Investigating Arabic ― Current Parameters in Analysis and Learning

Scholars of Arabic from Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Europe, and the US explore a wide range of current research issues in Arabic linguistics, including theoretical and applied topics of interest in general linguistics, Arabic linguistics, and learning and teaching Arabic as a first or foreign language. The first section, on language analysis, discusses such aspects as hyper-correction in Middle Arabic texts, the case for an inter-Arabic grammar, polysemy in Arabic dialects, and weak verbs. Language learning is examined from such perspectives as the grammatical tradition and Arabic language teaching, teaching Arabic dialectology in European universities, and an error analysis of Malay students' written Arabic. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Alaa Elgibali, Ph.D. (1985) in General Linguistics, University of Pittsburgh, is Professor of Arabic linguistics and Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language at the American University in Cairo. He has published in several areas of Arabic linguistics, including Arabic as First Language: A Study in Language Development and Acquisition (Khanjy, 2003).