The problematic issue of grammatical gender in Arabic as a foreign language

Alkohlani, Fatima A.

doi:10.1515/jolace-2016-0002

Abstract

Many languages of the world have a grammatical gender system that divides all nouns into gendered categories. The gender assigned to a given noun requires gender agreement with associated items in the sentence, such as: determiners, adjectives, and demonstrative pronouns. Research in the area of grammatical gender acquisition has found that this grammatical category poses considerable difficulty for L2 learners. However, rarely was this area of difficulty the focus of L2 studies in Arabic. The present study focuses on the problematic issue of grammatical gender in Arabic as a foreign language. It examines advanced Arabic L2 learners’ written errors of gender assignment and agreement in the Arabic Learner Corpus (ALC) v2, compiled by Alfaifi, Atwel, and Hedaya (2014). Based on the classification and analysis of the errors, possible factors of the difficulty facing L2 learners in assigning the correct gender are discussed, and recommendations to reduce their effects are suggested.

References

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Search in Google Scholar
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Search in Google Scholar
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Search in Google Scholar
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Search in Google Scholar
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DESROCHERS, A., GÉLINAS, C., &WIELAND, L.D. (1989). An application of the mnemonic keyword method to the acquisition of German nouns and their grammatical gender. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 25-32.10.1037/0022-0663.81.1.25
Search in Google Scholar
DEWAELE, J., & VÉRONIQUE, D. (2001). Gender assignment and gender agreement in advanced French interlanguage: A cross-sectional study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognision, 4(3), 275-297.10.1017/S136672890100044X
Search in Google Scholar
AL-AMRY, A. (2014). The acquisition of gender agreement in adult learners of Arabic. MA. diss., Ottawa: Carleton University.
Search in Google Scholar
Al-ʾaxTaaʾ l-lughawiyyah l-taHririyyah li-Tulaab l-mustawa l-mutaqaddim fii maʿhad l-lughah l-ʿarabiyyah bi-Jaamiʿat umm l-quraa. (1982). Makkah Al-Mukarramah: MaTaabiʿ Jaamiʿat Umm l-Quraa.
Search in Google Scholar
AL-FAAORI, A. (2009). ʾaxTaaʾ l-kitaabah ladaa mutaʿallimii l-ʿarabiyyah min l-naaTiqiin bi-ghayrihaa: alʾaxTaaʾ l-kitabyyah li-Talabat l-sanah l-raabiʿah fii qism l-lughah l-ʿarabiyyah fii jaamiʿat jiin jii fii taywaan. diraasah taHliliyyah. Majallat majmaʿ l-lughah l-ʿarabiyyah l-ʾardunii. nusxah ʾiliktruuniyyah.
Search in Google Scholar
ALFAIFI, A., ATWELL, E., & HEDAYA, I. (2014). Arabic learner corpus (ALC) v2: a new written and spoken corpus of Arabic learners. In Ishikawa, S. (Ed.), Proceedings of learner corpus studies in Asia and the world 2014. International symposium learner corpus studies in Asia and the world (LCSAW) 2014 (p. 77- 89). Japan: Kobe University. Available at: http://www.arabiclearnercorpus.com
Search in Google Scholar
ALHAWARY, M. (2003). Processability theory: counter-evidence from Arabic second language acquisition data. Al-Arabiya, 36, 107-166.
Search in Google Scholar
ALHAWARY, M. (2005). L2 acquisition of Arabic morphosyntactic features: Temporary or permanent impairment? In Alhawary, M. & Benmamoun, E. (Eds.), Perspectives on Arabic linguistics (p. 273-312). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Search in Google Scholar
ALHAWARY, M. (2009). Arabic second language acquisition of morphosyntax. Yale University Press.
Search in Google Scholar
ANDERSEN, R. (1984). What’s gender good for anyway? In Andersen, R. (Ed.), Second language: A crosslinguistic perspective (p. 77-100). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Search in Google Scholar
BERMAN, R. (1986). Acquisition of Hebrew. In Slobin, D. I. (Ed.), The crosslinguistics study of language acquisition (p. 255-372). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Search in Google Scholar
BOND, K., GABRIELE, A., FIORENTINO, R., & BANON, J. (2011). Individual differences and the role of the L1 in L2 processing: An ERP investigation. In Herschensohn, J. D. (Eds.), Tanner proceedings of the 11th generative approach to second language acquisition conference GASLA (p. 17-29). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Search in Google Scholar
BROUWER, S., CORNIPS, L., & HULK, A. (2008). Misrepresentation of Dutch neuter gender in older bilingual children. In Haznedar, B. & Gavruseva, E. (Eds.), Current trends in child second language acquisition: A generative perspective (p. 83-96). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Search in Google Scholar
BRUHN DE GARAVITO, J. & WHITE, L. (2002). The second language acquisition of Spanish DPs: The status of grammatical features. In Pérez-Leroux, A. & Munoz Liveras, J. (Eds.), The acquisition of Spanish morphosyntax (p. 153-178). Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Search in Google Scholar
CAIN, J., WEBER-OLSEN, M., & SMITH, R. (1987). Acquisition strategies in a first and second language: Are they the same? Journal of Child Language, 14(2), 333-352.10.1017/S0305000900012964
Search in Google Scholar
CARROLL, S. E. (1989). Second language acquisition and the computational paradigm. Language Learning, 39(4), 535-594.10.1111/j.1467-1770.1989.tb00902.x
Search in Google Scholar
COMRIE, B. (1999). Grammatical gender systems: A linguist’s assessment. Journal of Psycholinguistics Research, 28(5), 457-466.10.1023/A:1023212225540
Search in Google Scholar
CORBETT, G.G. (1991). Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CORBETT, G.G. (2006). Gender, grammatical. Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (p. 749-756). DOI: 10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00191-7.10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00191-7
Search in Google Scholar
DELISLE, H. (1985). The acquisition of gender by American students of German. The Modern Language Journal, 69, 55-63.10.1111/j.1540-4781.1985.tb02527.x
Search in Google Scholar
DESROCHERS, A., GÉLINAS, C., &WIELAND, L.D. (1989). An application of the mnemonic keyword method to the acquisition of German nouns and their grammatical gender. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 25-32.10.1037/0022-0663.81.1.25
Search in Google Scholar
DEWAELE, J., & VÉRONIQUE, D. (2001). Gender assignment and gender agreement in advanced French interlanguage: A cross-sectional study. Bilingualism: Language and Cognision, 4(3), 275-297. 10.1017/S136672890100044X
Search in Google Scholar

The problematic issue of grammatical gender in Arabic as a foreign language

Abstract

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