Phonological Interference of Mandailing Dialect in Arabic Phoneme Acquisition: A Study of Qur'anic Recitation Errors and Their Implications for Arabic Language Pedagogy in Higher Education

Abstract

This study investigates the phonological interference of the Mandailing dialect in the acquisition of Arabic phonemes among Mandailing-speaking university students during Qur’anic recitation. Drawing on a qualitative descriptive design, the research analyzes recorded recitations of selected Qur’anic passages, complemented by semi-structured interviews, to identify error patterns and their dialectal sources. The analysis is informed by autosegmental phonology, contrastive phonology, and Tajwid-based classifications of lahn jali and lahn khafi. Prior work on Mandailing phonology shows a seven-vowel system and nineteen consonants without pharyngeal, uvular, and emphatic segments characteristic of Arabic, creating structural asymmetries that foster negative transfer in recitation. Data reveal recurrent substitutions such as /q/→/k/, /ṣ/→/s/, and omission or weakening of /ʕ/ and /ħ/, as well as prosodic deviations in nabr (stress) and tanghim (intonation). These errors reflect perceptual assimilation of unfamiliar Arabic sounds into closest Mandailing categories and limited explicit phonetic training. The article discusses implications for Arabic language pedagogy in Indonesian higher education, including the integration of focused phonetic drills, natural imitation methods, and talaqqi-based recitation training, and proposes a phonology-informed instructional model to reduce fossilization of dialect-induced errors.