APETAU 2^nd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

University of Jordan

(Tuesday-Thursday 26-28 AUGUST 2003)

MAIN THEME: FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE EDUCATION IN THE ARAB WORLD IN THE WAKE OF GLOBALIZATION

SUB-THEMES

• Arabic-English Contrastive Linguistic Studies (phonological, syntactic & discoursal)

• Arabic-English Comparative Studies (literary & cross-cultural)

• Studies in Arabic-English & English-Arabic Translation

• Studies in English Language & Literature

• Bilingual Dictionaries: New Perspectives

• Language Planning in the Arab World : Bilingualism, Language & Identity, Language of Instruction in Higher Education, Foreign Language Education, Acquiring Arabic as an L1 ( problems & treatment)

• TEFL & Translation through Distance Education.

 

 

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Lewis Mukattash (Chairman)
Arab Open University (Headquarters)
e-mail: almukattash@yahoo.com
mob/tel : 962-6-5349959

Zahra Mustafa
Jordan University of Science & Technology
e-mail: zahramustafa@hotmail.com
mob/tel: 962-6- 5539739

Jihad Hamdan
University of Jordan
e-mail: jihadan@hotmail.com
mob/tel: 962-6- 5065485

Rula Quawas
University of Jordan
e-mail: quawas@go.com.jo
mob/tel: 962- 79 - 5911 311

Suleiman Abbas
Al-Isra University
e-mail: suleiman_85@yahoo.com
mob/tel: 962-79 - 5666 577

Jihad Al-Shu'aibi
University of Jordan
e-mail: shuaibi@ju.edu.jo
mob/tel: 962- 77 - 421382

Dana Mahadeen
Al-Balqa’ Applied University
e-mail: dannadeen@hotmail.com
mob/tel: 962- 79- 5774848

Taghrid Kawar
Princess Sumyya University of Technology
e-mail: rajai85@hotmail.com
mob/tel: 962-79- 5065686

 

ABBAS, Insaf: Challenges of TEFL Through Distance Learning

The experience of TEFL through distance learning is one of the challenging issues nowadays especially with the excessive need for learning English and the growing tendency towards self-education. This study highlights this increasingly growing trend and discusses means of increasing the effectiveness of ‘ Distance Learning’ TEFL devices whether electronic, printed or otherwise . Reference throughout will be made to the experience of Al-Quds Open University with regard to this topic.

 

 

ABBAS, Suleiman: Using L1 as a Strategy in Teaching Foreign Languages

The use of L1 as a pedagogic strategy in teaching foreign languages has always been, and is still, one of the main debatable and controversial topics among language teachers and educationists. There is no agreement on whether or not L1 may be used as a classroom strategy in teaching languages to non-native speakers. This paper is divided into two sections.

The first section presents an outline of the well-known approaches and methods with regard to the place accorded to the use of the L1 in the foreign language classroom. Section two provides further arguments in support of the effective role of L1 in foreign language education.

 

 

ABDEL-FATTAH, Mahmoud: On the Translation of Modal Verbs from Arabic into English and Vice Versa: The Case of Deontic Modality

This Paper examines the problems encountered when translating modal verbs from Arabic into English and vice versa. The aim of the study is threefold: first, to give a brief description of Deontic Modality in Arabic and English; second, to describe the nature of problems translators encounter; and third, to recommend strategies and approaches to tackle the problems.

 

 

ABDEL-HAFIZ, Ahmed-Sokarno: The Representation of Islam, Arabs and Muslims in Newsweek and Time during September 11 Events: A Case Study in Critical Discourse Analysis

This paper sets out to discuss the way Islam, Arabs, and Muslims are represented in two US major magazines, Newsweek and Time, especially in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as a frame of reference, I argue the issues (of these magazines) that have appeared since 11th September demonstrate that terrorism, Islam, Arabs and Muslims are intertwined into a single phenomenon through the use of certain strategies: naming the alleged perpetrators, using collocation, etc. This conflation, contrary to the claim of Dajani and Michelmor (1999), is shown to be realized in certain contexts where the event and the attackers are viewed as enemies. This viewpoint has been verified by examining the language of media authentic texts from the two magazines in the aftermath of 11th events and the Oklahoma City bombing. It is seen that the latter event, which involved non-Arabs, is described by the press in a neutral way.

