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

The speaker (writer) and the hearer (reader) uses his/her knowledge of previous texts to produce and interpret the current text. This phenomenon, known as intertextuality, involves two issues: first, how the present text uses and develops a text type or genre; and secondly, how it alludes to other texts (text allusion). Thus intertextuality involves exploitation of other texts, a process which is realized by means of mediation – how the speaker (writer) and the hearer (reader) inserts his/her beliefs and objectives in the production and interpretation of a text. Mediation may be little as in conversation or allusion to well known texts; or considerable as in text type (genre) exploitation and development.

Languages differ in how they employ intertextuality to realize these two issues : text type and text allusion. This paper attempts to investigate some of the main similarities and differences in the use of intertextuality in the English and Arabic texts. The results will hopefully have implications for several areas of language study including teaching a foreign language and for translation.

 

 

BADAWI, Mohammad: Tajwid: Phonetics and Phonology

Tajwid, as known and practised by Quran reciters, is essentially a science that depends on phonetics and phonology. The importance it gives to "places of articulation" (makhârej al horûf) anticipated modern phonetics, and the significance it attaches to "rules of recitation" (ahkâm al tilâwa) is a painstakingly accurate picture of phonology as we have come to know it nowadays.

This paper proposes to deal with these two aspects of tajwid with a view to show similarities and differences between the two systems: ancient Arabic and modern linguistic. The paper hopes to help modern linguists (Arabs and non-Arabs) have a new view of this science in Arabic culture and help non-Arab speakers (with a linguistic background) have a better view of the "correct" manner of Quran recitation. The paper deals specifically with the rules of recitation from a phonological viewpoint and tries to provide modern phonological equivalents to the processes of tajwid.

 

 

BAKIR, Murtadha : Issues of Control in Arabic

This paper discusses a wide range of issues in syntactic control in Arabic. It discusses the different types of control, the contexts in which it seems to take place, the various motivations for such a proposal and the syntactic constraints for its application. In doing so the paper entertains the different theoretical proposals in the literature and examines their adequacy to account for such a phenomenon in search for descriptive adequacy.

 

 

BALASUBRAMANIAN, TH.: General Arabic (Spoken) English: Pros and Cons

Millions of Arabic speakers studying English the world over doubtless belong to the world of EFL. In teaching them spoken English, the need for a model arises and the model followed for decades has been a native variety. Hasn't the time come to evolve a model of English which may be termed "General Arabic English" to be added to the array of varieties of spoken English already available?

The Paper discusses this issue candidly and critically with contrastive features of the segmental features of English and Arabic. The point the paper will emphasize is that in an EFL situation intelligibility should be the most important criterion and the evolving of a pan-Arabian model will not result in unintelligibility.

 

 

EL NAGGAR, Zeinab: National Standards for Teachers of English: The Egyptian Experience

Developing national standards in education is a real challenge. This paper highlights on-going efforts exerted in Egypt to set standards for English teachers both at the pre-service and in-service levels, which have paved the way for national standards for all areas of education.

The speaker will share with the audience:

Earlier attempts at setting standards and why they failed.

The two EFL projects

The national project

Implications of standards in the Egyptian context.

 

 

FAREH, Shehdeh & A. SAEED: Rate of Information Packaging in Arabic and English Discourse

This study aims at comparing and contrasting the informational status of discourse entities in Arabic and English texts. Two fairly similar narrative texts will be selected for this purpose, one from Arabic and another one from English. Prince’s (1981, 1992) model of Assumed Familiarity, which avoids the binary classification of information into ‘Given vs. New’, will be adopted in the analysis. Prince divides discourse entities into three levels: New, Inferable and Evoked. The frequency of each category in both languages will be calculated and compared in order to establish the similarities and differences between Arabic and English.

 

 

FARGHAL, Mohammed: Schemata in Translation: The Role of Lexical Competence

The present paper establishes empirical evidence for a schematic model of translation in which markedness plays a pivotal role in lexically induced schemata. An ambiguous text was deliberately given two working titles that schematically called for different translations. The majority of the subjects, regardless of their lexical competence, opted for the unmarked schema in the body of the text in spite of the fact that their translations were incongruent with the marked schema in the title. This proves that schematic markedness is a more robust factor than lexical competence in translation activity.

 

 

FEKRY, Ahmed: A Contrastive Study of Arabic-English Argumentative Writing

This paper is a contrastive study of Arabic-English rhetorical differences in argumentative writing. These differences include:

• Through argumentation is preferred over counter argumentation in Arabic.

