AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF QATAR (CCQ) STUDENTS’ ARABIC AND ENGLISH EMAILS TO FACULTY

Ayman Yousuf Elyyan, Ziad Oqlah Al-Mwajeh

Abstract


This study analyzes Arabic and English emails written by CCQ students to focus on both the formal as well as grammatical issues. The emails in general have missing parts, such as Introduction, Conclusion and Closing parts. As for the mechanical and grammatical side, both emails in Arabic and English have various and numerous errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation. In Arabic emails, spelling is a major factor, while punctuation errors are highest in English emails. Some English emails have sentences that lack linking verbs and sentences with problems in the article system. L1 interference is a major factor here. As for Arabic, some students wrote sentences where English structures supersede Arabic sentence structure. Students wrote sentences (S+V), when the normal structure should be (V+S). More importantly, some of the errors come from the email genre or students’ sacrificing formalities and protocols for the sake for speed and convenience. Chat language and online communication are factors, too.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter

DOI

Keywords


error analysis, Arabic emails, English emails, L1 interference, reverse transfer, multiple-competencies, hybrid genre, chat language

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abbas, H. A. & Eleyyan, A. (2014). Common lingual patterns commonly used by UAE American University students in digital communication texts and their justification and impact. IUG Journal of Educational and psychology Sciences. Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 207-230. ISSN 1726-6807. http://www.iugaza.edu.ps/ar/periodical/

AlAfnan, M. A. (2015). Language use in computer-mediated communication: An investigation into the genre of workplace emails. International journal of education & literacy studies. Vol. 3. No. 1. Jan. 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.3n.1p.1

AlAfnan, M. A. (2017). “Critical Perspective to Genre Analysis: Intertextuality and interdiscursivity in electronic mail communication. Advances in journalism and communication, 5, 23-49. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajc.2017.51002.

Bhatia, V. K. (1993). Analysing genre: Language use in professional settings. London, Longman.

Biesenbach-Lucas, S. (2007). Students writing emails to faculty: An examination of e-politeness among native and non-native speakers of English. Language Learning& Technology. vol. 11, no. 2. pp. 59-81. http://llt.msu.edu/vol11num2/biesenbachlucas/.

Cook, Vivian (2003). Changing the first language in the L2 user's mind: Introduction to L2 Effects on the L1. http://www.viviancook.uk/Writings/Papers/FXintro.htm

El-dali, H. M. (2015). On L1 Interference and Reverse Transfer: Special Reference to the Concept of Multicompetence. International Journal of Research in Education Methodology, 7(1), 1022-1036. https://doi.org/10.24297/ijrem.v7i1.3856.

Gerson, S. M. (2014). Writing that works: A teacher’s guide to technical writing. Topeka, Kansas Curriculum Center. http://toefl.uobabylon.edu.iq/papers/itp_2015_41931767.pdf.

Haywood, J. A. & Nahmad, H. M. (1993). A new Arabic grammar: Of the written language. London: Lund Humphries. https://www.ghazali.org/books/haywood-65.pdf.

Kraichoke, C. "Error Analysis: A Case Study on Non-Native English Speaking College Applicants’ Electronic Mail Communications" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 1910. http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/1910.

Mehrpour, S., & Mehrzad, M. (2013). A comparative genre analysis of English business emails written by Iranian and Native English speakers. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 3, No. 12, pp. 2250-2261. Doi: 10.4304/tpls.3.12.2250-2261.

Napitupulu, S. (2017). Analyzing linguistic errors in writing an English letter: A case study of Indonesian undergraduate students. International Journal of Language and Linguistics. Vol. 5. No. 3. 2017, pp.71-77. Doi:10.11648/j.ij11.11.20170503.12. doi:10.4304/tpls.3.12.2250-2261. http://www.academypublication.com/issues/past/tpls/vol03/12/15.pdf.

Norrish, J. (1983). Language learners and their errors. London: Macmillan Press.

Qasim, S., Hussain, Z. & Mahmoud, M. A. (2015). Genre analysis of business emails written by Pakistani employees: A case study in Pakistani organizational context. Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics. Vol. 10, pp.1-9. https://iiste.org/Journals/index.php/JLLL/article/view/22646/22903.

Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis. English in academic and research settings. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Weiss, M. & Hanson-Baldauf, D., “E-mail in academia: Expectations, use, and instructional impact. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 1 (January–March 2008), pp. 42–50. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2008/2/email-in-academia-expectations-use-and-instructional-impact.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The research works published in this journal are free to be accessed. They can be shared (copied and redistributed in any medium or format) and\or adapted (remixed, transformed, and built upon the material for any purpose, commercially and\or not commercially) under the following terms: attribution (appropriate credit must be given indicating original authors, research work name and publication name mentioning if changes were made) and without adding additional restrictions (without restricting others from doing anything the actual license permits). Authors retain the full copyright of their published research works and cannot revoke these freedoms as long as the license terms are followed.

Copyright © 2018-2023. European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies (ISSN 2602 - 0254 / ISSN-L 2602 - 0254). All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library. All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and standards formulated by Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002), the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing (2003) and Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003) and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Copyrights of the published research works are retained by authors.