A Phonological Model of Arabic Speech Acquisition in Malay Children

Muhammad Ridha Ali Huddin; Shahidi A Hamid; Md Shafiin Shukor; Siti Maryam Aj Jalilah Roslan

A Phonological Model of Arabic Speech Acquisition in Malay Children

Muhammad Ridha Ali Huddin, Shahidi A Hamid, Md Shafiin Shukor, Siti Maryam Aj Jalilah Roslan

Abstract

The acquisition of Arabic sounds by second language learners is crucial in language learning. This study examines the acquisition of selected Arabic consonants among Malay primary school children, particularly focusing on the most difficult Arabic sounds, thus, addressing critical knowledge gaps in existing research. Prior studies predominantly focus on separate issues either in sound perception or production, yet in the context of English, neglecting the integration of both language acquisition processes. Unlike previous research, this study proposes a reciprocal model which interplay of both Arabic sound perception and production. Using perception and production tests involving 30 children, the study reveals a mismatch between sound perception and articulation accuracy. The results demonstrated patterns of substitution, transfer, and developmental errors, providing insight into the interaction between learners’ L1 influence and their developing L2 phonological competence. Findings also reveal that sounds without counterparts in Malay, such as emphatic consonants and uvulars, are the most problematic, often leading to systematic substitution with phonetically proximate sounds. Perceptual difficulties were found to correlate strongly with production errors, highlighting the importance of auditory discrimination in successful phonological acquisition. Drawing on the Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM), Speech Learning Model (SLM), and Source-Filter Theory (SFT), the proposed Arabic Speech Phonological Model (M-ASP) integrates mind consciousness and airflow control to explain and enhance Arabic pronunciation in Malay children. The study underscores the need for integrative teaching approaches that address both the auditory and articulatory dimensions of Arabic phonology, thereby supporting more effective and sustainable learning outcomes for L2 learners of Arabic. The model extends existing phonological theories by embedding cognitive and physiological processes into a recursive speech chain. The findings offer a theoretically grounded, data-driven framework that supports Arabic pronunciation instruction in multilingual and Islamic educational contexts.

Keywords: Arabic phonemes; phonology; speech perception; perception-production model; Malay learners

ABSTRAK

Pemerolehan bunyi bahasa Arab oleh pelajar bahasa kedua adalah penting dalam pembelajaran bahasa. Kajian ini meneliti pemerolehan konsonan Arab terpilih dalam kalangan kanak-kanak sekolah rendah Melayu, dengan penekanan khusus pada bunyi Arab yang paling sukar, sekaligus menangani jurang pengetahuan kritikal dalam kajian sedia ada. Kajian-kajian terdahulu kebanyakannya menumpukan kepada isu berasingan sama ada dalam persepsi bunyi atau pengeluaran bunyi, terutamanya dalam konteks bahasa Inggeris, tanpa menekankan integrasi kedua-dua proses pemerolehan bahasa.Berbeza dengan kajian terdahulu, kajian ini mencadangkan model timbal balik yang menggabungkan interaksi antara persepsi bunyi Arab dan pengeluarannya. Menggunakan ujian persepsi dan pengeluaran melibatkan 30 kanak-kanak, kajian ini mendedahkan ketidaksesuaian antara persepsi bunyi dan ketepatan artikulasi. Hasil kajian menunjukkan corak penggantian (substitution), pemindahan (transfer), dan kesilapan perkembangan, memberikan pemahaman mengenai interaksi antara pengaruh L1 pelajar dan kompetensi fonologi L2 mereka yang sedang berkembang.Kajian ini juga menunjukkan bahawa bunyi yang tiada padanan dalam bahasa Melayu, seperti konsonan tegas (emphatic) dan uvular, merupakan yang paling bermasalah, selalunya membawa kepada penggantian sistematik dengan bunyi yang hampir secara fonetik. Kesukaran persepsi didapati berkorelasi kuat dengan kesilapan pengeluaran, menekankan kepentingan diskriminasi auditori dalam pemerolehan fonologi yang berjaya.Berdasarkan Model Perceptual Assimilation (PAM), Model Pembelajaran Ucapan (SLM), dan Teori Sumber-Filtrasi (SFT), Model Fonologi Ucapan Arab yang dicadangkan (M-ASP) menggabungkan kesedaran minda dan kawalan aliran udara untuk menerangkan dan meningkatkan sebutan bahasa Arab dalam kalangan kanak-kanak Melayu. Kajian ini menekankan keperluan pendekatan pengajaran integratif yang merangkumi kedua-dua dimensi auditori dan artikulatori fonologi Arab, seterusnya menyokong hasil pembelajaran yang lebih efektif dan lestari bagi pelajar L2 bahasa Arab. Model ini memperluas teori fonologi sedia ada dengan memasukkan proses kognitif dan fisiologi ke dalam rantaian ucapan berulang. Hasil kajian menyediakan kerangka berasaskan teori dan data yang menyokong pengajaran sebutan bahasa Arab dalam konteks pendidikan berbilang bahasa dan pendidikan Islam.