• In writing the oral mode is preferred over the visual in Arabic.

• Arabic is paratactic, while English is heavily hypotactic.

• First and second person pronouns are more common in Arabic than they are in English.

 

 

GIABER, Jamal: Reflections on the only MA Program in Translation in Libya

Despite the fact that translation has been taught to undergraduate students at language departments in Libyan universities for a long time, the first postgraduate programme in translation was started during the academic year 2000-2001. The programme was initiated at the Academy of Graduate Studies in Tripoli and includes theoretical and practical courses in Arabic-English-Arabic translation and interpreting. During the three years of its lifetime, the programme has proved to be very popular. Some minor changes have already been made to the programme with the aim of improving its quality and suitability. However, feedback from teachers and students indicate that there are still some problems, which seem to have a negative effect on the programme output. The aim of this paper is to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the programme, identify the problems affecting its output, and suggest solutions to those problems.

 

 

HAMDAN, Jihad: Interacting with Conjoined Lexical Pairs: Evidence from Jordanian EFL Learners

This paper reports on the findings of a large-scale case study exploring how two different proficiency level groups of Jordanian EFL learners at university level interact with a set of conjoined lexical pairs (CLPs) that are frequently used in everyday language and appear recurrently in their ELT materials.

The data are elicited through a written task that consists of 30 items, each presenting one CLP (The items are selected from a preliminary list of 90 CLPs compiled by the researcher from the ELT materials which the subjects use in their coursework.

The study concludes with some implications and recommendations in the fields of language acquisition, curriculum design, lexicography and translation.

 

 

HAMDAN, Mohammad: Arab American Children’s Patterns of Spelling Developmental Inventory Stages

 The paper reports the findings of a study that sought to investigate the developmental nature of Arab American children’s (second, fourth and sixth graders) acquisition of spelling knowledge. The study addressed the question whether bilingual Arab American children’s patterns of spelling development are identifiable as measured by the Schlagal’s Qualitative Spelling Inventory. Further, the study examined whether Arab American bilingual children's spelling performance changed based on their grade level and word-level complexity.

Seventy five students participated in the study (25 second graders, 25 fourth graders and 25 sixth graders). Shlagal’s inventory of six spelling lists was administered on two different school days during one week. Two spelling lists were administered at each grade level. One list was given at the level immediately below the class, and another at the grade level. The results of data analysis showed a variance of scores on spelling features presented in the six lists given to second, fourth and sixth graders.

 

 

 

HAMDI, Tahrir : Literature Education and Identity

Emphasis on the Western text taught in the classical British and American traditions does not promise to be a fruitful endeavour at Arab universities in the wake of globalization. The text cannot be extricated from its context since it is more than a “verbal icon.” The bias in favor of British and American texts as the core of literature programs at Arab universities is both misguided and detrimental to any effort aimed at forging a true understanding of Arab identity and culture in our “global” world. In the light of these challenges, Arab universities need to rethink their literature education programs.

 

 

HAYNES, Lilith: English as a Second Language for the Global Community

Academic purchase on English is urgently needed by those unable to lend their voices to the chorus of participants in global civil society. Familiarity with several components of the score of human endeavor and experience would, furthermore, ensure that this chorus represent the harmony of diverse perspectives rather than the drone of unison. Delineating the rationale, functioning, and outcomes of curriculum and instruction in IEL, this paper underscores the value to teachers and students of engagement with contemporary literary media and interconstitutive methodologies, and discusses their applicability to language and literature education in the Arab World in this globalized era.

 

 

HOMEIDAN, Abdallah : The Impact of Instructors’ Misunderstanding of SL Concepts on the Teaching of Translation

 

(Paper to be read in Arabic)

 

 

HUSSAIN, Marwa: The Role of Prior Knowledge and Repetition in Listening Comprehension

This paper presents the results of a study that took place in the 2002 spring semester at the American University in Cairo. The study attempted to investigate the role of prior knowledge and repetition on the listening comprehension of Egyptian EFL learners of two proficiency levels: intermediate and advanced. Three research questions were formulated to investigate the role of each variable alone, and both repetition and prior knowledge together on EFL listening comprehension. The findings indicated that for intermediate EFL learners, repeating the listening passage most probably helped with their listening comprehension, provided that the passages were on a familiar topic.

