Cross-Linguistic Interference in the Syntactic and Semantic Acquisition of Arabic Language

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate cross-linguistic interference in the syntactic and semantic acquisition of Arabic. An essay writing test is used to collect data. A total of 30 English and Spanish speakers of Arabic participates in this quantitative study. The participants are selected from three language centers in Jordan via convenient sampling procedures. The analysis of data reveals the following main findings: L1 transfer errors made by English and Spanish speakers of Arabic at the syntactic level account for 45% and 22.1%, respectively, while the percentage of intralingual errors made by English and Spanish speakers of Arabic at syntactic level account for 55%, and 77.9% respectively. On the other hand, the findings demonstrate that the percentage of L1 transfer errors made by English and Spanish speakers of Arabic at the semantic level are 34.85% and 14.3%, respectively, while the total percentage of intralingual errors made by English and Spanish speakers of Arabic at semantic level account for 65.15%, and 85.7 % respectively. The primary source of errors made by English and Spanish speakers of Arabic at both syntactic and semantic levels is intralingual interference.