1) Pronunciation problems arise due to a lack of focus on pronunciation in teaching, influence of mother tongue, and inability to hear certain sounds. 2) In English, there are 44 sounds but only 26 letters, so spellings are not always a reliable guide to pronunciation. Certain letters have multiple sounds and some are sometimes silent. 3) Getting the schwa sound correct is important for accurate pronunciation. The schwa is the most common sound in English and occurs in unstressed syllables.