 

 

IMSSALEM, Nuwara: Teaching Grammar Pedagogically and Communicatively

Generally speaking descriptive grammar aims at describing the forms which exist in a particular language while pedagogical grammar deals with the ways of presenting these forms to learners. The issue, however, is not as clear cut as this. Pedagogical grammars have been a reflection of descriptive grammars. In other words , pedagogical descriptions have been mirror images of linguistic ones. This situation has led to different degrees of emphasis placed on grammar in language teaching .The position of grammar in language teaching has swung from grammar driven audio-lingual methods to communicative approaches which consider grammar as something peripheral.

The purpose of this paper is to outline briefly the historical development which has led to this situation and suggest a framework for teaching grammar pedagogically and communicatively.

 

 

IONESCU, Violeta: The Paradoxical Globe of Global English: Utilization the Profit of English Language to Support Arabic Development

To learn another language does not necessary imply to forget or threat one’s own. The paper illustrates that teaching English as a second language following proper didactic methods can be used to improve human creativity and national identity implemented in Arabic language and culture. Global English and cross-cultural communication could be channeled and viewed through a positive perspective and it could serve the purposes of all the world’s citizens equally well.

 

 

ISMAIL, Hanadi: Analysis of the Pronominal Suffixes (h) and /ha, hon/ in Damascus Arabic

The research conducted in two neighbourhoods (traditional vs. modern) in Damascus shows significant variation in the behaviour of (h) among speakers of different ages and social backgrounds. Two variants are looked at; the presence and absence of (h), as in (tzakkartha) 'I remembered it' and (jisma3lon) 'listen to them'. In the latter case, a process of resyllabification is taking place, with a glide inserted in the related syllable in certain phonological environments. This paper aims at investigating the linguistic variation of (h), whether it is inherent in the dialect and therefore undergoing deletion, or whether the process taking place is in fact /h/ insertion. Moreover, the paper draws on the historical development of /r/ in English in an attempt to understand the linguistic variation of (h) in the dialect.

 

 

JABR, Abdul-Fattah: Effects of Syntactic Complexity on Translating from/into English/Arabic

This paper attempts to throw some light on the nature of syntactic complexity in English and Arabic and empirically display its effect on translating from/into these two languages. To this effect, a small-scale experiment was conducted on some translation students at Ajman University. In addition, the author suggests sentence analysis as a translation strategy that may help would-be (and even professional) translators to circumvent the problem of deciphering the meaning of a ST.

 

 

JADALLAH, Muffid: Translating English Adverbials into Arabic

Formed in different ways, occupying various positions in sentences and having a variety of functions, English adverbs may not be easily rendered into Arabic. Therefore, it is assumed in this paper that the better we realize such facts about adverbs and their use, the easier it will be for us to find the appropriate equivalence for them in the target language ( i.e Arabic). Moreover, our knowledge of Arabic in general and Arabic adverbials in particular will certainly be helpful in this regard. Thus, the paper will attempt to deal with the difficulties and complexities related to this issue.

 

 

JUM’A, Khader: TEFL in Distance Education: The Case of al-Quds Open University

This study reports on the experience of Al Quds Open University in the field of distance education, particularly in TEFL . It specifically seeks to asses its educational objectives since its establishment and to argue that there is a need for future development especially in the field of teaching English as a foreign language. The paper concludes with some suggestions which are meant to boost TEFL through distance learning.

 

 

KAILANI, Taiser : Web-Based Tutorials in TEFL

In this presentation I want to demonstrate the effective use of technology in delivering web-based tutorials as a method of distance education. The aim of this paper is two fold: one is to provide an example of the technology which is actually being used, rather than simply discussing the technology in abstract, while the second is to introduce academics to ways in which technology can enhance traditional teaching methods. This technique i.e. web-based Tutorials can be, more or less, appropriate for teaching any aspect of EFL.

 

 

KARMOUTY, Eman: Global Images of Human Experience

In the wake of globalization, humanity is faced with one world.

"Readers of world literature need to encounter an image of human experience that corresponds to global reality. Any narrower view will only hinder their understanding of their own and others' cultures, ... " ( Report on World Literature , 1). Thus Tewfik El Hakim's “Song of Death “ shows affinity to J. M. Synge's “ Riders to the Sea” , as "… timelessness, its primitive atmosphere, its force of elemental passion and its depiction of the utter powerlessness of the individual in relation to a deeply entrenched age-old way of life…" (Modern Arabic Drama, 53) .

