Linguistic Error Analysis (Syntax and Semantics) in the Writing Skills of Arabic Language Education Students at STIT Bustanul Ulum Lampung Tengah

Abstract

Writing skills (mahārah al-kitābah) are among the productive skills in Arabic language learning that require mastery of vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and accurate meaning construction. In practice, Arabic Language Education students still encounter various difficulties in producing written texts that conform to Arabic linguistic rules. This study aims to analyze syntactic and semantic errors in students’ Arabic writing and to identify the factors underlying these errors. This study employed a descriptive qualitative approach using the error analysis method. The participants were 30 fourth-semester students of the Arabic Language Education Study Program at STIT Bustanul Ulum Lampung Tengah who were enrolled in the Insya’ II course. The data consisted of students’ Arabic compositions on the theme Al-Lughah al-‘Arabiyyah fī ‘Aṣr al-Thawrah al-Raqmiyyah and were collected through documentation, observation, and interviews with 10 students and the course lecturer. Data were analyzed through the stages of error identification, classification, description, and interpretation. Data validity was established through methodological triangulation and expert judgment. The findings revealed 142 linguistic errors, consisting of 88 syntactic errors (61.9%) and 54 semantic errors (38.1%). The syntactic errors mainly involved violations of na‘at-man‘ut and gender agreement, inaccurate application of i‘rāb, inappropriate use of ḥurūf al-jarr, and errors in iḍāfah constructions. Meanwhile, semantic errors included Indonesian language interference through literal translation, inaccurate word choice, and the use of expressions that were inappropriate to the context. The factors underlying these errors included interlingual transfer, intralingual transfer and overgeneralization, as well as limited exposure to authentic Arabic texts. These findings highlight the need for Arabic writing instruction that integrates error analysis, contextualized grammar instruction, and the enrichment of Arabic vocabulary and collocations to improve students’ syntactic and semantic accuracy.