ERROR PATTERNS IN THE ACADEMIC WRITING OF ARAB ESL STUDENTS: A DATA-DRIVEN PERSPECTIVE
Abstract
This study is an attempt to examine common errors in Arab ESL students’ writings. While some researchers and pedagogues believe that learners’ first language (L1) has a positive impact on learning a second language L2, others believe that L1 is the main cause of most writing errors, which hinders a smooth L2 learning process. This qualitative study aims to identify and analyze Arab ESL students’ academic writing errors and determine their origins. To hypothesize, L1, traditionally, is believed to exercise a good deal of influence on how well students write in their target language. However, many ESL researchers argue that not all ESL students’ writing errors are due to reliance on their L1, and in fact, some mistakes are found to be caused by students’ natural development of learning a second language or by a lack of adequate knowledge of language rules and patterns. The findings of this study reveal that learners’ L1 interference accounts for most writing errors, and a smaller portion is attributed to learners’ intra-lingual challenges. Some recurring error patterns are found to affect prepositions, word order, article systems, subject-verb agreement, clauses, and sentence structure.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejfl.v9i2.6010
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