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Abstract
Negative interference from a mother language is said to be one of the major sources of errors committed by learners of a foreign language. Due to this interference, it is our belief that mere analysis and finding of differences between the languages concerned are inadequate. Therefore, the present research is engaged in giving a more profound approach to deal with errors in general, and one of the commonest errors committed by Palestinian Arabic speakers learning English, in particular: namely, relative pronoun deletion from the subject position of the relative pronoun. Building on certain linguistic constructs and rules, as well as an enlightened pedagogical account, the absence of the subject relative pronoun is given a new perspective. Our account addresses both teachers’ and students’ cognitive linguistic knowledge to eradicate the problem at hand. Our approach to the problem which is thus interdisciplinary, helps students in the acquisition of complex structures like that of the relative clause and can be a model to be followed in tackling other problems in foreign language learning and teaching.
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References
- Beckman, J., Dickey, L., & Urbanczyk, S. (1995). University of Massachusetts occasional papers in linguistics. Amherst, MA: GLSA Publications.
- Broadwell, G. A. (1985). A-bar anaphora and relative clauses. In S. Berman, W. Choe and J. McDonough (Eds.), NELS 16, 47–57.
- Chomsky, N. (1966). Linguistic theory. In R. Mend (Ed.),Northeast conference on the teaching of foreign languages, 43-49.
- Chomsky, N. (1977). On wh–movement. In P. Culicover, et al. (Eds.) Formal Syntax,121(2) 71-132.
- Chomsky, N. (1981). The minimalist program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Chomsky, N. (2000). Minimalist inquiries. In Step by step: Essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lansik. R. Martin, D. Michaels and J. Uriagereka (Eds.) 89-155. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
- Collins, C. & Postal, P. (2012), Imposters. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
- Collins, C. (2015). Relative clause deletion in Gallego, Á. & Ott, D. (Eds) Fifty years later: Reflections on Chomsky’s aspects. Cambridge, MA: MITWPL. Retrieved from http://filcat.uab.cat/clt/publicacions/Aspects-50-years-later/Aspects/50YearsLater_web.pdf on 24 January 2017.
- Di Sciullo, A. & Williams, E. (1987). On defining the word. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
- Duffield, C. & Michaelis, L. (2009). Why subject relatives prevail: Constraints versus constructional licensing. Presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Linguistics Society of America. San Francisco, CA.
- Duffield, C., Hwang, J., & Michaelis, L. Identifying assertions in text and discourse: The presentational relative clause construction. Retrieved from: http://www.aclweb.org/anthology/W10-0803on 31 July 2017
- Edge, J. & Richards, K. (Eds). (1993). Teachers develop teachers’ research: Papers on classroom research and teacher development. London: Heinemann International.
- Fox, D. (2003). On logical form. In H. Randall(Ed.) Minimalist Syntax. Oxford: Blackwell, 82-123
- Hamdallah, R. & Tushyeh, H. (1998). A contrastive analysis of English and Arabic in relativization. Papers and studies in contrastive linguistics 34, 141-152. Poland. Poznan: School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University.
- Katamba, F. (1993). Morphology. London: Macmillan Press Limited.
- Lambrecht, K. (1988). There was a farmer had a dog: Syntactic amalgams revisited in the proceedings of the fourteenth annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, 319-339
- Lightfoot, D.(1976). Trace theory and twice-moved NPS. Linguistic Inquiry. 7(4): 559-582
- Peterson, S. & Ostendorf, M. (2007). Text simplification for language learners: A corpus analysis in SLATE-2007, Farmington, PA, 69-72
- Reinhart, T. (2000). Strategies of anaphora resolution. In H. Bennis, M. Evaraert, & E. Reuland, (Eds.) Interface strategies. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Royal Netherland Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- Riemsdijk, H. & Williams, E. (1986). Introduction to the theory of grammar. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Robert, F. & Vijay-Shanker, K. (2001). Primitive C-Command, Syntax. 4(3): 164.
- Sag, I. A. (2007). English relative clause constructions, Journal of Linguistics. (33): 431- 484.
- Schachter, J. (1974). An error in error analysis. Language Learning, 24 (2): 205-214
- Scott, M. and, Tucker, G. (1974). Error analysis and English language strategies of Arab students, Language Learning. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1974.tb00236.x
- on 24 January 2017.
- Selkirk, E. O. (1982). The syntax of words. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Stevick, E (1994). Teaching and learning languages. London: Cambridge University Press.
- Thomas, R. & Panos, T. (1983). The least you should know about Arabic: implications for the ESL learners” TESOL Quarterly, vol. 17(4): 609-623.
