Major Differences between Arabic and English Pronunciation Systems: A Contrastive Analysis Study

Abstract

This study aims to make a contrastive analysis between Arabic and English pronunciations systems based on document collections. It also shows the most problematic areas that Arabs suffer from when learning English. Based on the fact that English has its own pronunciation system that differs from the Arabic one, it is found that English is a stress-timed language while Arabic is a syllable –timed language. This major distinctive feature affects Arabs production of English stress. Moreover, Arabs face problems in distinguishing between some consonants sounds as /p/ and /b/. In addition, they find difficulties to pronounce words that contain consonant clysters.  Finally, practical recommendations are provided to help Arab learners to overcome such problems.