reading, these students demonstated a very inaccurate production of some contrastive (in vowels) and non-contrastive English sounds and some phonological features of the language, and a heavy influence of their first language. This has serious implications for the teaching of the sound system of the English language in English schools, since communication, which is the orientation of most English programs in this country, may not be achieved if we continue neglecting the fundamentals of a right pronunciation of English in universities.
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