An Interlanguage Analysis of Predicate Form and Position in Arabic Nominal Sentences Constructed by Malay Undergraduates

Abstract

Predicate (khabar) selection in Arabic nominal sentences (jumlah ismiyyah) requires learners to coordinate predicate form, word order, and licensing conditions, making it a persistent difficulty in Arabic as a foreign language. This study examined the recurring response patterns produced by 22 Malay-speaking undergraduates across four sentence-construction tasks and considered their implications for Arabic writing instruction and assessment. Guided by interlanguage theory, the study employed a qualitative, document-based error-analysis design supported by descriptive frequencies. A total of 88 handwritten responses were analysed against the grammatical requirement of each task and the lecturer’s corrective annotations. Responses were classified according to target-structure compliance rather than general grammatical acceptability. The findings revealed a consistent but uneven pattern of difficulty. Only one learner (4.5%) produced the required fronted predicate containing an element with haqq al-sadarah, while seven (31.8%) realised the predicate as a complete nominal clause. Two learners (9.1%) produced a fronted shibh jumlah predicate followed by an indefinite mubtada’, whereas 11 (50.0%) constructed a masdar mu’awwal functioning as the mubtada’. The frequent reproduction of the same masdar mu’awwal example suggested reliance on a familiar model, although the data could not establish memorisation as the underlying cognitive process. Across the four tasks, learners commonly simplified, conflated, or avoided structures that required marked predicate forms or positions. These recurring choices support an interlanguage interpretation while remaining consistent with multiple possible influences, including prior linguistic knowledge, limited productive practice, and task-related difficulty. The study concludes that Arabic writing instruction should distinguish predicate type from predicate position, provide progressively varied sentence-construction practice, and assess target-structure compliance separately from general accuracy. These measures would offer a more precise account of learners’ productive syntactic competence and strengthen the connection between explicit nahw knowledge and its application in writing.