L2 learners

Morphological Analysis on the Level of Vocabulary Production of L2 Learners in Their Composition Writing (Published)

The study ventured on the level of vocabulary production of L2 learners. Ten essays became the source of data which content words used were subjected to morphological analysis (corpus-based approach). Results showed that the students used affixation in producing their vocabulary with almost half of their composition. They used bound morphemes (prefixes and suffixes). The learners could only attach one bound morpheme to a root, few on two morphemes, and very rare on three. The most common bound morpheme used was the suffix –s and morphemes be-, -cy, -est, extra-, fore-, -fy, -ic, -ish, -ity, -ive, -le, -ne, over-, re-, and –th being the least. Confined with one morpheme attachment, the learners had basic level of vocabulary production. They used mostly inflectional morphological skills. In conclusion, morphological awareness has a key role in vocabulary production of learners and findings may help English teachers strategize activities to increase learners’ morphological awareness.

Keywords: L2 learners, morphological analysis, morphological awareness, vocabulary production

The writing difficulties faced by L2 learners and how to minimize them (Published)

I have chosen to look at the importance of writing skills and how to help learners write clearly and concisely using the correct grammar and structure. Traditionally, written English is given less emphasis than spoken. As a teacher of Arab learners at University level, I have found that they try to think simultaneously about many facets of writing. Word order, mixed tenses, spelling, and punctuation are just a few of the challenges L1 learners face. Add to this the challenge of the cursive system and we begin to understand why they make so many mistakes. My article suggests how we can develop learners writing skills from an early age.

Keywords: L2 learners, first language, writing difficulties