Contrastive Linguistics- English nd Arbi - Essay Example

Cоntrаstivе Linguistiсs- English аnd Arаbiс Name Institution Date Arabic is an official language used in several countries including Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, as well as Morocco. There are numerous Arabic dialects, but there only one variety that is learnt in schools and used by the mass media across the Arab world. Arabic comes from a pool of Semitic languages, therefore, its grammar is very dissimilar from English. There are many errors that are made by Arabic learners of English: either spoken or written. Arabic grammar does not have the verb to be in the simple present tense. Similarly, it does not have the primary auxiliary verb do. Additionally, Arabic language has one present tense as opposed to English language, which has simple present tense and continuous present tense. These dissimilarities result in errors such as He good footballer, what you going to France?, I flying to London on Saturday or Where she going? There is no distinction between the events or actions completed in the past in Arabic language (Sadeq, 2013). There is also no connection with the present when using the perfective aspect in the past. As expected, this omission cannot allow one to use the English present perfect tense. For instance, one cannot say, I ate my food. Modal auxiliary verbs are also absent in many Arabic dialects (Bolotin, 1996; Sadeq, 2013). In English grammar, any complete sentence must contain at least a subject and a predicate (verb). This is also commonly the case in Arabic language. Conversely, the arrangement of these elements in a syntactical structure can vary in the two languages. In English syntactical structures, the subject generally precedes the verb. Nonetheless, this is different in Arabic language where there are two forms of sentences vis a vis subject and verb arrangement. The two forms are Nominal Sentences: sentences in which the verb follows the subject and verbal Sentences where the verb precedes the subject. In Arabic language, a nominal sentence (الْجُمْلَةُ الاِسْمِيَّةُ) is a sentence that begins with a subject followed by the verb. The subject of the sentence can be a noun, a demonstrative, a pronoun or a relative clause. On the other hand, verb sentences begin with a verb (Al-Shurafa, 2006; Sadeq, 2013). Conjugation in Arabic language is very different to that of English language. Every verb stems from a root verb, in most cases the past form of that verbal. These verbs are then conjugated according on gender and number. The root verbs are conjugated to create various meanings. If speaker knows the root word, then it becomes easier to discern the appropriate conjugated verb form (Bolotin, 1996). English speakers learning Arabic language are bound to encounter great challenges in learning Arabic language due to various linguistic differences. English speakers learning Arabic will have challenges in differentiating nouns from adjectives in a sentence. In most cases, English speaking Leaners (ESL) would find themselves replacing the noun particularly common nouns with an adjective. For example, an ESL may write ‘Rules grammatical’ in Arabic instead of correctly writing ‘Rules of Grammar.’ This type of error emanates from random substitution reflecting lack of knowledge of the features of nouns which make the ESL unable to distinguish them from the adjective. This makes the ESL to misuse them. However, the sentence can be correct if a definite article ‘the’ is added since the adjective that is supposed to modify the noun agree with all its markers and that includes the cases and definite articles (Sadeq, 2013). English speakers learning Arabic language will most likely encounter problems with proper nouns. These speakers are not familiar with Arabic proper nouns. For instance, the learner is likely to use some feminine proper nouns as masculine and vice-versa. Leaners tend to make a false analogy by assuming that the Arabic masculine occurs between the subject pronouns. This type of error is made because the speakers are affected by the internalization of the rules of their first language (Bolotin, 1996). Challenges are also encountered when saying or constructing sentences with verbs. An English speaking learner may say, ‘I began in practice Islam.’ In this case, the learner makes an error as he is supposed to state ‘I began practicing I slam’ or ‘I began to practice Isla,’ if the speaker wants to put down what he wishes to say, since in Arabic language the infinitive can be overt’ or covert. The previous one entails of ‘To+ infinitive’ that occurs after many verbs in Arabic language except after the verb ‘To begin’. The latter emanates from coalescing To+ infinitive. That is a ‘gerund’ and in this type of infinitive, the leaner has the prerogative to use it alone (Marogy, 2011). The scholars contend this is due to lack of familiarity of this type of infinitive in Arabic language which are absent many other languages like English and this might be the cause behind such errors. English speakers also frequently fail to use the rule of Arabic verbal tense and aspect system and this can be discerned through a speakers double errors in the sentences such as, I have hear that there a chance,’ whereby the correct sentence should have been written as follows; ‘I have heard that there is a chance.’ This is, certainly, due to the English speaker’s illiteracy of the features of verbs in Arabic on one hand and also not practicing Arabic with native speakers constantly (Marogy, 2011). English speakers will also have a problem with English phonemes and hence affect their speaking significantly. Arabic language has certain phonemes that English language speakers do not have in their repertoires. These phonemes include uvulars, velarized consonants and pharyngeal, as well as the variance in length of the vowel-short vowels and long vowels. Arabic language also has composite morphological systems and the language is extremely inflected compared to English. For instance, there are three dissimilar cases and they are genitive, nominative and accusative and eight different noun declensions (Bakar, Suleiman, & Rafaai, 2010). Speakers of English learning Arabic may also have a problem with the Adjective in Arabic language. Speakers may not be familiar with the number-adjective agreement rule in Arabic language. It should be noted that there are certain features of Arabic adjectives. Unlike English, an adjective in Arabic language follows the noun and takes all the case markers which are both main case markers and sub-case markers. The table below shows the order of adjectives in English and Arabic languages. ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARABIC LANGUAGE Bad girl (Adjective + Noun) Girl bad (Noun + Adjective) The form of Arabic adjectives changes according to the noun or pronoun. This is not the case in English where the adjective remains fixed without any change in its forms. More importantly, the Noun-Adjective agreement should not be state in isolation. The two elements have to be taken as a part of the whole setup to contain all determiners that may accompany the noun which might also be added to the adjective. Therefore, English speakers learning Arabic might not understand these intricacies on the use of Arabic adjectives and hence the likelihood of misusing them in a sentence. In Arabic, the adjective must agree with the noun in all characteristics. This is different in English where the adjective pre-modifier occurs immediately after the post-determiner if there is one in the sentence, and just before the noun post modifier (Sadeq, 2013). English speakers learning English might also encounter challenges with the adverb of time in Arabic. They are most likely to engage in substitution. The usage of adverb of time is very explicit in Arabic. In Arabic, adverbs are typically interpreted with adverbs in the 4th declension. Adverbs of place, time, manner and frequency play a very significant role in Arabic language. Consequently, they need very special attention from learners in order to get them right (Sadeq, 2013). Non-native speakers of Arabic mainly Arabic Second Language learners make mistakes in main word classes as well as in minor word classes. Challenges in major word classes include Nouns, for instance Common Nouns and Proper Nouns. Speakers also find a challenge in Verbs mainly Main Verbs and a similar error can be identified with Adjectives. Concerning the adverbs, mistakes of English speakers learning Arabic include adverbs of time and adverbs of manner. Arabic Second Language learners also have challenges apropos pronouns, particularly objective pronouns (Marogy, 2011). Arabic Second Language learners’ mistakes can also be found in in the use of determiners, more so articles. The bone of contention is the agreement in determiners and numbers as well. Errors including Determiners and quantifiers have been also been noted. Lastly, these ASL learners will have challenges with Arabic prepositions as speakers make a false analogy between these prepositions and those in their first language (Bakar, Suleiman, & Rafaai, 2010). Sadeq (2013) states that Arabic grammar is not an isolated skill; it is an appendage to, or even the spine of each of the four major language skills, speaking, listening, reading and writing. Grammar, together with other fundamentals of the linguistics, is a tool that empowers learners to understand and produce the language efficiently. Nevertheless, Arabic grammar, and indeed all grammars, should not be taught as a set of inflexible rubrics in seclusion of the language, it should instead be related with meaning and function. The objective of Arabic grammar teaching is to enable learners to carry out their communications in Arabic without the help of the teacher or an Arabic native speaker. This strategy has three inferences. First, the learners need overt teaching that joins grammar points with larger communication contexts. Second, the learners do not need to cram every facet of each Arabic grammar concept, only those that are pertinent to the immediate communication assignment. Third, error correction is not at all times the teacher's first obligation. In the overt Grammar teaching, learners are made to appreciate and profit from direct teaching that