An Analytical Study of Grammatical Agreement Errors in Gender (Masculine and Feminine): A Comparative Linguistic Perspective between Arabic and Malay

Abstract

This study investigates grammatical gender agreement errors among Malay-speaking learners of Arabic from a comparative linguistic perspective, focusing on the typological contrast between a gender-marked language (Arabic) and a gender-neutral language (Malay). Employing a descriptive–analytical design grounded in Error Analysis theory, the research examines written data produced by thirty undergraduate students enrolled in the Arabic Language and Translation Programme at Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University (UNISSA), Brunei Darussalam. Data were elicited through a structured written test consisting of 100 items targeting gender agreement across major syntactic domains. The analysis follows an integrated Error Analysis framework encompassing error identification, classification, description, and interpretation. The findings reveal 404 gender agreement errors, with the highest frequency occurring in verb–subject agreement, followed by subject–predicate and passive constructions. Two dominant error patterns emerge: over-masculinization and over-feminization, reflecting learners’ reliance on default forms and incomplete mastery of Arabic gender morphology. These patterns are attributed primarily to negative cross-linguistic interference from Malay, which lacks grammatical gender, as well as to rule simplification within the Arabic agreement system. The study confirms that typological distance significantly shapes interlanguage development and error distribution. Pedagogically, the findings underscore the necessity of explicit contrastive instruction and focused practice in high-frequency agreement structures to enhance grammatical accuracy in Arabic as a foreign language.