A Syntactic Study of Word Order Use by Arab EFL Learners Linguistics - English

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Table of Contents

1.CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS1

1.1 Introduction1

1.2 Theoretical Foundations2

1.3 Theoretical Assumptions5

1.4 Investigating L2 Word Order Acquisition7

1.5 Adequacy for Understanding L2 Word Order Errors14

1.6 Limitations of This Approach16

1.7 Steps for Contrastive Analysis16

1.8 Significance of this Approach to this Study17

1.9 Conclusion20

REFERENCES22

Contrastive Analysis

1.1 Introduction

Human language has long been recognized as a conventional or rule-governed system of communication. Indeed, the word communication itself implies that there exists a set of rules which are to be followed so that information can be shared, so that meaning can become common. As Mair (2005) explains, the distinction between shared language rules and particular instances of' language behavior was drawn by de Saussure when he proposed the notions of langue and parole.Language is an abstraction, a body of conventions, a social set of rules whose existence is essential to successful communication between the members of the linguistic community (p. 23). Parole, however, is individual; it is the actual utterance, the language as it is realized at a particular moment by a particular speaker.” (p. 39)

The identification and analysis of the area of learning difficulties in second language teaching has traditionally been the central aspect of study in many parts of the world. According to Spolsky (1978), three of the “buzzwords” that have been liberally sprinkled throughout the literature on the theory of second language pedagogy over the past three decades are: “Contrastive Analysis” (CA hereafter) which dominated the field from 1945 until 1965, fell under heavy criticism for some time. and is now reviving in importance; “Error Analysis” (EA hereafter) which developed as an alternative approach (as some linguists view it) after 1965; and “lnterlanguage” (IL hereafter) which has been in vogue for the last ten years (in James, 2005).

This chapter discusses the theoretical foundations of CA, its assumptions and then elaborates on the achievements and limitations of CA. Furthermore, the literature review also talks about the significance of this approach and how this approach can be useful for this study. The chapter ends by concluding this section.

1.2 Theoretical Foundations

Contrastive Analysis (CA) was first developed by Charles Fries (1945) as an integral component of the methodology of foreign language teaching (cited in Sheen, 2005). Sheen noted that in learning a foreign language, the learner tended to bring with him the knowledge of the first language (Ll ), and suggested that this should be taken into consideration in teaching the second language (L2). The best way to achieve this, from Sheen's point of view, was to undertake a comparative analysis of L1 and L2. Sheen (2005) contended that the most effective materials [for teaching a second language] are those that are based upon a scientific description of the language to be learned, carefully compared with a parallel description of the native language of the learner. Lane examined and clarified this statement when he later stated that those elements that are similar to the native language will be simpler to him, and those that are different will be ...