Abstract

This paper discusses how English pronunciation system causes spelling errors among undergraduate Saudi students. The research participants were five students in English Language Department at Tabuk University and five English language lecturers from the same department. Semi-structured interviews designed for the lecturers and students, as well writing task distributed to the students were used to generate data for the study. The findings reveal that phonological differences between English and Arabic cause difficulty in the learners’ spelling. The students strive to write words in a similar way to how they are pronounced as they are unaware of the rules of English pronunciation which is totally different from their mother-tongue. The confusion with English pronunciation system causes several spelling errors, such as the errors related to final [e], vowels, silent letters and double consonants. This paper concludes that the Arab students need to be familiarized with English pronunciation system and they need to be made aware that English words are not necessarily spelt as how they are pronounced, which is in contrast to their mother tongue.

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