Difficulties of the English Language for Arabic People (PDF)

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2009 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, , language: English, abstract: The ultimate goal of most second language learners is to attain a native level of speaking. They want to be indistinguishable from native speakers. However, for many learners, this dream has remained a dream and has not come true especially in the area of pronunciation as native speakers usually identify them as nonnative speakers because of their accent. A large number of second language learners believe that the main difficulty they encounter when speaking the second language is pronunciation and consider this difficulty as the main source for their communication problems. English occupies a high status among world international languages, as it has become the language of diplomacy, trade, communication, technology and business. Thus, learning English provides the person with an advantage as an active participant in today's world, opening new horizons to a better future. English as an international language has been taught in almost all countries in the world. In Arab countries English is a foreign language which is a compulsory subject to be taught in all schools from lower secondary to upper secondary schools. Even in some elementary schools, English is offered as an elective subject. However, we have seen that the proficiency in English of secondary school graduates still creates disappointment among teachers themselves as well as parents. The unsatisfying quality of English in Arab countries of course is related to different variables. I have tried to shed light on one of these variables here. That is to say, the causes behind the errors committed in pronunciation and grammar in English language by the Arab learners. The importance of investigating pronunciation and grammar difficulties stems from the fact that, it stands as an obstacle in communication. However, it is necessary, in this research, to find out why the aforesaid learners face difficulty in the acquisition of the phonological system and grammatical structure of any non-native language.