Cues to Subject-Object Grammatical Function Assignment in Arabic as a Second Language

Authors

  • Abdullah Ibrahim Alsubhi

    Applied College, Taibah University, Madinah 42353, Saudi Arabia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i12.11668
Received: 16 August 2025 | Revised: 5 September 2025 | Accepted: 19 September 2025 | Published Online: 4 November 2025

Abstract

This study presents cross-sectional data on the cues learners use to identify subject/object grammatical functions in Arabic as a second language. The roles of agreement, case, and plausibility were investigated, with predictions drawn from three theoretical models: the first noun principle, the unmarked alignment hypothesis, and the shallow structure hypothesis. Twenty-two learners from diverse first-language backgrounds participated in a sentence-picture matching task. Participants were recruited via email and provided with study vocabulary sentences for clarification. The primary task involved viewing 200 sentences, presented aurally and in writing alongside two images. Participants selected the image that correctly depicted the sentence's action, with each noun phrase serving as a human referent. Sentences were modified to target specific cues and presented randomly with correct responses to prevent order effects. Results revealed that beginning learners tended to interpret noun-verb-noun sequences as SVO, even in the presence of disambiguating cues. As learners advanced in proficiency, they became more sensitive to morphosyntactic information, correctly interpreting SVO and OVS structures. The findings supported the predictions of processability theory—particularly the unmarked alignment hypothesis—and the first noun principle, while contradicting the shallow structure hypothesis, as plausibility had no observable effect on performance. These results offer insight into the developmental sequence of cue integration in Arabic as a second language and contribute to ongoing debates in second language processing and syntactic development. Future research must expand to diverse structures and L1 backgrounds and use online methods to investigate real-time processing.

Keywords:

Arabic as a Second Language; Grammatical Function Assignment; Morphosyntactic Cue; Processability Theory; Second Language Acquisition

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How to Cite

Alsubhi, A. I. (2025). Cues to Subject-Object Grammatical Function Assignment in Arabic as a Second Language. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(12), 184–195. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i12.11668

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Vol. 7 , Iss. 12 (December 2025): In progress

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Copyright © 2025 Abdullah Ibrahim Alsubhi

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