ALLS, Vol 7, No 2 (2016)

Advances in Language and Literary Studies Online ISSN: 2203-4714

ii

Advances in Language and Literary Studies [ALLS] All papers on which this is printed in this book meet the minimum requirements of "Australian International Academic Centre PTY. LTD". All papers published in this book are accessible online. Editor-in-Chief

Amelia Ying Qin, PhD. University of Houston, United States Editorial Assistants

Seyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi, PhD Ruzbeh Babaee, PhD

Journal Information ISSN: 2203-4714 ISBN: 978-1-291-71811-9 Website: www.alls.aiac.org.au & http://www.journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/alls/index E-mail: [email protected] Publisher Australian International Academic Centre PTY. LTD. 11 Souter Crescent, Footscray VIC 3011 Australia Phone: +61 3 9028 6880 Website: http://www.aiac.org.au Hardcopy Provider Lulu Press Inc. 3101 Hillsborough Street Raleigh, NC 27607 USA Web: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/AIAC

2010 – 2016 © ALLS

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photo print, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher.

iii

ALLS Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief Amelia Ying Qin, University of Houston, United States

Editorial Assistants Seyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi

Ruzbeh Babaee

Advisory Board Andrew Weiler, Holmesglen Institute, Australia

Brian Tomlinson, Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom

John I. Liontas, University of South Florida, United States

Mark Pegrum, The University of Western Australia, Australia

NS Prabhu, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Editorial Board Alex Ho-Cheong Leung, Northumbria University, Newcastle, United Kingdom

Ali Miremadi, California State University, United States

Andrés Canga Alonso, Universidad de La Rioja, Spain

Anthony J. Liddicoat, University of South Australia, Australia

Bakhtiar Naghdipour, Girne American University, Cyprus

Canzhong Wu, Macquarie University, Australia

Chan Swee Heng, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Chamkaur Singh Gill, Bond University, Australia

Darryl Jones, Trinity College, Ireland

Dat Bao, Monash University, Australia

Fadil S Elmenfi, Omar Al-Mukhtar University/Derna, Libya

Holi Ibrahim Holi, Rusaq College of Applied Sciences, Oman

I Wayan Arka, Australian National University, Australia

iv

Jason Brown, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Jayakaran Mukundan, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Karim Hajhashemi, James Cook University, Australia

Leila Lomashvili, Shawnee State University, United States

Kylie Cardell, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

Mahmoud M Gewaily, Minia University, Egypt

Mohammad Hossein Keshavarz, Near East University, Cyprus

Mohammad Reza Shams, University of Kashan, Iran, Islamic Republic of

Mounir Jilani Ben Zid, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

Natasha Pourdana, Gyeongju University, Korea, Republic of

Neil Anderson, James Cook University, Australia

Shaofeng Li, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Siamak Babaee, University of Kashan, Iran, Islamic Republic of

Vahed Zarifi, Iran, Islamic Republic of

Wayne DeFehr, University of Alberta, Canada

Wisdom Agorde, University of Alberta, Canada

v

Vol 7, No 2 (2016) Table of Contents Articles

Travel Writing in Children and Adolescent’s Literature in Iran

Maryam Jalali, Narges Bagheri, Masoomeh Mahmoodi 1-6 Investigating Learning Strategies for Vocabulary Development: A Comparative Study of Two Universities of Quetta, Pakistan

Irum Fatima, Zahid Hussain Pathan 7-12 Political Ecology in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude

Eman Mohammed ElSherief 13-17 The Effect of Using Authentic Task on Teaching Adjectives

Shadi Rastegaran 18-24 Preface Sections in English and Arabic Linguistics Books: A Rhetorico-Cultural Analysis

Nassier A. G. Al-Zubaidi, Tahani Awad Jasim 25-32 The Teaching of English Idioms in Kenyan Secondary Schools: Difficulties and Effective Strategies

Moses Gatambuki Gathigia, Martin C. Njoroge 33-40 Postcolonial Hybrids in The Lowland

Seyedeh Zahra Ghoreishi, Zahra Bordbari 41-47 Investigation into Korean EFL Learners’ Acquisition of English /s/ + Consonant Onset Clusters

Jungyoun Choi 48-54 On Definiteness and Information Trigger in Arabic

Marwan Jarrah, Aseel Zibin 55-67 Wordplay in English Online News Headlines

Roya Monsefi, Tengku Sepora Tengku Mahadi 68-75 Impact of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) on EFL: A Meta-Analysis

Imtiaz Hassan Taj, Norrihan Binti Sulan, Muhammad Aslam Sipra, Waqar Ahmad

76-83

(Re)locating (I)dentity With(in) Politicized (Re)presentation of Fe/Male Body in Kamala Das’ Poetry

Sharmin Sultana, Nadia Sarwar 84-89 Identity Crisis in Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses

Hayder A. K. Gebreen 90-99 A Theoretical Account on the Study of Metaphor in Didactic Discourse

Ahmad El-Sharif 100-112 Distinctiveness of Saudi Arabian EFL Learners

Manssour Habbash, Srinivasa Rao Idapalapati 113-120 Investigating the Role of Pop Songs on Vocabulary Recall, Attitude and Retention of Iranian EFL Learners: The Case of Gender

Pouya Shakerian, Omid Rezaei, Zeinab Toghyani Murnani, Hamid Moeinmanesh 121-128 An Investigation into the State of Status Planning of Tiv Language of Central Nigeria

Atonde Terkimbi 129-142 The Effects of Using Multimodal Approaches in Meaning-Making of 21st Century Literacy Texts Among ESL Students in a Private School in Malaysia

Malini Ganapathy, Saundravalli A/P Seetharam 143-155

vi

Business Communication Needs of Japanese Companies in Malaysia

Yeoh Lee Su, Tengku Sepora Tengku Mahadi, Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh 156-162 Dynamic Assessment of Incidental Vocabularies: A Case of Iranian ESP Learners

Sepideh Hanifi, Mahdi Nasiri, Hesamuddin Aliasin 163-170 Exploring the Writing Process of Indonesian EFL Students: The Effectiveness of Think-Aloud Protocol

Imelda Hermilinda Abas, Noor Hashima Abd Aziz 171-178 Age as an Affective Factor in Influencing Public Speaking Anxiety of English Language Learners at Omar Al-Mukhtar University

Ahmed Gaibani, Fadil Elmenfi 179-182 Genitive Case-marked Subject in Modern Mongolian

Dalai Zayabaatar, Vanchinsuren Dashdavaa, Dagvasumberel Enkhjargal, Tsulbaatar Onon

183-191

The Effect of Virtual Language Learning Method on Writing Ability of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

Hooshang Khoshsima, Fatemeh Sayadi 192-202 The Comorbidity between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children and Arabic Speech Sound Disorder

Ruaa Osama Hariri 203-218 Exploring Expansion and Reduction Strategies in Two English Translations of Masnavi

Atefeh Abbasi, Mansour Koosha 219-225 Comparison of English Language Rhythm and Kalhori Kurdish Language Rhythm

Nafiseh Taghva, Vahideh Abolhasani Zadeh 226-230 An Evaluation of the Second Intermediate Saudi English Language Textbook from the Teachers' Point of View

Reem BinObaid 231-248 Insight into the Attitudes of Speakers of Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic towards their Dialect

Sameeha D. Alahmadi 249-256 Thematic Structure in Barack Obama’s Press Conference: A Systemic Functional Grammar Study

Heri Kuswoyo 257-267

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 Vol. 7 No. 2; April 2016

Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Travel Writing in Children and Adolescent’s Literature in Iran

Maryam Jalali (Corresponding author)

Department of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran E-mail: [email protected]

Narges Bagheri

Department of Persian Language and Literature, Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjan, Iran E-mail: [email protected]

Masoomeh Mahmoodi

School of Allied medical sciences, Mazandaran University of Medical sciences, Sari, Iran E-mail: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.1 Received: 20/10/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.1 Accepted: 23/12/2015 Abstract Today children's literature and its place have attracted in the collection of literature, according to many writers the world. Making fun of the text by writer is best way to communicate with the Children and Adolescents. Travel writing is considered as an interdisciplinary literature combined by literature, history, geography and sociology. It is written both in verse and prose. Writing Travel writing is well- established in adults’ literature. Although several Travels writing have been written in adults’ literature domain, it is not well-established in children and adolescents literature, so the experts and the writers of children and adolescents books should pay more attention to this issue. Children’s Travels writing don’t differ from the adults’ one in first definition. However, there are some differences from structure and theme towards their special addressees with the adults’ ones. Keywords: children, literature, Travel writing, Iran 1. Introduction Communication plays a leading role in today’s world. High technology is ubiquitous such as internet, satellite and all types of mass media, traveling and travel writing serves as an interesting and effective means of communication in human communities and different customs. Travel writing in Iran has been taken into consideration since Safavid era and in addition to the books written by the kings like Naser al-Din Shah Qajar and Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar, his son, there are travelogues written by some of their courtier and political figures including the travelogue of Nezam al-Saltaneh (chief adjutant of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar) which is about his travel to Austria, France and Britain between 1875 and 1876, the travelogue of Amin al-Dawla Mirza Ali Khan (1844-1904), the chancellor of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar which is about his travel to Mecca, and Makhaza al-Vaghaye the travelogue of Farrokh Khan Amin al-Dawla (1814-1877), Iran's ambassador in Europe, and etc. Also, from European tourists who have traveled to Iran since the 17th century and reflected social and political conditions of Iran, traditions of Iranian people and the court state in Safavid and Qajar eras in their literature, there have been remained many travelogues most of which translated into Persian. Some of the European tourists tried to illustrate cities, buildings and figures during their visits; some of them even employed an illustrator when heading to the Orient to have them draw the pictures that they want. In fact, travelogues are well-designed screens of different scenes of social life of countries which are included in their contents. However, reflecting the conditions and the pictures of the societies in travelogues are depending on the author's taste, rather than a specific formula. Therefore, these contents are very different in the pictures in which Iranian society has been reflected by the European tourists (Panahi, 2009: 47) From long ago, our ancestors have been enthusiastic in travel Writing. They wrote whatever they had heard and seen in form of travel writing of their travels. The Travel writing of Naser Khosrow is known as the most famous one written in 5A.D. Travel writing in Iran is common for the adults, but for the children it has been popular since 1905, though it is in fact one of the few genres in the children' literature. It seems that little attention has been paid to this genre in the Iranian

Flourishing Creativity & Literacy

ALLS 7(2):1-6, 2016 2 children's literature, but regarding the proper ideas which is being considered for this literary genre, it is worth to develop it. “Literature is the mirror which is reflects the mind, inner feelings and the known and unknown needs of humans. Thus children as members of society have right to choose their own literature. Books for children to learn and to read as their own choice are available in a various categories such as history, science, biography, and fiction with different beginning reader levels”.( Jalali,2015: 1) Travels writing are providing for children lots of historical, cultural, social and geographical information. These types of texts are valuable from both literary and historical points of views for children and adolescents. “Some travels writing present the very true history of a nation disgracing official history writers of a country” (Karachi,2002: 23). Travel writing is defined as explaining whatever seen, heard, remembered and happened during a journey for a passenger and it contains lots of information. (Safi,2003: 43). While travel writing for children, some important elements should be considered like children’s mental specifications, not enough experience, low knowledge and limited vocabulary range. Travel writing for children in Iran is a kind of reporting in which the author describes his observations from the situations of cities or countries and some information about historical buildings, mosques, libraries, bazaars, famous figures, national or religious traditions of the people, geographical location, population, weather, local languages and regions that he has visited. The current research analyzes some travels writing for children from 19502 to the end of 2010. 2. Types of Children and adolescents’ Literature There are different between literature for children and adolescents, for example it is in the genres, models and styles. In teen’s literature are seen kinds of genres as like: Epic, lyrical, spiritual, moral, and in the form of it, there are short short stories, short stories and novels and etc. in models. Moreover in style of writing there are the real story, fiction and fantasy. In fact, the boundaries are determined between children and adolescent’s literature by their needs for having special text. All of them are with social content at a higher level and seeing teen needs as exemplary that we cannot find them completely in children’s literature for young children and teen is so important because he or she is audience. At present, I have to say, children travelogues are divided into two categories based on the form: Written and unwritten. In the written from, travelogue is recorded by writing, but the unwritten form of travelogue which is created by children and youths in the modern era consists of different forms such as various pictures and photos from the visited sights and places, videos or audio files recorded during the travel and also travel illustrations. This form of travelogue can also be presented as computer games. There are a few views about travel writing. Some critics consider travel writing as nonfiction and they divided nonfiction to:“1-scientific books 2-books related to the society and environment (social science) 3- books about inventions and explorations 4-books about activities and entertainments 5- books on art 6-biograpgy and autobiography”(Hejazi,2004:49). Soraya Ghezelayagh writes about documents in children and adolescents that” the domain of documents for children and adolescents embraces all fields of science, theology, arts and human skills and they are classified as: scientific books (pure and applied); social science books( history, Travel writing , customs, social issues and, etc.); humanity( religion and philosophy, opinions, evolution direction and, etc); biography(artists, athletes, intellectuals, scientists, poets, writers, politicians); game and entertainments( sport, thought games, buildings and, etc) and books about .”(Ghezelayagh, 2006: 232). Children and adolescents’ Literature is generally divided into three categories: Prose; Poem; Dramatic text. In the continue prose and poem is divided to two branches: fiction and nonfiction (Jalali, 2015:78). However, I'm going to pay the travel writing as the genre that it is writing for both the audience (children and teen) in Iran. So I need a more general classification. The basis of my division, it is the “literature” in specific usage in the texts. The travel writing can be prose or verse text in form of the fiction and nonfiction. Mohammad Bagher Hoshiar, Jabbar Baghchehban, Ebrahim BaniAhmad and Abbas Yamini Sharif are the pioneers creating noon-story literature. They paid attention to make children aware through informative texts and they were also concerned about lack of books for children. Furthermore, they used story or semi-story structure to make informative texts more absorbing. On ship on Caspian Lake is categorized in this type published in Danesh amuz magazine in 1953 in which Mohammad Bagher Hoshiar as used a conversation pattern between a father and his son trying to answer some of the children’s questions about natural phenomena. Nazi’s travel to sky is a semi-story published in Naghmeye Kudak magazine in 1959. It was written for pre-school and primary students. It provides the readers with information about moon and stars. After 1960s late Nader Ebrahim published the Safarhaye duro deraze hami VA kami dar vatan [the long journey of Hami and Kami across the country] inside the Country in 1977. It psychologically illustrates the relationship between elderlies and children. Travel writing has been publishing in a better quality and quantity since 2000. Mohammad Kazem Mazinai has written the lost sea and panj ruz dar nimruz[ Five days in mid- day]in form of travel writing in 1990. He wrote these books in his travel to Sistan and Baluchistan province and described the specifications of this land and the native people. Part of the itinerary is for children and some part is for adolescents.

ALLS 7(2):1-6, 2016 3 3. Different Travelogues written for Iranian children Travelogues written for Iranian children are either created by adults. In Iranian adult travelogues, there is another genre known as allegorical travelogue. This kind of travelogue has not been applied in Iranian children's literature. Moreover there are certain travelogues in Iran being written by children and they are mostly being published as reader's essays in youth and children's publications. These travelogues have been rarely published as books. In this article I will not mention them. Real Travelogue: These travelogues are describing travels that happened in real and the author writes the descriptions of what he saw, what he heard and what occurred to him during his travel. Abbas Yamini Sharif was the one who published the first Travel writing book in 1966 called Donyagardie jamshido Mahshid [Jamshid and Mahshid traveling all around the world]. The writer tries to make children familiar with the life and culture of people from various countries in form of story by two characters called Jamshid and Mahshid. The narrator use to describe the climatic and geographical situation of every new country. Then, he explains the specifications of face, clothing, home, transportation, gastronomy, farming, handicrafts and rituals of every land. Next, he retells stories quoted by an elderly guesting Tiran and children. The book language is simple and matched with the addressee’s knowledge and capability”. (Mohammadi & Gaini, 2001: 860). Many books have been released to make children familiar with different cities and countries as well as entertaining, historical and religious places such as Zire navdane tala[under the golden downpipe]written by Najaf Ali Mohajer describing the writer’s traveling to Karbala in his childhood. Ramak Nik Talab(2005), Bita shajareh (2008) and Fariba Bashiri(2007) have also written the series of the Safarhaye Dara VA Sarah dar Iran [Travels of Sarah and Dara across Iran] in several volumes. Sarah and Dara are children’s two favorite characters traveling all across Iran and making children familiar with the customs, traditions and people of cities of Iran. One of the most favorite travels writing written for children and has been the text book of the third grade of primary school is The story of Mr.Hashemy’s Family’’. It is in schools books for 20 years and written by Gholam Ali Haddad Adel. They travel for a job mission. Mr.Hashemy’s family started their travel from Kazerun. They pass through several cities to reach Neyshabur. Children get familiar with the religious, cultural, historical and geographical specifications of different cities of Iran. Fictional Travelogue: In these kinds of travelogues, the author does not travel in real but describes his views and thoughts in a form of travelogue. These travelogues are categorized as follows: Philosophical Travelogues; Ethical-Religious Travelogues, Social Travelogues, and Science-Fiction Travelogues. Science-fiction travelogues in Iran are mostly written for youths. The definition of science-fiction in the Oxford English Dictionary is as follows: "Fiction based on imagined future scientific discoveries, major environmental or social changes, etc., freq. involving space or time travel or life on other planets" (See: Adams, 2004:170). Iranian travelogues written for the youths in science-fiction genre are as follows: Bazgasht be Zamin pas az Zohour [Return to the Earth after the Manifestation](Rahimi Bandar Abadi ،2002); Raz-e Ghal'eye Aflak [The Secret of the Aflak Castle] (Navaei Lavasani, 2009); Sari'tar az Nour [Faster than the Light] (Hoseinein ،2010); Mosafer-e Sayareye Urapus[The Urapus Planet's Passenger ] (Najafi ،2001); Majmou'e Dastan'haye Elmi Takhayoli [Science-Fiction Stories](Azimi ،2003); Mantaghe'ye Sefr-e Fazaei [Zero Space Region] (Navaei Lavasani, 2009). For example, in Raz-e Ghal'eye Aflak [The Secret of Planetarium Castle] (Navaei Lavasani, 2009), a girl named Niloufar finds an strange metal object and then goes to explore the Falak-ol-Aflak Castle with his brother and his uncle Mahmoud. But they suddenly pass out and then wake up and find themselves in another planet. There, together with Piro (their alien friend) they help the Zaxis (alien creatures) to become free from the Airos' domination. Protagonists of the story unconsciously go to another planet. One of the story characters is usually introduced as hero and the story events are about him. This hero is sometimes revolved in some stories, while he is fixed and stable in some others. Since children can’t travel alone and they should travel by family, children travel with their family and usually with their sister or brother. They may travel for job mission or entertainment. Among the works studied so far, the heroes of eight works are the sisters and brothers travelling with family or alone. Main characters are not usually developing characters and they remain unchanged. However, they can be affected by the culture, customs of the nations they visit and learn new training, historical and social. Travels writing contain valuable information on various cultural, historical, social and natural subjects. Each can be applied in children Travels writing. Time and place are considered as two important factors in travel report. Time sequence is very essential in Travels writing taking longer time. In this type, travel starts from a specific time or point and finishes in another time or place. The reader goes step by step with the reporter or writer. The author of Raz-e Ghal'eye Aflak has applied the objective manifestations of traveling to the other planets and being familiar with exotic aliens to give it a science fiction form. Being a travelogue, this story helped that the other story elements to be highlighted. The distinguishing aspect of science fiction elements among other story elements is their function in such stories; for example, in science fiction, the scene-setting element describes unbelievable scenes. Their characterizations make them special due to the presence of aliens and non-human creatures. The plot of science fictions is made of successive complications, suspense and possible verisimilitude versus science. In this kind of stories, the fact there are science or travelogue themes helps it a lot in being fictional. Because of unknown situations in these stories, the author needs a point of view through which he can dominate all aspects of the story and describe ambiguous situations.

ALLS 7(2):1-6, 2016 4 4. Objectives of travel writing for Children and adolescents Realistic travelogues for youths and children in Iran have been mostly written about religious places. Travelogues that are served to entertain this age group and to improve their mental experiences are mostly fictional. Recently, some rewrites of the ancient travelogues such as Travelogue of Naser Khosrow have been done for youths and children in Iran. Safarnameye Naser Khosrow [Travelogue of Naser Khosrow] rewritten by Naghmeh Alibeikzadeh, Safarnameye Naser Khosrow be Zabane Emrouzi [Travelogue of Naser Khosrow in Modern Language] (2002) rewritten by Hosein Amouzgar and Mosafere Gheble [The Passenger of Qibla] (2011) rewritten by Alireza Kamari are some instances of these travelogues: • Introducing children to the concept of travel; • Defining the travel as a healthy amusing action; • Introducing children to the other geographical locations and cultures; • Strengthen children's minds in observing and recording the details; • Fostering children's imagination; • Allowing children enjoy by fantasying impossible travel experiences; • Contributing to the development of children's communication skills. I have collected the most itineraries and themes brought it. These themes confirm the Objectives of travel writing for children that I mentioned them. The following tables show the story's themes:

Theme and Genre Children's Stories Cultural Fiction Safar be Shahre Soleiman (Travel to the

Solomon's City)

Educational Fiction Safar-e Saltanati be Behesht [Royal Travel to Heaven]

Educational Fiction Safar-e Barf [Tavel of Snow] Realistic Individual Experience Aghaz-e Safar [The beginning of Travel] Cultural Realism Shahr'e Badkonak'ha [The City of Balloons] Individual Experience Az Ghatar ta Kashti [From Train to the Ship] Individual Experience Safar-e Daryaei [Traveling by Sea] Educational Fiction Safar'haye Atal O Matal [Travels of Atal &

Matal] Individual Experience Se Hamsafar [Three Traveling Companions] Cultural Realism Hamsafar Bash va Bebin [Travel with Me and

See] Educational Fiction Safar-e Cheshmeh'ha [Travel of Rivers] Cultural Realism Safarname'ye Kotouleh [Kotouleh

Travelogue] Cultural Realism Panj Rouz dar Nimrouz [Five Days in Half a

Day] Cultural Realism Darya'ye Gomshode [The Missing Sea] Religious Realism Ka'beh dar Ghalb-e Kouchakam [Kaaba in my

Little Heart] Religious Realism Zir-e Navdan-e Tala [Under the Golden

Rainwater Pipe]

Theme and Genre Adolescents Stories Religious Science Fiction Bazgasht be Zamin pas az Zohour [Return to

the Earth after the Manifestation] Entertainment, Science Fiction Houshmandan-e Sayareye Urak [Geniuses of

the Urak Planet] Political Science Fiction Bazmandegane Sayareye Mairox [Survivors of

Mirox Planet] Entertainment, Science Fiction Mosafer-e Sayareye Urapus [The Passenger

ALLS 7(2):1-6, 2016 5 of Urapus Planet]

Cultural Fiction Raz-e Ghal'eye Aflak [The Secret of the Aflak Castle].

