REDUCING ARABIC L1 PHONOLOGICAL TRANSFER IN ENGLISH: OUTCOMES OF A STRUCTURED PRONUNCIATION PROGRAM ON SEGMENTALS AND PROSODY AMONG SAUDI SECONDARY LEARNERS

Abstract

Arabic L1 phonological transfer has been found to influence aspects of both segmentation and prosody of Saudi learners' English and often causes persistent mispronunciations that affect intelligibility of classroom interaction. This article examines the effects of a systematic pronunciation intervention aimed at minimizing this form of transfer through the important segmental dissimilarities and major prosodic characteristics in a secondary-school general environment. Using one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, 30 male Saudi secondary learners went through four-week classroom-based intervention. The program included a combination of articulatory explanation, perception-production cycles, and controlled plus communicative practice, and focused on problem contrasts, including /p-b/, /v-f/, dental fricatives, affricates, /ŋ/, consonant clusters, and on word stress, rhythm and basic intonation. Data was collected using an analytic pronunciation test which was rated on segmental and prosodic dimensions, and a learner perception questionnaire. Quantitative analyses revealed large and statistically significant improvements in segmental accuracy and intelligibility overall, as well as medium to large improvements in word stress and rhythm and small, but meaningful improvements in intonation. Qualitative data showed increased awareness of specific sounds, positive attitudes towards articulatory and minimal pair drills and greater confidence in speaking English. The results indicate that even a short duration (low-resource) teacher-led program can have substantial effects on salient Arabic L1 phonological transfer and increase the intelligibility of English of Saudi secondary learners. The study shows importance of embedding dedicated work on pronunciation in the curricula of EFL in similar exam-oriented, resource-constrained settings.