Phonetic Transcription of Arabic Diacritics by EFL Students in Relation to English Vowels

The phonetic transcription of the pronunciation of words and letters is a skill that enables the student to provide the phonetic representation of any letter based on its pronunciation, as all languages share certain sounds that they have in common. In this study, the researchers study the phonetic transcription of the Arabic diacritics by 25 EFL students in relation to English vowels. The research is carried out at the University of Anbar - College of Education for Humanities to see how well EFL students interpret and transcribe Arabic diacritics using IPA symbols. It tries to find out the most common phonetic transcription errors made by Iraqi EFL students when transcribing Arabic diacritics using English IPA symbols, and what factors contribute to these errors. The collection and analysis of the transcribed materials of 20 students are aimed at finding any errors or challenges that may happen to the phonetic representations of Arabic diacritics. It is evident that the errors in the Arabic diacritics transcription can contribute to a clearer understanding for learners of how the vowels may sound. The issue is that EFL learners are likely to make errors in representing Arabic diacritics accurately. It is found that students often confuse the same vowel or misrepresent the diacritics. For instance, some students are found to represent Kasrah as /i/, /i:/, or /e/; and fathah as /a/, /ʌ/, or /a:/. The correct choice lies in the student pronouncing the word correctly. Students commit these errors due to a lack of knowledge of Arabic diacritical marks and IPA representations. They also make mistakes or errors following their mother tongue patterns, such as adding their language-specific sounds to English or word pronunciation. This makes them transcribe the word incorrectly. Moreover, students have problems with the transcription of sounds /p, ʤ, and j/. Therefore, more practice would make their transcription easier, and proper instructions from teachers would help them format their skills in pronunciation and transcription.