Ethical Science Fiction Sari'tar az Nour [Faster than the Light] Social Science Fiction Mantaghe'ye Sefr-e Fazaei [Zero Space

Region] Religious Realism Safar be Sarzamin Eshgh [Travel to the Love

Land] Historical Realism Gozideye Safarnameye Naser Khosrow be

Zabane Emrouz [A Selection of Travelogue of Naser Khosrow in Modern Language]

Historical Realism Mosafere Gheble [The Passenger of Qibla] Safarnameye Naser Khosrow Ghobadiani [Travoluge of Naser Khosrow Ghobadiani]

Religious Realism Kamtar az Khasi dar Miqat [Less than a Twig in Miqat]

5. Conclusion Many travel writing are written for children and adolescents in Iran. This suggests that such literature has audiences. Since children are mentally getting grown at the last years of primary school, they become more interested in literature. Thus, they need to be acquainted with the cultures and customs of different countries and cities through books related to social science and also Travels writing. There is different from in level of children’s understanding and their mental characteristics for relating to travel writing. The quality of writing Travels writing for children has been improving since 2000. And many travels writing have been released. In case writers scrutinize the children literature more precisely and professionally, such works will be greatly developed from both quality and quantity viewpoints. References Amouzadeh Khalili, F. (1989). Safar be Shahre Soleiman (Travel to the Solomon's City). Tehran: Amir Kabir Publications. Amouzgar, H. (2012). Safarnameye Naser Khosrow be Zabane Emrouz [Travelogue of Naser Khosrow in Modern Language] Tehran: Ganjineye Adabiate Kohan Publications. Arabzadeh, H. (2004). Hamsafar Bash va Bebin [Travel with Me and See]. Tehran: Ghalam Publications. Azimi, Z. (2003) Majmou'e Dastan'haye Elmi Takhayoli [Science-Fiction Stories] Babolsar: Rojin Publications. Bashiri, F. (2007). Safarhaye Dara VA Sarah dar Iran[Travels of Dara and Sarah across Iran-Orumieh], Tehran: Kanune parvareshe fekrie kudakan VA nojavanan. Chatrnour, H. (1983). Aghaz-e Safar [The beginning of Travel]. Tehran: Gheseye Jahan Nama Publications. -------------(1983). Az Ghatar ta Kashti [From Train to the Ship]. Tehran: Gheseye Jahan Nama Publications. -------------(1983). Shahr'e Badkonak'ha [The City of Balloons] Tehran: Javaneh Publications. Ebrahim, N. (1977). Safarhaye duro deraze hami VA kami dar vatan [the long journey of Hami and Kami across the country], Tehran: Sorush publication. Esmaeili, F. (1988). Safar-e Daryaei [Traveling by Sea]. Tehran: Chakavak Publications. Ghayour Kazemi, F. (2009). X va Y Bazmandegane Sayareye Mairox [X & Y, the Survivors of Mirox Planet]. Mashhad: Sokhan Gostar Publications. Ghezelayagh, Soraya (2006).Adabiate kudak VA nojavan VA tarvije khandane[children and adolescents’ literature and cultivating reading culture], Tehran: Samt. Grogan, H. (2008). Kamtar az Khasi dar Miqat [Less than a Twig in Miqat], a Travelogue of Hajj-e-Tamattu 2008. Tehran: Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. Haddad Adel, G. (2009). Social science book of the third grade of primary school, Tehran; Amuzesh VA parvareshi. Hasanbeigi, E. (2001). Ka'beh dar Ghalb-e Kouchakam [Kaaba in my Little Heart]. Tehran: Sepid Publications. Hejazi, B. (2004).Children and adolescents characteristics and aspects’ literature [vizhegiha va janbeha adabiyate kudak]Tehran: Roshangaran VA Motaleate zanan. Hemati, H. (1990). Safar-e Saltanati be Behesht [Royal Travel to Heaven]. Tehran: Koushiran Kou Publications. Hoseinein, M. (2010). Sari'tar az Nour [Faster than the Light] Tehran: Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults

ALLS 7(2):1-6, 2016 6 Jalali, M. (2015).” Female Writers and the Millennial Myths of Shāhnāmeh in Iranian Children’s Literature 1990-2000”, Education Journal. Special Issue:Gender, Peace and Education. Vol. 4, No. 1-1, pp. 1-5. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.s.2015040101.11. Kalhor, F. (1996). Houshmandan-e Sayareye Urak [Geniuses of the Urak Planet]. Tehran: Ghadyani Publications Kamari, A. (2011). Mosafere Gheble [The Passenger of Qibla] Tehran: Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. Karachi, R. (2002).Didarhaye dur- adabiate safarnameye[far visits], Tehran: Chapar. Katouli, H. (1991). Safar-e Cheshmeh'ha [Travel of Rivers]. Tehran: Astane Ghods Publications. Khansari, A. (1990). Se Hamsafar [Three Traveling Companions]. Tehran: Hamkelsai Publications. Najafi, A. (2001). Mosafer-e Sayareye Urapus [The Passenger of Urapus Planet]. Tehran: Zekr Publications. Navaei Lavasani, H. (2009) Raz-e Ghal'eye Aflak [The Secret of the Aflak Castle]. Tehran: Soore Mehr Publications ------------- (2009). Mantaghe'ye Sefr-e Fazaei [Zero Space Region] Tehran: Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults Nik Talab, R. (2005). Safarhaye Dara VA Sarah dar Iran[Travels of Sarah and Dara across Iran Kerman]. Tehran: Kanune farvareshe fekrie kudakan VA nojavanan, Vol 2. Mazbanani, M. (1997). Panj Rouz dar Nimrouz [Five Days in Half a Day]. Tehran: Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. -------------(1992).Darya'ye Gomshode [The Missing Sea]. Tehran: Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. Mazinani, M. (1990).panj ruz dar nimruz[ five days in mid- day], Tehran: Kanune parvareshe fekrie kudakan VA nojavanan. Mohajer, N.A.(2007). Zir-e navdane tala[under the golden downpipe]. Tehran: Kanune farvareshe fekrie kudakan VA nojavanan. Mohammadi, M., Hadi Vaghabeni, Z. (2001). Tarikhe adabiate kudak Iran[the history of children literature of Iran], Tehran, Chista, v 6. Panahi, A. (2009) "Manifestations of the culture of the Iranian people to travel", Monthly history and geography, No. 133, June, S50-45. Pour Esmaeili, H. (1990). Safar'haye Atal O Matal [Travels of Atal & Matal]. Tehran: Sherkate Khas Publications. Rahimi Bandar Abadi, E. (2002) Bazgasht be Zamin pas az Zohour [Return to the Earth after the Manifestation] Ghom: As'har Publications Roberts, A. (2000), Science Fiction, London: Routledge. Safi, Gh.. (2003).Aeen negaresh VA virayesh[the principles of writing and editing], Tehran: Arasbaran. Seyed Arab, Z. (1991). Safar-e Barf [Tavel of Snow]. Tehran: Soroush Publications. Shajareh, B. (2008). Safarhaye Dara VA Sarah dar Iran[Travels of Dara and Sarah across Iran-Isfahan], Tehran: Kanune parvareshe fekrie kudakan VA nojavanan, Vol6. ------------- (2008). Safarhaye Dara VA Sarah dar Iran-Travels of Dara and Sarah across Iran[Ghom and Kashan], Tehran: Kanune parvareshe fekrie kudakan VA nojavanan, Vol7. Zemanati Yar, M. (2003). Safar be Sarzamin Eshgh [Travel to the Love Land]. Tehran: Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. Yamini Sh. (1956). Donyagardie jamshido Mahshid [Jamshid and Mahshid traveling all around the world]. Tehran: Sepehr ,Amir Kabir publisher.



Investigating Learning Strategies for Vocabulary Development:

A Comparative Study of Two Universities of Quetta, Pakistan

Irum Fatima (Corresponding author) Department of English, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University, Barori Road, Quetta, Pakistan

E-mail: [email protected]

Zahid Hussain Pathan English Language Center, University of Balochistan, Sariyab Road, Quetta, Pakistan


Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.7 Received: 27/10/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.7 Accepted: 24/12/2015 Abstract

The primary purpose of this research is to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies employed by the undergraduate students of Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University (SBKWU) and University of Balochistan (UOB), Quetta, Pakistan. A quantitative design was employed in this study to answer the two research questions of the present study. The quantitative data was obtained from the responses of 180 undergraduates in a questionnaire adapted from the study by Noor and Amir (2009) on vocabulary learning strategies proposed by Gu and Johnson (1996). The questionnaire comprised of 45 close-ended items on four broad vocabulary learning strategies, metacognitive regulation strategy, cognitive strategy, memory strategy, and activation strategy. Descriptive statistics was run in SPSS to obtain the results. The independent-samples t-test was run to test for statistically significant differences if any in the use of vocabulary learning strategies across the undergraduates of two universities. However, cognitive regulation strategy, and activation strategy emerged as the most influential source of learning new English words. The findings also revealed that there were no statistically significant differences found in practicing vocabulary learning strategies between undergraduates of SBKWU and UOB. The findings of the study have implications on enhancing teaching and learning by acquainting students with vocabulary learning strategies that can enhance their vocabulary in English language and can result to boost up their proficiency in this language.

Keywords: Vocabulary development, learning strategies, gender difference

1. Introduction

Nowadays, English language has become the most dominant language among all the languages of the world and is being learnt, read and spoken widely throughout the world (Jenkin, 2006; Parkir, 2000; Kachru & Nelson, 1996). To learn a foreign or second language effectively, lexical knowledge plays a vital role. Vocabulary acquisition makes second language learners (L2) adept in accurate meaning, spelling and derivations (Fan, 2003). Wilkins (1972) asserted that “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” (p. 111). McCarthy and Carter (2001) stated that the biggest problem for most of the learners is vocabulary and it is considered as the major part of the meaning of any language.

Vocabulary acquisition can enable L2 learners to be proficient in the target language (Zareva et al, 2005). A number of researchers have agreed to acquaint students to learn vocabulary learning strategies in order to have command over all the skills of the target language (Read, 2000; Schmitt, 2000; Cunningworth, 1995). In the similar vein, Sokmen (1997. p, 14) states that “vocabulary learning strategies are “a powerful approach”, which can be based on sensitization to the systems of vocabulary learning, encouragement of sound dictionary skills and reflection of effective learning techniques.”

To learn a foreign or a second language effectively, it is a vocabulary acquisition that manipulates all the four skills of a language; speaking, writing, listening and reading that pave a way for an effective communication. Due to the importance of vocabulary, vocabulary acquisition is receiving its attention in research and second language pedagogy. The issues pertinent to the vocabulary learning strategies employed by students and how vocabulary can be taught need to be seriously addressed in order to enable L2 learners to command over the target language (Nassaji, 2003; Catalan, 2003; Hatch &Brown, 1995).

Despite the key role of vocabulary in the academic achievement of L2 learner, vocabulary acquisition is given a little attention in the curriculum designed in the Asian universities (Fan, 2003). Moreover, teaching of vocabulary learning


ALLS 7(2):7-12, 2016 8 strategies is also given least attention in EFL classrooms (Catalan, 2003). Students are only acquainted with word meaning when they come across difficult words and phrases. As vocabulary knowledge, which is a key to learn the target language effectively, is dependent on vocabulary learning strategies, ineffective learning strategies create an effective vocabulary knowledge that causes students’ failure in a foreign or second language acquisition (Fan, 2003).

2. Importance of the research

Words form the foundation upon which a language is built. Learning lexical items therefore leads to the knowledge of a specific language. Indeed, language students face challenges with using vocabulary despite progressing from initial stage of learning a foreign language to an advanced stage (Lee, 2011; Smith et al., 2013). Nation (2001) states that learning vocabulary has significant importance in achieving proficiency in the target language and there is a dire need to explore the research pertinent to VLS in different social contexts. Once the second/foreign language learners are imparted with the effective language learning strategies, learners can learn the target languages with an acute ease. In the same vein, Nunan (1999) asserted that successful learners are mostly acquainted with variety of language learning strategies that pave a way for them to grasp the structure of the target language effectively whereas less effective learners employ scanty of strategies that results ineffective language learning. It is, therefore, very important to investigate vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) related matters in different social contexts so as to gain a better understanding of this issue.

The study conducted by Khatib et al., (2011) aimed at examining preferred vocabulary learning strategies employed by upper-intermediate EFL learners in Iran. Vocabulary Learning Strategies Inventory questionnaire was administered among 480 students. The data was analysed in SPSS using multiple regression analysis tests. The findings revealed that self-motivation for memorising words of the target language, word organization, and authentic language use emerged as the most influential vocabulary learning strategies practiced by the EFL learners.

Gu and Johnson (1996) carried out the study in which 850 second year Chinese students were administered a VLS questionnaire, proficiency tests and vocabulary size tests. The questionnaire was based on four broad strategies: Metacognitive regulation includes (self-initiation strategies, selective attention strategy); Cognitive strategy that includes guessing strategies, dictionary Strategies, note-taking strategies; Memory strategies; and Activation strategies. The findings revealed that self-initiation and selective attention strategies emerged as the most influential predictors for EFL learners.

In Japan, Schmitt (1997) carried out research among 600 students belonging to low, medium and high proficiency level. This quantitative research study administered a questionnaire comprising of 40 strategies. The findings showed that the use of bilingual dictionary (95%) emanated as the most frequent vocabulary learning strategy employed by the Japanese students followed by the strategy asking teachers for the synonyms of the words (86%) as the second most practiced VLS. Whereas, skipping difficult words (16%) were the least practiced VLS among these students.

Keeping in view the importance of the vocabulary in second/foreign language learning, this study investigates which of the four vocabulary learning strategies are preferably employed by the undergraduate students of University of Balochistan, Quetta (UOB) and SBK Women’s University, Quetta (SBKWU) proposed by Gu and Johnson (1996). The strategies are: 1). Metacognitive strategy includes (self-initiation strategies, selective attention strategy), 2). Cognitive strategy includes (guessing strategies, dictionary strategies, and note-taking strategies, 3) Memory strategy, 4) Activation strategy.

3. Research Objectives

• To identify vocabulary learning strategies employed by undergraduates of Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University (SBKWU) and University of Balochistan (UOB), Pakistan.

• To determine whether there is any statistical significant difference in employing vocabulary learning strategies between undergraduates of SBKWU and UOB, Pakistan.

4. Research Questions

• What vocabulary learning strategies are employed by undergraduates of Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University (SBKWU) and University of Balochistan (UOB), Pakistan?

• Is there any statistical significant difference in employing vocabulary learning strategies between undergraduates of SBKWU and UOB, Pakistan?

5. Research Design

This study employed quantitative research design. Gu and Johnson (1996) proposed four vocabulary learning strategies which is used as a theoretical framework and a guide for this study. All these four strategies are summarized in the following Table1:

ALLS 7(2):7-12, 2016 9 Table 1. Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) Taxonomy Proposed by Gu and Johnson (1996)

This study included 180 (80 from UOB and 100 from SBK Women’s university) undergraduate students who were randomly selected from different departments of the university that offer undergraduate programs. At University of Balochistan (UOB) and Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University (SBKWU), all the undergraduate students are offered Functional English Language (FEL) as a compulsory subject. This subject covers all the four skills of English language: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Since, students are required to pass this course and they put their endless efforts to qualify this exam. Therefore, they were in better position to give the accurate data that would likely to reflect upon the vocabulary learning strategies they employ while learning new English words. The students were aged between 18 to 25. A questionnaire designed by Noor and Amir (2009) on vocabulary learning strategies proposed by Gu and Johnson (1996) was administered in this study. The adapted version of the questionnaire for this study consisted of 45 items based on five-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree (5) to Strongly Disagree (1) that investigated VLS on four constructs as cited in the Table 1 above. 5.1 Pilot Study A pilot study was carried out with 30 undergraduates (15 from UOB and 15 from SBKWU) studying in the second semester at the University of Balochistan, and Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University Quetta, Pakistan. To check the validity of the questionnaire, focus group discussion was done and items were revised accordingly. To check the reliability of the questionnaire, Item Reliability Analysis was run for all the 45 items in the questionnaire and the value for the “Cronbach’s alpha reliability test” was 0.851. 5.2 Data Collection Procedure During data collection, the undergraduates were given instructions in both Urdu and English language to help them answer the questionnaire with an ease. Moreover, the respondents were given 30 to 45 minutes to respond to the questionnaire. 5.3 Data Analysis In order to answer the first research question of the study, descriptive statistics was performed in the SPSS (version, 21) to determine the preferred vocabulary learning strategies employed by the undergraduates of two universities of Pakistan. To answer the second research question of the study, inferential statistics was performed in which Independent-Samples t-test was run in SPSS to determine whether there were any statistically significant differences in practicing vocabulary learning strategies between undergraduates of two universities of Pakistan. Pallant (2013) asserts that independent-Samples t-test measures the difference between two groups on various constructs. 6. Findings And Discussion 6.1 Findings To answer the first research question of the study, descriptive statistics against each construct in the questionnaire is summarised in the following Table 2: Table 2. Descriptive Statistics for SBKWU and UOB Students on Practice of VLS

VLS Students Mean SD Metacognitive Strategy SBKWU 1.98 1.17 UOB

1.93 1.09

Cognitive Strategy SBKWU 3.21 1.30 UOB

2.57 1.43

Memory Strategy SBKWU 2.23 1.23 UOB

2.34 1.28

Activation Strategy SBKWU 2.39 1.24 UOB 3.33 1.40

ALLS 7(2):7-12, 2016 10 Table 2, above shows that out of the four constructs clustered on vocabulary learning strategies, the mean scores of SBKWU students were greater than those of UOB students on use of cognitive strategy in learning new English words. On the contrary, UOB students’ mean scores were greater than SBKWU students on the use of activation strategy. The findings imply that the students of SBK Women’s University profusely used cognitive strategy that includes note taking strategy, dictionary strategy for looking up the meaning of new word, and guessing strategy for learning new words by employing the knowledge of word structure i.e. prefix, and suffix and parts of the speech of the words. Whereas, the students of university of Balochistan (UOB) largely employ activation strategy that includes use of new words to make their passive vocabulary active by using it in both reading and writing. However, the students of the both universities also practice both metacognitive strategy and memory strategy to learn new English words. To answer the second research question of the study, inferential statistics was performed in which Independent-Samples T-test was run in SPSS to determine whether there were any statistical significant differences in practicing vocabulary learning strategies between undergraduates of two universities of Pakistan. Table 3. Indpendent-Samples t-test Results for the Undergrduates of SBKWU and UOB

VLS SBKWU UOB Mean

SD Mean SD t df p

Metacognitive Strategy 2.30

1.173 2.14 1.14 .644 65 .522

Cognitive Strategy 2.20

1.030 2.07 1.08 .634 65 .528

Memory Strategy 1.92

.857 1.89 .916 .612 65 .901

Activation Strategy 2.5897 1.33215 2.58

1.60 .731 65 .467

Difference is significant at p<.05 In the Table 3 above, the findings reveal that there was no statistically significant difference at the p<.05 level in employing VLS by the undergraduates of SBKWU and UOB. According to Pallant (2013) the difference between groups can be determined at the point when the significance value of t-test is less than p<.050. 6.2 Discussions Based on the findings in section 6.1 above, cognitive strategies emerged as the leading strategies for undergraduates of SBK Women’s University. It was reported that the undergraduates of SBKWU employ guessing strategy to learn the meaning of new words. These participants also reported that they use the knowledge of the topic and parts of the speech of the words to guess the appropriate meaning of the words. These findings are in line with the findings of the study by Dóczi, (2011); Gu and Johnson (1996), and Takač (2008) where they found cognitive strategies as the one of the most practiced strategies among the English language learners to learn new English words. The use of dictionary strategies also emerged as the potential strategy to learn new English words among the undergraduates of SBK Women’s University. The research participants reported that they use dictionary strategies profusely to look up into the appropriate usage of English words. Additionally, they also use bilingual dictionary to know the meaning of the English words into Urdu language. Schmitt (2000) also stated that use of the bilingual dictionary facilitates L2 learners to command over the vocabulary of the target language. In the Similar Vein, Elman (2004) "the knowledge of the word is usually thought to reside in the mental lexicon, a kind of dictionary that contains information regarding a word's knowledge". Majority of the research participants from SBK Women’s University also reported that they also abundantly use note taking strategies to learn new English words. They reported that they maintain the list of the words having both synonyms and antonyms to gain the deep knowledge of the words. However, majority of the students of the University Balochistan (UOB) preferred using activation strategy to enhance their vocabulary in the target language. They further reported that noting the example of the words used in the particular context enables them to remember and keep their vocabulary active by using them in speaking and writing skills in an academic setting. This is the observable technique that students use to enhance their vocabulary in learning vocabulary in the target language. This empirical evidence reveals that the students of the both the universities are well aware about the crucial importance of the vocabulary in learning the target language. This importance of VLS in English language might have emerged among these students owing to the fact that it is the official language of Pakistan and it is the key to get employed on the good posts in the Pakistani context. The result of the independent-samples t-test revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in the use of VLS between the undergraduates of two universities. This finding was contrary to the findings of the studies by Jiménez (2003) and Grace (2000) in which they concluded that female learners used more VLS than male learners. However, this finding is similar to the findings of the study by Arjomand and Sharififar (2011). This finding might have emanated because both the universities are situated in the same city Quetta, having similar learning and cultural environment. The students of the both universities equally employed VLS strategies as proposed by Gu and Johnson (1996).

ALLS 7(2):7-12, 2016 11 7. Conclusion Over the past few decades, many researches have pointed out the importance of vocabulary learning strategies as key to enhance a foreign or second language acquisition (Nemati, 2013; Yang, 2007). The findings suggest that activation strategy, memorization strategy; metacognition regulation strategy and cognitive strategy like guessing word meaning by the context and parts of the speech of the words; note taking strategies and dictionary strategies emerged as the most practiced vocabulary learning strategies by the undergraduates of both SBK Women’s University and University of Balochistan. These finding support the findings of studies by Fan (2003); Gu, (2003); Gu and Johnson, (1996); Nassaji, (2003); Khaldieh, (2000). The findings depict that vocabulary learning strategies as cited by undergraduates of SBKWU and UOB were similar in application of independent-samples t-test. However, the difference was only in mean scores where the order of use of vocabulary learning strategies was different. 7.1 Limitations of the Study The first limitation of this study is that, this study only surveyed the undergraduate students of SBK Women’s University and University of Balochistan which is situated in same city, Quetta in one of the five provinces of Pakistan. Therefore, the results of this study cannot be generalized to all undergraduates in other cities of Pakistan. The second limitation is that this study only used questionnaires to collect the quantitative data. Therefore, some students may not have answered the questionnaires sincerely. Triangulation of the data was not performed to confirm the findings through the use of different data collection methods such as interviews and vocabulary proficiency test which may provide in-depth insights into feedback of students on the use of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS). The third limitation of this study is that the questionnaire was not translated into the mother tongue of students, that is, the Urdu language. By translating the items, students may further understand all the items in the questionnaire without having to depend on the explanation provided by the researcher prior to answering the questionnaire. 7.2 Implications of Study Vocabulary learning strategies in learning new words in the target language has been the center of discussion among L2 researchers and instructors and it is considered as a key source to learn a second or foreign language effectively. Similarly, how to increase the vocabulary of the students in the target language, as Wilkins (1972) stated that “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” (p. 111), therefore, this study has familiarized English language teachers with the better understanding of vocabulary learning strategies that students employ to enhance their vocabulary in the target language. Therefore, Pakistani, English language teachers can incorporate these VLS into their teachings to help their students to improve their vocabulary in English language. Finally, the findings of this study are likely to benefit those researchers in Pakistan who are currently working on second language acquisition/learning with focus on vocabulary learning strategies. They can use this study as one of the examples in the Pakistani context that what vocabulary learning strategies are employed by the undergraduates of two universities of Pakistan. This study also contributes to the existing literature on vocabulary learning strategies in general and particular in Pakistani context. 7.3 Suggestions for Future Research This study investigated the vocabulary learning strategies employed undergraduates of two universities of Quetta, Pakistan, therefore, some suggestions are provided for future research. Since, this study focused on two public universities situated in Pakistan, therefore further research should concentrate on students of public and private universities in Pakistan so that a comparison of vocabulary learning strategies can be made and it can generate significantly different results. Secondly, interviews can be considered for future research to gain deep insights into the beliefs of students towards vocabulary learning strategies (VLS). Since a questionnaire may not include all the possible VLS, interviews may be used to serve as triangulation or to complement the findings of the study. Thirdly, future researchers can also consider the experimental study to explore the effectiveness of VLS as proposed by Gu and Johnson (1996). References Arjomand, M. & Sharififar, M. (2011). The most and least frequently used vocabulary learning strategies among Iranian EFL Freshman Students and Its Relationship to gender. Iranian EFL Journal, 7(1), 90-100. Catalan, R. (2003). Sex differences in L2 vocabulary learning strategies. Applied Linguistics, 13(1), 54-77. Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your course book. Oxford: Heinemann Dóczi, B. (2011). Comparing the vocabulary learning strategies of high school and university students: A pilot study. WoPaLP, 5, 138-158. Elman, J. L. (2004). An alternative view of the mental lexicon. Trends in cognitive sciences, 8(7), 301-306. Fan, Y. M. (2003). Frequency of use, perceived usefulness, and actual usefulness of second language vocabulary strategies: A study of Hong Kong learners. The Modern Language Journal, 87(2), 222-241 Grace, C. (2000). Gender differences: Vocabulary retention and access to translations for beginning language learners in CALL. The Modern Language Journal, 84, 214-224.

