Ecrire en francais sans faute(s) : La maitrise de l'orthographe francaise par les etudiants jordaniens

Writing a text is a challenging activity, especially in a foreign language. This study aims to highlight one of the difficulties that Jordanian students encounter while learning French Language; i.e. the acquisition of French spelling. The study is based on the observation of errors committed by students in exams & home works. Most students who learn French in Jordan start learning it at university level. Students in Jordan study English language for 12 years or more in addition to Arabic, their mother tongue language. Students enroll in French departments without having previous contact with French language. With Arabic as a mother tongue and English as a first foreign language learned for several years, students who study French as a specialty at university face several difficulties. This study is divided into three parts: the first part presents the phonetic and graphic systems of French and Arabic, to show the differences between the two systems. The second part gives some examples of the spelling practices of our students to show what types of difficulties they face in acquiring spelling skill and what mistakes they make and the causes of these spelling errors. Finally, the third part presents recommendations to help students to overcome this problem.