Need of a Syntax-based Interpretation for Learning English as a Second Language among Arabic Speakers

Oveesa Farooq*
Department of English, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
Periodicity:July - September'2019
DOI : https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.9.3.16032

Abstract

The fact that English is an internationally intelligible language, and therefore its use in the educational institutions of most non-English speaking countries is stressed upon. This impresses upon us the need of ELT (English Language Teaching) as a second language in such countries. Same is the case with Gulf countries, especially Saudi-Arabia. For learning any language, the knowledge of all the four branches of linguistics (Syntax, Semantics, Morphology, and Phonlogy) have a major role to play. It is very important to use functional and content words for the formation of sentences in that language. In order to gain this information, the learners of second language need to know the organization of these lexical and functional words in a language that is syntax of a language. So, the syntax based interpretation forms the basis of learning any language. The present paper focuses on the importance of syntax in learning English as a second language among Arabic speakers. It has been observed that the performance of majority of the native Arabic speakers is very poor when it comes to basic language skills listening, speaking, reading, and writing English. In classroom activities, using English in simple conversations among each other, conversations with teacher, writing simple passages, paragraphs or essays, role play, etc is even a bigger issue for them. The present study attempts to focus on the issues these students have and the need of syntax-based interpretation for learning English as a second language among Arabic speakers.

Keywords

Syntactic Interpretations, Need of Syntax, Second Language Learning, Error Analysis, Suggestions.

How to Cite this Article?

Farooq, O. (2019). Need of a Syntax-based Interpretation for Learning English as a Second Language among Arabic Speakers. i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 9(3), 49-56. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.9.3.16032

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