The Acquisition of the English Plural Morphemes by Arabic-Speaking EFL Learners

Safaa M Altarawneh,Maram H Hajjo

doi:10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.6n.2p.34

Abstract

This research paper analyzes the extent to which Arabic-speaking EFL learners are aware of the English plural morphemes and whether they are able to recognize them in context. The study also investigates whether the participants’ English proficiency level may play a role in their ability to recognize these morphemes. For the purpose of the study, we designed a Grammaticality Judgment Task (GJT), which was by sixty students from Al Ain University of Science and Technology, Al Ain, The United Arab Emirates (UAE), to elicit data. The sentences used in the test were adapted and modified from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) in order to suit the students’ English proficiency level. The results revealed that there is a little awareness of the English plural morphemes among Arabic-speaking EFL learners. In addition, the participants’ English proficiency level had a little effect on the participants’ use of English plural morphemes. Finally, the paper concluded with some pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research.

Highlights

The acquisition of the morphological system of the target language can be regarded as an essential skill that ESL/EFL learners need to have in their arsenal in order to enhance their communicative skills and, in turn, communicate effectively with native speakers of the target language
This research paper analyzes the extent to which Arabic-speaking EFL learners are aware of the English plural morphemes and whether they are able to recognize them in context
This research paper has analyzed the extent to which Arabic-speaking EFL learners are aware of the English plural morphemes

Summary

Introduction

The acquisition of the morphological system of the target language can be regarded as an essential skill that ESL/EFL learners need to have in their arsenal in order to enhance their communicative skills and, in turn, communicate effectively with native speakers of the target language (see Ekiert, 2005). Acquisition of both derivational and inflectional morphemes has not been given due attention, especially with regard to the acquisition of these morphemes by Arabic-speaking EFL learners (Altakhaineh and Zibin, 2017). This study examines the extent to which Arabic-speaking EFL learners are aware of English plural morphemes

Objectives

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Conclusion