ALLS 7(2):7-12, 2016 12 Ghazal, L. (2007). Learning vocabulary in EFL contexts through vocabulary learning strategies. Novitas-Royal, 1(2), 84-91. Gu, Y., & Johnson, R. K. (1996). Vocabulary learning strategies and language learning outcomes. Language Learning, 46, 643-697. Hatch, E., & Brown, C. (1995). Vocabulary, semantics, and language education. Cambrideg: Cambridge University Press Jenkins, J. (2006). Current perspectives on teaching World Englishes and English as a lingua franca. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 157-181. Jiménez, R. M. (2003). Sex differences in L2 vocabulary learning strategies. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13, 1, 54-77. Kachru, B.B., & Nelson, C.L. (1996). World Englishes. In S.L. MaKay & N.H. Khaldieh, S. A. (2000). Learning strategies and writing process of proficient vs. less proficient learners of Arabic. Foreign Language Annals, 33(5), 522-533. Khatib, M., Hassanzadeh, M., & Rezaei, S. (2011). Vocabulary learning strategies of Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners. International Education Studies, 4(2), p144. Lee, J. (2011). Size matters: Early vocabulary as a predictor of language and literacy competence. Applied Psycholinguistics, 32(01), 69-92. Nassaji, H. (2003). L2 vocabulary learning from context: Strategies, knowledge sources, and their relationship with success in L2 lexical inferencing. Tesol Quarterly, 37(4), 645-670. Nation, I. S. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language: Ernst Klett Sprachen. Nemati, A. (2013). Vocabulary learning strategies: A short way to long term retention. Linguistics and Literature Studies, 1(1), 8-18. Noor, M. N., & Amir, Z. (2009).Exploring the vocabulary learning strategies of EFL learners. Language and Culture: Creating and Fostering Global Communities. 7th International Confronce by the School of Studies and Lingustics Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 313-327. Nunan, D. (1999). Second language teaching & learning. Heinle & Heinle Publishers, 7625 Empire Dr., Florence, KY 41042-2978. Pakir, A. (2000). The Development of English as a" Glocal" Language: New Concerns in the Old Saga of Language Teaching. Anthology Series-Seameo Regional Language Center, 14-31. Pallant, J. (2013). SPSS survival manual. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Read, R. (2000). Assessing vocabulary. Cambridge University Press. Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press. Sokmen, A. (1997). Current trends in teaching second language vocabulary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Smith, B. R., Spooner, F., Jimenez, B. A., & Browder, D. (2013). Using an Early Science Curriculum to Teach Science Vocabulary and Concepts to Students with Severe Developmental Disabilities. Education and Treatment of Children, 36(1), 1-31. Takač, V. P. (2008). Vocabulary learning strategies and second language acquisition. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Wilkins, D. (1972). Linguistics in language teaching. London, UK: Arnold. Yang, M. (2007). Language learning strategies for junior college students in Taiwan: Investigating ethnicity and proficiency. EFL Asian Journal, 9(2), 35-57 Zareva, A., Schwanenflugel, P. & Nikolova, Y. (2005). Relationship between lexical competence and language proficiency: Variable sensitivity. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 567-595.



Political Ecology in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude

Eman Mohammed ElSherief

Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, K.S.A. E-mail: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.13 Received: 05/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.13 Accepted: 01/01/2016 Abstract The roots of ecology prolong profoundly within earlier phases of history, when the naturalistic fabric was first evinced. Bringing out his On the Origin of Species in 1859, Darwin not merely engendered a biological culmination but also heralded the revolutionary critical canon of naturalism that was virtually a stone thrown in the vast stagnant lake of traditional literature. Via the naturalistic lens, the whole bulk of man’s behavioral attributes are being expounded in terms of milieu and heredity. The mid-1990s witnessed the publication of The Environmental Imagination by Lawrence Buell in 1995, and The Ecocriticism Reader edited by Cheryll Gloffelty and Harold Fromm in 1996, which palpably underpinned ecocriticism as revolving around the inextricable liaison between literature and the physical environment. The political ecology term was coined to further scrutinize relations among people that pertain to nature. The present paper is an endeavor to pursue the ecological tenor of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s landmark novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and how it was admirably exploited to address precarious postcolonial issues. Keywords: Political ecology, Marquez, naturalism, ecocriticism, post-colonialism. 1. Introduction One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man, Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can(Wordsworth, 1888,145).

First and foremost, though ecocriticism as a critical canon seems to date back to the mid-1990s with the publication of The Environmental Imagination by Lawrence Buell in 1995 and The Ecocriticism Reader, edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm in 1996, its roots do virtually prolong within remote phases of history. Ecology used to filter mildly through diverse literary genres: the pastoral, fairy-tales, myths, the agrarian, romantic poetry; in addition to molding the fabric of prominent critical approaches as naturalism. The term political ecology evolved palpably from the ecological dogma. The intent of this paper is to lay the theoretical foundation for such ecology-oriented fabrics, together with scrutinizing the resonances of political ecology in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. Eventually, the principal out finding is upholding Marquez's salvation formula, disseminated via all his literary output, in which he propelled the human race to strive to engender more egalitarian communities, capable of shielding the surrounding ecological system. 2. Naturalism, Ecocriticism, and Political Ecology, the Inseparably Entwined Canons Thanks to Darwin's scientific breakthrough, On the Origin of Species (1859), that the evolutionary theory emerged; thereupon, leaving its imprints on the literary arena. The main stream of naturalism was undoubtedly a stone thrown in the vast stagnant lake of traditional literary ramifications. Put under scrutiny, the evolutionary theory postulated that man evolved from lower forms of life, and that in the perpetual fierce fight for existence only the fittest and strongest is able to survive in an eternal process of natural selection. According to naturalists, hegemony over man's behavioral attributes is for biological determinism (heredity), social determinism( milieu),or by historic moment, which are all three predetermining factors of man's fate. Thereupon, the human being is rather approached as a pathetic creature, thoroughly stripped of free will; no longer supreme, but rather equal to other creatures, even as degenerate as a humble insect.

In contrast to a realist, a naturalist believes that man is fundamentally an animal without free will. To a naturalist man can be explained in terms of the forces, usually heredity and environment, which operate on him (Ahnebrink, 1973,p.2).


ALLS 7(2):13-17, 2016 14 It is broadly acknowledged that our life on the planet is inextricably linked to its ecological health. The modernist legacy endeavored for successive decades to corroborate the dominance of nature in such relationships. Such an ecological tenet ostensibly evokes the naturalistic tenor, forged several centuries ago, with its overt emphasis on environment as an overruling power of human destiny. Conversely, social ecologists have recently expounded the ecological crisis as one of" societal relationships with nature"(Jahn, 1996,p.58).Thus, they are bringing into the loop the undeniable societal liaisons with the natural milieu as a patent element predetermining the welfare, or on the reversal the wreck, of both human and eco-life. Social ecologists are recurrently emphasizing such reciprocal relationship between both poles, the planet and the inhabitants of the planet. Across the successive epochs of history, literature proved to be the faithful mirror of the booming mainstreams emerging within its era. Therefore, ecocriticism was the critical fabric created to address via literature the escalating ecological issues. Cheryl Glotfelty, a precursor of the ecocritical movement in the United States affirmed:

Simply put, ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment. Just as feminist criticism examines language and literature from a gender- conscious perspective, and Marxist criticism brings an awareness of modes of production and economic class to its reading of texts, ecocriticism takes an earth centered approach to literary studies (Glotfelty, 1996,xix).

The incessant evolvement of the ecological doctrine brought about the term political ecology, which was coined to refer generally to the social, economic, and political conditions grounding causes, experiences, and management of environmental problems (Blaikie, 1987, Byrant, 1992, Park, 1994, Zimmerer, 2000). Nonetheless, the debate among a vast array of critics about a decisive definition of the term is yet to be resolved. First, according to Blaiki and Brookfield, the phrase "political ecology" is melding together ecology and a broadly defined political economy. Furthermore, this embraces the constantly mutable dialects between society and land-based resources, and also within classes and groups within society itself (Blaiki, 1987). Second, political ecology may be approached as one form of political activism in favor of Deep Green Environmentalism and the inexorable critique of repressive modernity and capitalism. Atkinson pointed out:" political ecology is both a set of the cortical propositions and ideas on the one hand and on the other a social movement referred to as the 'ecology movement' or, latterly, the Green movement"(Atkinson, 1991,p. 18). Third, ecology as a metaphor for the interconnectedness of political relations. This metaphor emerged in the first book with "political ecology" in its title, International Regions and International Systems. Through A study in Political Ecology by Bruce M. Russett in 1967, he asserted:

I have termed this volume A Study in Political Ecology. As ecology is defined as the relation of organisms or groups of organisms to their environment, I have attempted to explore some of the relations between political systems and their social and physical environment (Russett, 1967:vii).

Fourth, political ecology was assumed to sustain the Marxist ideology. Political ecology, like the Marxist-inspired workers' movement, is based on a critique and thus an analysis, a theorized understanding-of the "order of existing things." More specifically, Marx and the greens focus on a very precise sector of the real world: the humanity-nature relationship, and, even more precisely, relations among people that pertain to nature, ( or what Marxists call the productive "forces")(Lipietz, 2000,p.70). 3. Political Ecology in One Hundred Years of Solitude: In his 1982 Nobel Prize lecture, the colossal fictional icon Gabriel Garcia Marquez asserted " But we must first accept books like One Hundred Years of Solitude and Bound to Violence on their own terms, as mirrors of the solitude of post-colonial societies(Ortega, 1988, p. 90). Marquez was born March 1928, amongst unbending political turbulence, associated with the Banana Strike massacre, in Aracataca, Columbia, a small town in the Santa Marta Banana zone. The whole territory of Northern Columbia was colonized throughout the first decades of the 20th century by the American United Fruit Company, which was par excellence a conspicuous embodiment of the evils of the oppressive imperialist capitalism, resolving to incessantly exploit the human and natural resources of the target country, that is frequently a so-called third world developing country. Via his felicitous magical realism, Marquez endeavored to implement a process of unraveling the post-colonial world, giving voice to the dispossessed, and endowing them with a second opportunity on earth, through transcending the solitude they were deliberately doomed to for centuries. In order to magnify the manifest atrocities mankind undertakes to devastate their life and the eco-sphere around them, the author attempted to open his novel by pondering over the innocence that predates such assaults. Ostensibly, the beginning of One Hundred Years of Solitude is akin to a Genesis-like story, embracing images drawn from the Latin American milieu, the Garden of Eden and the apocalypse. The Buendias found Macondo in an edenic setting which predates the Bible; Marquez describes the rocks along the rivers as "prehistoric eggs" in order; thus, validating the primal existence of the Buendias, the main founders of Macondo.

ALLS 7(2):13-17, 2016 15 Marquez portrayed Macondo as a paradise-like locale, wrapped with serenity, idyll, and magnificent natural beauty, an image that will be thoroughly reversed when the book comes to an end, and consequently exacerbating the traumatic realizations rendered then. Not evincing the country in which Macondo exists, Marquez allowed the Macondo experience to transcend all boundaries of place and time; representing a microcosm not merely of Latin American countries but of all post-colonial communities. Having founded Macondo, Buendia resolved to set out for a wild expedition in order to traverse the fatal solitude of Macondo, aspiring to erect bridges of contact with the civilization and modernity around. Yet, his incessant explorations dragged him to the re-memory area of the conquistadors. Akin to them, Buendia committed devastating evil acts throughout the hazardous expeditions:

The men on the expeditions felt overwhelmed by their most ancient memories in that paradise of dampness and silence , going back to before original sin, as their boots sank into pools of steaming oil and their machetes destroyed bloody lilies and golden salamanders. For a week, almost without speaking, they went ahead like sleepwalkers through a universe of grief, lighted only by the tenuous reflection of luminous insects, and their lungs were overwhelmed by a suffocating smell of blood (11-12).

Astonishingly, while striving to flee his own past, Buendia found himself immersed into the collective past of his ancestors, the settlers of the New World. He came across an old Spanish galleon, resting on a bed of rock amidst the wild forest. Pondering over the scene, he grasped how preposterous it is to find a new route out of Macondo:

Before them, surrounded by ferns and palm trees, white and powdery in the silent morning light, was an enormous Spanish galleon. Titled slightly to the starboard, it had hanging from its intact masts the dirty rags of its sails in the midst of its rigging, which was adorned with orchids. The hull, covered with an armor of petrified barnacles and soft moss, was firmly fastened into a surface of stones. The whole structure seemed to occupy its own space, one of solitude and oblivion, protected from the vices of time and the habits of the birds(12).

Albeit Objects of the past are quite ravaged, the bulk emotions which history is capable of eliciting are not. Nonetheless, the tranquility of the Macondo mundane life was disrupted by the arrival of the Banana company, representing the United Fruit Corporate Company, that colonized the northern territory of Colombia till the mid- fifties. Such stark frame of the callous American Capitalism was an anticipated consequence in the aftermath of the decolonization of the country. The company has excelled in performing its prominent role as a robust imperialistic fringe of the United States, executing the target of the first world to foster their economy via the impoverishment of the third world countries, seizing the totality of their natural resources. Promptly upon treading the territory, the Banana Company inaugurated sweeping changes in the primitive life of the indigenous: constructing irrigation network, establishing their own railroad, telegraph network, retail stores, enormous fleet to carry bananas to the United States (Regina, 1984, pp. 93-94).Subsequently, palpable flux of prosperity overwhelmed the Banana zone up to the 1930s. Nonetheless, the surrounding natural milieu, together with the Macondo proletariat, were equally devastated by the inhumane and atrocious policies of the Banana company, the rubbish of which bridged over the river and changed the picturesque scenery of Macondo. Moreover, the prosperity phase was demolished by the Great Depression era, following the 1928 strike. The strike episode was initiated by jostling masses of workers at the Cienaga train station, asking for the improvement of their squander-like living conditions and deteriorated salaries; yet, they were ruthlessly repelled by incessant gunfire. Historical accounts differ as for the number of killed people, in addition to the countless others that disappeared in the aftermath of the event; that was the triggering point to boundless violence to prevail. Though not an eye-witness to the whole bulk of those incidents, Marquez leaned on re-memory as core for his novel, inspired by his grandmother's tales, on which he was raised as a child, and the firsthand accounts of his grandfather who took part in the Civil War. Altering his birth date to concur with the strike date1928 unravels the perseverant attempt of Marquez to be the faithful voice of the agitated indigenous, not merely of Colombia but of all post-colonial peoples worldwide, against the unjust imperialistic capitalism, which proved to be devoid of any egalitarian import. In such endeavor, Marquez sparked the post-colonial literary boom of Latin America in the seventies. The post-massacre politics in Macondo serve unveiling colonialist methods of effacing the past. The government implemented immediate measures after the massacre to ensure that merely their endorsed version of the event is being disseminated. Macondo people are allowed to know only what the totalitarian regime is willing to reveal. Noticeably, all dictatorial regimes were acting as mere puppets, the strings of which are in the hands of some imperialistic power, and are accordingly exploited to protect their illegitimate capitalistic ends. Hence, the government issued a national proclamation which stated that "the workers had left the station and had returned home in peaceful groups"(pp. 314-315).It extolled the virtue of the "union leaders" whose "great patriotic spirit had fostered compromise between Mr.Brown and the stickers"(p. 315). After the four year plague of rain, the government issued their report:

The official version, repeated a thousand times and mangled out all over the country by every means of communication the government found at hand, was finally accepted: there

ALLS 7(2):13-17, 2016 16 were no dead, the satisfied workers had gone back to their families, and the banana company was suspending all activity until the rains stopped (p. 315).

The relentless four year plague of rain served to simultaneously perish all evidences of the inhumane massacre, and stand symbolic of the brainwashing which successfully muddled records of the massacre in received Latin American history. At this juncture, it is discernible that Marquez summoned the apocalyptic images of "magical realist" hurricanes to epitomize the vulture of capitalism represented via the Banana Company "precisely because it inaugurates an economic regime-the plantation monoculture-which is also ecological, and which will appropriate the 'good quality of [Macondo's] soil " as a commodity frontier" (Deckard, p. 18). To define ecological regimes, Moore (2010) affirmed that they are the "relatively durable patterns of class structure, technological innovation and the development of productive forces…….that have sustained and propelled successive phases of world accumulation"( p. 405).Due to "The relative exhaustion of an ecological revolution" (Deckard, p. 19), the depleted ecosystem has waged a four year rebellious war against the corrosive ecological regime of the Banana monoculture in Macondo:

Macondo was in ruins. In the swampy streets were the remains of furniture, animal skeletons covered with red lilies, the last memories of the hordes of newcomers who had fled Macondo as wildly as they arrived. The houses that had been built which such haste during the banana fever had been abandoned. The banana company tore down its installations (330-31).

In lieu of the idyllic beauty that overruled Macondo setting at the novel's onset, merely wreck and skeletons prevailed the scene at the end of the novel. It is all propelled by the aggravated and perverted exploitation undergone by ecological regimes. Mildly stated, in a region evacuated of capital and drained of ecological nutrients and human" collective strength", reconstruction is preposterous(Deckard, p. 20). The challenged status-quo in Macondo was eventually preserved by means of fraudulent chronicles of history, that brought about the apocalypse of the Buendias, who were compelled to retreat back into their perpetual solitude, the solitude that is palpably a curtain imposed on the territory to keep it aloof from the eyes of the world, for the incessant process of accumulation to endure, leaving it lagging beyond development (Arias, 2013). As One Hundred Years of Solitude comes to a close, Aureliano Babilonia is deciphering Melquiades's parchments to find that "everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth"(p. 422). In this connection, Marquez is proclaiming the demise of Macondo and thus of Latin America. The vicious circle is preserved and the past is reiterated as humans proved unwilling to collaborate to save the globe and the inhabitants of the globe. 4. Conclusion Why didn't Marquez announce the proletariat triumphant? The answer is eloquently epitomized by Merray's assertion that:

What is basic is not 'human rights'…….but needs; the basic requirements for existence. Because we all share needs. We are all bound together in a network of duties. Where these are recognized[sic], then we can define our rights as humans and inhabitants of earth. (p. 29)

This seems to be the sole speck of light at the end of the intricate ecological dilemma we are muddled in. Depletion of both ecological and human systems by a ruthless monopolistic minority will bring about boundless desolation; no soul will be exempted. Per Marquez formula, an egalitarian human community worldwide is the sole vehicle towards salvation. This message is pertaining to the tenor of Marquez Nobel Prize lecture, in which he assumed that it is never a far-fetched prospect to embark on engendering:

A new and sweeping Utopia of life, Where no one will be able to decide for others how they die, where love will prove true and happiness be possible, and where the races condemned to one hundred years of solitude will have, at last and forever, a second opportunity on earth. (Ortega, 1988, p. 90)

References Ahnebrink, L. (1973). The Beginnings of Naturalism in American Fiction a Study of the Works of H. Garland, S. Crane and F. Norris with special reference to some European influences, 1891-1903. Nendeln: Kraus reprint. Arias, M. E.B. (2013). One Hundred Years of Solitude, Accumulation and Violence: A Comparative Historical Analysis of the Sierra Nervada of Santa Marta Valley. Atkinson, A. (1991). Principles of political ecology. London: Belhaven Press. Blaikie, P., & Brookfield, H, ed. (1987). Land Degradation and Society. London: Methuen.

ALLS 7(2):13-17, 2016 17 Buell, L. (1987). The Environmental Imagination. Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Byrant, R. (1992). Political Ecology: An emerging research agenda in Third World environment research. Area.29:1-15. Darwin, C. & Beer, G. (1996). The Origin of Species. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Deckard, Sharae. "Caribbean Aesthetics, Politics, Ecology." ed. Michael Niblett, Chris Campbell. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu on May10,2015. Elly, E.A. (2000). Promise in the Garden: An Exploration of Edenic and Apocalyptic Imagery in Morrison's Beloved, Garcia Marquez's Cien Anos Soledad, and UBaldo Ribeivo's Osorriso Do Lagarto. Chapel Hill. Forsyth, T. (2002). Critical Political Ecology Routledge. [Online] Available: http:// www. mylibrary.com (March30, 2014). Garcia Marquez, G. (1970). One Hundred Years of Solitude . Trans. Gregory Rabassa: New York:Harper & Row. Glotfelty, Ch. & Harold. F. ed (1996). The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. London: University of Georgia Press. Keil, R. (1998). Political Ecology Global and Local. David V. J. Bell, Peter Penz and Leesa Fawcett,eds.London:Routledge. Lipietz, A.(2000). Political Ecology and the Future of Marxism. Capitalism, Nature, and Socialism. 69-85. Moore, J. (2010). The End of the Road? Agricultural Revolutions in the Capitalist World Ecology,1450- 2010, Journal of Agrarian Change 10(3): 389-413. Murray, R. (2000). The Cosmic Covenant. The Ecologist: 25-29. Ortega, J. (1988). Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the Power of Fiction. Austin: University of Texas Press. Park, T. (1994). Risk and Tenure in Arid Lands: The political Ecology of Development in the Senegal River Basin. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Regina, J. (1984). Liberals, Conservatives, and Bananas: Colombian Politics in the Fictions of G.G.Marquez. Hispanofila. Wordsworth, W. (1888). The Complete Poetical Works. [Online] Available: www.bartleby.com/145/( May30,2015). Zimmerer, K. (2003). Political Ecology: An Integrative Approach to Geography and Environment-development Studies. New York: Guilford Press.



