Arabic as a Foreign Language: Phonological Analysis of Speech Sounds Produced by Students

Awad H Alshehri

doi:10.5539/elt.v14n8p47

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to expose the potential difficulties encountered by students learning Arabic as a foreign language (AFL) with a focus on sounds production. The research design was descriptive-analytic. The data was obtained using direct recording and interviews. The sample included 27 AFL students at the Arabic Institutes at IMSIU and KSU. The work on this research is twofold: first, the paper reports on teachers&#39; and learners&#39; views on the general difficulties encountered by students learning Arabic, focusing on those in post-secondary school getting ready for tertiary education. Secondly, the paper analyzes their speech for pronunciation errors found in sounds production. The results show that learners generally had no problem expressing themselves, but they had some pronunciation issues with some specific Arabic sounds. The results also show that the students attempt different methods to overcome pronunciation difficulties. Teachers were aware of these difficulties, and they had their own methods to help improve students&#39; pronunciation of unfamiliar sounds. The findings show that traditional ways of teaching Arabic sounds are not enough, and difficulties could still exist, as shown by the phonological analysis of sounds environments. The study suggests that implementing an eclectic approach, leveraging the use of technology, could help AFLs to improve their pronunciation.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Highlights

The acronym AFL refers to Arabic as a foreign language, whose sounds may pose some difficulty to AFL students
There is an investigation and analysis of the problematic sounds met by AFL students, the teaching methods implemented and suggested by the teachers, and the learning methods adopted by the students
It must be monitored by the teacher, who is supposed to be a native speaker of Arabic or an AFL teacher with an excellent command of spoken Arabic

Summary

Introduction

The acronym AFL refers to Arabic as a foreign language, whose sounds may pose some difficulty to AFL students. AFL teachers may sense the difficulty their students encounter in learning some Arabic sounds and may find teaching these sounds quite cumbersome They would attempt to find ways to help them overcome any difficulty met. When talking about Arabic sounds, we have in mind some sounds that are very similar in their pronunciation such as /s/ (‫ )س‬and /sʕ/ (‫)ص‬, or /dʕ/ (‫ )ض‬and /ðʕ (‫ )ظ‬which can change the meaning of the word if mispronounced, impeding communication. There is an investigation and analysis of the problematic sounds met by AFL students, the teaching methods implemented and suggested by the teachers, and the learning methods adopted by the students

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion