Study of Phonological Fossilization in Persian Learners Who Are German Speakers: Errors Analysis and Ways to Avoid Them

In the present study, the phonological features of the German language are compared with those of the Persian language based on Spencer's theory of active articulators. By analyzing 171 samples of exam papers from German-speaking Persian learners, collected through document study methods, common phonetic errors made by German speakers during the process of learning Persian are examined using descriptive statistical analysis. During the examination of the phonemes and allophones of the German language, we encounter difficult sounds in Persian for German speakers that can be challenging for this group of Persian learners to produce. Consequently, the findings of this research include classified common phonetic errors of this group of Persian learners and, accordingly, offer strategies to avoid these errors and prevent to accure phonetics fossilization during their process of learning Persian. Fossilization in second language acquisition was first introduced by Selinker in the article "Interlanguage". This phenomenon occurs when individuals, in the process of learning a second language, incorporate features from various domains of their mother language, including morphology, syntax, phonetics, semantics, and other domains, into their knowledge of the second language. The solutions in this research are presented based on the errors in the data and their classification is also set based on the classification of errors.
Extended Abstract:
Introduction
Teaching foreign languages is a contemporary topic that allocates a significant portion of educational resources in most human societies. Planners in the field of second language instruction strive to provide a more scientifically oriented approach to teaching foreign languages, adopting innovative and up-to-date global methods. Despite years of dedication to learning a foreign language, many learners struggle to attain proficiency equivalent to their native language. Among various reasons for this challenge, language fossilization and the influence of the learners' first language play a crucial role in second language acquisition.
Recognizing the importance of addressing these factors in the language learning process and acknowledging the significant role of phonetics in shaping the sound systems of different languages, this research aims to present solutions. Based on a comparative analysis of the phonetic systems of German and Persian and a statistical examination of real pronunciation errors made by Persian learners of German, the study aims to propose strategies. These strategies intend to assist German learners in acquiring the Persian phonetic system with minimal errors during the learning process, ultimately enabling them to articolate Persian phonemes more closely to a native speaker.
To facilitate the learning process of the Persian phonetic system for German speakers, the research involves studying examples of phonetic recognition errors made by German learners within the framework of applied linguistics. It also examines the characteristics of the German phonetic system in comparison to Persian (comparative analysis). By doing so, the study aims to answer the following questions and explore the impact of phonetic fossilization on Persian learning by German speakers. Consequently, the research seeks to provide solutions to common phonetic errors made by this group of Persian learners:

In which areas of the Persian phonetic system do German learners most commonly make errors?
How can the proficiency level of German learners in the Persian phonetic system be advanced, moving them from an intermediate level to that of a native speaker?

Therefore, this research aims to address the above questions based on the following two crucial hypotheses:

German learners, in the process of acquiring Persian, tend to make more errors in producing Persian phonemes that do not exist in the German language and in phonemes produced with a common active articolator (such as the substitution of /s/ and /z/).
By recognizing and examining potential phonetic errors made by Persian learners of German and considering the approach of referring to the linguistic habits of learners in their first language (German), solutions can be proposed to reduce phonetic errors among German learners in acquiring the Persian phonetic system. The goal is to move them from an intermediate level to that of a native speaker, taking into account the phonetic habits developed in their first language.

 
Methodology
The objective of conducting this research is to identify the challenges of learning Persian phonetics for German. The aim is to prevent phonological fossilization in second (Persian) language instruction. The author hopes that the findings of this research will contribute a small step towards improving the methods of teaching Persian as a second language. This improvement could be reflected in the approach and instructional content of Persian language textbooks and teaching materials. Specifically, it is anticipated that authors of Persian language instruction books and Persian language instructors will be able to choose teaching methods and content for teaching Persian phonetics and pronunciation, considering the learners' first language in a systematic and classified manner.
Fossilization in second language instruction was first introduced by Selinker in the article "Interlanguage." This phenomenon occurs when individuals, influenced by their first language, incorporate features from various domains of their native language into their learning of a second language. Subsequently, a new language structure emerges, referred to as interlanguage.
Therefore, in this research, the author aims to rely on Spencer's theory (the theory of active articolators) to provide guidelines for generating challenging phonemes of the Persian language for German learners. The objective is to prevent Persian learners of German from falling into the trap of phonetic fossilization and to assist them in avoiding stagnation in a specific structural aspect of the Persian language.
Given the systematic nature of the methodology and analysis employed in the present study, a combination of the five research stages outlined by Cooper has been utilized to address the posed questions. These stages include: presenting the research problem, data collection, data evaluation, analysis and interpretation, and finally, presenting the results and solutions.
 
Results
The findings of this research, as illustrated in Figure1, indicate the most frequent errors, providing solutions to prevent phonetic fossilization. The horizontal axis of the graph represents the types of errors, while the vertical axis shows the number of errors at different proficiency levels, ranging from basic level to advanced. Each horizontal bar on the graph depicts the number of errors at different proficiency levels, except for the brown-colored bar, which represents the overall sum of the other bars across different levels.
On the right side of the graph, the percentage frequency of errors is displayed. The dark blue bar, oriented horizontally on the graph, indicates the percentage frequency of each error. As observed in Figure 1, the most common errors made by these Persian learners of German, in descending order, relate to the substitution of incorrect vowels for correct ones, relationships between grapheme and phoneme and similarity of active articolation organ in the Persian phonetic system. All of these errors fall under the category of substituting one vowel for another. Therefore, insertion, deletion, and metathesis errors are less likely to occur in Persian learners of German.
In this research, the potential occurrence of phonological fossilization in the learning of the phonological system by this group of Persian learners is explained and solutions are presented to prevent the phonological fossilization of three common errors in the process of learning Persian by German-speaking individuals. Strategies for reducing or overcoming phonological fossilization were presented within three main and significant approaches, including: employing appropriate learning strategies, minimizing the negative transfer effects from the first language, and immersing oneself in a suitable environment and culture for learning. These strategies emphasize that, in addition to paying attention to instructional materials, consideration of teaching methods by instructors and the involvement of individuals knowledgeable in Persian language education can be effective in ensuring the success of the language learning path for non-Persian speakers. It can also be concluded that by studying and analyzing the needs of Persian learners based on their first language, diverse teaching methods can be selected that are tailored to their specific requirements.
Conclusion
The aim of conducting this research is to prevent phonological fossilization in Persian language instruction for German speakers. From the results of the statistical analysis of errors generated in the exam papers of German-speaking Persian learners in the Persian language education section of Dehkhoda Lexicon Institute, a number of frequent errors in the form of four phonological processes (substitution, insertion, deletion, and transposition) were identified. These errors, in descending order of frequency, include: substituting incorrect vowels for correct vowels, errors resulting from the relationship between grapheme and morpheme in Persian, errors resulting from the interaction of active articolation organs, failure to recognize the glottal consonant  /ʔ/, transition from voiceless uvular fricative consonant /χ/ to voiceless glottal fricative /h/ and Vice Versa, swapping vowels within a word, omitting glottal fricative consonant /h/ after vowels, inserting glottal fricative consonant /h/ after the vowel /e/ and aspirating the voiceless explosive consonants and inserting /h/. The statistical analysis results indicated, as predicted, that the most frequent error among 171 exam sheets of German-speaking Persian learners was the substitution of incorrect vowels for correct vowels. Additionally, errors resulting from the interaction of active vocal organs ranked third among the existing errors.
These investigations have demonstrated that instructional strategies, learning approaches, and the environment in which a language learner engages in second language acquisition are factors that can contribute to phonological fossilization at various language levels. Therefore, paying attention to these factors and implementing measures to prevent or reduce phonological fossilization will be effective for better teaching and learning of the Persian language.
Conflict of Interest
This research has been conducted at all stages, including design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and publication, at the authors's personal expense. The authors are not affiliated with any organization that may influence the objectives or actions of the research.
 Acknowledgment
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all those who have contributed to the completion of this research paper. Special thanks to Dehkhoda Lexicon Institute and International Center for Persian Studies for providing the necessary resources and facilities that facilitated the research. Additionally, we are grateful to our family and friends for their encouragement and understanding during the demanding phases of this project.