The speaker will reflect on some of the views that have been put forward to argue for the ‘globalisation’ of human experience.

 

 

KHANJI, Rajai: SYMPOSIUM: New Roles of Departments of English and Translation in the Wake of Globalization

 

 

KHARBUTLI, Mahmoud: Nature or Nurture in The Secret Agent

I am working on Conrad's novel The Secret Agent. The paper would be entitled ‘Nature or Nurture in The Secret Agent’. The abstract at this point would be something like this: The woman question was an important topic in the Victorian Age. Writers and thinkers were divided on this issue, some saying that it is a question of nature and others responding by saying it is a question of nurture. Conrad addresses this issue with regard to both sexes in his novel and seems to take a position in between.

 

 

MAALOUF, May: SYMPOSIUM: New Roles of Departments of English and Translation in the Wake of Globalization

 

 

MARASHDEH, Wasef: SYMPOSIUM: New Roles of Departments of English and Translation in the Wake of Globalization

 

 

MATTAR, Hameed: The Effect of Semantic Transparency on Idiom Recognition and Comprehension

This study deals with the effect of semantic transparency on adult Arab learners’ recognition and comprehension of English idioms. The subjects of the study were 75 third and fourth year English majors at the University of Bahrain. They were given an idiom recognition and comprehension task comprising twenty-four paragraphs, each containing an idiom. The subjects were instructed to underline the idiom and then attempt to explain it in their own words.

The results showed that (i) The subjects’ ability in idiom recognition was significantly higher than their ability in idiom comprehension, and (ii) Idioms with higher semantic transparency were found to be significantly easier to recognize and comprehend than the less semantically transparent idioms.

 

 

MCDONALD, John : Psychic Occupation: Western Narrative Style in Beer in the Snooker Club and Season of Migration to the North

This paper compares how two Arab Novels, Waguih Ghali’s Beer in the Snooker Club (1964) written in English, and Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North (1969) written in Arabic (trans. by Denys Johnson-Davies), depict Colonialism’s influence on Arab cultural identity through narrators who are Anglophiles. While the Arabic narrative and Western voice interact cohesively, the protagonists of Salih’s and Ghali’s novels experience inter-cultural and internal conflicts which result in self-hatred, physical and identity displacement, political dissidence, and acts of questionable morality. Because both identify with an occupying culture they cannot find stability, satisfaction or redemption in the excesses and “freedoms” of the West, or in their “static” countries of origin.

 

 

MOUSA, Nedal: A Study of Arab Female Bildungsromane in the Light of Comparative Literature

The purpose of this paper is to examine patterns of self-definition in two Arab female Bildungsromane (Emily Nasrallah's September Birds (1962) and Somaya Radmadan's Leaves of Narcissus (2001) in the light of comparative literature. Special attention will be given to convergences between Arab female Bildungsromane and American novels belonging to the same genre such as Ellen Clasgow's Barren Ground (1925) and Gloria Anzadua's Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987).

Inspired by their common feminist orientation, the above-mentioned Arab and American women writers, I would argue, set out to adapt the old genre of the Bildungsroman to serve as a bearer of their feminist ideology which cherishes women's rights for self-definition beyond the dictates and norms of patriarchal societies.

 

 

MUKATTASH, Lewis: SYMPOSIUM: New Roles of Departments of English and Translation in the Wake of Globalization

 

 

MUSTAFA, Zahra: Awareness of Translation Relationship Between L1 and L2 Sentences

This study is an attempt to find out whether foreign language learners at the intermediate level are aware of the translation relationship between L1 and L2 sentences if such a relationship is not indicated. It also tries to investigate the differences in processing the information provided by reading comprehension in L1 and L2.

The participants in this study are Jordanian university students majoring in computer science with Arabic as L1 and English as L2. The students were given a questionnaire in Arabic to elicit their attitude towards technology, and after they had responded to it, they were given the same questionnaire in English.

The results show that the responses of most students to the items on L1 questionnaire were different from those on L2 questionnaire, although very few of them indicated that they faced difficulty in understanding some English words . This means that they were not aware of the translation relationship between the sentences in the two languages. These results indicate several differences in processing the information provided by reading comprehension in L1 and L2 .

