An Optimality-Theoretic Analysis of Some Phonological Errors Produced by Saudi Female Learners of the English Language

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the phonological errors associated with consonant and vowel pronunciation made by Saudi learners of the English language in light of the optimality hypothesis. In addition, transfer and contrastive analysis hypotheses are discussed, which justify why Saudi English language learners make phonological errors. Methods. Thirty Saudi female students in their first semester in the English language department at Qassim University were randomly selected. They were examined on their pronunciation of over 30 words from a list of twenty sentences. Each participant was individually recorded using a sensitive microphone, and all recordings were transcribed using IPA symbols and compared to the English transcription to identify the correct and incorrect pronunciation. Each participant filled out a consent form before to having their pronunciation recorded. Results. The majority of errors committed by Saudi English learners are attributable to the substitution of foreign sounds with the closest native sounds. In addition, Saudi English learners tend to add a glottal stop to non-onset syllables and insert a vowel to break clusters of three or more obstruent consonants. This finding is due to the fact that their native language is an onset language and lacks clusters of three or more obstruent consonants. The descriptive tables in addition to the Pareto charts of these errors are provided. Conclusions. Overall, results from this study support optimality theory, transfer, and contrastive analysis hypotheses. Moreover, this study contributes to the growing literature on the investigation of phonological errors produced by Arab learners of English, particularly Saudi learners. This study proposes that Saudi English learners listen attentively to English native speakers to correct phonological errors. In addition, Saudi English learners should record their pronunciation during discussions and replay them in order to identify their mistakes and avoid them in the future.