Errors in the Use of Prepositions and Adverb Particles by Arab ESL Speakers: Performance Analysis Perspective

Abstract

This research aims at exploring the errors made by Arab Postgraduate Students at USM (Universiti Sains Malaysia) in Malaysia in the use of prepositions and adverb particles, as speakers of English as a second language (ESL) from a performance analysis perspective. More specifically, this study was an attempt to investigate the frequency, kind and any developmental tendencies of these errors. The results of this research revealed that Arab ESL speakers committed varied kinds of errors in the use of prepositions and adverb particles. The number of the errors in the use of prepositions and adverb particles were analyzed and conclusions were produced based on the nature of error. Analysis of the corpus revealed that errors made were, mainly, based on the function and replacement of the prepositions and adverb particles. This study is a qualitative study.