Abstract

Research investigates how Saudi EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners learn and understand the adverbs “actually,” “usually,” and “normally.” Such investigation into their first acquiring language (L1 Arabic) learning shows that how they are influenced in their performance of the second language: English. A mixed-method analysis on the data extracted from the questionnaire and written tasks of eighty-seven college students indicate syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic deviations against native norms. “Usually” was overused as the only marker for habituality, and “actually” was misused as a filler instead of a corrective mechanism. “Normally,” however, was more in line with native usage but still retained subtle semantic inaccuracies. Results indicate an L1 conceptual and syntactic transfer, prompting an overreliance on familiar forms that fail to capture English nuances. This study critiques traditional grammar instruction and advocates for contrastive teaching and corpus-based learning to improve pragmatic and structural competence. It deals theoretically with the understanding of language transfer in adverbial use in second-language acquisition (SLA) while practically putting up an informed view on EFL pedagogy and curriculum design. These insights advance interlanguage research and point to actionable strategies for improving adverbial instruction in EFL contexts, balancing theoretical rigor with pedagogical relevance.