permits them to use critical thinking skills to Arabic grammar learning. Teachers can take advantage of this by providing clarifications that give learners an evocative understanding of each point of grammar. Teachers should teach Arabic grammar concepts in English (target language) or the learners' first language or both. The aim is to expedite understanding. The teacher should also limit the time devoted to grammar explanations to 20 minutes, particularly for lower level learners whose capability to sustain attention can be limited. The teacher should also present Arabic grammar concepts in written and verbal means to address the needs of learners with diverse learning types. A significant part of MSA grammar instruction is through giving of examples. Teachers should plan their examples cautiously around two rudimentary principles. First, teachers should be sure the examples are precise and suitable. Teachers must also present the language properly, by being ethnically apt for the environment in which they are used and the lesson that is being learnt. Secondly, teachers should use examples as instruction tools in order to augment the comprehension of the concept. Examples should be focused on a precise subject or theme so that learners have more interaction with particular information and terminologies. Teachers should also take note of the relevance of Arabic grammar instruction. In this teaching strategy, the objective of learning MSA grammar is to study the language of which the grammar is a part. Therefore, teachers should teach grammar structures and forms paying special attention to the meaning and usage for the definite communication situations that learners need to complete (Long, 1991). In this strategy, it is also important to ensure that there is error correction. At all ability stages, students create morphology and syntactical elements that are not precisely the language used by native Arabic speakers. Some of the dissimilarities are syntactic, while others contain lexis range and errors in the selection of language suitable for diverse situations. In responding to learner communication, tutors need to be cautious not to emphasize on a mistake correction to the disadvantage of communication and self-confidence building. Tutors should tell learners when they have made mistakes so that they can work on improving in those weak areas. Tutors also ought to build learners' self-confidence in their capability to use the Arabic morphology and syntax by concentrating on the content of their message instead of the grammatical forms. Tutors can use error rectification to sustain Arabic grammar attainment, and avoid using it in ways that demoralize learners' aspiration to communicate in the language. When learners are doing organized output activities that emphasize on progress of new Arabic concepts, teachers should use error correction to improve their confidence (Long, 1991). Additionally, when learners are engaged in communication events, teachers should only correct errors if they restrict with understanding of the message. Teachers should also respond correctly without necessarily stressing them. Even though this strategy has its shortcomings, if used in apposite context it can expedite the Arabic grammar learning process. There is no decisive strategy of Arabic grammar teaching and the key to attainment lies in the wisdom to observe the experiences of other people, eluding their grammatical errors and making the most of the methods and systems bore fruit. Grammar and vocabulary are the corner stones of any language, and it is important to comprehend the way in which Arabic lexis and syntax works in order to meticulously learn the language. Therefore, the most prudent way to study these language fundamentals cannot be through rote learning. A good way to benefit from the online Arabic learning experiences is to constantly practice these conceptions through games, activities and real-life situations to give the learner a feel for how the language actually functions. References Al-Shurafa, N. (2006). ‘Word Order and Morph syntactic Features of Adverbs and Adverbials in Arabic.’ Journal of Arts and Humanities. Vol. 18, Arts(2). Riyadh: King Saud University: 85-100. Bakar, K., Suleiman, N., & Rafaai, Z. (2010). Self-Determination Theory And Motivational Orientations Of Arabic Learners: A Principal Component Analysis. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 71-86. Bolotin, N. (1996). ‘Arabic Speakers Resetting of Parameters.’ Perspectives of Arabic Linguistics VIII. (eds.). Amsterdam: John Benjamin, 135-155. Long, M. (1991) “The Least Second Language Acquisition Theory Needs to Explain." TESOL Quarterly 24 649-666. Marogy, A. (2011). The Legacy of the Kitāb: Sībawayhi’s Analytical Methods within the Context of the Arabic Grammatical Theory By Ramzi Baalbaki. Journal of Islamic Studies, 248- 252. Sadeq, Yaari. (2013).Written Grammatical Errors of Arabic as Second Language (ASL) Learners: An Evaluative Study. International Journal of English Language Education, Vol. 1, No. 2, Special Issue Thornbury, S. How to Teach Grammar 5th Edition. Essex: Pearson Education. 2002. Read More

