Structural Ambiguity Interpretation: A Case Study of Arab Learners of English

Emad M. Al-Saidat; Dr. Mohammad I. Khawalda

Structural Ambiguity Interpretation: A Case Study of Arab Learners of English

Emad M. Al-Saidat * §

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Dr. Mohammad I. Khawalda

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§ Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Maan, Jordan.

Structural Ambiguity Interpretation: A Case Study of Arab Learners of English

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate how Arabic native speakers (non-native speakers of English) interpret English ambiguous sentences. It has been recognized that Arabic native speakers encounter problems with English sentences which involve structural ambiguity. Sixty subjects participated in the experiment. All were university students specialized in English. The subjects were given ambiguous sentences contain prepositional phrases, relative clauses, etc. For instance, prepositional phrases like ‘the girl hit the boy with the book’ in which the prepositional phrase (PP) can be attached either to the verb phrase (VP) or to the preceding noun phrase (NP). It has been recognized that the students face difficulty in interpreting ambiguous structure and generally take the general meaning which can be understood from the sequence of words.

References

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Funding

No external funding was declared for this work.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

No ethics committee approval was required for this article type.

Data Availability

Not applicable for this article.

How to Cite This Article

Emad M. Al-Saidat, Dr. Mohammad I. Khawalda. 1970. "Structural Ambiguity Interpretation: A Case Study of Arab Learners of English". Global Journal of Human-Social Science - A: Arts & Humanities GJHSS-A Volume 12 (GJHSS Volume 12 Issue A6).

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GJHSS Volume 12 Issue A6

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Journal Specifications

Crossref Journal DOI 10.17406/GJHSS

Print ISSN 0975-587X

e-ISSN 2249-460X

Keywords

Ambiguity Arabic lexical ambiguity structural ambiguity translation

Classification

GJHSS-A Classification FOR Code: 200408

Submission ReceivedDecember 15, 2011
Peer Review Double Blind
Handling Editor
Accepted January 3, 2012
Published January 15, 2012

Version of record

v1.2

Language

English

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Article Matrices

Total Score: 106

Country: Jordan

Subject: Global Journal of Human-Social Science

Authors: Dr. Mohammad I. Khawalda & Emad M. Al-Saidat (PhD/Dr. count: 1)

View Count (all-time): 173

Total Views (Real + Logic): 7757

Total Downloads (simulated): 483

Publish Date: 2012 01, Sun

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Total Views: 7.8K

Total Downloads: 483

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