 

 

 

ABDERRAHMAN, Wajih : Universal Roots Under the Linguistic Tree

The paper argues that linguistic research has always concentrated on “superficial aspects” of human language, i.e. language universals both formal and substantive. As a solution this paper puts forward a theory advocating the view that language universals should be extended to subsume “ root universals”. There is ample evidence (from languages assumed to be genetically unrelated) to support such view. Indeed, data gathered from Arabic, English, Sanskrit, Latin, etc. indicate that there might be a “universal monolingual lexicon”. The view and ideas incorporated in this approach are expected to effect a radical change in linguistic thinking, particularly on the level of morphology.

 

 

ABDULMAJEED, Muhammad Yousif: Aspects of Cultural Differences

This paper aims to familiarize parties responsible for the teaching/promotion of English in the Arab/Muslim part of the world with some of the more common aspects of cultural differences between L1 and L2 . The issues raised here aim at encouraging the adoption of at least three policies: the preparation of oneself, the planning of activities, and the adaptation of teaching materials/aids that are more suitable for the target learners. It is essential that all those responsible for the promotion of English in foreign cultures are well aware of possible political, historical, religious, and cultural differences, some of which may be hostile. Without the proper preparation, certain actions or convictions (beliefs) may lead to cultural clashes and resentment, thus, demotivating the learners towards learning/accepting the target language.

 

 

ABOU EL-NAGA, Shereen: Feminism in the Academia

For sometime now, the English Department of Cairo University has been developing a remarkable and distinguished feminist scholarship in different areas: poetry, novel, drama, criticism and culture. In order to decide whether this is a ‘phenomenon’ or a trend in the making, I will attempt an answer to the following questions:

• Is it a trend of thought that is interrupted or consolidated through accumulation?

• Is it backed up by the system or based on individual initiatives?

• What is the nature of the discourse adopted in this scholarship?

• Is it a trend that is assimilated or resisted? Does this scholarship have an effect on the curriculum?

• And finally, is there a specific inherent incentive in the culture and education in the English department that leads to and yields such a scholarship spontaneously?

 

 

ABU SHAKRA, Zena: Scaffolded Instruction as a Dialogic Pedagogical Tool

This presentation is part of a larger research study which uses socio-cultural theories of learning to investigate scaffolded instruction as a dialogic pedagogical tool across instructional activities and describe the type of student interaction it creates in the particular context of an ESL classroom in need of ways for improving interaction among students.

For the purpose of this presentation, only one of the various elements of scaffolded instruction namely ‘exploratory feedback’ will be discussed in terms of how such feedback is realized in scaffolded instruction from a linguistic point of view as well as the type of student interaction it creates. By providing a linguistic understanding of this vital element of scaffolded instruction, this presentation will present exploratory feedback as a more concrete concept by demonstrating the type of student interaction that ensues in the context of a particular ESL classroom.

 

 

ABU-BAKER, Mohammed: The Representation of Islam and Muslims in Medieval Western Narratives

The representation of Islam and Muslims in medieval western narratives draws heavily on the tradition established by the Christian polemicists which sought to construct Islam as the negation of Christianity; the Prophet as an impostor, an evil sensualist, and an antichrist; Muslims as violent and barbaric. The whole Islamic world was seen as the fearful enemy which had to be checked and ultimately destroyed.

It was in this spirit of religious hostility that imaginative European narratives cultivated this polemical tradition in constructing a negative image of Islam and Muslims that was relevant to the purposes of their representations. Two outstanding themes emerge from these representations: namely that the Islamic East was the realm of lascivious sensuality and inherent violence. Nevertheless, some authors were able to transcend the limitations of such crude representations to question their culture or to articulate their individual positions or both.

