Developing Proposed Teaching Units in Teaching Phonological Phenomena to Tamil Speakers: The South Eastern University of Sri Lanka as a Model

Abstract

This study aimed to develop proposed teaching units for teaching Arabic phonological phenomena to Tamil speakers, based on analyzing of students� needs and errors. The research employed descriptive, analytical, and developmental methods. Secondary data were collected by reviewing of previous studies, including articles, research, and books. Questionnaires, interviews, and observations were used to determine students� needs and desires regarding phonological phenomena, as well as to analyze their errors and difficulties in learning them. The questionnaire was administered to one hundred and fifty (150) second-year students in the Department of Arabic Language at the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka. At the same time, personal interviews were conducted with five (5) lecturers in the department. The fieldwork revealed that 70% of the research sample expressed a desire to learn phonetics and phonological phenomena. These students exhibited errors in differentiating between assimilation and dissimilation phonetic units, reading words and sentences considering syllables, stress positions, and intonation, identifying the occurrence of assimilation and dissimilation phenomena in words, understanding the phonological changes within words, and comprehending phonetic terminology. Factors contributing to these difficulties included individual differences in language level and learning motivation, linguistic interference, challenges in applying Arabic phonological rules compared to the mother tongue, a lack of interest in the department�s course, insufficient teaching time for course content, the absence of dedicated study units for the course, large lecture hall sizes, and the lack of a language laboratory. Evaluation results indicated that the proposed teaching units were appropriate, useful, and engaging for enhancing students� phonological phenomena skills and vocal performance.