The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

developed in the American Academic style. Students will likely rely on repeating an authority’s opinions
(author or teacher) rather than incorporating their own ideas or conclusions.
The similar cultural and educational backgrounds of the Asian, South Asian, and Middle Eastern
students is separate from language features that affect their writing in English. The following sections
give tutors a few language specific – grammatical and mechanical – points that can help a tutor decipher
what is happening in a student’s text.
Arabic (most Middle Eastern countries; to some extent also Iran, Afghanistan,
Pakistan)
First-language Arabic speakers, and those who use the Arabic writing system, face a significant challenge
when learning to write English. There is very little positive transfer from the Arabic language to English.
The most obvious differences – the written alphabet and the direction of writing – are only the beginning
of an Arabic speaker’s/writer’s difficulties.
Grammar and Mechanics
• Word order: Subject Verb and Adjective Noun order are opposite in Arabic. An Arabic speaker
may put verbs before subjects, as in ‘runs the athlete’ and nouns before adjectives, as in ‘bus
yellow.’
• Verbs: Arabic speakers may omit ‘to be’ verbs, especially the present tense as/is/are because the
verb does not exist in Arabic. Arabic also does not use modals (can, could, would, should, etc) so
writers may avoid them, add verb endings such as ‘he cans runs,’ or add auxiliaries as ‘he does
can go.’ Phrasal verbs do not exist in Arabic so writers may avoid them and will commonly make
errors or omit the ‘preposition.’
• Prepositions: Arabic uses fewer prepositions. Writers may struggle with the difference between
in/on, with/by, etc.
• Pronouns: Writers may overuse or repeat pronouns because Arabic incorporates them into the
verbs. Ex. ‘John he works.’
• Punctuation: Comma splices, run-ons, and overuse of conjunctions are common for Arabic
speakers writing in English. Punctuation usage in Arabic is freer and it is common to start
sentences with and/so repeatedly.
Learning and Writing Styles
Students in Arabic speaking countries are most likely going to have been educated in a system of rotelearning,
memorization, and under the expectation to reproduce information that was delivered or
imparted from an authority – the teacher. The concept of expressing one’s own ideas or opinions, or
presenting some original thought, may be new to a writer, and may even be considered unfair. Elicited
answering and discussion might also be challenging for students used to ‘learning’ exactly what the
teacher says. (Smith 209) Tutors may find the writing from these students to lack opinions and thesis
statements, and therefore neglect the teacher’s assignment.
Chinese (all Chinese dialects and other Asian languages)
Although not all Asian languages are from the same language family as Chinese, the writing systems and
education systems are similar, giving the students some similar features in their written English language.
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