 

 

NASR, Najwa: Tables Re-turned

Wordsworth had 'turned the tables' years ago encouraging his friend to 'quit [his] books' and 'let Nature be [his] teacher'. Now, as books get less appealing to readers attracted more to their 'notebooks', is Wordsworth's call still valid? Yet, with a deformed, polluted, even dangerous nature around, how good a teacher it could be? Faced with such polarizing issues, can we make the teaching of poetry interesting, attractive, and appealing? Can we hope to encourage our students to get involved in a text whose very message encourages them to quit it? This paper is an attempt at answering these questions.

 

 

NOOR, Hashim: Translation vs. Direct Composition: The Role of L1 in L2 Writing

The study aims at investigating the effect of the Arab EFL learners' L1 system or knowledge on the quality of their L2 essays or compositions in terms of content, organization, and style. The study , based on the analysis of 46 English compositions written by EFL Arab university students, will examine: (1) differences between the texts resulting from two writing processes ( one writing first in Arabic and then translating into English , and the other composing directly in English, and (2) the relationship between these two writing processes and students' language proficiency.

 

 

NOUNOU, Refka: Globalization and the Teaching of Professional Writing Skills

Teaching the skill of communicating effectively in writing is a forgotten art which most teachers of English avoid mostly because they are unaware of the important factors and issues involved in the teaching of writing skills for effective communication. In this presentation, the factors and issues at play in this challenging task will be discussed along with some specific and successful strategies used. An instructional model used to help teachers overcome the fear of and master the art of teaching professional writing skills in the foreign language classroom will be presented.

 

 

OBAID, Hala: Email Writing Style

The aim of this study is to clarify what exactly email language is. Is it a spoken variety of language, is it a written variety of language, or is it a totally different language variety that has its own linguistic/textual characteristics?

In order to clarify the above-mentioned research questions, samples of current, authentic email messages were collected and analyzed. These samples were taken from one of the biggest industrial companies in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The paper reports the findings of this piece of research.

 

 

OBEIDAT, Marwan & Ibrahim MUMAYIZ: Levantine & Arabian Travels: European and American Experiences in 20th Century

European and American travel experiences in the Levant and Arabia serve, in the last analysis, as a treatise on the psychology of human quest rather than mere records of individual itineraries. The early twentieth century saw the rise of a new type of travel-writer; that of the archaeologist / political officer, whose activities, for the first time since the Middle Ages, were part and parcel of British imperial interests. Arabian travel, in the traditional sense, came to an end in the 1950's, with the completion of the exploration of the Empty Quarter. European and American travel experiences in the Levant and Arabia, as surveyed in this paper, being a prototype of a treatise on quest psychology, serve, hopefully, to invite yet further research on the psychology of quest.

 

 

 

OLADOSU, Afis: “al-Sud" in African Fiction: Re-Thinking Ayi Kwei Armah and Ihsan Abdul Quddus

Recent studies have shown that the works of some North and West African writers exhibit uncanny semblances in their themes and subject matter. The Motif of the black, "al-Sud" in "Two Thousand Seasons" written by Ayi Kwei Armah and "Blemishes in the Black Robe ("Thuqub fi al-Thawb al-Aswad) however represents a tour de force in the annals of post-colonial African narrative discourse and in the efforts of the scholars in Africa towards a proper rendering of the pre-modern and modern histories of North and West African contacts.

This paper, in exploring the foregoing, re-examines the nuances and semblances in Najib Mahfouz and Wole Soyinka's aesthetics (the earliest Arab/Black African Writers as far as we know to tread this path) as a premise for its inquiry into the motif of the Black "al-Sud" first in English/Arabic literary annals in Africa and second as in Armah and Abdul Quddus’ fiction. The paper goes on to do an analysis of the surface and sub-surface structure of the two works using the problematics which are evident in the anti-Arab-pro-Black reviews of Armah and Abdul Quddus's works such as that of Kole Omotoso as an incentive. We thereafter proceed to do an analysis of the recollections which Armah and Quddus' works commemorate under three strategies: Dialogization, Historical Engagement and Matriarchal Influence.