Kata Kunci: Fonem Arab; fonologi; persepsi ucapan; model persepsi-penghasilan; pelajar Melayu

Full Text:

PDF

References

Aldridge, J. W. (1978). Levels of processing in speech perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 4(1), 164–177. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.4.1.164

Alwabari, S. (2013). Non-native Production of Arabic Pharingeal and Pharyngealized Consonants (Carleton University), (Tesis Sarjana). Retrieved from https://curve.carleton.ca/system/files/etd/3ce1d8e6-b4d9-4eb2-930b-058e405c41c8/

Antoniou, Mark, Michael D. Tyler, and Catherine T. Best. (2012). Two ways to listen: Do L2-dominant bilinguals perceive stop voicing according to language mode? Journal of Phonetics, 40(4), 582-594.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2012.05.005

Arjmandi, M. K., & Behroozmand, R. (2024). On the interplay between speech perception and production: insights from research and theories. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 18.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2024.1347614

Baese-Berk, M. M., Kapnoula, E. C., & Samuel, A. G. (2024). “The Relationship of Speech Perception and Speech Production: It’s Complicated.” Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, September.

https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-024-02561-w.

Baker, W. (2005). The interaction of the bilingual’s two phonetic systems: Differences in early and late Korean-English bilinguals. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 4th International

Symposium on Bilingualism.

Best, C. T., Gerald W. McRoberts, and Nomathemba M. Sithole. (1988). Examination of Perceptual Reorganization for Non-native Speech Contrasts: Zulu Click Discrimination by English-speaking Adults

and Infants. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 14(3), 345-360. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.14.3.345

Best, C. T. (1995). A Direct Realist View of Cross-language Speech Perception. In Strange, W. (Ed.). Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience: Issues in Cross-language Research. Maryland: New

York Press.

Binasfour, H., & Setter, J. (2018). The Influence of Vowel Context on the Perception and Production of Emphatic Sounds among L2 Learners of Arabic. Language Studies Working Papers, 9, 14-25.

Binasfour, H. S. M. (2018). Investigating the Perception and Production of the Arabic Pharyngealised Sounds by L2 Learners of Arabic PhD diss., University of Reading.

Brian C.J Moore; Basic auditory processes involved in the analysis of speech sounds. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 12 March 2008; 363 (1493), 947–963. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2152

Carruthers, P., & Gennaro, R. "Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2023 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.), URL =

https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2023/entries/consciousness-higher/

Défossez, A., Caucheteux, C., Rapin, J., Kabeli, O., & King, J. R. (2023). Decoding speech perception from non-invasive brain recordings. Nature Machine Intelligence. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-

-00714-5

Flege, J. E. (1995). Second Language Speech Learning Theory, Findings and Problems. In Strange, W. (Ed.), Speech Perception and Linguistic Experience: Issues in Cross-language Research (pp. 233-

. Maryland: New York Press.

Frith, U. (1986). A developmental framework for developmental dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 36, 67–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02648022

Gillon, G. T. (2004). Phonological awareness: from research to practice. New York: Guilford Press.

Hamid, S. A. (2010). An acoustic and perceptual analysis of the phonetic properties of Malay English in comparison to those of Malay. PhD diss., University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Hayward, K. (2000). Experimental Phonetics. England: Perarson Education Ltd.

Heald, S. L., & Nusbaum, H. C. (2014). Speech perception as an active cognitive process. Front Syst Neurosci, 8, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00035

Horslunda, C. S., Aarhoj, A. E., & Ocke.-Schwen B. (2015). Perceptual assimilation and identification of English consonants by native speakers of Danish. Paper presented at the to appear in:

Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Glasgow, UK.

Huddin, M. R. A., Ali, S. S. A., & Yeob, S. J. (2017). Fa’iliyyah al-Lahjat al-Malayuwiyyah fi Mustawa al-Kifayah al-Nutqiyyah li-annas al-Arabiy: Lahjata Wilayah Kelantan wa Qodah anmuzajain. IIUM

Press. ISBN: 978-967-418-816-0

Issraq Ramli (2004). Pengaruh Unsur Fonologi Dialek Melayu Sabah dalam Sebutan Bahasa Arab. (Disertasi Sarjana). Diakses dari http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/

Issraq Ramli & Mohd Zaki Abd Rahman. (2017). Aplikasi Teori Mahjub terhadap Pembaikan Sebutan Bunyi Bahasa Arab dalam Kalangan Pelajar Sabah. Jurnal Pusat Penataran Ilmu & Bahasa.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia. 25.

