Analyzing an ELS learner piece of language Assignment

Analyzing an ELS learner piece of language - Assignment Example The orthography poses a great problem as English is written from left to right while Arabic language is written from right to left. Keeping in view all these problems, a teacher of English has to perform a very difficult task in making his students master English language. The present study probes into different aspects regarding errors made by Arabic speakers during ESL learning. A sample of composition from an Arabic speaking student has been analyzed to highlight commonly occurring errors. In the following paragraphs we will first point out the errors and then find out the possible cause of these errors and in the end certain remedial measures would be suggested. Different researchers have also paid attention to this issue and have studied Arabic speaking learners to find out the possible solutions. The persistence of these errors suggests that some pedagogical intervention to raise students consciousness about them is necessary.( Cowan,2008).Lado(1957) hypothesized that errors in the second language (L2) are caused by the interference of the students native language. Such errors reflect the students inability to separate L1 and L2. Therefore, a contrastive analysis of L1 and L2, he thought, will help predict the areas of difficulty in L2. Odlin (1989): James (1980); Brown (1980) pointed out that students’ errors in L2 are caused by several processes. These include transfer, overgeneralization and communication strategies. There are many problematic areas for the students of English language in Arab countries. From the very beginning, he/she realizes that he/she is learning a different language which has many sounds which are not present in their mother tongue. The sounds which become difficult for the Arab learners are: The Arabic speakers mostly replace / p/ with / b/ sound that is the reason that they feel difficulty in pronouncing words like People, popular , perpetuate .In this case we will hear /b/ sound instead