The Effect of Using Authentic Task on Teaching Adjectives

Shadi Rastegaran Islamic Azad University of Garmsar, Iran


Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.18 Received: 03/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.18 Accepted: 02/01/2016 Abstract In this study the researcher tried to investigate whether tasks have any effect on adjective learning or not. To achieve this purpose, the following research question was set forth by the researcher: “Does using authentic task have significant effect on adjective learning?” A proficiency test was administered to minimize the individual difference among learners and to make certain the homogeneity of them. Then, before starting the treatment, a vocabulary test was given to the learners to see if the knowledge of vocabulary items already exists among participants or not. After the test, the known words even by one learner were omitted from the whole study. Subsequently, each group received an especial kind of treatment for 12 sessions. At the end, a multiple choice vocabulary post-test similar to the pre-test was administered. To analyze the findings of the study, SPSS (Statistical Package for social science) was utilized and the obtained results indicated that using authentic tasks contributed to the enhancement of adjective learning. Keywords: Authentic task, task, activity, adjective, words 1. Introduction Language learning is believed to depend on immersing the students not merely in comprehensible input but in tasks that require them to negotiate meaning and engage in naturalistic and meaningful communication. In recent years vocabulary has been considered to pay a more central role in second language learning than was traditionally assumed There are different methods in vocabulary teaching that can be mainly classified into two methods; traditional and modern. Traditional method refers to a method that provides the learners a long list of words and asks them to memorize those words. In this method there is no motivation or fun for teachers and learners. The modern method refers to a method that provides the learners activities and authentic tasks which seem to offer the best answer to vocabulary (adjective) teaching as it relies on learners’ experiences and reality to facilitate learning. This modern “Task-Based” method provides more opportunities for communicative interaction and cooperative relationships for learners. It would be also a motivating method for learners to be able to use various words for various purposes as native speakers do. Considering the point mentioned, the emphasis is on using authentic materials and tasks. Researchers believe that the development of the communicative movement is a need to develop learners’ skills for the real situation and it has led teachers to make an attempt to stimulate this situation in the classroom by using authentic tasks. In this study, the aforementioned methods would be compared in study methodology section, then the results would be reflected in results and discussion section. 2. The review of the related literature In this section some of the important studies done in the realm of vocabulary, task, task-based method and authenticity are briefly presented. Vocabulary can be defined as a ‘dictionary’ or a set of words. According to Richards and Plat and Plat, vocabulary is a set of lexemes, including single words, compound words and idioms. (Richards, Platt, & Platt, 1992). Rivers believes that it is impossible to learn a language without learning its vocabulary (Rivers,1981). Blackowicz and Fisher claimed that developing a strong vocabulary not only promotes reading comprehension but also enables learners to actively participate in their society. (Blachowicz, & Fisher, (2004). Nowadays it is widely accepted that vocabulary teaching should be part of the syllabus, and taught in a well-planned and regular basis. Some authors, led by Lewis, argue that vocabulary should be the centre of language teaching, because “language consists of grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalized grammar”. (Moras, 2001). According to Thornbury “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed (Thornbury, 2004). So most of the learners know the importance of vocabulary acquisition.


ALLS 7(2):18-24, 2016 19 We are not sure the appropriate time of exposure to learn a word, but McCarthy and O’Dell described the number of exposures before really knowing a word that learners need five to seven exposures to a word or phrase before they can really know it (McCarty, & O’Dell (1994). From guessing at the first encounter, to possible dictionary use and note taking, to rehearsal, encoding, and contextual activation, vocabulary learning in real life situations is a dynamic process involving meta cognitive choices and cognitive implementation of a whole spectrum of strategies. Whether and how a learner evaluates the task requirement and whether and how a cognitive strategy is deployed are often dependent more on the learner than on the task. This learner-oriented process view of vocabulary acquisition that looks at naturally occurring vocabulary learning strategies as they relate to individual differences as well as the vocabulary learning task is beginning to form a new trend. Interestingly, a more recent study done by Kojic –Sabo& Lightbown, suggested that “time and learner independence were the two measures most closely related to success in vocabulary learning and higher overall English proficiency”. (Kojic-Sabo, & lightbown, 1999). Moras explanation for native speakers’ fluency is that vocabulary is not stored only as individual words, but also as parts of phrases and larger chunks, which can be retrieved from memory as a whole, reducing processing difficulties. On the other hand, learners who only learn individual words will need a lot more time and effort to express themselves. (Moras, 2001). In this part, we would discuss about authentic tasks. In general, an authentic task is one which is purposeful and engaging, models how people solve real problems in work and/or communities, puts knowledge to work, potentially demonstrates what learners know and can do, supports multiple representations and solution strategies, offers opportunities for meaningful learning. Tasks, according to Nunan, are activities which can stand alone as units and they require comprehending, producing, manipulating, or interacting in authentic language while attention is primarily paid to meaning rather than form. (Nunan, 1989). He confirms that task is different from exercise, “Task has a nonlinguistic outcome while an exercise has a linguistic outcome”. According to Garins and Redman, learning is the most effective if learners are actively engaged in a task which is the final motivating and challenging. Besides, it is essential for learners to have opportunities to use and understand the relevance new language to their personal involvement (Grains & Redman,1995). Newton has proved the qualification of this approach. Leaving learners with mixed abilities in each group, letting them work together and solve the task make them gain their abilities to identify unfamiliar words from the tasks. As a result, it promotes oral fluency and pursues actively communicative goals. In these cooperative options, however, the role of teachers is vital. They may need to work with groups to show learners how to draw on context clues. By lynch’s opinion, the teacher may also need to assist in negotiation, monitor performance, observe difficulties and look for positive features of performance to raise in post-task discussion. (Lynch, 1997). Newton says the teacher needs to ensure that learners are given opportunities to meet and explore new vocabulary without direct teacher assistance, and to use this vocabulary to meet meaningful tasks goals. Blackburn confirms that this method transfers teacher from playing the role of the selector, presenter, and evaluator to playing a role of brainstormer, manager, and leader. (Blackburn, 2003). The teacher’s role, as stated by Mueller, is no longer the traditional information giver. (Mueller, 2003). Richards and Rodgers define task-based language teaching to an approach based on the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching. (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Task-based approach is based on several principles: 1. Activities that involve real communication are essential for language learning. 2. Activities in which language is used for doing meaningful tasks promote learning. 3. Meaningful language supports the learning process. Nunan stated that task-based language teaching has the following characteristics: 1. Emphasis on interaction in the target language 2. Using authentic texts 3. Focusing not only on language but also on the learning process itself 4. Enhancing learners’ own personal experiences 5. Linking classroom language with language outside the classroom. (Nunan, 1991). Skehan claims that in the task-based approach the emphasis is on the learner. So it requires a skillful and responsive teacher who is able to cope with groups of learners. (Skehan, 2002).Richards and Rodgers believe a central role of the teacher is selecting, adapting, and sometime creating the tasks themselves based on the learners’ needs, interests, and language skill level. (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Carlson states that the classroom is learner-centered. The learners bring with them into class their knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs. Learners are encouraged to ask questions, engage in social discourse, and find their own answers. They are active learners because they do more than passively sit and listen to their teacher talk. They must be active participants in the learning process, by writing, discussing, analyzing evaluating the information (Carlson, 2004).

ALLS 7(2):18-24, 2016 20 3. The structure of the study 3.1 Statement of the problem Teachers, students, material developers and researchers all agree that learning adjectives under the title of vocabulary is the most essential part of mastering a language. Language learners also need to be able to use various words for various purposes as native speakers do. In fact, due to their lack of familiarity with newspapers and magazines in the language, they may spend even more time than a native speaker scanning and skimming prior to make choices. Nowadays teachers mainly try to provide learners real life opportunities for expanding their vocabulary knowledge. To do so they provide tasks and activities for learners to make them able to communicate language being learnt. Considering the point mentioned, the emphasis is on using authentic materials and tasks. Researchers believe that the development of the communicative movement is a need to develop learners’ skills for the real situation and it has led teachers to make an attempt to stimulate this situation in the classroom by using authentic tasks. 3.2 Study questions & hypothesis The question which will be investigated in the present study is: “Does using authentic task have any significant effect on adjective learning among Iranian intermediate EFL learners?” In order to find the crucial answer to the above question, the following null hypothesis was developed: HO. Using authentic tasks does not have any significant effect on adjective learning at an intermediate level. 4. Study Methodology First, a group of 90 EFL learners were chosen. The researcher needed a standard criterion to assess the homogeneity of the participants. So the Nelson English Language Test, comprising of 50 items was administered. Those learners whose scores were in the range of one SD below to one SD above the mean score were selected and divided in two groups. The subjects participating in this study were 62 EFL learners.

1. Experimental Group = comprised of 32 learners that read texts about zodiac signs. 2. Control Group =comprised of 30 learners that read dictionary extract of new words other groups received. Second, to ensure that the knowledge of the adjectives aimed at this study did not exist among participants a vocabulary pre-test was administered before giving the treatment. The pre-test was comprised of 77 multiple choice questions checking the learners’ knowledge of the vocabulary. After the test, the known words were omitted from the treatment and post-test as well. Third, 12 texts about 12 zodiac signs and also dictionary extracts were used in this study. Fourth, the participants’ acquisition of adjectives was measured through a multiple choice post-test which was a vocabulary test similar to the pre-test. Learning should not be confused with unattended learning. During the task, the learners may attend to the words by using them in sentences or by looking them up in a dictionary. They found that looking up new words in a dictionary during a task is effective for learning those words. So the learners in this study were asked to look the unknown words up in their dictionaries. At last, a post test comprising of 42 multiple choice test, was administered to measure the participants’ acquisition of adjectives. Texts and dictionary extracts were given to experimental and control groups respectively. Each session, group E (i.e. the group that read texts as its treatment) received the adjectives in printed formats. There are 12 months and consequently 12 zodiac signs. Everybody has his or her own sign according to their birth month. It is believed that each sign affects the character and life of people born under it. Every session, learners received a short text about one of the signs, they were asked to look up the unknown words up in their dictionaries. At the end of each session they were asked to write a short description using the learned adjectives about one of their classmates or family member born under the same sign. Participants in group C (i.e. control group) received the dictionary extract of the adjectives that experimental group received. The present study was designed to determine the effects of using authentic task on adjective learning. Therefore, the independent variable was the authentic task and the dependant variable was adjective learning. The researcher used “pre-test post-test intact groups” design in her EFL classes to accomplish the mentioned goal. To see the difference among performances in the two groups, T-test was conducted. Computer based statistical program such as SPSS (Statistical Package for social science) was assisted in this regard. 5. Results & Discussion The results and data obtained from the comparison between two methods and groups are displayed in two sections; vocabulary pre-test and vocabulary post-test results:

ALLS 7(2):18-24, 2016 21 5.1 The results of vocabulary pre-test To be certain that none of the vocabularies targeted at this study was already in participants’ background knowledge, a multiple choice pretest comprising of 77 vocabulary items was conducted. Tables 1 and 2 respectively show the descriptive statistics results of scores of the participants in control and experimental groups on the pre-test.

To prove the homogeneity of the participants in control and experimental groups before the treatment, an independent T-test was run that its’ results are shown in table 3.Table 3 denotes that P-value which is .53 is more than .05. Furthermore the t-value observed, which is .62 is less that the t-value critical at the 0.05 level of significance (1.67)

Therefore, we can safely claim that the pre-test mean score of the control group is not significantly different from the pre-test mean score of the experimental group.

The similarity between Pre-test mean score in Control Group and Pre-test mean score in Experimental Group is

depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The comparison of two groups before treatment

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics of the control group in pre-test

N Range Minimum Maximum Sum Mean Std. Deviation Variance

Scores 30 30 12 42 778 25.93 8.710 75.857

Valid N 30

Table 2. Descriptive Statistics of the experimental group in pre-test

N Range Minimum Maximum Sum Mean Std. Deviation Variance

Scores 32 33 11 44 787 24.59 8.175 66.830

Valid N 32

Table 3. Independent Samples Test (to compare the mean of two groups before treatment)

Levene's Test for Equality of Variances

t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. T Df Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

Std. Error Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference

Lower Upper

core Equal variances

assumed .388 .536 .625 60 .535 1.340 2.144 -2.950 5.629

Equal variances not assumed

.623 59.022 .535 1.340 2.149 -2.960 5.639

ALLS 7(2):18-24, 2016 22 After administrating the test, the known items even by one subject were omitted from the treatment and from the vocabulary posttest as well. The result showed that only 42 words were unknown to the participants. 5.2 The results of vocabulary post-test Totally two groups, an experimental and a control group, were involved in investigating the effect of authentic tasks on adjective learning. During 12 sessions, group E read some texts about zodiac signs, while group C read dictionary extract of new words that were received by the other group. Finally, participants’ acquisition of new vocabulary was measured through a post-test which was a multiple choice vocabulary test similar to the pretest. The post-test was comprised of 42 vocabulary items that were completely unknown to the learners. Table 4 represents the scores and their frequency of the participants in control group after treatment.

Table 4. Descriptive Statistics of Control Group in Post-test

N Range Minimum Maximum Sum Mean Std. Deviation

Variance

Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std. Error

Statistic Statistic

Control Group in Post-test

30 26 14 40 808 26.93 1.176 6.443 41.513

Valid N (listwise) 30

The descriptive statistics of the scores and their frequency of the participants in control group after treatment are depicted in the following table. Table 5. Descriptive Statistics of Experimental Group in Post-test

N Range Minimu

m

Maximu

m

Sum Mean Std.

Deviation

Variance

Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std.

Error

Statistic Statistic

Experimental Group

in Post-test

32 24 17 41 1024 32.00 1.121 6.340 40.194

Valid N (listwise) 32

Table 6 provides enough criteria for the rejection of the null hypothesis of this study, because P-value which is .003 is less than .05. So it shows a significant difference. Furthermore the t-value observed which 3.131is is more than the t-value critical at the 0.05 level of significance (1.67). Therefore, we can safely claim that the experimental group outperformed the control group.

Table 6. Dependent Samples Test to compare the mean of two groups before treatment

Levene's Test for Equality of Variances

t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. T df Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

Std. Error Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower Upper Scoree Equal variances

assumed .005 .94

6 -3.137 60 .003 -5.078 1.625 -8.348 -1.848

Equal variances not assumed

-3.136 59.613 .003 -5.078 1.626 -8.350 -1.846

ALLS 7(2):18-24, 2016 23 The similarity between Post-test mean score in Control Group and Post-test mean score in Experimental Group is depicted in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Bar Graph for the comparison of two groups after treatment

6. Conclusion In this study the researcher tried to investigate whether tasks have any effect on adjective learning or not. To achieve this purpose, the following research question was set forth by the researcher: Q: Does using authentic tasks have any significant effect on adjective learning? To find the crucial answer to this research question, the following null hypothesis was stated: Ho: There is no significant difference between the intermediate EFL learners who learn adjective through using authentic task and that of those who do not. Then, a proficiency test was administered to minimize the individual difference among learners and to make certain the homogeneity of them. Then, before starting the treatment, a vocabulary test was given to the learners to see if the knowledge of vocabulary items already exists among participants or not. After the test, the known words even by one learner were omitted from the whole study. Subsequently, each group received an especial kind of treatment for 12 sessions. At the end, a multiple choice vocabulary post-test similar to the pre-test was administered. To analyze the findings of the study, SPSS (Statistical Package for social science) was utilized and the obtained results indicated that using authentic tasks contributed to the enhancement of adjective learning. Hence, it allowed the researcher to reject the null hypothesis. The results obtained from the present study will contribute to a better understanding of adjective learning through authentic tasks. They would put emphasis on the advantages of task application which can foster learners’ encouragement. To boost vocabulary acquisition and adjective learning as well, teacher and material developers could provide authentic materials as they are encouraging and leading to a better learning. To sum up, we can safely claim that teaching and learning adjectives through using an authentic task is more useful and had noticeable effect on learners, than using a traditional vocabulary list. References Blachowicz, C. L., & Fisher, P. (2004). Vocabulary lessons. Educational Leadership March, 66-69. Blackburn, J. (2003). Authentic Learning and Teacher Evaluation. Retrieved January 6, 2004.) Carlson, A. (2004). Authentic learning: What does it really mean? Retrieved January 25, 2005http://pandora.cii.edu/showcase2001/authentic_learning.htm Grains, R., & Redman, S. (1995). True to life: Teachers’ book Edinburgh: Cambridge University Press. Kojic-Sabo, I., & Lightbown, P. M. (1999). Students’ approaches to vocabulary learning and their relationship to success. The Modern Language Journal 83, 176-192.

ALLS 7(2):18-24, 2016 24 Lynch, J. (1997). Nudge, nudge: Teacher interventions in task-based learner talk. ELT Journal,51(4), 317-315. in Newton (2001). McCarty, M., & O’Dell, F. (1994). English vocabulary in use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Moras, D. (2001). Teaching vocabulary to advanced students: A lexical approach, Retrieved October 15, 2005. Mueller, J. (2003). Authentic assessment toolbox. Retrieved October 8, 2005, from http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.nuctrl.edu Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Nunan, d. (1991). Communicative tasks and the language curriculum. TESOL Quarterly, 25(2), 279-95. Nunan, D. (1999). The conceptual basis of second language teaching and learning. Second language teaching and learning (pp. 6-37). Boston: Heinle and Heinle publishers. Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.) Richards, J. C., Platt, J., & Platt, H. (1992).Dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. (2sced.). Rivers, W. M. (1981). And what else. Teaching foreign-language skills, second edition (pp. 464- 470). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Skehan, P. (2002). A non-marginal role for tasks. ELT Journal, 56(3), 289-295. Thornbury, S. (2004). The lexical approach: A journey without maps. English Teaching Professional, 7(4), 7-13.



Preface Sections in English and Arabic Linguistics Books: A Rhetorico-Cultural Analysis

Nassier A. G. Al-Zubaidi (Corresponding author)

Dept. of English, College of Arts, University of Baghdad, Iraq E-mail: [email protected]

Tahani Awad Jasim

Dept. of Arabic, College of Islamic Sciences, University of Baghdad, Iraq E-mail: [email protected]


The present paper is a genre analysis of linguistics books prefaces in English and Arabic. Following Swales' (1990) genre framework, this study is a small scale-based generic analysis of 80 preface texts, equally divided into 40 texts from English and Arabic. The corpus analysis revealed that to perform its communicative function, the genre of the preface sections has nine component moves with some variation between the two languages. As to move type and frequency, the rhetorical structure of preface genre varies to some extent in the two different languages under investigation. In addition, the socio-cultural practices and assumptions of the book writers of the two languages are embedded in the language of preface genre. Due to the limitation of the present study, further research is required to examine this genre in depth.

Keywords: Preface sections, Genre analysis, Socio-cultural patterns, Rhetorical structure, Move

1. Introduction

The 1990s of the last century has witnessed an increasing attention to the study of the structure of different types of academic genre. This interest is highly motivated by the pioneering works of Swales (1990) and Bhatia (1993). Of these different academic genres investigated recently are, but not exclusive to, abstracts (Martin, 2003), introductions (Rubio, 2011), acknowledgments (Hyland, 2004), book reviews (Shaw, 2004), journal editorials (Giannoni, 2008), and book blurbs (Basturkmen, 2009).

Genre analysis is "the study of situated linguistic behaviour in institutionalized academic or professional settings whether in terms of typifications of rhetorical action or consistency of communicative purposes. Genres are essentially defined in terms of the use of language in conventionalized communicative settings. They are meant to serve the goals of specific discourse communities, and in so doing, they tend to establish relatively stable structural forms" (Bhatia, 199, p. 181).According to Bhatia (1993), the defining factor of genre is the communicative purpose it fulfills. Communicative purpose, a key element in genre theory, is reflected in the rhetorical structure or organization of the genre. For Swales (1990), a genre is a class of communicative events, the members of which share some sets of communicative purposes. It is a social action, goal-oriented and cultural activity consisting of a sequence of moves. Each move has a minor function in the global communicative goal embedded in the genre. These moves are merely the realization of a particular social interaction (p.58).

Introductions in written works are of paramount significance since they serve as a gatekeeper for a work (Bhatia, 1993). Under the macro-genre of work introductions, preface sections are identified as one single micro-genre along with a colony of related genres including forewords, introductions, acknowledgements, book blurbs and introductory chapters. These related micro-genres serve a common communicative purpose of introducing a work. That is, they all have a dominating function which is that of introducing a written or spoken academic event. All these introductory sections are typically positioned outside the main content of the book, almost always at the beginning of a book. Bhatia (1997) defines a preface as “a section outlining the general purpose and scope of the book, and often indicating steps leading to the preparation of the book. Its communicative purpose is informative as well as promotional” (p.184). Despite its significance, the genre of preface sections has received little investigative attention, and very little research is available until recently. In this regard, Mohsenzadeh (2013) remarks that “the existing literature suffers from a gap in genre studies which is related to the fact that introductory genres such as book prefaces have been left untouched” (p.318). As a major type of academic introductions, it is the preface sections of linguistics books written in English and Arabic that have been selected as the main concern of the present paper. Motivated by the necessity to understand specialized


ALLS 7(2):25-32, 2016 26 discourse, the present study is concerned with developing a framework to describe the move structure of the preface section in linguistics books.

Working within the theoretical frameworks of Swales (1990), the present paper aims at investigating the genre of prefaces in English and Arabic linguistics books. It is intended to contribute to the growing interest of research in the domain of genre analysis through the examination of a genre which has not received a deserving research attention. Its contribution can be derived from the fact that it finds out how members of a particular discourse community (i.e., linguists) achieve their communicative purposes when writing their preface sections.

2. Theoretical Framework

In the front matter pages of most books, there are usually a few introductory pages placed before the main book body which are not part of the book contents. With not necessarily a fixed sequence of presentation, these front pages can include the following sections: foreword, preface, acknowledgements, and introduction. Though all these various sections constitute relatively different genres, they are categorized under the prevalent genre of introductions as all of them share the same communicative function of introducing a book for readers (Bhatia, 1997).

A preface is an introduction to academic and non-academic works written by the works' authors. Originally, “preface” is a Latin word “praefatio” meaning “‘words spoken beforehand”. It strongly implies an introduction written before the main body of the book (Online Etymology Dictionary). As far as the state of art is concerned, very few empirical studies are intended to investigate the rhetorical structure of the preface genre (Abdollahzadeh & Salarvand, 2013; Azar, 2012; Kuhi, 2007; Mohsenzadeh, 2013).

Abdollahzadeh and Salarvand (2013) investigate the preface sections in three disciplines of management, metallurgy, and mathematics to identify their generic structure, linguistic features and potential disciplinary differences. Identifying a similar generic structure for book prefaces in these three disciplines, the researchers suggest that book prefaces of these disciplines are very similar in terms of their communicative purpose, generic structure, and readers' expectation. Furthermore, there is no significant difference in the use of the rhetorical moves among the book prefaces in the three disciplines on the whole, suggesting that writers in the three disciplines generally use the same moves with rather similar frequencies. And, book prefaces fulfill a promotional purpose besides their common informative purpose.

Focusing on how sociocultural factors affecting genre writing, Mohsenzadeh (2013) examines literature book prefaces in English and Persian. The corpus of this study is 40 literature book prefaces, twenty of which are in English and twenty others in Persian. The general findings indicate a relatively different distribution of rhetorical move structure between the two different languages. She finds that Persian prefaces use quotations from famous people and Arabic expressions reflecting the influence of Islamic religion and culture on these authors. They also use poems to start and finish their speech. The findings of this study reinforce the notion that move structure of a genre may vary to some extent in different languages and cultures. In this connection, Halliday and Hasan (1989) view culture as a determinant factor of genre as a purposeful social practice, which in turn influences our writing habits.

