Abstract
The extant studies addressing second language phonetic perception assume that second language phonemes are perceived to be similar to first language phonemes, and tend to be substituted by learners of English as a foreign language. This study aimed to assess the perceptual relationship between the phonemes of English and the sound units of Omani Arabic of the Al-Dakhiliyah region to discover the extent of the influence exerted by Omani Arabic on the perception of English phonemes by Omani learners. Two instruments were constructed to achieve this goal: first, the Omani phonetic system was elucidated via a questionnaire and the consonants and vowels uttered by the Omani people were archived as a phonetic dialect; second, a test was created to examine the perceptual phonetic distance between Omani Arabic and English phonemes. This investigation was designed to test the hypothesis of the revised speech learning model. The results confirmed the model’s postulation that learners instinctively and reflexively associate the second language sounds to the phonetic groups of their first language.
Highlights
A literature survey on Omani Arabic (OA) dialects revealed a scant number of studies in this area. As-Sammer (2010), Holes (1989), Jayakar (1889), Rhodokanakis (1908) and a few other researchers have studied some features of the phonology, morphology and grammar of OA dialects
This study explored the extent to which the segmental phonological characteristics of OA L1 interfered with the perceptions of Omani English as a foreign language (EFL) learners about English phonemes
The present study aimed to examine the reorganisation of phonetic systems over individual life-spans in response to phonetic inputs received during natural L2 learning
Summary
A literature survey on Omani Arabic (OA) dialects revealed a scant number of studies in this area. As-Sammer (2010), Holes (1989), Jayakar (1889), Rhodokanakis (1908) and a few other researchers have studied some features of the phonology, morphology and grammar of OA dialects. A literature survey on Omani Arabic (OA) dialects revealed a scant number of studies in this area. As-Sammer (2010), Holes (1989), Jayakar (1889), Rhodokanakis (1908) and a few other researchers have studied some features of the phonology, morphology and grammar of OA dialects. Omani dialects have almost identical grammars; notable differences occur in phonetics, phonology and morphology. English and Arabic are two characteristically different languages, apropos their phonological systems. The phonological features of both languages are similar in some respects and distinctive in others. The outcomes obtained by previously conducted investigations indicate that Omani college students studying English as a foreign language (EFL) encounter remarkable pronunciation-related difficulties both in the segmental and the suprasegmental aspects
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