The Suitable Symbol for Arabic Phoneme (‘Ayn) in Roman Writing System

Abstract

Arabic romanization systems consist of written symbols that have been approved by international organizations, to represent Arabic phoneme in Latin alphabet. These systems aim to enable people pronounce Arabic phoneme without depending on Arabic letters. Despite of the international recognition on these systems, there are some clashes on the symbols used to represent phoneme ‘Ayn in Arabic, as there are four different symbols to represent phoneme ‘Ayn which are (ʿ), (‘), (ʕ) and (3). Therefore, this study aims to identify the suitable symbol for Arabic phoneme ‘Ayn in Roman writing system based on Arabic for International Communication’s students’ perception, that might ease the process of teaching students at beginner level. This study applies qualitative research method, by using questionnaire to find out the most suitable symbol for phoneme ‘Ayn among the students. Results of the study shows that there are three aspects that affect students’ perception toward suitable symbol for Arabic phoneme ‘Ayn in Roman writing system. The findings suggest that the symbol used by the student for phoneme ‘Ayn in Roman writing system is (‘) whereas the most suitable symbol for phoneme ‘Ayn is (3). This study is hope to benefit Arabic language learners to overcome difficulties in writing Arabic phoneme in Roman writing system, especially phoneme ‘Ayn.