Many research questions, concerning book prefaces and their generic structure, linguistic conventions, cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural differences and similarities, are still unanswered empirically. The need for extra examination of this text typology, and the ease of accessibility to book prefaces have motivated the present paper to examine some of the aforementioned questions. It is mainly intended to investigate the rhetorical structure of preface sections of linguistics books published in English and Arabic, and to explore the socio-cultural differences, if any, between the two languages as far as the genre of preface sections is concerned. To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, the present study is the first exploratory study of its type that solely addresses itself to the investigation of the rhetorical structure of preface sections in two different languages and cultures, namely, English and Arabic. As such, it is hoped that the study results will fill a gap in applied linguistics literature.

On the basis of research aims stated above, the following three main questions are formulated:

1. What is the rhetorical structure of linguistics book prefaces in English and Arabic?

2. Is the rhetorical structure of linguistics book prefaces in English and Arabic similar or different?

3. What are the socio-cultural practices and assumptions embedded in linguistics book prefaces of English and Arabic?

3. Methodology

3.1 Corpus

After a careful scrutinization, the researchers selected only those linguistics books of English and Arabic that contain preface sections. Besides, preface sections written by other than the book author(s) were not considered. As a result, the texts examined for this study were selected from preface sections of 80 books published between 1990-2010, representing one specific field, namely, linguistics. Precisely speaking, these 80 books were equally divided into 40 linguistics book prefaces published in English, and 40 ones in Arabic. The books examined are personal belongings of the researchers’ libraries. They cover various sub-disciplines within linguistics domain including morphology, syntax, semantics, discourse, pragmatics, etc. of both languages. The decision of selecting preface sections from a single

ALLS 7(2):25-32, 2016 27 discipline is supported by Kuhi's (2008, p.67) argument that is “to avoid any overgeneralizations of the results due to possible discipline-specific characteristics”.

3.2 Procedures

To achieve the objective of the present study, a qualitative procedure of analysis was used in coding the present corpus. That is, a content analysis of preface sections was followed to identify the different component moves. This involves scanning the texts to identify text units expressing particular functions. Assigning a function to each text unit is guided by the proposition that each individual unit communicates a particular rhetorical function which is different from that of the following contiguous text unit.

Swales’ (1990) schematic move model is adopted for corpus analysis. This model has been found equally useful as an analytical framework within which the rhetorical structure of the genre of preface sections can be analyzed. In this regard, Kong (1998) states that “working within the framework of genre move analysis is more powerful in interpreting the rhetorical structures of text typology” (p.104). Therefore, the first stage in the present study is exploring the move structure of preface sections from a genre analysis perspective in order to determine their global communicative purpose. Next, the second stage focuses on the most salient linguistic and discursive features of these texts with an aim of unveiling the socio-cultural practices of English and Arabic encoded in the language of this genre. To deal with the present corpus, Swales’ (1990) rhetorical model has relatively undergone some modifications and adjustments as Arabic corpus has not been tackled before. That is, some new moves are added whereas others are altered.

The term “move”, as a basic unit of analysis, can be defined as a discourse or rhetorical unit that performs a coherent communicative function in a written or spoken discourse. It can be realized by one sentence or more, or by a unit of analysis below the level of sentence, such as a clause, a phrase, or a word but a move normally contains at least one proposition (Swales, 2004, p. 229).

According to Dudley-Evans (1994), “decisions about the classification of the moves are made on the basis of linguistic evidence, comprehension of the text and understanding of the expectations that both the general academic community and the particular discourse community have of the text” (p. 226). In the present paper, the rhetorical moves are identified and coded on the basis of their propositional content and linguistic or textual clues. In a rhetorical-based research, it is often argued that the identification of moves on the basis of a semantic-functional criterion is not fully approved as it is largely subjective. The subjectivity of moves analysis often leads to a questioning of the reliability of its findings. In this connection, Shohamy, Claire and Roberta (1992) believe that if there is no inter-coder reliability, there can be no validity. Thus, a university professor of English linguistics was asked for coding 40% of the present corpus. As a result, the inter-coding reliability of moves identification is 83%. Although there are some differences in move identification, the 83% agreement between the researchers and the coder suggests a relatively high inter-coding reliability of the study corpus.

4. Results and Discussion

Based on Swales’ (1990) theoretical framework, a move structure model has been constructed to account for the identification of component rhetorical moves of the research corpus. Quantitatively, statistical tools such as raw frequencies and percentages are used in calculating the component moves of prefaces sections of the study corpus. The following sub-sections detail how these preface texts are rhetorically realized.

4.1 Rhetorical Analysis

The present section is intended to answer question one and two stated above regarding the rhetorical structure of preface sections in English and Arabic linguistics books.

An overall examination of the entire research corpus shows that the preface sections of both languages comprise nine recurring component moves. The analysis of the present corpus indicates that these moves appear regularly in the texts, and the order of their appearance varies to a certain extent, so that the order in which the moves are presented here is the most common. Of those nine moves identified, recurrent moves are either optional or obligatory. Obligatory moves are those prevalent ones constituting100% of preface sections of the present corpus. These skeletal moves can be considered as the backbone for the main communicative purpose of this academic genre, without which no existence for this genre is possible, as confirmed by their entirely prevailing presence throughout the whole corpus.

Table 1 and Figure 1 display the distribution of the component moves of the entire corpus. As shown below, the overall statistical results of both languages indicate that there are three obligatory moves, viz, heading, identifying the organization of the book, and signing off, whereas the rest are optional ones.

ALLS 7(2):25-32, 2016 28 Table 1. Overall distribution of recurrent moves in preface sections.

Move No. Functional Moves No & % Move 1 Heading 80- (100%) Move 2 Opening 40- (50%) Move 3 Introducing the book 67- (83.75%) Move 4 Identifying the purpose of book 69- (86.25%) Move 5 Identifying the readership of book 52- (65%) Move 6 Identifying the organization of book 80- (100%) Move 7 Acknowledging 59- (73.75%) Move 8 Closing 37- (46.25%) Move 9 Signing off 80- (100%) Total 564- 100%

Figure 1. Histogram of recurrent moves in preface sections.

Table 2 and Figure 2 present the detailed distribution of the component moves of preface sections in English and Arabic linguistics books. By and large, the statistical frequencies of the present corpus reveal relative differences in the move type and frequency of these texts. More specifically, some component moves are missing from one language while others are distributed with relatively varying proportions in the two languages. Another case in point is that some component moves are obligatory in one language while others are obligatory in both. The distribution and description of each individual move is detailed below.

Table 2. Distribution of recurrent moves in preface sections of English & Arabic Move No. Functional Moves English Arabic

No & % No & %

Move 1 Heading 40- (100%) 40- (100%) Move 2 Opening 0- (0%) 40- (100%) Move 3 Introducing the book 37- (92.5%) 30- (75%) Move 4 Identifying the purpose of book 36- (90%) 33- (82.5%) Move 5 Identifying the readership of book 32- (80%) 20- (50%) Move 6 Identifying the organization of book 40- (100%) 40- (100%) Move 7 Acknowledging 33- (82.5%) 26- (65%) Move 8 Closing 0- (0%) 37- (92.5%) Move 9 Signing off 40- (100%) 40- (100%) Total 258- 100% 306-100%

ALLS 7(2):25-32, 2016 29

Figure 2. Histogram of recurrent moves in preface sections of English & Arabic *Blue and red colors stand for English and Arabic preface sections respectively

The heading move comes first, and constitutes 100% of the entire corpus. Its statistical result shows that this move is an obligatory element in English and Arabic preface sections as it equally accounts for 100% of both English and Arabic texts. The heading move is integral to the genre’s main communicative purpose and by no means negligible, as suggested by its occurrence in every single instance of the study corpus. It is usually realized as a nominal lexical item in the two languages. That is, it is normally the word “preface” that realizes this move in English corpus. In the Arabic corpus, on the other hand, it takes either one of the following words to realize this move "ӨǊǂƺҗ", ƸǉӨƬҗ"" , "" ǉӨƌ җ, " "ة ح ت فاwhich are all equivalent to the English word “preface”. The heading is normally stressed by being printed as a separate line, in a different bold font size. The heading move in the present corpus has not been reported in previous research (Abdollahzadeh & Salarvand, 2013; Mohsenzadeh, 2013). The opening move is only found in the Arabic corpus, and constitutes100% of the texts examined as nil occurrence of this move can be found in the English corpus. This move regularly occurs second in the Arabic texts and normally opens with the formulaic Qur’anic verse“ ƸǊҳ Ƶǚ Ƽƺҳ Ƶǚ խ بسم“ (In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful).In this move, invocations and prayers praising Allah and/or his Prophet are commonly used. That is, expressions of praise to Allah for his bounties, and in some cases, blessings and prayers to his Prophet Muhammad appear within this component move. This component is culture-specific for Arabic corpus (See section 5.2 below).Again this move has not been reported in previous research. The following are some illustrative examples from the Arabic corpus;

1.بسم هللا الرحمن الرحیم والصالة والسالم على خاتم االنبیاء والمرسلین “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, and prayers and peace upon His last Prophet and Messenger”

.. ینالحمد رب العالمین والصالة والسالم على خاتم النبیین والھ وصحبھ الطاھر .2 “Praise be to Allah the Lord of Worlds, and prayers and peace upon His last Prophet, His decent Allies and Companions…..” The move of introducing the book accounts for 83.75% of the whole corpus. There is a relative variance in the frequency of this component as it constitutes 92.5% of the English corpus and 75% of the Arabic. Preface writers resort to the use of this move to establish the field of the work. In so doing, they attempt to highlight the book significance and genesis in the academia. In this respect, Azar (2012) suggests that “this move is employed to establish a niche in the relevant field of study, and it can be considered a typical promotional input” (p. 155). It almost appears third in the present corpus but with some exceptions. The same component has been reported in Abdollahzadeh and Salarvand's (2013) book prefaces corpus. The following examples are extracted from the study corpus; 3. “In my opinion, an understanding of semiotics is essential for anyone studying the mass media - or communication or cultural studies. No comparable text on the subject existed at the time so I rashly attempted to create one which suited my own purposes and those of my students.”

4.یھتم علم اللغة الحدیث بدراسة الواقع الحي للغة في صورتھا المنطوقھ بغرض الكشف عن اسرارھا ومن ھناى نحو ما حدث في نشط االھتمام بدراسة العامیة بین الباحثین للتعرف على خصائصھا ان التعبیرات العامیة في العربیة لم تنل االھتمام المناسب لھا عل

خرى"اللغات االوربیة اال (Modern linguistics is interested in the description of real language in its spoken form to explore its secrets. This has led to an increasing interest in dialects research to examine its characteristics since slang expressions in Arabic are under researched)

ALLS 7(2):25-32, 2016 30 As to the move of identifying the purpose of book, it accounts for 86.25% of the entire corpus. More precisely, it consists of 90% the English texts whereas 82.5% of the Arabic. Writers of both languages often use this move to announce why the book has been written and produced. In this way, they can establish the academic territory of their works and the gap in the market that the book aims at filling it. Therefore, it attempts to persuade the reader to purchase or use the book. In the present corpus, this move is an optional element in the two languages under investigation. With the same finding, Mohsenzadeh (2013) asserts the optional status of this move in her corpus of literature book prefaces of English and Persian. On the contrary, Kuhi (2008) reports its obligatory status in his corpus of preface sections of teaching textbooks. He adds further that “the frequent occurrence of this move in the majority of the book prefaces indicates the significance of mentioning the goals and aims before moving to the next stages of developing the preface” (p.69).Such contradictory findings between the present study and other studies can be attributed to possible discipline-specific characteristics. The following are some illustrative examples from both languages; 5. “The aim of this handbook is to capture this development and provide an overview over major trends in central aspects of pragmatics as realized across languages and cultures.” 6. انیة وظیفیة ""ھدفنا التوصل الى استجالء البنیة اللغویة الثابتة خلف الخطابات السردیة والوصفیة والقیام برصد ھذه البنیة في داخل نظریة لس (Our aim is to investigate the linguistic structure of narrative and descriptive discourses, and explain the linguistic structure within the functionalism framework) As for the move of identifying the readership of the book, it occupies 65% of the entire corpus, with an 80% of the English corpus and a 50% of the Arabic corpus. Statistically, there is a significant difference between the two languages. Functionally, this component move identifies the type of potential readers for whom a book might be of use since it assumes some prerequisite knowledge on the part of book readers. In other words, it suggests those for whom the book has been written. Regarding its textual function, Kuhi (2008) asserts that the significance of this recurrent move in book prefaces stems from the view that any reader who tries to access the content of a book might be interested in knowing whether s/he is among the target audience of the writer. Just knowing the objectives of the writer is not sufficient; potential buyers and readers should make sure the book is appropriate for their level of education and knowledge. The same finding has been reported in Abdollahzadeh and Salarvand's (2013) study. They maintain that “by naming the potential reading audience that can use the book, writers usually refer to a large group of readers to broaden the marketing domain” (p.1622). The following are examples extracted from the study corpus; 7. “I have tried to produce a text that is accessible to a fairly broad audience, including students of linguistics, philosophy, and psychology.” 8. غویین""یتوجھ ھذا الكتاب الى طالبنا الذین یتابعون تخصصھم في مجال اللغة العربیة والى كل من یتعامل مع قضایا اللغة من الباحثبن والل (This book is written for students of Arabic language and those who are dealing with linguistic issues like linguists and researchers) The move of identifying the organization of a book constitutes 100% of the whole corpus of preface sections. It equally comprises 100% of English and Arabic book prefaces, assuming its obligatory status in the present corpus. As for its textual function, it gives a general description and explanation of the book contents by describing it chapter by chapter. It serves as a map of the book and reveals the issues dealt with in each section. As not all parts of a book may be suitable for the identified audience, readers might find such book maps suitable to locate where to find information of interest (Kuhi, 2008, p.72). For Azar (2012), this component move is often used to guide readers as if with a roadmap to show the scope and contents of their academic books (p.159). The obligatory status of this move in the present corpus contradicts the findings of previous research (See Azar, 2012; Mohsenzadeh, 2013). Again, this can be due to cross-disciplinary differences. Consider the following examples from the study corpus; 9. “Part I splits linguistic acts into separate grammatical (encoded) and pragmatic (inferred) components. Part II presents evidence for an intimate association between the two. Finally, part III brings codes and inferences back together, as we consider interface levels where codes and inferences combine.”

لقد اھتمننا في ھذا . "الباب الثاني خصصناه لنظریات علم اللغة النفسي فعرضنا لھذه النظریات مع محاولة بیان عالقة كل نظریة بالمناھج النفسیة و 10 الباب بالنظریات الكبرى فقط"(Part Two deals with theories of psycholinguistics by reviewing them, and shows the relation between each theory and schools of psychology……….) The move of acknowledgment accounts for 73.75% of the entire corpus. It comprises 82.5% and 65% of the English and Arabic preface sections respectively. As shown, there is a statistical difference in the move distribution of the two languages. Functionally speaking, this move acknowledges assistance, support or contributions from different individuals in the various stages of preparation and writing of a book.Normally, acknowledged bodies include colleagues, students, family members, and institutions. Kuhi (2008) remarks that “preparing a book is not possible unless a group of people join together in supporting the author. Therefore, acknowledging and thanking contributors are a significant move in the preface texts to wrap up the section” (p. 73). Similarly, Azar (2012) asserts that acknowledgements in academic book prefaces serve as an attempt to express gratitude to people whom a writer feels have helped differently in the preparation of a book. Though it is customarily that book writers commonly appear to write a separate acknowledgment section in their introductory pages, they sometimes write acknowledgements within their prefaces. The following are some examples extracted from the study corpus;

ALLS 7(2):25-32, 2016 31 11. “We should like to thank the University of Strathclyde, the British Association of Applied Linguistics and Cambridge University Press for sponsoring the seminar series, which led to the commissioning of this book, and to David Alcock, former Education Librarian”

وال یفوتني ان اشكر زمالئي االساتذة الذین ساعدوني من قریب او بعید في انجاز ھذا العمل المتواضع " .12 واخص منھم بالذكر الدكتور حسن جالب والدكتور الحسن بوتابیا واالستاذ الحسن بنعاشر"(I cannot miss thanking my colleagues who helped me in one way or another to finish this work, particularly, Dr. Hassan Chilaab). For the closing move, it constitutes 46.25% of the entire corpus. This component is only found in the Arabic corpus with a 92.5%.As a general tendency, it seems that Arab writers tend to close off their preface sections with some religious and formulaic phrases exposing their true heartfelt intentions of their book writing, and wishing their readers the most benefit expected from the book reading. Although different closings are employed in Arabic preface sections, they all share the same function of ending these texts. In the Arabic corpus, religious and formulaic expressions can be either one of the following;"ƪ ǊƧǄҚƵǚ ǈƵǃ խǃ”, ""ƻǛƞҚƄƺƵǚ խǃ ƪ ǊƧǄҚƵǚ Ǜƾƶƹǐ ,""Өƌ ƬƵǚ ơǚ ǃ Ƽƹ խǃ ,or խ ƼǊƶǘǛƃƪ ǊƧǄҚƵǚ ǈƵǃ Ǆǁ ǃ ǀ Ɯƨƾǉ ƻǚ " ”, meaning(I testify to Allah hereby my true intention/ We ask Allah the best benefit of book reading, and He is the Arbiter of success). This move is typically realized by a sentence in the subjunctive mood. Its occurrence in the Arabic corpus suggests the socio-cultural practices and conventions of Arab writers. All research available on book prefaces does not report the closing move in their corpus. Finally, the move of signing off accounts for 100% of the whole corpus. It is evenly distributed in English and Arabic with a 100%, suggesting its obligatory status. Here, writers often end their preface sections with a signature written in their full name or first name, and/or with their academic title. In some cases, not only the book writer is identified, the place and time of book writing are as well at the very end of these texts in both languages. In other cases, though very few, only the common noun “the author” is used in both languages. This move is generally realized by the frequent use of nouns, namely, proper names and titles. It is noteworthy that the use of academic titles is only found in the Arabic corpus. On the other hand, the use of first names of book writers is found in the English corpus only. This observation can suggest different cultural values and perceptions of the writers of the two languages. The obligatory move of signing off is unique to the present corpus as no previous research has reported its occurrence. 4.2 Cultural Analysis The present section is intended to answer question three regarding the socio-cultural practices and perceptions embedded in preface sections of linguistics books of both languages. It is evident from the corpus analysis that the socio-cultural values and norms can, to a certain extent, shape the ways of how writers of the two languages construct their book prefaces, and influence the rhetorical structure of this genre. The analysis of present corpus reveals some instances of the embodiment of the cultural norms and practices in the construction of the genre of preface sections in both languages. As to the Arabic corpus, the Islamic ideology is very dominant in the component moves of opening and closing. The two moves build on Islamic ethos and assumptions, and much of their linguistic content is based on Arabic writing conventions. There are certain prayers, invocations and wishes reflecting the Muslims' attitudes and tendencies towards their religious beliefs and ethics. The existence of such lexico-grammatical resources can reflect the far-reaching influence of the Islamic culture on the patterns of thoughts and speech of most Arabic speakers. Ferguson (1997) reports that in Arabic, God formulas, such as prayers, blessings and wishes, are frequently used in daily encounters, and can reflect one of the most distinctive types of politeness forms in Arabic language and culture. Such utterances can show the religious overtones of Islam. Likewise, Al-Ali (2006) argues that the rhetorical structure of some genres written by Arab writers is best characterized by the existence of certain culture-based utterances, representing a peculiar feature of the Arabic writings. Normally, religion influences most aspects of Muslims' life to the extent that in most Arab societies there is no separation between religion and social life. Besides, compared to the English corpus, preface sections of Arabic books are noted for their relative use of academic titles. This is clearly realized in the signing off move. Titles such as “doctor” and “professor” are occasionally placed before the preface writers in the Arabic corpus. English writers of book prefaces, on the other hand, are noted for the relative use of their first names only without titles. Such an observation can suggest the cultural tendencies of the two languages investigated. As a pertinent feature of most Arabic-speaking countries, the parameter of social status, indicated through the relative use of academic titles, is highly valued in comparison to most English-speaking countries in which the parameter of social distance, indicated through the use of first names only, is more highly valued than social status (Hofstede, 1997). In the same vein, Nydell (2006) argues that most Arab countries are vertically organized where social status (power) is dominating, while most Western countries are horizontally organized where social distance (familiarity) is highly valued. These observations reflect the interweaving of cultural aspects within the linguistic resources of preface sections of English and Arabic. 5. Conclusion In this study, the schematic structure of preface sections of English and Arabic linguistics books are analyzed. The corpus analysis reveals that there are nine recurrent moves in the preface sections of English and Arabic. Preface writers devise and develop certain textual strategies or moves to promote the status of their productions. As to move type and frequency, there are some distributional variations between the two languages. That is, three moves, viz, heading, identifying the organization of the book, and signing off, are found obligatory in both languages, whereas two

ALLS 7(2):25-32, 2016 32 moves, viz, opening and closing are obligatory in Arabic preface texts only. In between, there aresome moves which are found optional in the two languages. This finding asserts that move structure of a given genre can vary in different languages. The dominant pattern of move structure in the study corpus provides evidence that preface sections constitute a genre characterized by its own communicative purpose. In this genre, writers’ intend to establish a need for their work in the current competitive academic setting, and show their orientations and describe their work positively in order to promote them as products (Azar, 2012). The analysis also reveals that the preface genre fulfills a promotional purpose besides its common informative purpose. In addition, the socio-cultural practices and assumptions of English and Arabic are found to be deeply rooted and embedded in the schematic structure of this genre. Pedagogically, the finding of this study can be used to provide materials for teaching how to write an effective book preface within the discipline investigated. Mastery of such knowledge of academic introductory genres can be acquired by means of genre-based courses which attempt to increase ESP teachers’ and EFL advanced learners’ awareness and nature of the schematic genre structures (Swales 1990). It has been suggested that acquiring the ability to use different textual strategies in writing academic introductions and exposing EFL advanced learners to the academic introductory discourse norms can activate their schematic knowledge and raise their awareness (Azar, 2012). As the present study is a small scale-based corpus, and this genre has surprisingly attracted little attention in applied linguistics research, more large scale-based research is needed to explore the preface genre within and across different languages. As such, it should attempt to find out more about how book writers of different languages and cultures manipulate rhetorically their preface sections to boost their products. Moreover, further research is suggested to investigate the rhetorical structure of this genre in and across different disciplines to examine if the schematic structure developed here can be extended to other disciplines as well. References Abdollahzadeh, E., & Salarvand, H. (2013). Book prefaces in basic, applied and social sciences: A genre-based study. World Applied Sciences Journal, 28 ,18-26. Al-Ali, M. (2005). Communicating messages of solidarity, promotion and pride in deathannouncements genre in Jordanian newspapers. Discourse and Society, 16 , 5-31. Azar, A. (2012). The self-promotion of academic textbooks in the preface section: A genre analysis. Journal of the Spanish Association of Anglo-American Studies, 34, 147–65. Basturkmen, H. (2009). Back cover blurbs: Puff pieces and windows on cultural values. In K. Hyland & G. Diani (Eds.), Academic evaluation. review genres in university settings (pp. 68-83).Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. Bhatia,V. (1993).Analyzing genre: Language use in professional settings. London: Longman. Bhatia, V. (1997). Genre-mixing in academic introductions. English for Specific Purposes, 16, 181-95. Dudley-Evans, A. (1994). Genre analysis: an approach for text analysis for ESP. In M. Coulthard (Ed.), Advances in written text analysis (pp. 2 1 9 - 2 8). London: Routledge. Ferguson, C. (1997). God-wishes in Syrian Arabic. In R. Belnap& N. Haeri (Eds.), Structuralist studies in Arabic linguistics (pp.206-228). New York: Brill. Giannoni, D. (2008). Popularizing features in English journal editorials. English for Specific Purposes, 27, 212-232. Halliday, M.K. and Hasan, R. (1989) Language, context, and text: Aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hofstede, G. (1997).Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Hyland, K. (2004). Graduates’ gratitude: The generic structure of dissertation acknowledgments. English for Specific Purposes, 23,303-324. Kong, K. (1998). Are simple business letters really simple? A comparison of Chinese and English business request letters. Text, 18, 103-41. Kuhi, D. (2008). An analysis of move structure of textbook prefaces. Asian ESP, 7, 63-78. Martin, P. M. (2003). A genre analysis of English and Spanish research paper abstracts in experimental social sciences. English for Specific Purposes, 22, 25-43. Mohsenzadeh, H. (2013). Rhetorical move structure of literature book prefaces in English and Persian. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4, 317-323. Nwoye, O. (1992). Obituary announcements as communicative events in Nigeria English. World Englishes, 11, 15-27. Etymology Dictionary. [Online] Available: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=preface&allowed_in_frame=0. (August, 2014). Nydell, M. (2006).Understanding Arabs. Maine: Intercultural Press. Rubio, M. (2011). A pragmatic approach to the macro-structure and metadiscoursal features of research article introductions in the field of agricultural sciences. English for Specific Purposes, 30, 258- 271. Shaw, P. (2009). The lexis and grammar of explicit evaluation in academic book reviews. In K. Hyland & G. Diani, Academic evaluation genre in university setting (pp. 217-235). Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. Shohamy, E., Claire M., & Roberta K. (1992). The effect of raters background and training on the reliability of direct writing tests. Modern Language Journal, 76, 27-33. Swales, J. (1990).Genre analysis: English in academic and research setting. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Swales, J. (2004).Research genres: Explorations and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.