 

 

OUEIJAN, Naji: SYMPOSIUM: New Roles of Departments of English and Translation in the Wake of Globalization

 

 

RA’AD, Basem: Language and Identity in Palestine

The paper analyzes potential conflicts between English language and literature and identity issues in our context. It draws on comparisons with colonial and postcolonial situations to illustrate the specificity of the Palestinian condition, its multiple layers of colonization and self-colonization. While others worldwide engage in new models or negotiate “identity politics,” we often rely on antiquated approaches – and so must take seriously efforts to develop new strategies. Examples are cited of how to avoid falling into the traps of what we read and teach, to raise consciousness, rather than unwittingly internalize language biases and so teach “what we are not”? What means do we adopt to (1) deconstruct and supplement rather than absorb self-biasing concepts and narratives and (2) advance our scholarship to enhance cultural identity and enable a constructive writing of our history, thus providing material that nourishes critical skills, proficiency and diversity.

 

 

RISHMAWI, George: Teaching Literature or Teaching Culture: The Role of the Arab Teacher of English Literature

I would like to suggest that the teaching of English literature to Arab students can be seen as a bridge between Arab and Western cultures. Moreover, I believe that the learning of such literature, will enrich the student's awareness of his national or mother culture. I would like to suggest ways of teaching works of literature which contain ideas that may be contradictory, or strange to Arab students. I shall illustrate by giving examples from my experience of teaching English literature in Palestine and Oman.

 

 

SAEED, Aziz & Shehdeh FAREH: Some Problems in Translating Arabic ‘fa’ into English

The purpose of this study is double fold. It aims at identifying the salient functions that the connective ‘fa’ has in Arabic discourse. It also attempts to determine the problems that translators may encounter in translating Arabic sentences containing this discourse marker into English. Several types of texts were surveyed in order to identify the major functions of Arabic ‘fa’ in discourse. Five major functions were identified: Explanatory, Consequential, Causal, Sequential, and Adversative. A translation task was designed to find out how Arabic ‘fa’ translates into English. The subjects were 50 English major students studying at the University of Sharjah. The difficulties that Arab learners encounter in translating Arabic ‘fa’ into English were identified and rank ordered in terms of difficulty.

 

 

SALAMEH, Fahd: Cross-Cultural Frontiers in Novel Translation: A Case Study (Alive in the Dead Sea)

In attempting to translate Arabic novels into English certain cultural elements elude translation and pose a serious problem for the translator. One example is al-Razzaz’s novel Alive in The Dead Sea where the reader is confronted by a host of cultural references ranging from the ancient Arabic and Islamic thought, modern and contemporary social, political and ideological patterns, to the Western artistic and literary trends. This cultural heterogeneity of cultural elements presents a twofold dilemma for translators and recipients of the text.

The novel itself presents in its form a direct imitation of Western works, notably those of Faulkner, Woolf and Joyce; and to the Arab reader whose taste has been shaped by novels that follow the conventional form, this type of novel presents a real challenge. The work in translation seems at first glance possible, due to the narrative techniques adopted and the many Western ideas employed. However, when proceeding with the work, the literary, political, cultural and social allusions that permeate the work present an incomprehensible textual body that requires the reader to engage with an examination of mysterious propositions that veil meaning and render the work unyielding in the absence of explication.

 

 

SALLO, Ibrahim: A Sociolinguistic Study of Language Choice among Kurds in Mosul

This study attempts to find out some extralinguistic variables constraining the use of Arabic (Ar) or Kurdish (K) or a specific blend of them in terms of the so-called "code-switching" (CS) by the Kurds in Mosul. The study is based on data collected from 100 Kurdish informants born in Mosul who use Bahdinani Kurdish dialect spoken in the North-West of Iraq. In collecting the data a variety of techniques were employed: personal observation, interviews, questionnaires and recording natural conversations could. The informants were also asked to present weekly language diaries. Questionnaires involved the description of some situations, for which the respondents were asked to mention what language they would use. The results are reported under some headings which identify the linguistic and extralinguistic constraints associated with the informants' language selection.

 

 

SAMARRAI, Ghanim: Transcending Eliot? Hymn of the Rain vs. The Waste Land

Many critics often attribute the revolutionary change brought into Arabic poetry partially to Eliot’s most celebrated poem The Waste Land. Likewise, Sayyab’s poem, Unshudat al-Matar (Hymn of the Rain) has always been viewed as a landmark in the history of modern Arabic poetry. The poem has received a great deal of criticism, focused mainly on its new style, themes and images.

However, a considerable number of Arab critics enthusiastically contend that many of Sayyab’s techniques and themes were acquired mainly from Eliot. This claim was usually followed by a reference to The Waste Land and to its influence on Sayyab’s masterpiece Hymn of the Rain. In this paper, I do not deny the influence of Eliot, but - to do justice to these critics - I realize that critical studies should adopt more systematic approaches to scrutinize their theses.

