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

References

[1]. Al-Kasimi, A., Topan, F. M., & Khan, Y. (1979). Error Analysis of Saudi Freshmen's English. Riyad: Riyad University Publications.
[2]. August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2008). Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: Report on the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
[3]. Branigan, H.P., Pickering, M.J, McLean, J.F., & Stewart, A. (2006). The role of local and global syntactic structure in language production: Evidence from syntactic priming. Language and Cognitive Processes, 12, 974-1010. https://doi.org/10.1080/016909600824609
[4]. Brown, H. (2007). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. New York. Pearson education Inc.
[5]. Chomsky, N. (1986). Knowledge of Language: Its Nature, Origin, and Use (1st Ed.). New York: Praeger Publishers.
[6]. Corder, S. P. (1967). The significance of learners' errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 5(1-4), 161-170. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral. 1967.5.1-4.161
[7]. Cummins, J. (1978). Bilingualism and the development of metalinguistic awareness. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 9(2), 131-149. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 002202217892001
[8]. Dulay, H., Burt, M., & Krashen, S. (1982). Language Two. London: Oxford University Press.
[9]. El-Badarin, M. N. (1983). Transfer, Strategies, and Structural Complexity in the Acquisition of English Syntax by Arabic Speakers (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis). The University of Texas at Austin.
[10]. Ellis, R. (1997). Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[11]. El-Sayed,A. M. (1983). An investigation into the syntactic errors of Saudi freshmen's English compositions (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis). Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
[12]. Kambal, A. (1980). An Analysis of Khartoum University Students' Composition Errors with Implications for Remedial English in the Context of Arabicization (Unpublished Ph.D.thesis). The University of Texas at Austin.
[13]. Krashen, S. (1979). The Monitor Model for second language acquisition. In Gingras, R. (Ed.). Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Teaching. Washington, DC: Centre for Applied Linguistics.
[14]. Kuo, L. J., & Anderson, R. C. (2008). Conceptual and methodological issues in comparing metalinguistic awareness across languages. In Learning to Read Across Languages (pp. 51-79). Routledge.
[15]. Lado, R. (1957). Linguistics Across Cultures: Applied Linguistics for Language Teachers. University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor.
[16]. Locastro, V. (1987). Aizuchi: A Japanese conversational routine. In L.E. Smith (Ed.), Discourse Across Cultures (pp.101-113). New York: Prentice Hall.
[17]. Obler, L. K. (1982). The parsimonious bilingual. In Obler, L. & Menn, L. (eds.), Exceptional Language and Linguistics, Academic Press
[18]. Radford, A. (2004). English Syntax: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University press.
[19]. Richards, J. C. (1971). A noncontrastive approach to error analysis. English Language Teaching. London, Oxford University press.
[20]. Scott, M. S., & Tucker, G. R. (1974) Error analysis and English language strategies of Arab students. Language Learning. 24(1), 69-79. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467- 1770.1974.tb00236.x
[21]. Slobin, D. l. (1980). The repeated path between transparency and opacity in language. In U. Bellugi, and M. Studdert-Kennedy (Eds.), Signed and Spoken Language: Biological Constraints on Linguistic Form (pp. 229-243). Weinheim, Germany: Verlag Chemie.
[22]. Stern, H. H. (1983). Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching. Oxford: OUP
If you have access to this article please login to view the article or kindly login to purchase the article

Purchase Instant Access

Single Article

North Americas,UK,
Middle East,Europe
India Rest of world
USD EUR INR USD-ROW
Pdf 35 35 200 20
Online 35 35 200 15
Pdf & Online 35 35 400 25

Options for accessing this content:
  • If you would like institutional access to this content, please recommend the title to your librarian.
    Library Recommendation Form
  • If you already have i-manager's user account: Login above and proceed to purchase the article.
  • New Users: Please register, then proceed to purchase the article.