Translation versus direct composition. effects of first language on second language arab writers

This study has been undertaken to investigate whether Arabic students when writing in their second language (English), compose best directly in the second language or compose best in their first language and hen translate in their second language. This study of English and Arabic compositions written by 60 native Arabic speakers at the university level examines the differences between the texts resulting from two writing processes, one writing first in Arabic and then translating into English and the other composing directly in English. A twofold hypothesis is investigated: 1) When translating, as opposed to composing directly into English, subjects are more likely to transfer negatively from their first language into their second language writing. 2) Raters, although reliable and objective, contribute a crucial dimension to the results of the study. Data consisted of 180 essays, 60 composed in Arabic, 60 composed in English and 60 translations of the Arabic into English on four topics during regular class hours. The essay topics were: (1) compare Kuwait before and after the invasion, (2) compare two of your friends, (3) compare two books you have read recently, and (4) compare the English language to the Arabic language. The data was analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results do not lend support to Kobayashi and Rinnert's (1992) findings which suggest that composing initially in the first language allows student ·easier and freer discovery of meaning. The results indicated that there were statistically significant mean differences between composing directly versus translating (the direct composition mean was greater than that for translation). In addition, analysis showed that raters although reliable do affect the results in important substantive manners. Pedagogical implications and directions for further research are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Teaching English as a Second Language

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

1996

Author dc:creator

• Ali, Nawal Hider

Contributors dc:contributor

• Davidson, Fred

• Language Acquisition
• Bilingualism
• Translation Studies
• Writing Competency
• Comparative Analysis
• Essay Composition
• Linguistic Transfer
• Academic Proficiency
• Methodology
• Pedagogical Implications

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright by Nawal Hider Ali, 1996

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125865

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125865