Analysis of Lexical Bundles and Adjective Collocations in Academic Writ-ing by Native English and Arab Writers

Subject Areas :

Ali Jabbar Zwayyer ¹ , Sousan Sattar Boroujeni ² , Haider Hussein Katea Khanjar ³ , Elahe Sadeghi Barzani ⁴

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Received: 2024-07-13 Accepted : 2024-09-24 Published : 2025-06-10

Keywords: Lexical bundles, adjective collocations, corpus-based analysis, Arab writers, native English writers, academic writing, EFL learners,

Abstract :

This study investigates the use of lexical bundles and adjective collocations in academic writing by native English writers and Arab English writers through a corpus-based contrastive analysis that looks into types, frequencies, and discoursal functions. It reveals sharp contrasts between the two groups in the range of usage and the frequency of the lexical bundles, stance expres-sions, and discourse organizers promoting coherence and argumentation. By contrast, AEWs have a narrower range and make frequent errors, mostly because of L1 interference and under-developed formulaic language skills. Results showed that AEWs struggle with the inappropriate application of lexical bundles in discourse, and this, in turn, affects their structuring of effective arguments. The emphasis on specific instructional strategies via corpus-based tools combined with explicit teaching methodologies addressing the challenges faced by AEWs underpins these findings and thus improves their proficiency in writing academically. This study highlights the fact that only strengthening collocational competence and discoursal awareness in EFL educa-tion will help close the gap in academic writing between non-native and native writers.

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