ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the production and perception of Arabic emphatic, uvular, and pharyngeal consonants by learners from different linguistic backgrounds. It focuses on the production and perception of a set of Arabic consonants by learners from different linguistic backgrounds. The chapter provides a review of previous research relating to the acquisition of Arabic consonants and shows the lack of research in Arabic linguistics generally, and in second language phonology particularly. It describes the methods used to conduct the study, including information about the participants, tasks, stimuli and the procedures followed M. Alosh's results indicated that there is an interaction between the perception of Arabic consonants and the linguistic background. There are few studies that examine the production or perception of Arabic consonants by learners. For instance, R. Kara questioned the claim that English speakers have difficulties learning the Arabic language, based on exploring the problems created by dissimilarities between Arabic and English.
