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Investigating the Use of Inflectional and Derivational Morphemes in Academic Written Essays in EFL Contexts in the UAE
Date
2023-06-20
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Abstract
The present study investigated the impact of derivational and inflectional morphemes on improving the quality of
English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ essay writing and explored the perceptions of English teachers
regarding the challenges of using these morphemes in essay writing in the UAE. Using the phenomenological
mixed methods research approach, data were collected using document analysis of 30 written essays of grade 10
Arab EFL learners and semi-structured interviews with five English teachers. Quantitative data were analyzed using
descriptive and correlational statistics. However, qualitative semi-structured interviews were analyzed using
thematic analysis. The findings of the study demonstrated that the frequency of inflectional morphemes in learners’
writing was higher than the frequency of derivational morphemes. Additionally, the findings revealed that there was
a positive moderate correlation between the number of bound morphemes used and the quality of learners’ writing.
The qualitative findings showed a number of challenges that students encountered while using morphemes in their
writing.