A Socio-phonetic Investigation of Arab English-Speakers’ Accent Reduction and Modification
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61856/b482vr58Keywords:
Sociophonetics, Accent Reduction, Foreign Accent, Arab Speakers, Non-Native EnglishAbstract
The current study investigates the poor English pronunciation of Arabic speakers, focusing on Socio-phonetic aspects, such as speaking style, speaker background, and group membership issues, as well as the phonetic and phonological aspects of language. This study aims at identifying the sources of differences between Arabic and English phonological systems that are closely related to poor foreign accents of English. The study hypothesises that the various colloquial varieties of one language have an impact on the accents of the target language. The study develops a model for the analysis of the selected data to showcase the distinctions between Arabic-accented English pronunciation transcription and that of the received pronunciation. The results show that the accent of Arabic speakers of English is greatly influenced by their mother tongue. Regardless of their high educational level or their prestigious positions representing their countries, the selected ambassadors of this study demonstrate low levels of English pronunciation mastery. This is evident mainly in the phonological aspects of vowels and the lateral consonant allophones. The analysis concludes with a list of recommended practices and strategies for reducing accents, the most important of which are studying the phonetic transcription of English, speech therapy, as well as practice and repetition.
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