- Williams, E. (1981a) ‘On the notions’, ‘lexically related’ and ‘head of a word’, LI, 12: 234-74.
- Williams, E. (1981b) Argument structure and morphology, Linguistic Review, 1: 81- 114.
- Yalden, J. (1994). Principles of course design for language teaching, London: Cambridge University Press.
- Yorkey, R. (1977). Practical EFL techniques for teaching Arabic–speaking students in J. Alatis & R. Crymes (Eds). The human factors in ESL, Washington D. C.: TESOL
References
Beckman, J., Dickey, L., & Urbanczyk, S. (1995). University of Massachusetts occasional papers in linguistics. Amherst, MA: GLSA Publications.
Broadwell, G. A. (1985). A-bar anaphora and relative clauses. In S. Berman, W. Choe and J. McDonough (Eds.), NELS 16, 47–57.
Chomsky, N. (1966). Linguistic theory. In R. Mend (Ed.),Northeast conference on the teaching of foreign languages, 43-49.
Chomsky, N. (1977). On wh–movement. In P. Culicover, et al. (Eds.) Formal Syntax,121(2) 71-132.
Chomsky, N. (1981). The minimalist program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. (2000). Minimalist inquiries. In Step by step: Essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lansik. R. Martin, D. Michaels and J. Uriagereka (Eds.) 89-155. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Collins, C. & Postal, P. (2012), Imposters. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Collins, C. (2015). Relative clause deletion in Gallego, Á. & Ott, D. (Eds) Fifty years later: Reflections on Chomsky’s aspects. Cambridge, MA: MITWPL. Retrieved from http://filcat.uab.cat/clt/publicacions/Aspects-50-years-later/Aspects/50YearsLater_web.pdf on 24 January 2017.
Di Sciullo, A. & Williams, E. (1987). On defining the word. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Duffield, C. & Michaelis, L. (2009). Why subject relatives prevail: Constraints versus constructional licensing. Presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Linguistics Society of America. San Francisco, CA.
Duffield, C., Hwang, J., & Michaelis, L. Identifying assertions in text and discourse: The presentational relative clause construction. Retrieved from: http://www.aclweb.org/anthology/W10-0803on 31 July 2017
Edge, J. & Richards, K. (Eds). (1993). Teachers develop teachers’ research: Papers on classroom research and teacher development. London: Heinemann International.
Fox, D. (2003). On logical form. In H. Randall(Ed.) Minimalist Syntax. Oxford: Blackwell, 82-123
Hamdallah, R. & Tushyeh, H. (1998). A contrastive analysis of English and Arabic in relativization. Papers and studies in contrastive linguistics 34, 141-152. Poland. Poznan: School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University.
Katamba, F. (1993). Morphology. London: Macmillan Press Limited.
Lambrecht, K. (1988). There was a farmer had a dog: Syntactic amalgams revisited in the proceedings of the fourteenth annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, 319-339
Lightfoot, D.(1976). Trace theory and twice-moved NPS. Linguistic Inquiry. 7(4): 559-582
Peterson, S. & Ostendorf, M. (2007). Text simplification for language learners: A corpus analysis in SLATE-2007, Farmington, PA, 69-72
Reinhart, T. (2000). Strategies of anaphora resolution. In H. Bennis, M. Evaraert, & E. Reuland, (Eds.) Interface strategies. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Royal Netherland Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Riemsdijk, H. & Williams, E. (1986). Introduction to the theory of grammar. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Robert, F. & Vijay-Shanker, K. (2001). Primitive C-Command, Syntax. 4(3): 164.
Sag, I. A. (2007). English relative clause constructions, Journal of Linguistics. (33): 431- 484.
Schachter, J. (1974). An error in error analysis. Language Learning, 24 (2): 205-214
Scott, M. and, Tucker, G. (1974). Error analysis and English language strategies of Arab students, Language Learning. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1974.tb00236.x
on 24 January 2017.
Selkirk, E. O. (1982). The syntax of words. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Stevick, E (1994). Teaching and learning languages. London: Cambridge University Press.
Thomas, R. & Panos, T. (1983). The least you should know about Arabic: implications for the ESL learners” TESOL Quarterly, vol. 17(4): 609-623.
Williams, E. (1981a) ‘On the notions’, ‘lexically related’ and ‘head of a word’, LI, 12: 234-74.
Williams, E. (1981b) Argument structure and morphology, Linguistic Review, 1: 81- 114.
Yalden, J. (1994). Principles of course design for language teaching, London: Cambridge University Press.
Yorkey, R. (1977). Practical EFL techniques for teaching Arabic–speaking students in J. Alatis & R. Crymes (Eds). The human factors in ESL, Washington D. C.: TESOL