Argumentum, Vol. 21 (2025), pp. 214–231.

English Lexical Causatives in L2 Production: A Pilot Study of Syrian Arabic Learners

Hoda Haj Obeid

    University of Debrecen, Doctoral School of Linguistics

    hodahajobeid@mailbox.unideb.hu

DOI: 10.34103/ARGUMENTUM/2025/13

Abstract

This pilot study investigates how advanced Syrian Arabic learners of English express English lexical causative constructions in a guided production task. While lexical causativization is restricted to a small set of manner-of-motion verbs in English, Syrian Arabic allows a broader range of lexical causatives beyond manner-of-motion verbs. The study pursues two objectives: first, to determine whether Syrian L2 learners of English apply lexical causative patterns from their L1 to English periphrastic causative verbs; and second, to examine the extent to which periphrastic causatives are preferred over lexical causatives. The results of the translation task completed by 32 Syrian Arabic learners of English at advanced and upper-intermediate proficiency levels reveal a strong tendency toward periphrastic causatives, particularly with the verb make. These findings offer preliminary observations and methodological insights for future research.

Keywords: lexical causatives, periphrastic causatives, analytic forms, Syrian Arabic, translation task

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