Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Exploring the Impact of Linguistic Interference on Syntactic Accuracy in Writing Errors Among Saudi EFL Learners(University of Findlay, 2025-05) GHAZWANI, MOHAMMED; Fennema, BloomThis study investigates the syntactic challenges faced by Saudi EFL learners in academic writing, with a particular focus on how first language (L1) interference from Arabic affects writing accuracy. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research analyzed 120 writing samples from first-year university students and collected survey responses from 59 EFL instructors across Saudi Arabia. A modified miscue analysis was used to categorize and quantify common syntactic errors, including misuse of articles, word order, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, and clause boundaries. Survey data revealed that instructors widely recognized the influence of Arabic structures on student writing, yet there was limited consensus on effective strategies to address these errors. Interestingly, teacher experience and qualifications showed minimal impact on perceptions of interference or preferred corrective practices. The findings highlight a consistent pattern of syntactic errors linked to L1 transfer and suggest a need for more targeted grammar instruction, teacher training in contrastive analysis, and curriculum adjustments that address interference explicitly. These insights aim to support more effective writing pedagogy and align teaching practices with national goals for English proficiency in higher education42 0Item Restricted Migrant Workers’ Varieties of Arabic in Hijaz, Madinah: Pidgin or Interlanguage Varieties?(Newcastle University, 2024-06-17) Bazerbay, Abrar; Pichler, Heike; Duncan, DanielThis thesis investigates whether the Arabic L2 varieties spoken by 30 Madinah-based migrant workers, who have Bengali, Hindi-Urdu or Tagalog as their L1, are pidgin or interlanguage varieties. To answer this research question, I first examine the verbal and nominal agreements in the speech of three migrant workers. I then investigate in detail the impact of a series of internal and external factors on the use of the definite article /ʔal-/ ‘the’, the coordinating conjunction marker /wa/ ‘and’, the production of /f/ in the speech of all 30 migrant workers in the corpus. I hypothesise that the migrant workers’ Arabic L2 can be considered a pidgin variety if the following apply: they have reduced verbal and nominal systems; they typically delete the morphosyntactic features and substitute /f/ with other variants; contextual predictors negligibly impact their L2 production; and their Arabic L2 is simplified compared to Hijazi Arabic (HA), the local variety of Arabic. However, if their use of the morphological features follows the usage patterns of L1 HA speakers and their use of morphosyntactic and phological features is significantly conditioned by contextual factors, the migrant workers’ Arabic L2 can be considered interlanguage varieties. Data were collected by way of one-hour semi-structured Zoom interviews and questionnaires. The questionnaires included a series of demographic information, questions concerning the participants' use and acquisition of Arabic and attitudinal information. The qualitative analysis of targeted morphological features reveals that the Arabic speech of the three migrants lacks both subject-verb agreement and noun-adjective-agreement. This result possibly supports the pidgin hypothesis. The quantitative analysis shows that while the examined linguistic features are employed categorically in L1 HA, they are used variably in the migrants' L2 varieties. Mixedeffect logistic regression models show that the migrant workers in my sample overwhelmingly delete the morphosyntactic features, with most of the independent variables not significantly affecting their use. The variations across various linguistic variables and throughout various language groups suggest that the L2 Arabic spoken by the migrants represent an interlanguage. With the phonological feature /f/, the impact of migrants' L1 becomes apparent, and the use of this variable is significantly affected by the independent variables included in the modelling. Hence, these findings suggest that the migrants’ Arabic L2s are interlanguage varieties. ii The analysis of morphological features and the analysis of morphosyntactic and phonological features point towards opposite conclusions. I tentatively propose that the Arabic varieties of the migrant workers studied in this thesis are located on a continuum, where the higher end may be closer to an interlanguage.32 0Item Restricted Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by Saudi Students for English Language Learning as a Foreign Language in the UK(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-12-01) Musawi, Hawazin; Petric, BojanaBackground: Vocabulary acquisition is a fundamental part of second language learning; without sufficient vocabulary, second language learners face difficulties mastering other language skills and lack communication skills. Second-language learners, including Saudi students, acknowledge the need to increase their English vocabulary, and that is reflected in their poor communication skills and academic achievement. Therefore, Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) are used as a tool to facilitate vocabulary learning. Aims of the study: The current study aimed to explore the most frequently used VLS among Saudi students in UK universities and whether there is any relation between using the VLS and students' gender, age, academic disciplines, and educational level. Research Methods: Data were collected for the current study by using a questionnaire divided into two parts: the first part asked about students' characteristics, and the second part of the questionnaire was a vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire instrument (VLSQ) based on the Schmitt taxonomy about the VLS that contains 40 items divided into five VLS categories to determine the use of VLS. The questionnaire was created in Google Forms and distributed to the participants using social media applications. The data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), and a descriptive analysis was carried out to answer the principal research questions, and inferential descriptive analysis was also performed to identify any significant difference between the use of VLS and students' characteristics. Study Results: The results of the current study showed that among five VLS, the metacognitive strategy scored the highest mean (M=2.4227, SD= 0.77979), followed by the determination strategies (M=2.3557, SD=0.73111). The least strategies used among Saudi students were cognitive strategies (M=2.0248, SD=0.85425) in UK universities. In addition, the current study detected a significant difference between the use of memory strategies and students' age and cognitive strategies with educational level. Conclusion: The findings indicated that Saudi students in UK universities preferred metacognitive strategies compared to other VLS to learn English vocabulary. Furthermore, the results revealed that older students used memory strategies more than younger students and students at associate degree level used cognitive strategies more than master students.24 0