• Mohammed Abdullah Alharbi

  Author

Each language has its own sound features that differ from other languages. These features
can be a combination of sound segments or individual sounds for each letter. People adopt these
different sounds and language features since birth through exposure to language input. Then,
they acquire linguistic competence and recognize the sound system to make meaningful and
understandable sounds. Specifically, when students learn English as a second/foreign language,
they have some challenges in case of similarities between first language L1 and second language
L2 given that both languages have different phonemes or sounds naturally. In speaking in L2,
they may use or substitute certain phonemes from L1. Such similarities or overlapping may
create misunderstanding or produce meaningless sounds. To be more specific, some native Arab
speakers may pronounce the words park and pig as bark and big. This mispronunciation might
be an obstacle of communication and understanding in conversing with English native speakers.
In my experience of learning and teaching English as a foreign language in Saudi Arabia, I have
realized that many EFL Saudi learners pronounce the English bilabial /p/ as /b/ because it is not
available in their mother tongue. Sometimes, they even do not realize how /p/ sound is made
because it is not in their L1. Besides, they do not have an opportunity to hold a conversation with
native English to realize how the sounds are made. Additionally, in International Phonetic
Alphabet (IPA), the bilabial stops phonemes are classified into two types; voiceless and voiced.
They are called minimal pairs if they are changed in two words, for instance, pet and bet. So,
some the Saudi speakers are not aware of the difference between these two words in
pronunciation and therefore, this may lead to different meanings.

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