Received: 17 April 2018 | Accepted: 20 August 2018 DOI: 10.1111/flan.12367 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The link between morphosyntactic accuracy and textbook presentation: The morphosyntax of subject-verb agreement in Arabic Mahmoud Azaz The Challenge In many foreign language contexts, learners are faced with the task of learning morphosyntactic intricacies. To what extent do accuracy rates of learners at different course levels vary in mastering these intricacies? To what extent can these accuracy rates be linked to implicit exposure to and explicit textbook presentations of these intricacies? University of Arizona Mahmoud Azaz (PhD with Distinction, University of Arizona) is Assistant Professor of Arabic Language, Linguistics, & Pedagogy and Second Language Acquisition & Teaching, and Distinguished Fellow, Center for University Education Scholarship, University of Arizona, Tucson. Funding information Faculty Seed Research Grant from the Office for Research, Discovery and Innovation at the University of Arizona The acquisition of morphosyntax presents challenges for learners of all second/foreign languages. This cross- sectional study investigated English-speaking learners’ morphosyntactic accuracy in the symmetrical subject- verb agreement type (in subject-initial sentences) and in the asymmetrical subject-verb agreement type (in verb- initial sentences) in Arabic. In addition, it examined the extent to which their accuracy rates were reflected in implicit exposure to and explicit presentation of those structures. The results of a prompted production task showed that first-, second-, and third-year learners exhibited low morphosyntactic accuracy rates only in the asymmetri- cal type. In addition, the production of Group 2 (second- year) and Group 3 (third-year) was patterned after that of Group 1 (first-year) in the symmetrical type but exhibited greater variation in the asymmetrical type. Implications for explicit textbook presentation and instruction of morpho- syntactic intricacies are discussed. © 2018 by American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Foreign Language Annals. 2018;1–21. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/flan | 1