SACM - United States of America
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://drepo.sdl.edu.sa/handle/20.500.14154/9668
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Item Restricted The Role of L1 Dialect Phonotactics on the Production of L2 English Phonotactics by Saudi EFL Learners(University of Mississippi, 2024-05-01) Balbaid, Abdullah Ahmad; Schaefer, VinceThis study investigates the phonological challenges and adaptive strategies employed by 30 first-year university students majoring in English from three distinct Saudi Arabian dialect backgrounds—Najdi, Hijazi, and Hasawi—in perceiving and producing English onset biconsonant and triconsonant clusters. Exploring dialectal variations, the research aims to understand how these phonological characteristics influence the acquisition and intelligibility of English pronunciation among Saudi learners. Utilizing a combination of perception tasks through ABX discrimination tasks and production tasks inspired by the Labovian model, the study provides insights into the dialect-specific phonological challenges faced by the participants. Key findings reveal that Najdi speakers demonstrate higher proficiency in both perceiving and producing English consonant clusters, particularly biconsonant clusters, compared to their Hijazi and Hasawi counterparts. This proficiency underscores the significant role of L1 phonotactic knowledge in L2 phonological learning, highlighting the adaptability and cognitive flexibility of Najdi speakers in handling both familiar and unfamiliar phonological patterns. Furthermore, the study identifies distinct phonological repair strategies employed by speakers to address challenges unique to their dialects. While Najdi speakers commonly substitute /p/ with /b/, Hijazi speakers occasionally adapt by substituting /θ/ with /t/, reflecting the phonotactic constraints and opportunities within their dialect for phonological adaptation. The investigation into the impact of dialectal variations on L2 English pronunciation intelligibility indicates that Hijazi and Hasawi speakers' reliance on repair strategies and their challenges with clusters not present in their L1 dialect suggest a noticeable L1 influence, thereby affecting their pronunciation intelligibility. Contributing to a broader understanding of second language phonological acquisition, this study emphasizes the need for dialect-sensitive language instruction, advocating for pedagogical strategies that recognize the unique phonological landscapes of learners. This approach aims to enrich language teaching practices within linguistically diverse settings, fostering more effective and engaging language learning experiences across different educational levels.44 0Item Restricted Attitudes toward Arabic-English Code Switching in Saudi Society(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-11-16) Aldosari, Tareq; Dyer, DonaldThis study is designed to explore the attitudes of Saudi students at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University toward code switching between colloquial Arabic and English and toward borrowing from the English language in Saudi society, considering two significant variables: major studied and gender. The study utilized two tools: a) questionnaires that the participants fill out after listening to recordings demonstrating code switching, borrowing and Arabic-only and b) interviews that were conducted to explore further the participants’ attitudes and the reasons behind them. Both tools considered three dimensions: superiority, attractiveness, and dynamism of the speakers. One hundred twenty questionnaires were distributed to the participants who were divided into four groups based on their majors (English language, Arabic language, Islamic Studies, and Business Management), 30 for each group to compare the four groups’ attitudes. Then, the participants were divided into two groups, sixty male and sixty female participants, to analyze the gender differences. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS and two-way ANOVA. Twenty-four participants were interviewed: six participants for each major group, three female and three male interviewees. A thematic presentation approach was used to discuss the qualitative outcomes of the interviews. In general, the English language and management groups rated the code switching speakers higher than the other speakers. However, most groups feel that the code-switching speaker is superior to the other speakers. The qualitative result shows that the quality of education and the comfortable social class are the reason for their feelings of the code switchers’ superiority. The interviews show that national identity is behind the negative attitudes of the Arabic language and Islamic studies group toward the attractiveness and the dynamism of the code-switching speaker. Although the rate of the borrowing speaker varied between the four groups, the interviews show borrowing is a normal linguistic phenomenon in their society. The quantitative data show no significant differences between the two genders, while the interviews also revealed a difference in how each gender group expresses their attitude.98 0