The Error Analysis On The Chinese Punctuation Marks Used By Arab Students

Punctuation marks play a vital role in any written language of the entire world. There is no doubt that the misusing of punctuation marks in writing can sometimes lead to the misunderstanding of the meaning. So, if you want to master any written language, you have to pay attention to and well study the punctuation marks of such language. However, in studying a second language, it is obvious that both teachers and students are not paying enough attention to punctuation marks. Through studying the written works of the Arab students in the intermediate and advanced Chinese language, I found out that they have many mistakes in using punctuation marks, for example, misplacing punctuation marks, using the wrong punctuation marks, and forgetting using them. This led me to focus more on the subject. By collecting the articles and homework written by the Arab learners, I could analyze their works regarding the usage of punctuation marks. I found out that their mistakes of using punctuation marks could be classified into two main categories:in terms of the shape of punctuation marks used, and in terms of the type of punctuation marks used. I found out the reasons for the emergence of such mistakes, including the influence of the mother tongue (The Arabic Language), using the Internet, the negligence of both the teachers and the students of using punctuation marks, and etc. The main objective of this research is to help the Arab students in mastering the usage of punctuation marks and in avoiding such mistakes.