Arabic Language Impact on EFL Learners’ Speaking Competence: The Case of Algerian First Year Bachelor Students at Kasdi Merbah University-Ouargla

The present paper examines the impact of Arabic language on EFL learners (Algerian) speaking competence. Arab students encounter numerous obstacles in developing their L2 speaking skills. Their limited exposure to English, both in and out of the classroom, impedes their ability to achieve fluency and proficiency in speaking. In the Algerian case, students' background of learning foreign languages is affected by both their standard Arabic and various local dialects that differ completely from one region to another. In this regard, serious linguistic obstacles may exist due to differences between Arabic and English morphology, phonology, syntax, and orthography so that the teaching process would not be an easy task, especially for beginners. In the light of this, the current study raises the problem of how Arabic language can affect EFL learners' speaking competency. It aims at highlighting their common errors, raising the Algerian (Arab) students' consciousness about the impact of their Arabic background on their fluency in English, and developing their competence of speaking through detecting the appropriate methods and techniques of addressing the challenges and difficulties of communicating in the target language. A descriptive type of research was followed via attending and observing sessions of oral expression with first year students (a group of 37 learners) at the University of Kasdi Merbah in Ouargla-Algeria. Via adopting a quantitative approach, a questionnaire was administered to 150 students from the same level to assess their speaking competence and common errors sources. The findings indicate that the Algerian learners' Arabic background reduces their fluency in English as a result of linguistic, phonological, syntactic, and cultural differences.