 

 

 

ABU-SHAMAIS, Wafa : Identifying the Metacognitive Reading Strategies of Arab University Students: A Case Study

 This paper reports on the metacognitive reading strategies employed by Palestinian students while reading English texts. In identifying the participants' thinking processes , the study utilized multiple research methods . To collect data, the researcher used "think aloud" as an instrument for tapping the participants' underlying metacognitive thinking and in order to complement the "think-aloud" sessions, the researcher used interviews, comprehension tests and a questionnaire.

 The results indicate that although "think-aloud" seemed to be a suitable introspective method for measuring comprehension control and awareness, retrospective methods such as interviews, tests and questionnaires were also important. It was also found that although verbalising was challenging, the participants were interested in thinking aloud and involved in using a number of metacognitive strategies that aided their awareness and text comprehension.

 

 

 

ABUNUWARA, Ahmed : The Prefix sa- and sawfa as Modal Forms in Arabic: Evidence from Informant Testing

In many grammar and reference books the two particles sa- and sawfa are treated as markers of the future tense. For this reason they are called ‘huruf al-estiqbal’: the particles of the future. The traditional view of sa- and sawfa as markers of the future tense states that sa- refers to the near future and sawfa to the remote future.

In the grammar of Arabic nothing has been written so far about the possibility of using sa- and sawfa to express other modality concepts such as ‘judgments’ or ‘attitudes’ towards a possible future event. This study seeks to provide authentic examples which demonstrate that in addition to making reference to future happenings, these two particles express certain modality concepts.

 

 

 

AFIFI, Elhami: Foreign Language versus Native Language Education in the Wake of Globalization

With the advent of the third millennium, a ‘new’ world has already been developed with three impactive features: the information revolution, the technology revolution and globalization. This has urged third world countries to give high priority to educational improvement, the promotion of English language teaching, and the diffusion of educational technology. The teaching of Arabic is not subject to promotion or educational improvement as much as English is. This paper highlights the status of teaching English and Arabic in Egypt, and investigates the negative impact of this imbalance on our national identity in general, and Arabicization and translation in particular.

 

 

AGHACY , Samira: Domestic Spaces: Confinement or Liberation?

The aim of this paper is to explore the nature of inner spaces in Lebanese war fiction. For this purpose, works by male as well as female writers will be selected to highlight the difference, if any, between men’s and a women’s experiences. Indeed, many of these texts are replete with analogies between house and psyche, house and social structures, as well as house and the political, sectarian and military situation. One could say that these works are preoccupied with inner spaces and confinement to underline the characters’ spatialized experience. Other works emphasize the sense of powerlessness and absurdity that overwhelms a character in a room or prison cell and the feelings of persecution, poor self-image and repressed anger that he or she suffers from. As a result, these works tend to accentuate the cumulative effect of endless repetition and circular rather than linear time.

 

 

AL-ABED AL-HAQ, Fawwaz & Amer HATAMLEH: Linguistic Globalization: Homogenization or Hegemonization

The study attempts to investigate the phenomenon of globalization from language planning perspectives. The nature of linguistic globalization will be examined in terms of the objectives, strategies and goals, problems and solutions, consequences among many other factors. The following major questions are raised:

- To what extent does globalization entail linguistic dependency?

- To what extent is English envisioned as an imperialist language?

- Does English in the Arab world entail Westernization, Americanization, Englisization?

- What are the consequences on Arabicization?

 

 

AL-BANYAN, Ahmed: Pragmatic Awareness: The Case of Refusals by Saudi Male & Female Speakers of English

This paper tries to measure the pragmatic awareness of Saudi male & female English college-level students by utilizing the Discourse Completion Test (DCT). The experimental group will be compared to the control group (American native speakers of English). Furthermore, the male group will be compared to the female group. The data will be analyzed quantitatively as well as qualitatively. It is hoped that this study will contribute to cross-cultural pragmatics, at least for the case of speech act refusals by Saudis.

