Textual deviation and coherence problems in the writings of Arab students at the University of Bahrain: sources and solutions

The present study compares the writings of a group of Arab students at the University of Bahrain in both Arabic and English. The main purpose is to investigate possible sources and solutions to the problem of textual incoherence and deviation. To this end, four hundred and sixty composition papers h...

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Main Author: Qaddumi, Muhammad K.H.
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 1995
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11212/
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author Qaddumi, Muhammad K.H.
author_facet Qaddumi, Muhammad K.H.
author_sort Qaddumi, Muhammad K.H.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The present study compares the writings of a group of Arab students at the University of Bahrain in both Arabic and English. The main purpose is to investigate possible sources and solutions to the problem of textual incoherence and deviation. To this end, four hundred and sixty composition papers have been reviewed and thirty texts were analyzed in both languages to discover possible interference at the linguistic, cultural and rhetorical levels. The study investigates a variety of opinions on coherence from different perspectives such as cohesion, recoverability, continuity, development of topics, role of lexis, text structure and organization. For the analysis of texts, the researcher proposes and applies a new measurement for text coherence and topic development. The cultural, rhetorical and linguistic background of Arabic is presented as variables affecting students' performance in writing in both Arabic and English. The analysis of texts reveals that repetition, parallelism, sentence length, lack of variation and misuse of certain cohesive devices are major sources of incoherence and textual deviation in students' writing. The study is supplemented by the views of the Arabic Department staff on the quality of students' performance in Arabic. Interpretation of and solutions to various problems are suggested. The major conclusion is that there should be more concentration on the preservation of topic unity in teaching writing. A proposed plan for teaching writing based on the findings of this study is also suggested.
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spelling nottingham-112122025-02-28T11:12:00Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11212/ Textual deviation and coherence problems in the writings of Arab students at the University of Bahrain: sources and solutions Qaddumi, Muhammad K.H. The present study compares the writings of a group of Arab students at the University of Bahrain in both Arabic and English. The main purpose is to investigate possible sources and solutions to the problem of textual incoherence and deviation. To this end, four hundred and sixty composition papers have been reviewed and thirty texts were analyzed in both languages to discover possible interference at the linguistic, cultural and rhetorical levels. The study investigates a variety of opinions on coherence from different perspectives such as cohesion, recoverability, continuity, development of topics, role of lexis, text structure and organization. For the analysis of texts, the researcher proposes and applies a new measurement for text coherence and topic development. The cultural, rhetorical and linguistic background of Arabic is presented as variables affecting students' performance in writing in both Arabic and English. The analysis of texts reveals that repetition, parallelism, sentence length, lack of variation and misuse of certain cohesive devices are major sources of incoherence and textual deviation in students' writing. The study is supplemented by the views of the Arabic Department staff on the quality of students' performance in Arabic. Interpretation of and solutions to various problems are suggested. The major conclusion is that there should be more concentration on the preservation of topic unity in teaching writing. A proposed plan for teaching writing based on the findings of this study is also suggested. 1995 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11212/1/307763.pdf Qaddumi, Muhammad K.H. (1995) Textual deviation and coherence problems in the writings of Arab students at the University of Bahrain: sources and solutions. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
spellingShingle Qaddumi, Muhammad K.H.
Textual deviation and coherence problems in the writings of Arab students at the University of Bahrain: sources and solutions
title Textual deviation and coherence problems in the writings of Arab students at the University of Bahrain: sources and solutions
title_full Textual deviation and coherence problems in the writings of Arab students at the University of Bahrain: sources and solutions
title_fullStr Textual deviation and coherence problems in the writings of Arab students at the University of Bahrain: sources and solutions
title_full_unstemmed Textual deviation and coherence problems in the writings of Arab students at the University of Bahrain: sources and solutions
title_short Textual deviation and coherence problems in the writings of Arab students at the University of Bahrain: sources and solutions
title_sort textual deviation and coherence problems in the writings of arab students at the university of bahrain: sources and solutions
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11212/