 

 

 

SAMRA, Sami : TEFL: An Identity Crisis

As globalization becomes an established reality, English-learning turns into a necessity for millions of people. To curriculum planners, textbook authors, and teachers, a key issue arising from this situation is: Which English?

The lack of a clear identity of the target language and the conflicting attitudes towards its native speakers and globalization in general have hindered the focused development of a unified approach and have created an identity crisis rendering TEFL a much more bewildering, complicated process. This paper surveys the variety of “Englishes” currently adopted and poses questions about the future of TEFL, especially in the Arab World.

 

 

SARHAN, Houreya: The Concept of Ideology in Cultural Materialism

 The paper attempts an analysis of ideology as a central concept in cultural materialism in the works of:

• Raymond Williams: Marxism and Literature (1977),

• Johathan Dollimore & Alan Sinfield: Political Shakespeare: New Essays in Cultural Materialism (1985) , and

• Alan Sinfield : Literature, Politics and Culture in Postwar Britain (1989)

 Other cultural materialists which this paper will make reference to are Liza Jardine, Catherine Belsey and Francis Barker.

 

 

SETECKA, Agnieszka: The Ghosts of the Past: Alfred Tennyson's Life Story in A.S. Byatt’s Angels and Insects

This paper seeks to concentrate on the second novella in Angels and Insect by A.S. Byatt, “The Conjugial Angel”. This is not a biography: although it might be seen as an attempt to recapture some events from Tennyson’s life, Byatt does not represent the life of any character from birth to death. Moreover, following the postmodern practices of giving voice to the marginal, Tennyson does not occupy the dominant position in the novella. His sister Emily, once Hallam’s fiancée, and her story seems equally significant. Both their lives seem to be haunted and determined by the memory of Hallam, and they both try to define their relationship with him: Alfred through poetry, Emily through occult practices.

The aim of this paper is to show much an attempt to recapture the past might remind of occult practices or poetry. A historian (or a biographer) might be compared to the reader of poetry, who gets only scraps of data sometimes deliberately misrepresented by the poet, or to a medium, who is offered only vague and unclear information. The message can only become understandable and clear when it is put into a coherent narrative. Thus, it is always necessary to “invent the truth” about the past

 

 

SHABAN, Fuad: Bob Hope Travels Again: America’s Quest to Save the World

We read in American history of the notion held by many Americans that they have a sacred mission to labor on behalf of humanity. Presidents, politicians and prominent American intellectuals have frequently expressed the view that they present the world with a model of democracy and civilized society.

 American men of letters have also drawn a picture of the country as a ‘city on a hill’ entrusted with spreading beams of freedom and education in all directions. Missionary quarters resounded with the order to go out to the world to spread the light and save humanity. A striking example of this notion is the early African-American poetic expressions of finding freedom in American slavery from the captivity of ‘Egyptian darkness’. American military campaigns have also been described as wars waged to defend freedom and rid the world of evil.

 Commenting on the Mexican-American War, Mark Twain said: “There must be two America’s, one that wages wars to set the captive free, and the other occupies the captive’s land in the name of freedom.”

 And the paradoxes persist!

 

 

SHAHEEN, Abdul Rahman: SYMPOSIUM: New Roles of Departments of English and Translation in the Wake of Globalization

 

 

SHEHADEH, Adnan and DWAIK, Raghad: Early Start English Programs: A Language Planning Perspective

This study provides a comprehensive overview of research findings on age-related learning differences. More importantly, it utilizes a questionnaire to investigate the Palestinian English teachers' awareness of these differences and to probe their attitude toward the theoretical and practical issues involved in an early start.

 

 

SHEHADEH, Ali: Modified Output in Learners’ Dyadic Interaction and Group Interaction

This paper reports on a study that investigated opportunities for learners’ production of modified output (MO) in dyadic interaction and group interaction. The population of the study consisted of 27 adult learners of English representing 13 L1 backgrounds. Data were collected through the same procedure for both interaction patterns using a decision-making task. Dyadic interactions were audio-taped and group interactions were both audio- and video-taped. The results showed that of the four variables examined in the study, group interaction provided learners with a significantly higher proportion of multiple self-initiated attempts toward MO than dyadic interaction. As regards the other three variables, the association between other-initiation and MO, between self-initiation and MO, and the proportion of extended negotiation routines toward MO, only minimal differences between both interaction patterns were observed. These results were interpreted in the light of the current view of Swain’s (1995, 2000) Comprehensible Output hypothesis and the usefulness of pair/group interaction for L2 learning.

