Arab Educational Information Network

The problem of the study is identified in the weakness of students' perception of rhetoric concepts , and the existence of alternative scenarios for many of them, in addition to the scarcity of studies that reveal that perceptions that take prescription stability and permanence, and the reasons for it, and the treatment of this problem lies in the answer to the main question: what alternative conceptions in rhetorical concepts among students in the third grade of secondary in Taif? The study aimed at identifying alternative conceptions of rhetoric and their sources. The researcher used the descriptive method to identify the alternative concepts in rhetoric. Two tools were designed: content analysis tool to analyze the rhetorical concepts included in the Rhetoric book assigned to the third graders at the secondary stage during the first semester, and a diagnostic test to diagnoze those perceptions. After checking the validity and reliability of the tools, they were used. The diagnostic test was administered to a sample of 68 students from the third grade at the secondary stage. The results of the study indicated the following: There were some alternative conceptions in rhetorical concepts related to Albayan Science ranging from (58.8%)to(86.8%); indicating that these alternative conceptions are common among the students. There were some alternative conceptions in rhetorical concepts related to Budaiya Science ranging from (66.1%) to (73.6%); indicating that these alternative conceptions are common among the students. Sources of alternative conceptions in rhetorical concepts were: the used textbook (37.4%), the teacher (30.79%), the surrounding linguistic environment (18.46%), the Internet (5.89%), and finally the media (4.76%) respectively. In the light of the outcome of the results the study recommended the necessity of diagnosing alternative conceptions in rhetorical concepts before teaching them, and develop the capacity of teachers to explore the the students’conceptual structure through the use of effective methods such tests and structered interviews to detect and perceptions. (Published abstract)