Vocabulary Acquisition in Arabic as a Foreign Language: The Root and Pattern Strategy
For English speakers learning Arabic as a foreign language (L2), lexical acquisition is a major challenge. It is argued that to facilitate L2 Arabic lexical acquisition, teachers should explicitly teach learners to use the root and patterns word formation system unique to Arabic and other Semitic languages. This should raise learners' morphological awareness, which should in turn facilitate word acquisition. However, this claim has not been subjected to empirical research. The central research question of this study is: Does morphological awareness of the main word formation process of root and patterns in L2 Arabic facilitate learners' ability to infer meanings of unknown words, coin new words, and retain words?
For English speakers learning Arabic as a foreign language (L2), lexical acquisition is a major challenge.