The Teaching of English Idioms in Kenyan Secondary Schools: Difficulties and Effective Strategies

Moses Gatambuki Gathigia

Department of Languages, Karatina University, Kenya, P.O. Box 1957-10101, Karatina, Kenya E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Martin C. Njoroge (Corresponding author)

Department of Communication, Languages and Linguistics, PAC University, P.O. Box 56875-00200, Nairobi, Kenya E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]


The acquisition of idiomatic expressions is one of the primary challenges to learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) in multilingual contexts such as Kenya; yet, the learners are expected to use these expressions in their writing. The study on which this paper is based sought to assess the teaching of English idiomatic expressions in Kenyan secondary schools with a view to establishing the challenges teachers face in teaching the expressions and, thereafter, proposing effective strategies that can be applied for effective teaching of English idioms to ESL speakers. Ten teachers of English from both rural and urban secondary schools in Kenya were interviewed to find out the actual practices in their classrooms, the difficulties they face, and the effective strategies they employ for successful teaching of English idioms. The data collected were qualitatively analyzed. First, the study notes that it is possible to infer semantic relations between the literal sense of individual parts of an idiom and its meaning when interpreting compositional idioms. Second, there is incongruity between form and meaning when dealing with non compositional idioms since their semantic interpretation cannot be retrieved by means of their constituent parts. The study concludes that an understanding of the etymology of idioms can improve the comprehension and retention of idioms. The study recommends that idioms should be taught effectively in schools because the acquisition of idioms by learners will be an important indicator of their mastery of the English language. Keywords: Idiomatic expressions, semantic relations, compositional idioms, non compositional idioms 1. Introduction For many years, idiom instruction was viewed as a thorny issue by the vast majority of teachers in second language teaching contexts. The meaning of idioms was taken to be arbitrary, unpredictable and an alternative way of expression given the existence of literal equivalents (Irujo, 1993). However, despite the initial drawbacks, teachers and learners have come to accept the importance of idioms in language learning. In order to speak and write expressively, for example, a learner of any language must acquire the ability to use appropriate idioms. Idioms are inalienable part of a language that fall under the lexicon (lexis) of a language. It is important to note that the lexis is not limited to a repository of single words but it is a dynamic system, which includes larger lexical items [such as idioms] as well (Read, 2000). Idioms play a pivotal role in both foundation and comprehension of every language since, among other things, idioms are an indicator of one’s fluency in a particular language (Irujo, 1993). Nevertheless, as noted in the first paragraph of this paper, idiom learning constitutes a difficult part in second language acquisition because they are not always easily predicted from the literal meanings of their constituent parts. Strakšiene (2009), for example, notes this of idioms:

Idioms are considered to be one of the hardest and most interesting parts of the English vocabulary. On the one hand, they are considered one of the most peculiar parts of the language; on the other hand, they are difficult because of their unpredictable meaning and grammar (p.13).

Idioms, thus, require special attention in language teaching as they have been noted to be a challenge to teachers of English in a multilingual context (Baker, 1992; Boers, 2000; O’Dell, 2006). O’Dell (2006) specifically notes that the difficulties connected with teaching idioms can be avoided if suitable methods that make the learners more aware of potential problems in using idiomatic language are used. Consequently, good strategies will help learners avoid memorizing chunks of language which are soon forgotten (Boers, 2000; Gibbs, Bogdonovich, Sykes & Barr, 1997). With this in mind, the main objective of this research, therefore, is to identify the difficulties faced in the teaching of


ALLS 7(2):33-40, 2016 34 English idioms in Kenyan secondary schools and recommend suitable strategies of teaching English idioms to ESL learners. 2. Statement of the Problem English idioms constitute one of the most difficult linguistic aspects in second language acquisition because of their apparent incongruity between form and meaning. Moreover, the lack of explicit pedagogy of teaching English idioms mainly due to their figurative nature which consequently does not permit any lexical or syntactic modification poses a great problem to their acquisition. In contrast to syntax which has received a great attention, the study of idioms has also been neglected by educators and researchers, hence the need to give it attention. This paper, therefore, investigates the teaching of idioms in ESL contexts, specifically identifying the challenges faced in the teaching of English idioms and based on these challenges, recommends appropriate strategies for the teaching of English idioms in Kenyan Secondary schools. 3. Rationale and Literature Review The choice of idioms as an aspect of linguistic study is based on a number of reasons. First, idioms are an integral part of language use and a reliable measure of the proficiency of foreign learners (Cowie, Mackin & McCaig, 1983). Second, although literature materials ignore idioms entirely or relegate them to the ‘other expressions’ section of vocabulary lists, without providing exercises or other aids to learning (Irujo, 1986a, p. 237), idioms exhibit “idiom superiority effect.” This means that idioms are easily identified by listeners as quickly as or even more quickly than typical expressions (Tabossi, Fanari & Wolf, 2009) since they are generally a pervasive feature of many languages (Boers, 2000). The motivation to study English idioms is based on the premise that English seems to be rich in multi-word lexemes like idioms (Anglin, 1993). In addition, according to Seidl and McMordie (1978), idiomatic usage is so common in English that it can be difficult to speak and write without using idioms. Therefore, since idioms are frequently utilized in spoken and written English discourse, language learners must make an effort to master idioms, though, according to Cooper (1999) and Irujo (1986b), complete mastery of the same may be nearly impossible. As Cooper (1998) notes, idioms require special attention in language teaching and learning and should not be relegated to a position of secondary importance in the curriculum. 3.1 What is an Idiom? This research analyses several definitions of the term ‘idiom’ from various linguists. Moon (2006), for example, notes that an idiom is a multi-word item whose meaning is something else than the combined meanings of its constituent parts. Another linguist, Baker (1992), notes that idioms are “frozen patterns of language which allow little or no variation in form and often carry meanings which cannot be deduced from their individual components” (p.63). Closely related to the above definitions is Kovecses and Szabco’s (1996) postulation that idioms are linguistic expressions whose overall meaning (figurative or idiomatic meaning) cannot be predicted from the meanings of the constituent parts (literal meaning). Carter (1987, p. 66) treats idioms as linguistic forms which can be defined as follows: they are non-substitutable collocations; they usually occur as more than single-word units and they exhibit semantic opacity and this is the definition adopted in the paper. The common thread in the above definitions is that idioms are larger lexical items whose meaning cannot be easily inferred from the components of the word and this is the perspective adopted in this paper. 3.2 Research Studies on Idioms There are numerous studies of idioms across the globe which may be classified into two general classes: studies that focus on the learning of idioms in the first language (for example, Titone & Connine, 1994) and studies of idioms in second / foreign language (for example, Cooper, 1999; Irujo, 1986a; Liontas, 2002). In Chinese, for example, Yang and Xie (2013) undertakes a study of 12 second-year Chinese learners who are engaged in a self-generated learning process that focuses on learning abstract and concrete idioms using iPads. The study found out that due to collaborative nature of this activity, iPads facilitated comprehension of idioms. Luk and Ng (1998) found that Computer Applied Language Learning (CALL) contributes to the learning of Chinese idioms. Specifically, the subjects aged 9-11 years, ranked graphic / drawing illustration as the second most effective strategy after explanation. Wong, Chin, Tan and Liu (2010) also found out that both the in-class and online sharing and discussions of the contexts enhanced the students’ comprehension of the proper usages of the idioms. In Turkish, Komur and Cimen (2009) investigate the effects of conceptual metaphors in the teaching of idioms in Turkey. The study notes that metaphor-related activities should be employed for idiom teaching. Lennon (1998) also supports this metaphorical approach. Kurt (1991) analyzes Turkish proverbs and idioms from a psychological perspective and shows that projection and displacement mechanisms are active in Turkish idioms, and that several proverbs indicate certain emotions. Other studies which deal with the study of idioms from multilingual settings includes Irujo (1986a) who investigates whether advanced students of English rely on knowledge of their native Spanish in order to comprehend and produce L2 idioms. While idioms, which were similar in L1 and L2 presented learners with somewhat more difficulty, idioms that were completely different in L1 and L2 proved to be the most difficult for learners to comprehend and produce. Liontas (2002) examines the effect of context on the comprehension and interpretation of French, German and Spanish idioms which had been selected based on their interlingual similarity. Liontas (2002) reveals that context significantly

ALLS 7(2):33-40, 2016 35 affected the comprehension of idioms. The findings from these studies point to the need to document the experiences of teaching idioms in a multilingual setting such as Kenya to confirm if similar findings hold true. 4. Research Methods 4.1 Research Design This study adopts a qualitative research design. The importance of using a qualitative research design is that it helps us understand the meaning of a phenomenon [in this study, idioms] from the perspective of the participants [in this study, the respondents] (Merriam, 1998). That is, a qualitative research ‘says how things are’ by informing the reader of phenomena as experienced by the study participants and interpreted by the researcher in a relevant context (Creswell, 2003); hence, the rationale of using this specific design. 4.2 Sampling Procedure and Sampling Size Ten teachers of English in Nyeri County from both rural and urban secondary schools were purposively sampled for this study. This is consonant with Creswell (2008) advice about qualitative research that researchers may purposefully and intentionally select sites [respondents] that can best help them to understand their central phenomenon. The ten schools sampled are all categorized as District secondary schools in Nyeri County, Kenya. 4.3 Data collection The study used an interview schedule as the tool of data collection (see Appendix 1). As Borg and Gall (1989) note, interviews are normally more flexible and are capable of producing data of great depth. Although an interview schedule follows a pre-determined structure, the researchers were able to ask probing questions to gain a fuller understanding of the issues under discussion (Gillham, 2005). The interview schedule (cf. Appendix 1) consisted of two sections. Section A helped the study in getting the bio-data of the respondents viz name (optional), age and the rural urban setting. Section B had three questions which helped the study get the teachers’ opinions on whether idioms are an important part of English as a Second Language (ESL), identify appropriate strategies for teaching English idioms and the difficulties teachers experience while teaching English idioms (cf. Appendix 1). 4.4 Data analysis and presentation Data analysis is the process of providing order, structure, and interpretation to collected data (Marshall & Rossman, 1995). The data elicited through the interview schedule were coded and analyzed qualitatively. The results were then presented in tables and percentages summarizing the effective strategies employed in the teaching of English idioms and the difficulties faced in the teaching of English idioms (cf. Tables 1 &2). 5. Findings and Discussions Both the teachers of English from rural and urban settings had similar responses in relation to the questions in the interview schedule. The responses to each item are presented below: Question 1: Do you consider idioms an important part of the English as second language teaching? All the 10 teachers noted that idioms are an important and inalienable part of English as a second language. They explained that idioms have a great influence in the teaching and learning process of a second language since in order to speak and write succinctly, a learner must acquire the ability to use idiomatic expressions well. One teacher, however, added that idioms can be frustrating barrier to better understanding of English if not properly taught. Question 2: If you were to teach idioms in your classroom, explain the strategies you would use to teach them? Give an example in English for every strategy you would employ in your teaching. The research noted that there are a variety of strategies that teachers employ in the teaching of idioms. Table 1 below highlights some of the effective strategies employed by teachers in the teaching of English idioms and their percentage count. Table 1. A summary of effective strategies employed in the teaching of English idioms

No Strategy No of Teachers for the strategy Rural Urban

Percentage Count % Rural Urban

1 Use of Context 5 4 50 40 2 Discussion 4 5 40 50 3 Etymology 5 5 50 50 4 Grouping 4 4 40 40 5 A Cognitive Approach - 1 - 10 6 A Compositional Approach 5 5 50 50 7 Other Strategies 2 2 20 20

ALLS 7(2):33-40, 2016 36 Strategy 1: The role of context in idioms learning Nine teachers (five from rural and four from urban secondary schools) reported that for a better understanding of an idiom, teaching should always occur in a linguistically supportive context. A teacher suggested that the teaching of idioms should take place in a rich context for students’ language learning and practice. One teacher from the rural setting noted that idioms should not be taught in isolation, but are best learned in a rich context as that gives the learners an opportunity to process them on a deeper level. Another teacher opined:

If a learner does not comprehend the appropriate context in which an idiom is used, he/she will use it inappropriately. This is because context facilitates the interpretation of figurative language by providing the necessary semantic information from which reader can infer the appropriate sense of expression.

This finding corroborates Thornbury’s (2005) opinion that without context, language is not fully understood. Dunmore (1989) and Cooper (1999) also agree that using contextual clues to infer the meaning of unknown words is an effective strategy which helps learners acquire skills and aids vocabulary learning. Strategy 2: Group discussion Four teachers from rural and five from urban secondary schools noted that group discussions provide learners with rich opportunities to acquire social and linguistic knowledge necessary for understanding idioms that they encounter. The teachers argued that group discussions assist learners in the understanding of non decomposable idioms. A teacher explained her experience:

Every Tuesday and Thursday, I normally divide my class of 30 students into five groups of equal abilities and share five idioms I have selected for them to discuss. Each group discusses their meanings and constructs creative sentences which they present to the whole class. I listen to their presentations as I offer my critique to their presentations.

Another teacher emphasized that students were very excited in group discussion and recommended that putting students into group discussions is an effective way of teaching English idioms for various ages and levels. Strategy 3: The etymology of an Idiom All the teachers (five from rural and five from urban secondary schools) recommended that for effective teaching of idioms, the comprehension of the etymology of idioms is important. This is because, as one teacher noted, delving into the etymology of an idiom enhances retention and comprehension. Further, the association between an idiom and its etymology promotes insightful learning rather than ‘blind’ memorization thereby enhancing retention. This finding corroborates Boers, Demecheleer and Eyckmans (2004, p.53) postulation on etymological elaboration of idioms that “information about the origin of an idiom often enables learners to figure out their idiomatic meaning independently”. For example, the idiom, “Pandora’s box” has its origin from a character in Greek mythology who opened a box containing troubles and let the troubles come into the World (Rundell & Fox, 2007). Another idiom like a “Sisyphean task” also has its etymology from the Greek myth in which Sisyphus was punished for the bad things he had done in his life. Sometimes, the Bible is needed to understand the etymology of an idiom. For example, “by the skin of one’s teeth”, will require one to understand its etymology. The idiom means “barely making it,” “by a narrow margin” or “with nothing to spare.” The idiom has its origins in the Bible, where Job is complaining about how illness has emaciated his body. He says: “20My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.” (Job 19:20). A teacher recommended that etymological elaboration of idioms should be employed in cases where there is incongruity between form and meaning when dealing with non compositional idioms since their semantic interpretation cannot be retrieved by means of their constituent parts. This is in consonance with studies which have confirmed the significant role of etymological elaboration in idiom comprehension (Bagheri & Fazel, 2010; Boers, Demecheleer & Eyckmans, 2004). Strategy 4: Grouping of idioms Four teachers from rural schools and four from urban secondary schools proposed that grouping of idioms assists learners in retrieving and organizing them in a more effective way. The teachers proposed that grouping of idioms may be based on thematic areas like idioms on emotions, Biblical idioms, idioms on farm animals, body part idioms et cetera. This corroborated McCarthy and O’Dell’s (2008) opinion that idioms are connected with the themes of animals, the sea, sports, parts of the body, food and drink, colours, names of people and places, sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. For example, a teacher can classify idioms which refer to farm animals, for example, “the black sheep of the family,” “don’t count your chickens,” et cetera. Idioms from which body part represents a particular quality or ability, for example, “use your head,” “the idea never entered my head,” “she broke his heart,” “he opened his heart,” “I speak from the bottom of my heart,” “the news finally reached her ears,” “give / lend an ear,” “split hairs,” “keep your mouth shut, ” “keep an eye on something.” The following idioms may also be grouped together under the key word ‘cards,’: “Hold all the cards,” “play your cards close to your chest,” “lay all your cards on the table,” “play your cards right” and “play your trump card”. One of the teachers also gave the following experience:

“I arrange idioms according to their grouping. In one week for example, I teach idioms based on animals, like ‘be like a cat on a hot tin roof,’ ‘cry like a baby’, ‘work like an ant’ and ‘red herring.’ The following week after I am through with animal idioms, I may introduce another group of idioms based on emotions.

According to Schmitt (1997), grouping is an important strategy since it assists learners in retrieving and organizing vocabulary in a more effective way.

ALLS 7(2):33-40, 2016 37 Strategy 5: A Cognitive Linguistics view on idioms One teacher from an urban secondary school proposed that the teaching of idioms should be based on the exploitation of the Cognitive Linguistics view on idioms. The teacher, paraphrasing Lakoff and Johnson’s (2003) opinion, argued that one of the major tenets of Cognitive Linguistics is that metaphor is pervasive in our everyday life and that our conceptual system is metaphorical in nature. The cognitivist view suggests that the meaning of many idioms is not arbitrary, but it is motivated by metaphor, metonymy and conventional knowledge (Kövecses, 2002). The teacher proposed that learners should be trained on what motivates the usage of idioms as well as how to extrapolate the conceptual metaphors underlying the idioms in a given text. For example, when the idiom “spit fire” is used to express one’s anger, one is unconsciously treating his or her body as a container full of emotions. Likewise, the idiom, “his ideas have finally come to fruition,” falls under the conceptual metaphor, IDEAS ARE PLANTS since plants give rise to fruits. The Cognitive Linguistics technique, however, should be seen as a complementary means of instruction and not as the sole approach to teach figurative language for not all idioms are semantically motivated (Boers, 1999). An idiom like, “a snake in the grass,” may be said to be based on A HUMAN BEING IS AN ANIMAL conceptual metaphor. The idiom, “hot under the collar,” may be said to fall under ANGER IS HEAT/FIRE conceptual metaphor. This is in agreement with Lennon’s (1998) suggestion that since idioms are so semantically opaque, they are well suited to a problem-solving approach in teaching, which can exploit learners’ innate cognitive drive to make sense out of their environment. Strategy 6: The compositional analysis model Ten teachers (five from rural and five from urban secondary schools) underpinned the importance of a compositional analysis in the comprehension of idiomatic expressions. Teachers were unanimous that a compositional analysis is possible to infer semantic relations between the literal sense of individual parts of an idiom and its meaning when interpreting compositional idioms or decomposable idioms. Decomposable or compositional idioms are those whose figurative and literal meanings are close to each other (for example, “out of the woods,” “hot potato,” “walk on eggshells,” “a bitter pill (for somebody) (to swallow),” and “rub salt into the wound,” while the non-decomposable or opaque idioms are those whose literal meaning offers no clue for the construction on the figurative meaning (for example, “(buy) a pig in a poke,” “dressed up like a dog’s dinner,” “to cleanse the Augean stables,” “the black sheep,” “bite the bullet, “pull a rabbit out of a hat”). This corroborates Penttilä (1998, p.158) argument that idioms can sometimes be understood from the constituent parts. Gibbs, Nayak and Cutting (1989) also agree that learners process decomposable idioms faster than non-decomposable idioms. So, in the teaching of idioms, a teacher should ‘decompose’ an idiom by looking at its literal meaning. Strategy 7: Other Strategies Four teachers (two from rural and two from urban secondary schools) also proposed the following strategies for the teaching of idioms in Kenyan secondary schools: matching of idioms with their meanings and the use of crossword puzzles. A teacher also argued that teachers should use idioms as a motivational tool by taking advantage of the entertainment factor to make the study of idioms easier. Question 3: What are the difficulties you encounter while teaching idiomatic expressions? The teachers identified the following difficulties that they encountered in the teaching of English idioms in Kenyan secondary schools. Table 2 below summarizes these difficulties: Table 2. A summary of difficulties faced in the teaching of English idioms

No Difficulty No of Teachers Rural Urban

Percentage Count % Rural Urban

1 Paucity of Suitable Materials on Idioms

6 4 60 40

2 Grammatical Errors 4 5 40 50 3 Opacity of Idioms 5 5 50 50 4 Attitudinal Problems 4 4 40 40

Difficulty 1: Paucity of suitable materials on idioms Six teachers from rural and four from urban secondary schools noted that there is glaring paucity of suitable materials for teaching English idioms in Kenyan secondary schools. This corroborates Irujo’s (1986a) observation that there is general lack of suitable materials for teaching idioms that makes it difficult for the learners to learn them. As such, teachers faced difficulties identifying the idioms to teach and suitable pedagogies. One teacher noted that he normally collects idioms for learners from newspapers, novels and other literary materials. Difficulty 2: Attitudinal Problems Eight teachers (four from rural and four from urban secondary schools) argued that students had attitudinal problems towards the learning of English idioms. A teacher recalled that a student had branded idioms as esoteric and difficult.

