ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the ways in which second language learners of Arabic incorporate these discursive features in their writing. It analyzes sample Arabic texts written by English-speaking students of Arabic at the advanced level and compares these texts to related samples written by Arabic native speakers. Second language learners face challenges in their writing even at the advanced level. Research in second language acquisition has investigated these challenges at the linguistic structural level. The course was taught entirely in Standard Arabic and covered topics such as linguistic diversity in the Middle East and North Africa, Arab nationalist movements, and the status of women in the Arab world. In the Arabic context, few studies have dealt with these discursive underpinnings. A. Fakhri analyzed English essays written by Arabic native speakers and noted how these essays manifest features of Arabic writing such as the excessive use of coordination.
