The interpretation of English reflexive and non-reflexive pronouns by Tunisian students

This study addresses English anaphor interpretation by Tunisian high school students. Along with seeking to obtain a preliminary view on this specific issue of second language acquisition, this pilot study equally aims at exploring possible similarities and differences in the interpretation of pronouns between Tunisian-Arabic native speakers and English speakers in previous child language acquisition studies. Notably, this study aims at examining whether Tunisian speakers are accurate in the interpretation of reflexives and whether they face any issues in pronoun interpretation. In a questionnaire elaborated in line with these motives, 24 Tunisian high school students interpreted some constructions including reflexive and non-reflexive pronouns. Their performance on the English pronominals, introduced within some constructions such as PNPs and PPs, showed some variation patterns when interpreting pronouns and reflexives as well. It was recorded that their pronoun interpretation in this pilot study was similar to L1 speakers, given that the Tunisian participants were accurate to some extent in their interpretation of reflexives and less accurate with pronouns. However, their pronoun interpretation, marked by its variation, could not be indicative of their grammatical competence as it is an introductory schema of the way they approach reflexives and non-reflexives. The pronominal difference between the two researched languages is underscored. Yet attributing the participants' pronoun interpretation to this pronominal difference could not be maintained, as it is not confirmed through this pilot stud