The Use of Ajami Script to Enhance English Pronunciation among Adult Learners of English with Arabic Script Background
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60787/jolan.vol28no1.439Keywords:
Ajami, ESL adult learners, English pronunciation, transliteration, ArabicAbstract
This article investigates the ways Ajami can serve as a teaching aid to enhance English pronunciation among adult Kanuri and Hausa learners in Damaturu, Yobe State, Nigeria. These learners are already literate in Arabic script through Qur’anic education but often struggle with pronouncing English words because of inconsistencies in English orthography and the absence of some English phonemes in their native languages. Using a multi-method approach and the theories of shaping and consistency, the study transliterated 100 English words into Arabic script and tested their efficacy in pronunciation training. Thirty volunteers participated in a pilot study using Ajami materials. Findings revealed that the Arabic script—especially when modified to accommodate missing English consonantal sounds like /p/, /v/, and /ʒ/, along with diphthongs such as /aʊ/, /əʊ/, /ɪə/, and /ʊə/—provided a more intuitive and accurate framework for learners to decode and pronounce English words. Learners’ prior exposure to phonological features in Qur’anic recitation, such as assimilation and vowel length, also aligned well with elements of English connected speech. The research concludes that Ajamisation, when systematically implemented, can serve as an effective pronunciation teaching strategy and recommends integrating standardized Ajami-based pronunciation charts, modified orthography, and culturally responsive materials into ESL curricula.
References
Adamu, A. U. (2004). Sunset at Dawn, Darkness at Noon: Reconstructing the mechanisms of literacy in indigenous communities. Inaugural Lecture No. 7 Presented at Bayero University Kano, 24th April, 2004.
Balogun, I. A. B. (1980). A history of Islam up to 1800 AD. Longman.
Best, C. T., & Tyler, M. D. (2007). Nonnative and second-language speech perception: Commonalities and complementarities. In Bohn, O.-S., & Munro, M. J. (Eds.), Language experience in second language speech learning: In honor of James Emil Flege (pp. 13–34). John Benjamins.
Bondarev, D., & Dobronravin, N. (2019). Standardisation tendencies in Kanuri and Hausa Ajami writings. In Bondarev, D., Gori, A., & Souag, L. (Eds.), Creating standards: Interactions with Arabic script in 12 manuscript cultures (pp. 237–266). Walter de Gruyter.
Bosso, M. A. (2010). Nazarin Ajami cikin Hausa don Makarantu Manya da Ƙanana. Hasbunallahu Printers.
Boyd, J. (1989). The caliph’s scribes: Arabic literacy and the administration of the Sokoto caliphate. African Languages and Cultures, 2(2), 141–162.
Bulakarima, S. U., & Shettima, A. (2012). A Sketch of Kanuri Phonology and Tone. Desktop Publishers Investment Limited.
Bulakarima, S. U. (2003). Kanuri-English Dictionary. Desk Top Cooperative Society.
Cooper, R. L. (1989). Language Planning and Social Change. Cambridge University Press.
Coulmas, F. (2003). Writing systems: An introduction to their linguistic analysis. Cambridge University Press.
Cyffer, N., & Hutchison, J. P. (1979). The Standard Kanuri Orthography. Thomas Nelson.
Denham, K., & Lobeck, A. (2013). Linguistics for Everyone (2nd ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Dobrovolsky, M. (2011). Writing and language. In O’Grady, W., Archibald, J., & Katamba, F. (Eds.), Contemporary linguistics: An introduction (2nd ed., pp. 523–546). Pearson Educational Limited.
Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council. (2013). National policy on education (6th ed.). NERDC.
Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council. (2022). National language policy. NERDC Press.
Finegan, E. (2012). Language: Its structure and use (6th ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Fishman, J. A. (1974). Language modernization and planning in comparison with other types of national modernization and planning. De Gruyter.
Flege, J. E. (1995). Second language speech learning: Theory, findings, and problems. In Strange, W. (Ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-language research (pp. 233–277). York Press.
Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2011). An introduction to language (9th ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
García, O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Wiley-Blackwell.
Gazali, K. A. Y. (2005). The Kanuri in diaspora: The contributions of Kanem-Borno Ulama to Islamic education in Nupe and Yoruba lands. CSS Bookshops.