 

 

AL-DA’MI, Muhammed: Islam and Globalization

This paper begins with the hypothesis that Islam is historically a globalizing religion. This is verified by discussing an array of doctrinal elements and historical anecdotes that cater to the incongruity between Islam and today’s globalization as a form of “American indisputable hegemony”. The conclusion analyzes the points of disagreement between the two “globalizing” visions with a specific reference to the unbridgeable and widening gap between Islam and the so-called “Pax Americana”.

 

 

AL-DABBAGH, Abdullah: Language, Consciousness, and Identity in the Global Age

Language, as the major vehicle of culture, identity, and consciousness, is dualistic in nature. That aspect of it which is dominant or ascendant determines its “essence” at any particular time. The subordinate aspect, however, remains, and may re-emerge at another time. Since the early days of mankind, this inner contradiction of language has taken the form of a true versus a false language, reflecting a true versus a false consciousness. The Age of Globalism has ripened the conditions for the rise of a global language and a global cultural identity. The contradictory nature of human consciousness that set in with the division of labour in human society acquires a new expression in the Age of Globalism. At the same time, the prospect of the abolition of this division brings with it the possibility of achieving true consciousness, global identity, and a universal language.

 

AL-GHIZAWI, Basim: Henry James's Technical Innovation: A Study in the Excellence of Point of View

It is almost a critical commonplace to speak of Henry James as a rebel against Victorian fiction, an innovator who anticipated the twentieth-century novel by his rejection of the traditional omniscient narrator and his technical experimentation. Yet, such view ignores James's appreciation of traditional novelists and obscures the basis of his interest in point of view. The purpose of the paper is to highlight James's technical innovation touching upon his technical experimentation in point of view through a special reference to his masterpiece The Ambassador.

 

 

AL-HAMAD, Mohammad: The Effect of Formal Instruction on Acquiring Arabic as a Second Language

The paper looks at the effect of a grammar textbook titled the `Easy Arabic Grammar` series on acquiring Arabic as a second language by native speakers of Chinese and Russian at the Arabic Language Institute, King Saud University. In particular, it compares the distribution of the presentation of various grammatical features associated with nouns, adjectives and verbs in the series, on the one hand, and the success of the study subjects in acquiring these features, on the other,. The data come from 400 minutes of recorded spontaneous conversations with 40 subjects.

The results seem to suggest that although the subjects , were, in general, highly successful in acquiring grammatical features, it seems that formal instruction may enhance input, thereby speeding up the process of development. Furthermore, it seems that there is a positive correlation between the amount of emphasis a certain grammatical feature is given in the textbook and the level of mastery the subject attains.

 

 

AL-HAZMI, Sultan: English and Arabization: Friends or Foes? The Saudi Experience

The goal of this paper is to take a closer look at the concept of “Arabization” in its relationship with EFL teaching within the Saudi and Arab context. In particular, it addresses this fundamental question: Is “Arabization” a simple exercise in lexical creation, or does it have religious, cultural identity and (why not), nationalistic undertones?

 To attempt to answer this question, the paper first investigates the rational behind “Arabization”. Why “Arabize,” and in reality, who is concerned, in Saudi Arabia and in the Arab World at large?

 Since “Arabization” is a language planning issue, this paper takes a cursory look at similar experiments carried out elsewhere in Asia (Syria, Japan, and Korea), Africa (Guin`ee and Tanzania) and in Europe (Germany), before tackling the Saudi context and its parameters.

The concluding thoughts will outline the incidence of “Arabization” on curriculum design and selection, teaching methodologies and practices and on student motivation, particularly in EFL classes.

 

 

AL-JARF, Reema: Teaching Language and Culture Online

A “Language and Culture” course was taught to two groups of sophomore students majoring in translation. The control group was taught using traditional classroom instruction only, and the experimental group was taught using traditional and online instruction. An online course was especially designed for the latter group. Both groups were pre and post-tested. Effect of online instruction on achievement was assessed by computing the means differences of the pre and post-test scores for both groups. Components of the online course, teaching and learning tasks were described. Experimental students used the online course from home as the internet was inaccessible from campus.

