Teacher Discussion Forums

Hi.
I'm looking for a consise, general guide to Chinese and/or Arabic linguistics/writing.
Here's why:
I teach HS ESL, and my 2nd language is Spanish.
My Chinese and Arabic students don't make the jump to academic writing syntax the way my Spanish speakers and Ukrainian speakers do. I'd like to know what's going on from their first languages that could be hindering this transition.
When I look for general information on Google, there are about a zillion resources...
Can anyone suggest books or other places to go to find out just general information that teachers need to know when teaching these students to write in English?
Thanks.
Colleen
Colleen

Elementary Modern Standard Arabic , Volume 1, Pronunciation and Writing;

Edited by Peter F. Abboud, Ernest N. McCarus
April 1983 | Paperback | 656 pages | ISBN: 0521272955

"The foremost introduction for the English-speaking student to the active written language of the contemporary Arab world is designed for the beginning student as well. It is written by a team of Arabic language teachers consisting of native and non-native speakers."

Cambridge University Press

I had to use this text when I took an intro to Arabic back during my MA. It helped me during my thesis on the sociolinguistic role of French in Morocco. It makes things quite easy to understand.

Mandarin Chinese, a Functional Reference Grammar
by Charles Li and Sandra A. Thompson
1981, University of California Press, Berkeley

This is a very good general grammar of standard Mandarin. It is available both in English and in Chinese. Either way, it gives you a good reference to the grammatical principles of the language. You'll be able to see where your Chinese students are coming from.

Good luck.

Larry Latham

Thanks so much to both of you for the quick replies. These resources should help a lot!
Colleen

visit the British Council website http://searchenglish.britishcouncil.org/. In the search box, type Arabic or Chinese. You'll find some intersting and useful resources there.

This is a great site. I will pass it on to my colleagues.
Colleen