Grenoble, L. A., & Whaley, L. J. (2006). Saving languages: An introduction to language revitalisation. Cambridge University Press.
Halliday, M. A. K. (2003b). On language and linguistics. Continuum.
Hawkins, P. (1984). Introducing phonology. Routledge.
Jarrett, K. A. (1978). Vowel length in Kanuri. Harsunan Nijeriya, 8, 22–50.
Kabara, A. B. (2010). Ajami literature in the Central Sudan. Benchmark Publishers.
Katz, L., & Frost, R. (1992). The reading process is different for different orthographies: The orthographic depth hypothesis. In Frost, R., & Katz, L. (Eds.), Orthography, phonology, morphology, and meaning (pp. 67–84). Elsevier.
Kuna, M. J., & Yusuf, Y. A. (2014). Kanuri Ajami and Islamic scholarship in Nigeria. In Mumin, M., & Versteegh, K. (Eds.), The Arabic script in Africa: Studies in the use of a writing system (pp. 193–208). Brill.
Laminu, W. (1988). The tradition of Islamic scholarship in Borno. Paper presented at a postgraduate seminar, Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Maiduguri.
Last, M. (1967). The Sokoto caliphate. Longman.
Leech, G. N., & Short, M. H. (2007). Style in fiction: A linguistic introduction to English fictional prose (2nd ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
Lukas, J. (1937). A study of the Kanuri language: Grammar and vocabulary. Oxford University Press.
McLaughlin, F. (2017). Ajami writing practices in Atlantic-speaking Africa. In Lüpke, F. (Ed.), The Atlantic languages (pp. 1–30). Oxford University Press.
Modu, M. A., & Usman, B. (2018). Sangaya education in Kanuri land: Its relevance to socio-political development in Kanuri land. In A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Saad Abubakar (pp. 593–608). Aboki Publishers.
Modu, M. A. (2012). An analysis of quantitative Arabic feet patterns into Kanuri poetry. In Literature, Muslim societies and contemporary: A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Tijani El-Miskin (pp. 37–52). Scholars’ Press.
Modu, M. A., & Abba, A. (2012). A phonological analysis of Kanuri vowels in Ajami poetry. In Literature, Muslim societies and contemporary: A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Tijani El-Miskin (Vol. 2, pp. 23–40). Scholars’ Press.
Mustapha, A. (1979). The relationship between Kanuri and Arabic language. Paper presented at the International Conference on Kanuri Language and Linguistics, Bayero University, Kano.
Mumin, M., & Versteegh, K. (Eds.). (2014). The Arabic script in Africa: Studies in the use of a writing system. Brill.
Musa, A. (2012). Hausa Ajami in the 21st century: Problems and prospects. Al-Majmaʿ: Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, 6(1), 45–57.
Newman, P. (2000). The Hausa language: An encyclopedic reference grammar. Yale University Press.
Newman, P. (1997). Hausa phonology. In Kaye, A. S., & Daniels, P. T. (Eds.), Phonologies of Asia and Africa (Vol. 1, pp. 537–552). Eisenbrauns.
Ngom, F. (2016). Muslims beyond the Arab world: The odyssey of Ajami and the Muridiyya. Oxford University Press.
Roach, P. (2009). English phonetics and phonology (4th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Sani, M. A. Z. (2005). An introductory phonology of Hausa. Benchmark Publishers Ltd.
Skinner, N. (1996). An anthology of Hausa literature. Northern Nigerian Publishing Company.
Smith, B. D. (1998). Psychology: Science and understanding. McGraw-Hill Companies.
Thomson, M. E. (1979). The nature of written language. In Newton, M. J., Thomson, M. E., & Richards, I. L. (Eds.), Reading in dyslexia (pp. 35–49). Bemrose UK Limited.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
Watson, J. C. E. (2002). The phonology and morphology of Arabic. Oxford University Press.
Williamson, K. (1984). Practical orthography in Nigeria. Heinemann Educational Books.
Yalwa, L. D. (2013). The development and harmonisation of Hausa orthography. In Ndimele, O.-Z. M., Ahmed, M., & Yakasai, H. M. (Eds.), Language, literature and culture in a multilingual society: A festschrift for Abubakar Rasheed (pp. 599–611). M & J Grand Orbit Communications Ltd.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of The Linguistic Association of Nigeria
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