 

 

AL-KHAWALDA, Mohammad: The Deterioration of Mobile Messages: A Linguistic Analysis of English Messages Sent by Native Speakers of Arabic

This paper aims at analyzing 200 English mobile messages written by university students to their friends, colleagues and teachers. The students are Arabic native speakers. Analysis of the data shows that numerous features characterize this widely spread means of communication, such as:

- ample use of short sentences having one topic or idea,

- grammatical accuracy and conventional formalities don’t receive much attention,

- ellipsis and deletion of many grammatical words

- the use of simple structures and simple tenses

- the insertion of Arabic words into English texts, which leads to incorporating certain Arabic structures such as word order

 

 

AL-KHULI, Mohammed: Factors Influencing Foreign-Language Learning

This paper explicates factors that influence foreign language (FL) learning such as learning environment, the learner’s role, using the concrete, language models, feedback, readiness, frequency, exposure, and motivation . The paper also deals with the differences between FL-learning and first-language acquisition and how to improve FL-learning in the classroom situation .

 

 

AL-MASRI, Nazmi: Using Technology (WebCT) for Teaching Advanced Writing

This paper focuses on examining the pedagogical benefits of using the WebCT (Web Course Tool) as an effective technological tool in teaching advanced writing for university English language majors. The paper will demonstrate how the WebCT can be used to enhance the students’ writing skills that are necessary for writing research papers and how to manage and deliver an advanced writing course that covers the multi-step process required for writing a research paper on a literary or language teaching topic. Finally, some serious technical and methodological questions as well as a series of relevant challenges and suggestions will be dealt with.

 

 

AL-QAHTANI, Saad : Recent Trends in ESL Reading and Their Applicability to EFL Contexts

In the last two decades, many studies have investigated the teaching of reading to non-native speakers of English from different perspectives. Some of these studies deal with the teaching of reading from a theoretical perspective, while others look at it from a practical/pedagogic perspective.

In this paper, a general review of these studies will be discussed with reference to their theoretical backgrounds as well as their classroom applications. Then, some suggestions about their applicability to teaching reading in EFL contexts will be introduced.

 

 

AL-QURAN, Majid: Cross-Cultural Understanding: The Road toward a Better Union in an Age of Diversity

The present paper will address issues like fundamental patterns of cultural difference, different communication styles and attitudes toward conflict, some guidelines for multicultural collaboration, and how higher education institutions can utilize these to have a significant input into developing a universal culture of peace as a basis for cross-cultural communication and understanding. Re-activating and re-vitalizing the role of departments of English in this respect will be the core of this proposed endeavor.

 

 

AL-RABAI, Ali: Skim English

This paper is entitled “Skim English” for the fear of cultural obesity. It tries to illustrate that although too much fat is unhealthy, very little fat causes loss of vitality and decreases appetite. Therefore, this paper claims, on theoretical grounds, that language should be taught incorporated within its cultural heritage. Hence, the speaker will argue for a real need for a good amount of openness to the cultural components of a second/foreign language that don’t bear negative consequences on the students’ own cultural appreciation. It concludes with a recommendation for exerting genuine efforts in building text material that focuses on the international common cultural concepts and the proper manipulation of such concepts in the language classroom.

 

 

AL-SALMAN, Saleh: The Effectiveness of Machine Translation

This paper maps out what machine translation can do and what it cannot do in dealing with problems of contextuality, culture–bound expressions, lexical and structural ambiguity, and idiomatic expressions The paper concludes that while considering machine translation a step in the right direction, it is premature to announce the birth of a full-fledged and independent approach to translation which can replace human translators. By capturing word expressions and building database of translation phrases, computers cannot perform so well as human translators in most types of translation, despite the computer’s ability to save time, cost, and effort.