ALLS 7(2):33-40, 2016 38 He also claimed that students were apathetic to the teaching of idioms and, therefore, the teacher found it difficult to convince the learners that the teaching of idioms would enhance their writing and speaking skills. Difficulty 3: Grammatical errors Nine teachers (four from rural and five from urban secondary schools) noted that most idioms are relatively frozen and have severe grammatical restriction. As such, they do not permit any lexical or syntactic modification. This makes students to misuse idioms both while speaking and writing. A teacher noted of a case when a student formed a plural form for the idiom ‘kick the bucket’ to ‘kicks the buckets.’ Another teacher noted of a case when a student instead of using the idiom “a sacred cow,” used an “evil cow.” Therefore, teaching idioms and specifically, non decomposable idioms pose both grammatical and semantic challenges. Difficulty 4: Opacity of Idioms All teachers (five from rural and five from urban secondary schools) noted that learners of English as a second language experience greater difficulties learning the meanings of opaque idioms, than they do acquiring transparent ones. This is because the meaning of opaque idioms cannot be retrieved by means of the meaning of their constituent parts. For example, the idioms, “Pandora’s box,” “to kiss the blarney stone” and “pick up / take up the gauntlet” pose a great challenge to their comprehension. 6. Implications The present study has implications for teachers, learners, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and other stakeholders in education. First, the findings indicate that teachers sampled in the study use a number of strategies while teaching idioms because they understand the importance of mastery of idioms in language use. The findings could, therefore, persuade teachers of English in Kenya on the importance of teaching English idioms, and how to effectively teach them using the strategies highlighted in this paper. Specifically, the use of etymological elaboration is an effective strategy of teaching English idioms and especially when dealing with non compositional idioms. Second, the government and non governmental agencies need to support, finance and provide grants for the publication of literature on idioms since there is paucity of suitable materials on idioms. In addition, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development and other stakeholders in language learning and teaching should frequently organize workshops and seminars on the best and current strategies of teaching English idioms. The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development should also consider giving idioms a more prominent role in second language learning by revising and modernizing the entire language education curriculum in Kenyan secondary schools. 7. Conclusions The paper set out to investigate the teaching English idioms in Kenyan secondary schools, specifically focusing on the challenges teachers faced in teaching them and strategies used to alleviate these challenges. The findings reveal that idioms are an important part of English teaching and learning. The paper also notes that it is possible to infer semantic relations between the literal sense of individual parts of an idiom and its meaning when interpreting compositional idioms. Further, the paper points out that the strategy of delving into the etymology of English idioms is one of the most effective teaching strategies and especially so when idioms exhibit incongruity between form and meaning. The research also notes that there is paucity of literature on idioms, teachers are apathetic to the teaching of idioms, opaque idioms are difficult to comprehend and grammatical errors bedevil most learners’ books. Despite these challenges, it is the recommendation of this paper that idioms should be taught effectively in schools because the acquisition of these idioms by learners will be important indicators of their mastery of the English language. References Bagheri, M., & Fazel, I. (2010). Effects of etymological elaboration on EFL learners’ comprehension and retention of idioms. Applied Linguistics, 14 (1), 45-55. Baker, M. (1992). In other words: A course book on translation. London and New York: Routledge. Boers, F. (1999). Learning vocabulary through metaphor awareness. Étudeset Travaux, 3, 53-65. Boers, F. (2000). Metaphor awareness and vocabulary retention, Applied Linguistics, 21 (4), 553-571. Boers, F., Demecheleer, M., & Eyckmans, J. (2004). Etymological elaboration as a strategy for learning idioms. In P. Bogaards & L. Batia (Eds.), Vocabulary in a second language: selection, acquisition and testing (pp. 53-78). Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co. Boers, F., Eyckmans, J., Kappel, J., Stengers, H., & Demecheleer, M. (2006). Formulaic expressions and perceived oral proficiency: Putting a lexical approach to the test. Language Teaching Research, 10(3), 245-261. Borg, W. R., & Gall, M. D. (1983). Education research: An introduction (4th ed.). New York: Longman. Borg, W., & Gall, W. (1989). Educational research: An introduction. Toronto: Longman. Cain, K., Oakhill, J., & Lemmon, K. (2005). The relation between children’s reading comprehension level and their comprehension of idioms. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 90, 65-87. Carter, R. (1987). Vocabulary: Applied linguistic perspectives. London: Allen and Unwin. Cooper, T. C. (1998). Teaching idioms. Foreign Language Annals, 31(2), 255-266.

ALLS 7(2):33-40, 2016 39 Cooper, T. C. (1999). Processing of idioms by L2 learners of English. TESOL Quarterly, 33(2), 233-262. Cowie, A. P., Mackin, R., & McCaig, I. R. (1983). Oxford dictionary of current idiomatic English: Phrase, clause and sentence idioms. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Ohio: Pearson. Dunmore, D. (1989). Using contextual clues to infer word meaning: An evaluation of current exercise types. Reading in a Foreign Language, 6 (1), 337-347. Gardner, R. C., & Macintyre, P. D. (1991). An instrumental motivation in language study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 13(1), 57-72. Gibbs, R. W. (1987). Linguistic factors in children's understanding of idioms. Journal of Child Language, 14, 569-586. Gibbs. R. W. (1994). The poetics of mind: Figurative thought, language, and understanding. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Gibbs R., Bogdonovich, J., Sykes, J., & Barr, D. (1997). Metaphor in idiom comprehension. Journal of Memory and Language, 37, 141-154. Gibbs, R. W., Nayak, N., & Cutting, C. (1989). How to kick the bucket and not decompose: Analyzability and idiom processing. Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 576-593. Gibbs, R. (2006). Embodiment and cognitive science, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Gillham, B. (2005). Research interviewing: The range of techniques. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press. Irujo, S. (1986a). A piece of cake: Learning and teaching idioms. ELT Journal, 40 (3), 236-242. Irujo, S. (1986b). Don’t put your leg in your mouth: Transfer in the acquisition of idioms in a second language. TESOL Quarterly, 20 (2), 287-300. Keysar, B., & Bly, B. M (1999). Swimming against the current: Do idioms reflect conceptual structure? Journal of Pragmatics, 31, 1559-1578. Kömür, S., & Çimen, S. (2009).Using conceptual metaphors in teaching idioms in a foreign language context. Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi (LKE), 23, 205-222. Kothari, C. (2004). Research methodology: Methods and techniques (2nd ed.). New Delhi: New Age International Publishers. Kövecses, Z. (2002). Metaphor: A practical introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kövecses, Z., & Szabco, P. (1996). Idioms: A view from cognitive semantics. Applied Linguistics, 17(3), 326-355. Kurt, İ. (1991). Türkatasözlerinepsikolojikbiryaklaşım. Ankara: Mas Press. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2003). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lennon, P. (1998). Approaches to the teaching of idiomatic language. IRAL, 36 (1), 11-30. Liontas, J. I. (2002). Context and idiom understanding in second languages. EUROSLA Yearbook, 2, 155-185. Luk, R. W. P., & Ng, A. B. Y. (1998). Computer-assisted learning of Chinese idioms. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 14, 2–18. Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. (1995). Designing qualitative research. London: Sage Publications. Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass. Moon, R. (1997). Vocabulary connections: Multi-word items in English. In N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy (eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy (pp. 237-257). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Moon, R. 2006. Vocabulary connections: multi-word items in English. In N. Schmitt and M.McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy (pp. 40 – 63). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Nation, P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Nunan, D. (2003). Practical English language teaching. New York: McGraw Hill. O'Dell, F. (2006). Incorporating vocabulary into the syllabus. In N. Schmitt and M.McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy (pp. 258-278). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Penttilä, E. (1998). Constructions and idiomatic expressions. Studies in Languages, 34, 157-167. Perce, M. (2007). The Routledge dictionary of English language studies. London: Routledge. Radden, G., & Kovecses, Z. (1999). Towards a theory of metonymy. In K.U. Panther & G. Radden (Eds.), Metonymy in language and thought (pp.17-59). Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Read, J. (2000). Assessing vocabulary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

ALLS 7(2):33-40, 2016 40 Rundell, M., & Fox, G. (2007). Macmillan English dictionary for advanced learners. London: Macmillan. Saberian, N., & Fotovatnia, Z. (2011). Idiom taxonomies and idiom comprehension: Implications for English teachers theory and practice in language studies, 1 (9), 1231-1235. Scott, W., & Ytreberg, L. (2000). Teaching English to children. New York: Longman. Seidl, J., & McMordie, W. (1978). English idioms and how to use them. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Strakšiene, M. (2009).Translation strategies from English into Lithuanian. Studies about Languages, 14, 13-19. Tabossi, P., Fanari, R., & Kinou, W. (2009). Why are idioms recognized fast? Memory & Cognition, 37 (4), 529-36. The Holy Bible, New King James Version (1982). Thomas Nelson, Inc. Thornbury, S. G. (2005). Beyond the sentence: Introducing discourse analysis. Oxford: Macmillan Education. Tompkins, G. E. (2001). Literacy for the 21st century (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Titone, D. A., & Connine, C. M. (1994). Descriptive norms for 171 idiomatic expressions: Familiarity, compositionality, predictability, and literality. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity, 9, 247–70. Wong, L.H., Chin, C.K., Tan, C.L., & Liu, M. (2010). Students' personal and social meaning making in a Chinese idiom mobile learning environment. Educational Technology & Society, 13 (4), 15–26. Yang, C., & Xie, Y. (2013). Learning Chinese idioms through iPads. Language Learning Technology, 17(2), 12–23. Yoshikawa, H. (2008). International intelligibility in world Englishes: Focusing on idiomatic expressions. International Communication Studies, 17 (4), 219-226. Appendix 1: Interview schedule of teachers of English The purpose of this interview schedule is to get your views on the difficulties you face and the effective strategies you employ in the teaching of English idioms in Kenyan secondary schools. Any information that you give will be treated with confidence and will only be used for the purpose of this academic research. Section A Name (optional) …………………………………………….. Age ………………………………………………………………. Your area of teaching Rural ( ) Urban ( ) Section B

1) Do you consider idioms an important part of the English as second language teaching? If YES – explain why: If NO – explain why not:

2) While teaching idioms in your classroom, explain the strategies you would use you to teach them? Give an example in English for every strategy you employ in your teaching.

3) What are the difficulties you encounter while teaching idiomatic expressions?



Postcolonial Hybrids in The Lowland

Seyedeh Zahra Ghoreishi (Corresponding author) Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran


Zahra Bordbari Faculty member of Islamic Azad University, Roodehen Branch, Roodehen, Iran



This paper delves into Jhumpa Lahiri’s 2013 novel, The Lowland, to analyze the diasporic experience of the Indian-born characters. Homi Bhabha’s postcolonial approach is utilized to demonstrate the ways in which the characters perceive the immigration experience, and to unravel the causes of their despair, the disintegration of their family, and the underlying reasons behind the decisions that they make to compensate for their marginal status in the adopted land. It is attempted to shed light on the characters’ insecurities and mental challenges brought forth by their ‘liminal’ condition, in which they find themselves caught in a dilemma between the Indian lifestyle on the one hand, and the American dominant culture, on the other. Furthermore, ‘hybridity’ is discussed, which entails the characters’ partial adoption of the foreign culture that gives birth to mixed identities in the ‘third space.’ This research concludes that in spite of the disturbing aspects of diasporic life including uncertainty, marginality, and unbelonging over which the characters possess no control, they are capable of surviving and even flourishing in the foreign social milieu. Keywords: Adopted Land; Diaspora; Liminality; Hybridity; Third Space 1. Introduction The Lowland (2013) tells the story of two brothers whose paths diverge when Subhash goes to the United States to obtain a Ph.D. degree while Udayan stays behind to join a political movement, which ultimately results is his mysterious murder. Despite his parents’ will, Subhash marries his brother’s widow, Gauri, who is pregnant with Udayan’s child. Frequenting the campus where Subhash studies, Gauri becomes interested and absorbed in the Western academia and abandons Subhash and her own little daughter, Bela, to pursue academic success. She returns to her family so late only to realize that the damage she had caused is irreversible. Lahiri demonstrates the characters’ hopes and fears, certainties and dilemmas, along with their joys and grief. The Lowland reveals how the diasporic characters struggle with their new condition in the host country, and how they pass through the liminal stage to negotiate hybrid identities. Similar to this reading, the critical studies of Lahiri’s previous works have mainly dealt with postcolonial concepts and issues. However, to this day, almost all the papers written on The Lowland have been politically charged, having discussed the militant experience and political violence. Although the theme of politics is extensively treated in The Lowland, the postcolonial condition of the characters is equally emphasized. Thus, this paper attempts to render a postcolonial reading of The Lowland in the light of Bhabhaesque theories. 2. Homi K. Bhabha and the Postcolonial Theory In his discussion on liminality, “Bhabha directs our attention to what happens on the borderlines of cultures, to see what happens in-between cultures. He thinks about this through what he calls the liminal, meaning that which is on the border or the threshold” (Huddart 4). To Bhabha, “the middle of things is simply where we find ourselves,” (ibid. 13) and he maintains that the liminal space is the space between two binaries, such as “self and other, chartered and unchartered territory” (Durrant 75). In The Location of Culture (2007), Bhabha exemplifies his conception of liminality by a stairwell, which poses the binary divisions of higher and lower, and states that, “the stairwell as liminal space, in-between the designation of identity, becomes the process of symbolic interaction, the connective tissue that constructs the difference between upper and lower, black and white” (5). He introduces the concepts of the pedagogical and the performative and argues that “[t]he liminality of the people - their double inscription as pedagogical objects and performative subjects” (Bhabha, “DissemiNation” 302) indicates that people are one the one hand objects of “the process of identity constituted by historical sedimentation” that he calls ‘the pedagogical,’ and on the other hand, subjects to “the loss of identity in the signifying process of cultural identification” which he calls ‘the performative’ (Bhabha, The Location 219). In fact, pedagogy refers to what people already are while performativity is what people are becoming, and they are in the perpetual process of negotiating new identities


ALLS 7(2):41-47, 2016 42 (Huddart 73). To Bhabha “the pedagogical is caught up in the performative,” so “the consequence is a familiar blurring of apparently polarized categories… the pedagogical is never as stable as it wants to be, and the performative itself becomes pedagogically important” (ibid.). Bhabha’s writing places great emphasis on the hybrid nature of cultures, and mixed-ness within every form of identity (Huddart 4). In Bhabha’s words, “[t]he day-to-day lives and struggles of people [can]not simply be seen in terms of binaries and polarities” (Eakin). Through his example of the stairwell, he suggests that the temporal passage which the stairwell allows “prevents identities at either end of it from settling into primordial polarities. This interstitial passage between fixed identifications opens up the possibility of a cultural hybridity” (The Location 5). Thus, hybridity is “a denial that there were cultures already there that became hybrid” (Huddart 84-5). Cultures are the consequence of the “hybridizing processes” (ibid. 87) coming after them, rather than existing before (ibid. 99). To Bhabha, cultures are in constant contact with one another, (4) so they “are never unitary in themselves, nor simply dualistic” (Bhabha, The Location 52). Bhabha adds, “for me the importance of hybridity is not to be able to trace two original moments from which the third emerges, rather hybridity to me is the ‘third space’ which enables other positions to emerge. Being “a site of multiple discursive positionings,” (Naidu 437) the third space displaces the histories that constitute it, and sets up new structures of authority” (qtd. in Huddart 85). It “disrupts the binary opposition between ‘self’ and ‘other;’” it is “an in-between space, where hierarchies between cultures, colonizers and colonized become destabilized” (Blunt 11). “‘Third’ is used to denote the place where negotiation takes place, where identity in all its ambiguities is constructed and reconstructed,” and it “offers a location that is both a challenge and an opportunity” (Johnston and Richardson 122-3). 3. Liminal State Subhash Mitra, a first-generation Bengali immigrant, goes to the United States to pursue a Ph.D. degree. At his arrival in Rhode Island, he feels “[h]e didn’t belong” (Lahiri 65) to the American community. However, this does not concern him very much since “it was assumed, by his family, by himself, that his life there was temporary,” (67) and it is “only a matter of a few years” (34). He has merely intended to get his Ph.D. in America and then go back to India. Subhash feels he is at the threshold; he has left his homeland, yet he does not feel to be capable of joining the American community. He remembers his childhood when he and his brother used to sneak into the golf club that the British owned. They wished to be allowed to enter the club, but they never were. In America, “he’d been admitted [to golf clubs] officially and yet he remained vigilant, at the threshold” (40). “Here, in this place surrounded by sea, he was drifting far from his point of origin” (44). Subhash is still longing for his homeland; at the same time, he seriously feels the urge to join the new community. He cannot help noticing that “[t]he difference [between America and India] was so extreme.” (39) He studied at an American campus in the daytime, and “cooked curry and boiled a pot of rice” at night (44). When asked about his apartment, he says, “I preferred a place with a kitchen. I wanted to make my own meals” (41). Gauri also cannot easily let go of the Indian traditions and customs, nor can she ignore that people around her live more exciting lives. Her pedagogy, in Bhabhaesque terms, imposes that she wears Indian attire, while her performativity leads her to conform to the American girls and wear jeans and a jacket. “In the afternoon, after the rain ended, she put on her winter coat over her sari” (122). This demonstrates Gauri’s confusion, and the degree to which she is uncertain about how to dress. “She’d intended to remain anonymous, to go unnoticed” (124). This is how she feels peaceful and secure. “Still, she liked spending time in the company of people who ignored but surrounded her” (125). Bengali people in India did not form communities, especially during the political unrest; consequently, they got used to not socializing. Nevertheless, meddling in other people’s affairs was one of the social ills prevalent in India. Gauri does not approve of this habit and is always offended by how much the neighbors took an intrusive interest in her life. Luckily, things are different in the United States; the Americans do not stare her in the eye or ask her irrelevant questions; they do not even notice her. Therefore, she actually grows to enjoy being among American people who would mind their own businesses. 3.1 Culture Shock Culture shock occurs when people are exposed to an unfamiliar culture, and they begin to feel confusion, anxiety, and/or uncertainty. Subhash and Gauri experience the culture shock at the early stages of their lives in America. Gauri’s first morning in Rhode Island is full of bewilderment and surprises. “No one came to prepare the tea, to make the beds, to sweep or dust the rooms. On the stove [Subhash] cooked breakfast on a coil that reddened at a button’s touch. Oatmeal and hot milk” (117). She realizes that she should forget about having a servant, cooking on the fire, or cooking the traditional Indian cuisine. Frequently visiting the campus, Gauri notices the huge differences between the American university and the Indian one, where she used to study in. In Calcutta, everybody who wanted to pass through the entrance gate of the university building had to be screened and interviewed, but in Rhode Island there were no such things. “There was no guard preventing her, questioning her. No armed soldiers sitting on sandbags, as they had for months outside the main building at Presidency [in Calcutta]” (123). In addition, the people in Calcutta experience culture shock once they learn about American customs and lifestyle. When Subhash talks to his parents about his life in the U.S., they seem unable to fully understand the different features of the American lifestyle. “The news that there was nowhere to have clothes tailored in Rhode Island, that

ALLS 7(2):41-47, 2016 43 American clothing was all ready-made, had come to his parents as a surprise. It was the first detail of his life there they’d openly reacted to” (107). They also despise it when Subhash decides to marry a woman whom they do not approve of. They had expected him to get married with a virgin girl of their own choice, not a widow whom they despised and segregated. The second-generation immigrants also experience culture shock. Bela notices the cultural differences between the Indians and the Americans. She does not feel at home and cannot connect with this strange community. “In the taxis they sat in traffic, pollution filling her chest… the bells of colorful rickshaws pulled by hand” (191). People in Tollygunge look at her with eyes wide open in shock. While they are having meals, they notice that Bela has a hard time managing to imitate their table manners. “Watching Bela try to pick up rice and lentils with her fingers [her grandmother] told Deepa to fetch a spoon for her” (181). It is hard to believe for them that Bela has never eaten food with her fingers. Later when Deepa, the maid, takes Bela out to the streets, Bela feels the gaze of the strangers, something she had not faced in the United States:

On the quiet walled streets, every few paces, people stopped them asking Deepa to explain who Bela was, why she was there… [Bela had liked to go out for a walk] But now she wanted to return inside. Not liking, as they traced their steps, the way some of the neighbors were pulling back their curtains to look at her. (182)

Bela’s trip to India is for her to attend a funeral. The preparations and the ceremony strike her as strange, new, and perplexing. “A barber came… shaved her father’s head and face… the nails of her fingers, then her toes, were pared off with a blade” (181) for the mourning ceremony. She watches all the preparations with shock and confusion because no one did such things in the United States. 3.2 Marginality Bhabha states that with the displacements and terrible uncertainties that colonialism brings, it is “such a radically unsettling ‘affective experience of marginality’” (qtd. in Bertens 166). The term marginality generally implies that “certain forms of experience are peripheral” (Ashcroft, Griffiths, Tiffin 135). In postcolonial studies, however, ‘marginal’ is not considered as opposed to a specific ‘center,’ and power relations that involve ‘centre’ and ‘margin’ work in a multifaceted, complex way. The marginal, in fact, suggests “the limitations of a subject’s access to power” (ibid). In Lahiri’s works, Indian identity is not marginal; rather, it is central. Her characters do not consider themselves as marginal, being divested of power; rather, they see themselves as integral parts of the society that construct it (Werlock 391). Nevertheless, in The Lowland, the characters deeply feel the marginality that haunts their lives. The marginality of the postcolonial characters is so important to Lahiri that she begins the novel with a thorough description of a British golf club in Calcutta called Tolly Club. The two brothers love to enter the club only to watch the people play, but since the British own it, Indians are never allowed to cross the threshold. So, they find no choice for entering the club but to secretly sneak in. This has such a powerful negative impact on Udayan that he mentions the club in his discussions even many years later and calls it, “an affront” (29). Also, there is a reference to the golf club in a very different setting. In the university, Subhash is having a conversation with Narasimhan, the originally Indian professor who has lived in America for a very long time and thus barely knows Indian cities. Narasimhan asks Subhash: “[w]here in Calcutta is your family?/ In Tollygunge./ Ah, where the golf club is” (41). The club is so famous that even a person like Narasimhan knows about it. He asks: “[w]hy did you have to sneak in [Tolly Club,]” and he replies, “[i]t wasn’t our place” (193). He remembers that his brother,

Udayan[,] said that golf was the pastime of the comprador bourgeoisie. He said the Tolly Club was proof that India was still a semi-colonial country, behaving as if the British had never left. He pointed out that Che, who had worked as a caddy on a golf course in Argentina, had come to the same conclusion. That after Cuban revolution getting rid of golf courses was one of the first things Castro had done. (30)

Lahiri attempts to demonstrate how the marginal state of the protagonist would alter to some extent only after he immigrates to a first-world country. In America, Subhash can enter the golf club without any trouble. “This time he’d been admitted [to golf clubs] officially” (40). The problem, however, is never solved permanently; it is rather a lifetime companion of the immigrants. In her old age, Gauri still finds it inconvenient to exit the country. “[S]he had never returned to India. It meant standing in separate lines when she traveled, it meant extra questions these days, fingerprints when she reentered the U.S. from abroad” (216). 4. Hybridity As Srinivas Aravamudan states, “[h]ybridity is not like a cocktail that you can recompose back to its parts… [i]t's something that comes about when you're not even sure where your origins are coming from” (qtd. in Eakin). Regarding the hybridizing process, Bhabha maintains that the process surpasses the primordial polarities, brings about new positions in an in-between space, and displaces the histories that constitute it (Blunt 11; qtd. in Huddart 85).

