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Sixty nine respondents answered this question out of 82, the total number of respondents. They were asked to consider their own writing and to reflect upon 12 statements which summarised the common error categories found in literature and in the writing tests, seen on Table 5.1. They were asked to state whether the error type has never occurred, is less common, common, most common, or always there. On the questionnaire, which was done online, the error types were randomised in order to have the most accurate responses. Table 5.13 as well as Figure 5.18 and Figure 5.19 show the responses towards each statement. According to the responses, direction problems have mostly never occurred, whereas only 11 learners said they are less common and only 2 think they are common. The vast majority of the intermediate learners said they never experienced this issue. On the letter-to-sound correspondence, however, the respondents’ attitude here was not as clear as it was on direction. It may reflect uncertainty or individual differences but in all, it is obvious that phonological problems are not easy to overcome. Twenty-nine learners replied that errors in connecting the letter to its sound are less common, 24 reported that they are common, and 13 said they are most common. Between the two extremes, 11 people stated that they never occurred while 5 respondents said they are always there. Calculating their average responses however, revealed that the letter-to-sound correspondence issues tend to be common. Highlighting the response of the intermediate, they reported that they are common.

On errors caused by letter similarities between L1WS and L2WS, the majority (including the intermediate group) reported that they have never experienced such errors, which is explained by the foreignness of the AWS. Other responses are spread over the rest of options which, most likely, reflects individual differences, as it is backed with some evidence found in the writing tests done by individual samples. This will be discussed in detail later on.

Letter dots (e.g. missing letter dots or placing dots in the wrong position on the letter), as we have seen in the writing tests section 5.2, are known to cause major problems. Thirty- four respondents reported that their own writing errors associated with letter dots are less common, 17 that they never occurred, and 19 that they are common. Nine people, on the other hand, stated that they are most common, while three learners went to the extreme of saying they are always there. Their average responses however, tends to be that errors

158 occurring by letter dots are less common, which equals the average response of the intermediate group as well.

Letter size and letter teeth are part of the letter shape in general. Half the respondents said that they never experienced writing errors because of letter size. The intermediates’ responses are spread between ‘never occurred’ and ‘less common’. From the samples in hands we see that this is probably accurate, as most of errors caused by letter size go back to individual differences. Letter teeth (a small stroke or three slants, depending on the letter e.g. <س> and <ش>, which form part of the letter as discussed in section 2.4.5) are also known to be a source of problems amongst learners of L2WS Arabic (Alfi et al., 1992). According to the respondents, 31 and 30 learners see errors caused by letter teeth as less common and never occurred respectively. Fifteen however, said they are common and six said they are most common. The intermediate group leans towards reporting this issue as ‘less common’. No one reported it as ‘always there’ though, which may be considered relatively unusual due to the fact that this is one of the key issues affecting the letter shape.

We have repeatedly seen that Arabic letters change their writing forms according to their position in the word (beginning, middle, or end). Forty-nine respondents reported that these errors never occurred in their own writing. More than the third selected that they are less common. The average responses of the intermediate group reveals that they see this as never occurred. This result quite reflects the finding of the question ‘Do you have difficulties in writing letters at the first, middle or end of a word?’ which was discussed earlier. Alhamza, <ء> the glottal stop which widely differs in its written forms, is probably the most common error for Arabic native speakers or users of L1WS. Among other orthographic issues, Alhamza, and the closed and open taʾ were asked about just to remind/give examples of what we mean by orthographic errors. It is quite surprising that even on this issue, learners were too conservative to acknowledge as only about the third said they are common. However, it is worth mentioning that the majority of intermediate learners reported this as common.

Regarding letter substitution, about half the respondents said they never thought of a letter but wrote a different one which quite understandable as this is almost caused subconsciously. Gemination/Shadda was not a big issue either. The test results have revealed 1% of shadda errors in OEET and 3% in dictation (Figure 5.2 Figure 5.8), and

159 so it is fairly reflected here. Missing or inserting letters as causes of writing errors were reported relatively similarly as in Table 5.13 and Figure 5.18 below. Emphasising on the intermediate group responses, they reported substitution, omission, insertion, and gemination, all as less common.

Table 5.13 Common Writing Issues

Error Type Never occurred less common common Most common Always there Direction 69 11 2 0 0

Connecting the letter to its sound 11 29 24 13 5

Some letters look like English letters

60 18 2 1 1

Letter dots

(I forget/add extra dots)

17 34 19 9 3

Letter size

(I mistakenly write letters in different sizes)

40 31 7 2 2

Letter teeth

(I forget/add extra letter teeth)

30 31 15 6 0

Letter form

(the beginning, middle and end)

49 29 3 1 0

Orthographic errors

(Alhamza, open or closed taʾ)

9 27 28 16 2

Letter substitution

(I think of a letter but write a different one)

38 29 8 6 1

Gemination/Shadda

(I write two letters instead of one)

40 28 12 2 0

Missing letter

(I forget to write some letters in a word)

16 40 20 8 0

Insertion

(I add unnecessary letters)

160 Figure 5.18 Common Writing Issues (1/2)

Figure 5.19 Common Writing Issues (2/2)