Arabic is the official language in 22 countries, which also for the Arab league. It is also the second major language in Chad, Israel, Chechnya, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkenistan, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Djibouti and Mauritania. In addition, Arabic is the language of the holy Quran, all Muslims irrespective of nationality are to some degree familiar with Arabic, and therefore influenced by how language works.
The formal Arabic language is knows as Al-Fusha or Classical Arabic, which is the language used in the Quran and is considered as the foundation of the syntactic and grammatical norms of Arabic. Al-Fusha remains widely used by scholars, poets and taught in schools. Today, it’s considered more of a written language …show more content…
There are many differences in between English and Arabic phonemic systems. One of the differences is the vowel system. There are only three vowels in Arabic, /a/ /i/ /u/. These vowels are marked by diacritic on the letters and at times are unwritten. The vowels are not part of the Arabic alphabetic or spelling, they are inferred from context. The vowels are also use to determine the inflectional categorise, i.e. tense, number and gender. The vowels perform a morphophonemic function in Arabic word formation (Hayat 2005, Alan 1997). Related studies report that Arabic speaking learners of English commonly have problems with the English vowels (Munro 1993, Brett 2004). Arab learners also have difficulties with pronouncing the English consonants /p/, /v/, /s, /z/, /d/, /ð/, /θ/, /dʒ/, /ŋ/ (Val Barros …show more content…
I will discuss the reasons why Arabic speaking English learners have difficulties with word stress. English stress can be used to distinguish meaning where in Arabic this is not possible. For example the noun permit (/ˈpəːmɪt/) and verb permit (/pəˈmɪt/) is distinguished by the stress. Arabic is a stress timed language and predictable. Therefore learners have difficulties in comprehending the unpredictable English stress
Previous studies of phonotactics
Researchers have carried out studies on the errors and problems faced by Arab learners of English, such as Al-Shuaibi (2009), Binturki (2008), Barros (2003), Wahba (1998), Altaha (1995), Kharma & Hajjaj (1989), Abdul Haq (1982), Harrison, Prator and Tucker (1975). Majority of the studies were focussed on phonology, morphology and syntax.
Al-Shuaibi(2009) study focuses on phonotactics, and finds that learners have problems in pronouncing English initial consonant clusters having three members, and final consonant cluster of three and four members. The study showed some processes Arab learners of English used in pronunciation of the clusters; reduction, deletion and
The formal Arabic language is knows as Al-Fusha or Classical Arabic, which is the language used in the Quran and is considered as the foundation of the syntactic and grammatical norms of Arabic. Al-Fusha remains widely used by scholars, poets and taught in schools. Today, it’s considered more of a written language …show more content…
There are many differences in between English and Arabic phonemic systems. One of the differences is the vowel system. There are only three vowels in Arabic, /a/ /i/ /u/. These vowels are marked by diacritic on the letters and at times are unwritten. The vowels are not part of the Arabic alphabetic or spelling, they are inferred from context. The vowels are also use to determine the inflectional categorise, i.e. tense, number and gender. The vowels perform a morphophonemic function in Arabic word formation (Hayat 2005, Alan 1997). Related studies report that Arabic speaking learners of English commonly have problems with the English vowels (Munro 1993, Brett 2004). Arab learners also have difficulties with pronouncing the English consonants /p/, /v/, /s, /z/, /d/, /ð/, /θ/, /dʒ/, /ŋ/ (Val Barros …show more content…
I will discuss the reasons why Arabic speaking English learners have difficulties with word stress. English stress can be used to distinguish meaning where in Arabic this is not possible. For example the noun permit (/ˈpəːmɪt/) and verb permit (/pəˈmɪt/) is distinguished by the stress. Arabic is a stress timed language and predictable. Therefore learners have difficulties in comprehending the unpredictable English stress
Previous studies of phonotactics
Researchers have carried out studies on the errors and problems faced by Arab learners of English, such as Al-Shuaibi (2009), Binturki (2008), Barros (2003), Wahba (1998), Altaha (1995), Kharma & Hajjaj (1989), Abdul Haq (1982), Harrison, Prator and Tucker (1975). Majority of the studies were focussed on phonology, morphology and syntax.
Al-Shuaibi(2009) study focuses on phonotactics, and finds that learners have problems in pronouncing English initial consonant clusters having three members, and final consonant cluster of three and four members. The study showed some processes Arab learners of English used in pronunciation of the clusters; reduction, deletion and