• Dr. Fatima Elnaeem Mohammed

  Author

The aim of this study is to investigate the role of the first language in
learning English as a foreign language in Sudan. The objectives are to find out the
difficulties encountered by secondary school students in using English for
communication, thus the sound system of both Arabic and English were compared as
well as their structures in order to achieve these objectives. Area of investigation is
(phonetics) consonants and vowels for English and Arabic. Another one is syntax
(grammar rules), it includes verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, and number. The
main findings of the study were that the students faced difficulties in pronouncing
sounds which are not found in Arabic, also grammar rules of English were source of
confusion to the students, and thus they applied Arabic rules in the sentences they
formed.

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