 

 

AL-SEGHAYAR, Mohamed: Some Aspects of the Arabic Language Used in the Military

The army, like any community within the society, utilizes its own variety of language which enables it to run itself as an institution in the society. This variety of language has its linguistic peculiarities as well as its sociolinguistic characteristics. Like any other language variety, this variety deserves to be studied in order to establish what features , if any, make it distinct from the other varieties of the language. This paper is an attempt to examine the Arabic language used by the army: its phonology, syntax, and semantics. An attempt to highlight some of the phonological properties, syntax and semantics of this variety of Arabic is made, in addition to a short account of some sociolinguistic issues regarding this variety of language.

 

 

AL-SHAREEF, Jamal: Language Change and Variation in Palestinian Arabic

This paper presents details from auditory analysis of the variable (q) and its four variants [q], [g], [k] and [?] in the speech of Palestinian speakers from the Jabalia Refugee Camp.

The study differs from previous studies in that it is the first linguistic study to deal with the Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip and to discuss the effect of age, sex and locality in the process of language change. A total of 48 informants were interviewed.

The study shows that the age factor is playing a main role with respect to convergence towards the stereotype variant [g] in the Camp, and that the second and the third generations are the ones leading the process of language change. The sex factor does not reveal any major differences among the speakers in general, but when the speakers were analysed individually it emerged that it is the old females who usually retain their traditional way of speech. The effect of locality is apparent especially in the speech of the old speakers, who still prefer the variants of their original localities. The study also shows the influence of the mothers' preferred variants on the developing style of the youngest category of speakers. The process of levelling that is taking place in the Camp can be attributed to three main factors, which are the political situation, the daily contact of the speakers, and inter-marriage.

 

 

AL-SHU’AIBI, Jihad: The Expression of Future Time in Italian and Arabic: A Contrastive Study

 The present paper is meant to move from language function to linguistic form in order to contrast the linguistic elements that are usually employed in Italian and Arabic for the expression of future time. In practice, we investigate how a universal semantic concept is denoted in two linguistic systems that belong to different families, taking in consideration a segment of the infinite “line of time”, conventionally divided into past, present and future. In this way, the study tries to offer a contribution to the various linguistic investigations on tense-time relationship. The findings highlight the fact that both languages prove to have similar abilities in expressing the same temporal-aspectual meanings. In realising their own temporal-aspectual systems, Italian (a prevalently temporal language) and Arabic (prevalently aspectual) manifest similarities and differences in denoting the various shades of meaning regarding future time.

 

 

AL-TAHA, Fayez: Kinship Terms in Palestinian Arabic (PA)

Palestinian kinship terms can be classified from a structural, functional, and situational point of view. Structurally, they are divided into monolexic, dilexic, and trilexic, depending on the number of lexemes each term has . All of them are defined as lexemes plus first person pronominal suffix. Functionally, Palestinian kin terms are divided into addressives and appellatives. The former are used as terms of address, while the latter are used as terms of reference. Situationally, Palestinian kin terms are grouped according to their denotation and connotation. These terms have multiple meanings depending on the linguistic and non-linguistic context. These meanings are apparent even if we limit ourselves to the considerations of their genealogical usage. However, we can’t discard the usage of kinship terms as extended to interlocuters outside the family.

 

 

AL-WER, Enam: New Dialect Formation: The story of -kum in Amman

The study of dialectal change is relatively straightforward when it is concerned with a continuity of change within a community, but there are more complex cases where there is no native dialect to develop from, but where new dialects are formed in the process of the formation of the community itself. Amman is a case in point. It is a new city which has had no native dialect simply because it did not have a native population. In three generations, the speech of Amman has undergone a considerable degree of focusing, to the extent that it is now possible to speak of a distinctive Ammani dialect in its own right. This paper is the fourth report on my research in Amman. I shall focus on the 2nd plural clitic form -kum, which can attach to verbs, nouns and adjectives in a variety of syntactic constructions. The form is unattested in the input varieties of the Amman dialect, but is consistently used by the 3rd generation in the city's population.

