Interlanguage Analysis as a Tool for Improving Instruction for Arabic Language Learners

Abstract

This study investigates the effectiveness of interlanguage analysis as a pedagogical tool for improving instruction of Arabic as a second or a foreign language learner (ASL/AFL). The second language learners develop an evolving system of language as they advance towards target-language competence; this is referred to as interlanguage. Developmental regularities in this system are influenced by L1 transfer, instructional input, overgeneralization and strategies of communication. Using a mixed-methods research design, writing samples, oral records, and classroom observations of both beginners and intermediate Arabic students were examined as to common phonological, morphological, syntactic, lexical, and orthographic patterns. Instruction was subsequently adjusted based on interlanguage outcomes. Findings showed that most errors were systematic and developmental especially in gender agreement, verb morphology, pluralization, vowel representation and emphatic consonant production. Specific instructional intervention resulted in definite improvements in accuracy in language spheres, especially, morphology and pronunciation. The results justify the need to integrate interlanguage analysis in the diagnostic testing and curriculum development in teaching Arabic.