 

 

SHIHADA, Isam: Virginia Woolf’s Feminist Vision in her Selected Novels: Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse

The aim of this study is to examine Virginia Woolf’s contribution to the feminist question in her selected novels: Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and To the Lighthouse (1927). The study shows how Mrs. Woolf employed her novels to show women the way to obtain meaning in life and realize their identities. Virginia Woolf established herself as a distinguished feminist woman writer in her treatment of women’s helpless situation. She unveiled the whys and therefore of women’s oppression, and provided us with a comprehensive answer for women’s question. She was the pioneer woman writer who could express her feminist ideas away from male publishers’ control since she and her husband had a publishing house and published their writings at their expense.

 

 

SHUNNAQ, Abdallah: Training Translation Students at Yarmouk University: Problems and Solutions

The paper examines the problems that the researcher confronts while teaching and training M.A. Translation students , Department of English, Yarmouk University. The students’ lack of specialist knowledge ; poor writing in the target language; reluctance to participate in the translation process ; unawareness of translation theories and choice of answer. The article also attempts to provide certain solutions for these problems. It is hoped that the findings of the article will be of some help for the teachers and trainers of translation and practicing student translators alike.

 

 

TAMIMI, Yaser: H-Variation and Phonological Theory: Evidence from two Accents of English

This study investigates h-variation in the casual and read speech of some speakers of Southern British Standard (SBS) and East London English (ELE), and attempts to provide a phonological explanation for it. This variation is examined across a number of linguistic conditions, including (a) different lexical functions, (b) different stress conditions, (c) different positions in the utterance/word, (d) different phonetic environments, and (e) different speech rates. The study provides quantitative data about this variation, and finds it mainly unpredictable under these conditions, suggesting unconditioned or at best weakly conditioned variability. In addition, it introduces a Multiple-Trace-based Proposal to account for linguistically unconditioned variability, after revealing explanatory inadequacy in a number of available phonological theories, including Co-existent Phonemic Systems, Standard Generative Phonology, Labov's Variable Rules, Bailey's Polylectal Grammar, Lexical Diffusion, Articulatory Phonology and Optimality Theory.
 

 

TENNET, Graeme: Globalisation and the Mask of Liberalisation

This paper argues that globalisation carries a threat to the independence of English language and literature teaching in Arab universities. Rather than the promised diversity and mutuality, a new dead hand of conformity is afoot under the banner of affiliation , accreditation and standardisation masking a new post-colonial dependency culture. This manifests itself in areas such as language and evaluation as well as in the role of consultant. If globalisation of English language and literature means anything, it is that it should enable and empower our students to make their voices and experiences heard in the world, not that they surrender the discourse.

 

 

TWEISSI, Adel: SYMPOSIUM: New Roles of Departments of English and Translation in the Wake of Globalization

 

 

WITKOS , Jacek: SYMPOSIUM: New Roles of Departments of English and Translation in the Wake of Globalization

 

 

YAGI, Sane & Shehdeh FAREH: Investigation of Poor EFL Performance: A Case Study

This investigation aims to answer the question why EFL programs are unable to deliver as expected. It studies the records of all students at one English department and assesses their initial preparedness through their high school grades, major orientation, and type of school. It, then, investigates the effect of these factors on students’ TOEFL university entrance score, and the effect of that on their academic performance at university over a number of semesters. Then it examines the program offered by the English department focusing on its overall structure, goals and practices, teacher role, and teaching methodology. Recommendations for improvement are made at the end.

 

 

YOUSEF, Tawfiq: Translation Programmes at Jordanian Universities: Relevance to Job Opportunities

This piece of research is based on theoretical and practical explorations of the current situation of translation programmes in Jordan, with special reference to job opportunities. Drawing upon recent translation theory and making use of a few questionnaires, statistical data, interviews and field work, the research investigates translation programmes at Jordanian universities in terms of student admission, study plans, translator training and translation pedagogy. It also discusses job prospects for translation graduates, professionalism, and the main areas of translation activity in Jordan, Finally, the study uses a comparative/contrastive approach to highlight the translation scene and the translators current situation in Jordan with a view to suggesting new translation approaches and relevant measures that can be conducive to updating and improving translator training and translation work.