The paper entertains a range of possible explanations to account for the success of -kum over any of the forms which were present in the original varieties.

 

 

ALAWI, Nabil: Dehegemonizing Literary Syllabi: Towards a New Syllabus for an American Literature Course in Arab Universities

The political and socio-economic changes that globalization has brought about and is impending to introduce has stirred some political antagonism in Europe and some other parts of the world. That the Arabs do not protest it is not a healthy phenomenon. Globalization has already become synonymous with hegemony and the one-power supremacy in the world. The most immediate outcome of globalization is the unjustified use of power to back greed and ill will and to coerce weaker countries into accepting the usurpation of their national pride, wealth and market. In view of such realities, literature and the teaching of American Literature have become estranged; there is a spontaneous, sometimes unjustified, repulsion of anything American. This paper attempts to introduce a course syllabus which doesn't necessarily adhere to the established traditional canon of American literary works that would appeal to the taste of students in a wronged culture sinned against by the American political machine. Some examples will be presented for demonstration.

 

 

AMAYREH, Mousa, Jihad HAMDAN & Yaser NATOUR: Jordanian Teachers’ Perceptions of Stuttering Students

This study aims at investigating the perceptions of teachers in the basic education stage in Jordan of students who stutter. This issue has been extensively studied in connection with teachers and other professionals belonging to cultures other than Arabic, particularly English.

Negative perceptions have been reported. It is not yet known whether such perceptions are culture-specific or show tendency towards universality, an issue which the study reported here intends to explore. The data were collected through a questionnaire from 50 teachers randomly selected from schools in Greater Amman. The study concludes with some implications and recommendations for teachers, speech and language pathologists, educationists and other professionals interested in this issue.

 

 

ASFOUR, Mohammed: Problems in Modern English-Arabic Lexicography

Dictionaries in the Arab world have traditionally been produced by “harmless drudges” unaided by teams of researchers or the marvelous resources of modern-day technology. Such heroic efforts are no longer adequate. Modern knowledge is expanding at such rates that no single author can hope to catch up with it. The most important English-Arabic dictionaries now available are still the products of such enterprising men. Four such dictionaries have been studied in this study. Although they all suffer in varying degrees from problems such as coverage, currency, or terminological acceptability, Munir Ba’albaki’s al-Mawrid has been found to be the most daring and controversial in its attempts to do what dictionaries by their very nature cannot do. The paper attempts to identify the problems and to explain the reasons why they have vitiated these otherwise indispensable works.

 

 

ATARI, Omar: Globalization, EFL, and Arabicization

The complex processes of globalization (i.e. free market economies including demolition of trade barriers, technological communication, mergers of corporations, liberalization of capital flow movements) are creating a new sociolinguistic situation. The communication needs within such a newly-emerging sociolinguistic context planet-wide require new linguistic and literacy competences.

The question to be raised, thus, is this: are the EFL skills and their accompanying literacy currently prevalent in the Arab World adequate enough for this sort of global/international communication? It is the speaker’s contention that the newly-emerging communicative tasks and interaction generated by globalization are leading to a whole spectrum of “registers” which a large population of Arab EFL learners may not possess. What are the implications of this assumption? What are the ramifications of all of this on the indigenous language, namely Arabic? Is the newly-emerging international communication situation restricted to the elites? What about the marginalized segments of society? Are they going to be left out in the job market since they may not possess the necessary linguistic and literacy skills?.

 

 

ATAWNEH, Ahmad: The Sociolinguistics of Family Names in Palestine

The diversity of family names in Palestine reflect the kind of culture and life such families had in old times. Names were classified into: professions, personal characteristics, geography, plants, animals, and physical characteristics. Stories of reasons for naming were collected from the elderly. Some names are ridiculous or obscene; but there has been no effort to change them as the case in France where they change ridiculous names inherited from the past. Such names were given to respondents to see how they are viewed in today’s world.

 

 

AZIZ, Yowell: Intertextuality: Its Implication for Language Teaching and Translation