Jabar, M. A. A. (2004). Gangguan Bunyi Melayu dalam Sebutan Arab: Satu Analisis Ringkas. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 12(2), 101-110. ISSN: 0128-7702

Kearney, E., & Guenther, F. H. (2019). Articulating: the neural mechanisms of speech production. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 34(9), 1214–1229.

https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2019.1589541

Kollmeier, B., Brand, T., Meyer, B. (2008). Perception of Speech and Sound. In: Benesty, J., Sondhi, M.M., Huang, Y.A. (eds) Springer Handbook of Speech Processing. Springer Handbooks. Springer,

Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-49127-9_4

Korpal, P., & Mikolaj, S. (2020). The perception of native vs. nonnative Danish speech: Bent and Bradlow’s matched interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit revisited. Scandinavian Philology, 18, 284–296. https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu21.2020.204

Ladefoged, P. (2003). Phonetic Data Analysis: An Introduction to Fieldwork and Instrumental Techniques. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Lai, Yi-hsiu. (2010). English vowel discrimination and assimilation by Chinese-speaking learners of English. Concentric: Studies in Linguistics, 36(2), 157-182.

McGettigan, C & Tremblay, P. (2018). Links between perception and production examining the roles of motor and premotor cortices in understanding speech. The Oxford Handbook of Psycholinguistics,

-332.

McGuire, G. (2010). A brief primer on experimental designs for speech perception research. Laboratory Report, 77

Nagaraja, J. S., Hamid, B. A., & Maamor, N. (2025). Phonological Development in Hearing-Impaired Malay-Speaking Children. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 25(1), 33-55.

https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2025-2501-03

Nairne, J. S. (1988). A framework for interpreting recency effects in immediate serial recall. Memory & Cognition 16(4), 343-352. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197045

Nasrullah, R. (2025). Working Memory and Second Language Acquisition: Effects on Vocabulary, Grammar, Reading, and Writing. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 25(1), 102-118.

https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2025-2501-06

Nik Muhammad Rahimi, Harun Baharudin, Ghazali Yusri, Kamarul Syukri Mat Teh & Mohamed Amin Embi. Pembelajaran Konsonan Arab mengikut Pelat Bahasa Melayu. GEMA Online Journal of

Language Studies, 10(3), 1-14.

Perron, M., Vuong, V., Grassi, M. W., Imran, A., & Alain, C. (2024). Engagement of the speech motor system in challenging speech perception: Activation likelihood estimation meta-analyses. Human

Brain Mapping, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.70023

Piaget, J. (1962). The stages of the intellectual development of the child. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 26(3), 120–128.

Radzi, M. P., & Hamid, S. A. (2022). Model Pemerian Ciri-Ciri Akustik Bunyi Plosif dan Frikatif Arab Yang Diujarkan Oleh Penutur Natif Melayu. Global Journal of al-Thaqafah, 12(2), 104-117. ISSN:

-0474 I E-ISSN: 2232.0482

Radzi, M. P., Hamid, S. A., & Aman, R. (2019). Ciri-ciri Akustik Bunyi Faringealisasi Arab oleh Penutur Natif Melayu: Penelitian Berasaskan Perbezaan Jantina. Jurnal Melayu, 18(1), 13-28.

Radzi, M. P., & Hamid, S. A. (2020). Saya Ujar /t/, /ت/ dan /ṭ/ Secara Akustiknya Berbeza. Global Journal of al-Thaqafah, 10(2), 78-83.

Ramli, N. A., Che Radiah Mezah, C. R., & Thai, Y. N. (2016). Penguasaan Pelajar Melayu Terhadap Tekanan Suara Menyebut Perkataan Arab dari Sudut Intensiti. Jurnal Kemanusiaan, 25(1), 110-123.

Saif Mohammed al-Tai & Ziyad Rakan Kasim. (2021). An Acoustic Study of the Production of Iraqi Arabic Stop Consonants. Adab Al-Rafidayn, 86, 67-97.

Saito, K., Tran, M., Suzukida, Y., Sun, H., Magne, V., & Ilkan, M. (2019). How do L2 listeners perceive the comprehensibility of foreign-accented speech? Roles of L1 profiles, L2 proficiency, age,

experience, familiarity and metacognition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41, 1133–1149. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263119000226

Seth, A.K., Bayne, T. Theories of consciousness. Nat Rev Neurosci, 23, 439–452 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-022-00587-4

Shehata, A. (2024). Arabic speech intelligibility: Perception of spoken Arabic by native and non-native speakers. Language Teaching Research 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688241231628

Sun, L., & Vincent J. van Heuven. (2007). Perceptual assimilation of English vowels by Chinese listeners: Can native-language interference be predicted? Linguistics in the Netherlands, 24(1), 150-161.

https://doi.org/10.1075/avt.24.15sun

Tokuda, I. (2021, November 29). The Source-Filter Theory of Speech. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Retrieved 2nd Sept. 2025, from

https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acre fore-9780199384655-e-894

Tyler, M. D., Best, C. T., Faber, A., & Levitt, A. G. (2014). Perceptual assimilation and discrimination of non-native vowel contrasts. Phonetica, 71(1), 4-21. https://doi.org/10.1159/000356237

Wagner, R. K., & Torgesen, J. K. (1987). The nature of phonological processing and its causal role in the acquisition of reading skills. Psychological Bulletin, 101(2), 192-212.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.101.2.192