Iraqi EFL Learners’ Realization of Morphological, Syntactic, and Semantic Causative/Inchoative Verbs and their Alternation

Jabir Edan, Asrar; Saad Mohammed Ali, Suzanne

	Iraqi EFL Learners’ Realization of Morphological, Syntactic, and Semantic Causative/Inchoative Verbs and their Alternation
Journal of University of Babylon
Article 1, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2013, Pages 471-487
Authors
Asrar Jabir Edan; Suzanne Saad Mohammed Ali
Abstract
Many studies have been achieved upon Iraqi EFL learners' understanding and using English grammar, yet none of them focused on their realization of causative/ inchoative verbs and their alternation. The present study sheds the light upon this aspect attempting to test their recognition and their production of the above phenomena with respect to morphology, syntax and semantics. Actually, Iraqi EFL learners have difficulties in distinguishing them morphologically in a sense that they are expected to lack awareness in derive such verbs. Also, they misunderstand the syntactic and semantic changes when deriving such verbs. In fact, the approach of testing these terms of language is valuable because it helps us to recognize which one is more likely to be understood and which one is not. To achieve the aims and the expectations, the researchers has adopted a number of measures among which is to construct a test of two levels , i.e., recognition and production. Conclusion shows that subjects’ performance at recognition task is better than that at the production one. Key words: Iraqi Learners of English as a Foreign Language, causative verbs, inchoative verbs, causative –inchoative alternation, morphology, syntax , semantics, test, analysis.

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