For example, an ESL may write ‘Rules grammatical’ in Arabic instead of correctly writing ‘Rules of Grammar.’ This type of error emanates from random substitution reflecting lack of knowledge of the features of nouns which make the ESL unable to distinguish them from the adjective. This makes the ESL to misuse them. However, the sentence can be correct if a definite article ‘the’ is added since the adjective that is supposed to modify the noun agree with all its markers and that includes the cases and definite articles (Sadeq, 2013).

English speakers learning Arabic language will most likely encounter problems with proper nouns. These speakers are not familiar with Arabic proper nouns. For instance, the learner is likely to use some feminine proper nouns as masculine and vice-versa. Leaners tend to make a false analogy by assuming that the Arabic masculine occurs between the subject pronouns. This type of error is made because the speakers are affected by the internalization of the rules of their first language (Bolotin, 1996).

Challenges are also encountered when saying or constructing sentences with verbs. An English speaking learner may say, ‘I began in practice Islam.’ In this case, the learner makes an error as he is supposed to state ‘I began practicing I slam’ or ‘I began to practice Isla,’ if the speaker wants to put down what he wishes to say, since in Arabic language the infinitive can be overt’ or covert. The previous one entails of ‘To+ infinitive’ that occurs after many verbs in Arabic language except after the verb ‘To begin’.

The latter emanates from coalescing To+ infinitive. That is a ‘gerund’ and in this type of infinitive, the leaner has the prerogative to use it alone (Marogy, 2011). The scholars contend this is due to lack of familiarity of this type of infinitive in Arabic language which are absent many other languages like English and this might be the cause behind such errors. English speakers also frequently fail to use the rule of Arabic verbal tense and aspect system and this can be discerned through a speakers double errors in the sentences such as, I have hear that there a chance,’ whereby the correct sentence should have been written as follows; ‘I have heard that there is a chance.

’ This is, certainly, due to the English speaker’s illiteracy of the features of verbs in Arabic on one hand and also not practicing Arabic with native speakers constantly (Marogy, 2011). English speakers will also have a problem with English phonemes and hence affect their speaking significantly. Arabic language has certain phonemes that English language speakers do not have in their repertoires. These phonemes include uvulars, velarized consonants and pharyngeal, as well as the variance in length of the vowel-short vowels and long vowels.

Arabic language also has composite morphological systems and the language is extremely inflected compared to English. For instance, there are three dissimilar cases and they are genitive, nominative and accusative and eight different noun declensions (Bakar, Suleiman, & Rafaai, 2010). Speakers of English learning Arabic may also have a problem with the Adjective in Arabic language. Speakers may not be familiar with the number-adjective agreement rule in Arabic language. It should be noted that there are certain features of Arabic adjectives.

Unlike English, an adjective in Arabic language follows the noun and takes all the case markers which are both main case markers and sub-case markers. The table below shows the order of adjectives in English and Arabic languages. ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARABIC LANGUAGE Bad girl (Adjective + Noun) Girl bad (Noun + Adjective) The form of Arabic adjectives changes according to the noun or pronoun. This is not the case in English where the adjective remains fixed without any change in its forms. More importantly, the Noun-Adjective agreement should not be state in isolation.

The two elements have to be taken as a part of the whole setup to contain all determiners that may accompany the noun which might also be added to the adjective.

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