ALLS 7(2):41-47, 2016 44 Lahiri demonstrates hybridity in numerous parts of the novel. She mentions two ponds in Tollygunge at several points in the novel, and finally shows the two merged after a wet monsoon. This can be regarded as a reference to hybridity. The narrator tells us that, “the two ponds across the lane would overflow and become one,” (180) very similar to hybrid characters, who after exposure to two cultures, form hybrid identities. Being positioned in the ‘third space,’ the protagonists inevitably come to terms with their diasporic condition and make every effort to blend in. Gauri is eager to embrace whatever the adopted land offers. She chooses to live in the United States forever and never to return to her homeland. “In any case, California was her only home. Right away she had adapted to its climate” (216). It is signaled that Gauri is willing to join the new community from the first months of her life in America. This idea is symbolically presented by the depiction of Narasimhan’s life as an Indian immigrant in America. He is an Indian professor at the campus where Subhash studies. “He had an American wife and two tanned light-eyed sons who looked like neither of their parents” (40). Lahiri shows how hybridity yields something totally new which deviates from what is expected. Subhash lives in the U.S. for a few years, and when he takes a trip to India, he realizes he can never be the same person as before. He feels more like an American than an Indian. While walking on the streets of Tollygunge, he sees “Europeans wearing kurtas, beads. Exploring Calcutta, passing through. Though he looked like any other Bengali he felt an allegiance with the foreigners now. He shared with them a knowledge of elsewhere. Another life to go back to. The ability to leave” (107). The first time Gauri wants to go out for a walk in Rhode Island, she tries the dress that her husband has recently bought for her. She “put on her winter coat over her sari” (122). This is apparently how no one looks like in America. Women either wear leather coats if they are Americans, or saris if they are Indians, and not both of them at the same time. She herself starts to feel the severity of her being different. Once in the campus lounge, she starts a small talk with an American girl whose “body was unencumbered by the yards of silk material that Gauri wrapped and pleated and tucked every morning into a petticoat… Gauri felt ungainly. She began to want to look like the other women she noticed on the campus, like a woman Udayan had never seen” (126). She senses the urge to liken herself to the American girls whom she sees on campus. What she needs is to “adopt an identity in the U.S. that transcends national boundaries” (Alfonso-Forero 39). “For the sake of retirement, for the sake of simplifying the end of her life, she would need to become an American” (216). For instance, she copies what other American married women do, “adopting the Western custom of wearing a wedding band during the day” (218). She also keeps her hair short and never tells her little daughter about the Indian custom of women letting their hair grow very long. It puzzles Subhash’s mother when she finds out that Bela, Gauri’s daughter, has not learned about such customs.

SUBHASH’S MOTHER. Your mom hasn’t taught you to keep it tied?… There isn’t a rule about it at your school?

BELA. No. SUBHASH’S MOTHER. You must keep it braided. At night, especially, two on either side for

now, one at the center when you are older. Her mother had never told her this. Her mother wore her hair as short as a man’s. (184)

Gauri has changed significantly since she left Tollygunge; she now looks only slightly like the mainstream women in the town. Bela shows Gauri’s photo to her grandmother’s maid. Looking at it, astonished, the maid says, “[s]o stylish” (187). Gauri well exemplifies “the victimized “third world” woman who is liberated by her adoption of an American identity” (Alfonso-Forero 35). Nevertheless, no matter how hard she tries to assimilate herself to the Western women, she cannot definitely turn into one of them. As the narrator suggests, “in spite of her jeans and boots and belted cardigan, or perhaps because of them, Gauri knew she stood out” (161). She knows that only by changing her outfit, she cannot fully resemble typical American women, and realizes that there exist unremovable obstacles. Her appearance and accent cause people to ask her where she is from, and even to form certain assumptions. For instance, when she is invited to give a talk in San Diego, the university sends a driver to pick her up, so that she does not have to drive. Gauri greets the driver at the door, but he does not realize that she is his passenger. He mistakes her for the person who is paid to open the door for another person. “Tell her, whenever she’s ready, he’d said” (217). The narrator tells the reader about Gauri in her old age, after she has lived most of her life in the United States:

And yet she remained, in spite of her Western clothes, her Western academic interests, a woman who spoke English with a foreign accent, whose physical appearance and complexion were unchangeable and, against the backdrop of most of America, still unconventional. She continued to introduce herself by an unusual name, the first given by her parents, the last by the two brothers she had wed. (217)

In spite of Gauri’s wish, her “inescapable ‘Bengali’ nature” (Roy 7) accompanies her until the end of her life.

ALLS 7(2):41-47, 2016 45 4.1 Language and Customs Lahiri uses a simile to refer to the foreign language. In the section that Gauri’s neglect of motherhood duties is mentioned, the narrator says that Gauri’s daughter, Bela, thinks that “[h]er mother’s absence was like another language she’d had to learn,… because it was foreign, a language never fully absorbed” (237). Narasimhan, who is an Indian professor at the American university, looks after Subhash at his arrival. Because he knows the town and the campus very well, he offers Subhash help and invites him over for a couple of times. He tells Subhash, “I’m supposed to keep an eye out for you” (41). They speak with each other about Rhode Island and Tollygunge, which makes Subhash realize that Narasimhan “still understood a word or two of Bengali” (41). Narasimhan has accepted English language as the main way of communication and more importantly as a cultural element. He has not spoken his native language for such a long time that he only remembers a few words of it. His “adoption of master language for the purpose of self-expression may be a sign of the loyalty of fear, although that loyalty is also shown to conflict with his own middle-class aspiration of freedom, aspirations set in place by the introduction of Western learning” (Roy 7). Subhash leaves India for the United States alone. There, he observes how customs differ from those in India. However, he cannot share his perceptions with anyone. He keeps thinking about the huge differences, and almost everything strikes him as strange, new, different. For instance, when he thinks about the Indian calendar, he remembers that “[t]he following day was August 15, Indian Independence. A holiday for the country… An ordinary day here” (77). During the first months of his life in America, the idea that, for instance, August 15 is not celebrated at all puzzles him. It is just a matter of time for him to get used to the fact that America is a whole new country, and that he must not expect to see the Indian customs be observed in the U.S. On the other hand, when Subhash travels to India after a couple of years, it is quite noticeable for him that “[h]is mother would eat after serving them, as she always did” (89). This is what he had never paid attention to, but now that he has lived elsewhere, he notices the striking differences. He now knows that India is the place where he can put aside the spoon and the fork since he can enjoy “[t]he freedom to eat with his fingers” (89). Watching his mother, he notices that “her dark hair [is] decorated with its bright column of vermillion, to signify that she [has] a husband” (94). Moreover, he now understands how typical Indian parents behave inappropriately when communicating with their daughters-in-law. He witnesses that his parents mistreat his brother’s widow, not even letting her eat with them in the same room. She has to stay in the kitchen and eat there. Subhash “didn’t say what came to his mind. That Udayan would’ve hated them for segregating her, for observing such customs” (90). Subhash prefers the American code of conduct in this regard (243). 4.2 Adopting the New Culture In The Lowland, cultural exchange is demonstrated through cultural adoption. There are three main points that Lahiri takes into account to impart the idea of cultural exchange: the dress code of the Indian immigrants, their refusal of arranged marriage, and their negligence of the Indian rituals and traditions. 4.2.1 Dress Code Lahiri uses the dress code to emphasize the mixed nature of the way the Indians dress. Gauri enters America wearing traditional Indian clothes. As time goes by, she realizes that she needs to dress like the modern American women she sees on campus. Subhash helped her and “bought her a coat, a pair of boots. Thick socks, a woolen scarf, a cap and gloves” (121). At first, she wore American clothes with hesitation, but these clothes gradually replaced all her traditional, Indian clothes. After a few years, when her husband asks her why she tore her clothes, she replies, “I was tired of those” (131). Years later when her daughter asks Subhash, “[c]an we buy one [sari] for Ma?” he replies, “[s]he never wears them” (191). This reveals how greatly Gauri has changed during the course of the years she has lived in the U.S. No matter how conservative and traditionalist she initially was, she feels the urge to conform to the western society. As Alfonso-Forero mentions, the migrants “feel they must adopt these “modern” strategies in order to compete with the Western world” (32). When Gauri paid a visit to her hometown after decades of living in the United States, the people in the neighborhood “were glancing at her now that she was out of the car. Taking in her sunglasses, her American clothing and shoes. Unaware that once she, too, had lived here” (294). Different, eye-catching, Western clothes that Gauri was wearing draws attention of the people in Tollygunge. Even those Indians who never travel to the West are influenced by how the Westerners dress. Subhash’s younger brother, Udayan, never takes a trip abroad and has never seen people from the West; nevertheless, his “clothing hung on him loosely. He wore kurtas but also European-style shirts” (53). He puts on the Indian clothing along with Western clothes, choosing from them whatever he prefers. 4.2.2 Refusal of Arranged Marriage In addition to the adoption of dress code, refusal of arranged marriage is a significant manifestation of culture adoption in Lahiri’s work. In their book, Companion to the American Novel (2006), Abby Werlock and James Werlock discuss the issue of arranged marriage in eight novels most of which are either written by immigrant authors or by American authors who touch on the lives of immigrant characters. As Rupa Huq argues, “a set of ‘Asian values…’ are wedded to [the Asian] tradition, spanning religious practice, arranged marriage, female subordination and a resistance to change” (35). In The Lowland, Lahiri delineates the so-called Asian value of arranged marriage and portrays the young Indian boys and girls who tend to reject their parents’ interfering with their choice of spouse.

ALLS 7(2):41-47, 2016 46 Subhash and Gauri are aware of the Western culture and traditions to some extent and thus choose their own spouses even when they are still living in their hometown. Udayan, who does not wish to continue his studies in the U.S., is well aware of the traditions of marriage in the West, appreciates this aspect of the Western culture and says, “[l]ike Chairman Mao, I reject the idea of an arranged marriage. It is one thing, I admit, that I admire about the West” (49). When his parents see their son, Udayan, getting married to someone whom they do not approve of, they tell Subhash that, “[w]e hope you’ll trust us to settle your future” (64). And Subhash promises to let them arrange his marriage. Things do not turn out as their parents wished, and Subhash also gets married to a woman that his parents do not like. When he is trying to propose to Gauri, he is simultaneously pondering over his parents’ reaction. “He mentioned nothing to his parents, knowing that they would only try to dissuade him. He knew the solution he’d arrived at would appall them… But he was no longer afraid” (110). 4.2.3 Negligence of Indian Traditions Although Subhash and Gauri partially succeed in leading a Western life, “much stands to be lost culturally if they simply appropriate Western ways” (Alfonso-Forero 32). They appropriate Western ways at the expense of most of the culture and values of their motherland. Back in India, both Subhash and Gauri followed most of the Indian traditions and rituals; however, as they settle in the United States and get accustomed to the American traditions, they both tend to adopt the American lifestyle. Subhash starts an affair with an American divorced woman after a couple of months of his life in America. For a couple of times, they do certain ordinary things, as if they were already husband and wife. “Going together to the supermarket, filling the cart with food, putting the bags in the trunk of her car. Things he would not have done with a woman, in Calcutta, before getting married” (74). Subhash’s relationship is considered a taboo in his country, yet knowing that none of his relatives can witness what he does in America, he feels free to do as he pleases; “it was merely the shoals of physical distance that allowed his defiance to resist” (76). At her arrival, Gauri realizes that, unlike her ex-husband Udayan, Subhash does not expect her to serve him. “She was thankful for his independence… Udayan had wanted to be served” (118). She is also dazzled that Subhash “would leave out the ingredients in the morning, icy packets from the freezer that slowly melted and revealed their contents during the course of the day” (121). At her old age, “in California, Gauri has her toast and fruit and tea” (253). She no longer cooks rice, samosas, or other Indian food full of curry. Instead, she fancies eating fast food, toast with cream cheese, and other kinds of Western cuisine, the food she knew nothing about when she moved to America. When she first tasted cream cheese, she ate it all “[n]ot knowing it was intended to be spread on a cracker or bread, savoring the unexpected taste and texture of it in her mouth, licking the paper clean” (123). How Subhash and Gauri raise their daughter, Bela, also exemplifies their rejection of Indian practices. Bela is allowed to live separately from her parents, and travels around the country, living the life of a homeless person. Although both her parents are successful scholars, she is given the liberty to leave her studies at B.A. level and make a living by farming instead. In addition, Subhash never interfered with Bela’s marriage. “If he’d raised her in Calcutta it would have been reasonable for him to bring up the subject of her marriage. Here it was considered meddlesome, out-of-bounds. He had raised her in a place free from such stigmas” (243). Gauri, unlike typical Indian mothers, dedicates all of her time to her studies and neglects her little daughter (186). She speaks of her Ph.D. dissertation “as she might speak of an infant, telling [Subhash] that she worried about the pages being blown out an open window, or being destroyed by a fire. She said it worried her, sometimes, to leave them unattended in the house” (188). After years of living on her own, Gauri initiates a homosexual relationship with a Ph.D. student whose dissertation Gauri was supposed to be the outside reader of. “She had no recollection of crossing a line that drove her to desire a woman’s body” (220). But in America, she enjoyed the individual liberty to take lovers of either sex; something that she could not have dreamed of in India. 5. Conclusion Lahiri portrays the first-generation immigrant characters in transition from liminality to the hybrid state. As a consequence of being a member of the diaspora, Lahiri’s characters initially find themselves in the liminal space, caught between the two cultures. They appear to be troubled with sheer culture shock and the loss of familiar signs of social communication. What Lahiri offers as the solution to this temporary trouble is for the characters to assimilate the Western way of life and to conform to the American culture and traditions. Gradually, the characters enter the hybrid state in which they less frequently feel that they do not belong to the American community. They partially adopt the modern American culture and traditions; as a result, their family disintegrates irremediably. In spite of all the difficulties and failures specific to immigration experience, Subhash and Gauri who belong to the first generation of immigrants live successful lives regarding education and career. They battle against all the odds and hardships and manage to obtain high academic and professional standing. References Alfonso-Forero, A. (2011). Translating Postcolonial Pasts: Immigration and Identity in the Fiction of Bharati Mukherjee, Elizabeth Nunez, and Jhumpa Lahiri. University of Miami.

ALLS 7(2):41-47, 2016 47 Sheng, A. (2009). Minoritization as a Global Measure in the Age of Global Postcoloniality: An interview with Homi K. Bhabha. Ariel, 40 (1), 161-180. Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (1998). Key concepts in post-colonial studies. New York: Routledge. Bertens, H. (2005). Literary Theory: The Basics. London: Routledge. Bhabha, H. (2007). The location of culture. Oxon: Routledge. Bhabha, H. (2000). DissemiNation: Time, Narrative, and the Margins of the Modern Nation. Nation and Narration. Ed. Homi K. Bhabha. London: Routledge, 291-322. Blunt, A. (2005). Domicile and Diaspora: Anglo-Indian Women and the Spatial Politics of Home. Malden: Blackwell. Eakin, E. (2011). Harvard's Prize Catch, a Delphic Postcolonialist. (Homi K. Bhabha). New York Times. A2. Business Insights: Essentials. Huddart, D. (2006). Homi K. Bhabha. London: Routledge. Huq, R. (2007). Beyond Subculture: Pop, Youth, and Identity in a Postcolonial World. Oxon: Routledge. Johnston, I., & Richardson, G. (2012). Homi Bhabha and Canadian Curriculum Studies: Beyond the Comforts of the Dialectic. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies. 10.1: 115. Lahiri, J. (2013). The Lowland. Bloomsbury: London. Roy, A. (2005). Civility and Empire: Literature and Culture in British India, 1822-1922. Oxon: Routledge. Werlock, A. H. P. (2010). Companion to the American Short Story. New York: Infobase. Werlock, A. H. P., & Werlock, J. P. (Eds.). (2006). Companion to the American Novel. New York: Infobase. Young, R. J. C. (1995). Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture and Race. London: Routledge.



Investigation into Korean EFL Learners’ Acquisition of English /s/ + Consonant Onset Clusters

Jungyoun Choi

Department of English Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea E-mail: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.48 Received: 16/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.48 Accepted: 11/01/2016 Abstract This paper investigated the phonological acquisition of English /s/ + consonant onset clusters by Korean learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) who varied in their levels of proficiency. The data were collected from twenty eighth-graders in a Korean secondary school, who were divided into two groups according to their proficiency: low- and high-achievement. The major findings were: 1) the high-achievement group did not use a vowel epenthesis strategy in the articulation of the /s/ + consonant onset cluster, unlike the low-achievement group; 2) the duration of /s/ pronunciation was longer in the high-achievement group, as follows: /s/ + stop + liquid, /s/ + stop, /s/ + liquid; 3) the low-achievement group’s duration of oral closure was longer than was that of the high-achievement group, as follows: /s/ + stop + liquid, s/ + stop, and 4) with regard to how /s/ + consonant onset clusters are perceived by native English speakers, /s/ + stop + liquid was related more significantly to the learners’ level of proficiency than were the biliteral consonant onset clusters. Among biliteral onsets, /s/ + stop and /s/ + liquid clusters differed significantly between the groups, while the /s/ + nasal cluster did not. Keywords: English /s/ + consonant onset clusters, L1 transfer, the sonority sequencing principle, syllable structure, L2 phonological acquisition 1. Introduction As influenced by two primary approaches, first language (L1) transfer and markedness effects, the question pertaining to how certain phonological structures are produced by second language (L2) learners has been raised frequently. Specifically, with respect to consonant clusters, earlier research of L1 transfer assumed that transfer leads to consonant cluster simplification (Broselow, 1984; Lado, 1957; Major, 2001). Expanding on the conformity with L1 syllable structures, a number of later scholars emphasized that L2 speakers of English simplify consonant clustering to conform to universal linguistic principles (Klove & Young-Scholten, 2008; Osburne, 1996). Among consonant cluster types, the segment /s/ is especially noteworthy. /s/ is often regarded as having similar phonetic features across languages that leads to positive transfer (Koffi, 2011). Nonetheless, the pronunciation of /s/ in complex onset clusters is a tremendous challenge for L2 learners of English, because no two languages pronounce complex /s/ onset clusters in an identical manner due to the different phonotactic constraints of languages (Duanmu, 2002; Sperbeck, 2010). This situation also holds true for Korean and English. /s/ appears in a wide array of phonological environments in English, but not in Korean, as the latter does not allow consonant clusters within a syllable. In addition, many of the /s/ distribution patterns in English, unlike those in Korean, violate the Sonority Sequencing Principle. Thus far, little attention has been given to the way in which L2 speakers of English apply these rules that govern the pronunciations of the English /s/ in complex onset clusters. The majority of the previous literature that has investigated consonant clusters concerns modification strategies, such as consonant cluster deletion and vowel epenthesis. The order of acquisition of English consonant clusters (Yoo, 2004), and gender effects on the articulation of some English consonant clusters (Park, 2008), also have been investigated rarely. Therefore, this study examined the acquisition of English consonant clusters by Korean EFL learners of English. The study focused on onset in an attempt to determine the differences in acquisition of consonant onset cluster types with respect to the level of L2 proficiency. The research questions addressed were as follows: (1) Do Korean EFL learners with different levels of English proficiency pronounce complex onset clusters with a word-initial /s/ differently? (1-1) Is there a difference in the aspects of pronouncing triliteral onset with word-initial /s/ according to the level of English proficiency? If so, how do learners modify the pronunciation (i.e., s + stop + liquid) according to their level of proficiency? (1-2) Is there a difference in the aspects of pronouncing biliteral onset with word-initial /s/ according to the level of English proficiency? If so, how do learners modify the pronunciation of each cluster type (i.e., s + stop, s + nasal, s + liquid) according to their level of proficiency?


ALLS 7(2):48-54, 2016 49 (2) Does the difference in pronunciation by Korean secondary school learners with different levels of English proficiency affect native English speakers’ judgment of accuracy in pronouncing complex onset clusters with word-initial /s/? 2. Theoretical Background 2.1 Cross-linguistic differences in syllable structures The concept that “transfer” occurs between L1 and L2 has been one of the most important issues for linguists, and has been regarded as the major source of difficulties for L2 learners (Altenberg & Vago, 1983; Yavas, 2005). One example of a cross-linguistic difference is the syllable structures of languages. While the basic syllable structure is represented as the combination of a single consonant and a single vowel, i.e., CV, languages can have more consonants and different syllable structures, as shown in Table 1. Korean syllable structures do not allow two or more consonants to occur in the onset of a syllable, while English permits two or three consonants at the beginning of syllables.

Table 1. Comparison of syllable structures of English and Korean English Syllables Korean Syllables CV CV CVC CVC VC VC V V CVCC CCVC CCV VCC CCVCC CCCVC CCCVCC CVCCC CCVCCC CCCV

The cross-linguistic differences between L1 and L2 syllable patterns are challenging for L2 learners. They tend to use L1 syllable structure patterns in the context of L2 by using vowel epenthesis and consonant deletion to modify consonant clusters (Major, 2001; Weinberger, 1997). Many researchers have claimed that Arabic EFL learners used epenthesis when a target L2 syllable structure is absent in their L1 (Al-Shuaibi, 2006; Broselow, 1983, Kharma & Hajjaj, 1989); Korean EFL learners inserted a schwa sound between English stop + liquid clusters (Kim, 2002; Tarone, 1980). On the other hand, Anderson (1987) insisted that the frequency of epenthesis or deletion strategy is positively related to the length of onsets. Yet, little was known about the extent to which L2 learners modify different consonant cluster types. 2.2 Violation of phonotactic constraint: the Sonority Sequencing Principle The Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP) is considered universal, as it applies to a large number of languages. Each phoneme is believed to have a sonority scale that shows the relative phonological prominence of different sounds, as shown in Table 2. According to the SSP, sonority must rise towards the syllable peak at onset. Although English complex onset clusters conform to the SSP in most cases, they violate it in such cases as complex onset clusters with word-initial /s/. The question addressed here is what happens when Korean L2 learners, whose L1 conforms to the SSP, speak an L2 that violates it.

Table 2. The arithmetic of sonority

Sounds Sonority Scale

[a, æ, ə] low vowel 10 [e, o] mid vowels 9 [i, u, j, w] high vowels 8 [r] rhotic 7 [l] liquid 6 [m, n, ŋ] nasals 5 [s] sibilant 4 [v, z, ð] voiced fricatives 3 [f, θ] voiceless fricatives 2 [tʃ, dʒ] affricates 1.5 [b, d, g] voiced stops 1 [p, t, k] voiceless stops 0.5

(Adapted from Goldsmith, 1990)

ALLS 7(2):48-54, 2016 50 The SSP violation and its effect on L2 consonant cluster production have been investigated by several studies (Abrahamsson, 1999; Carlisle, 1991; Davidson, Jusczyk, & Smolensky, 2009; Eckman & Iverson, 1993). The results indicated that the sonority distance between consonants can render certain patterns of onset consonant cluster, which abide by the SSP, easier than others, which violate the SSP. Yet, how L2 learners with different levels of proficiency use modification strategies according to varying sonority gaps in consonant clusters has been open to debate in the literature. 3. Methods The study was conducted with twenty eighth-graders in a Korean secondary school. They were divided into two groups according to the results of the TOEIC Bridge® Test, i.e., ten were assigned to a low-achievement group and the other ten to a high-achievement group. All of them had studied English for more than five years in Korea without having lived in an English-speaking country. An independent samples t-test confirmed that the high-achievement group (M = 165.80, SD = 11.44, N = 10) was significantly more proficient than was the low achievement group (M = 30.90, SD =12.71, N = 10), t18 = 24.95, p < 0.001). Target consonant clusters (Table 3) were selected in accordance with the classification of the English consonant clusters (Prator & Robinett, 1985) and the word lists provided in the secondary school English textbooks.

Table 3. Target sonority clusters

Target Word

Triliteral Onset s + stop + liquid

/str/ street, stream /skr/ script, scream /spr/ spring, spread /spl/ split, splendid

Biliteral Onset

s + stop /sk/ skip, school /st/ style, study /sp/ spoon, speak

s + nasal /sm/ smile, small /sn/ snow, snail

s + liquid /sl/ slave, slight Two tests, the Production and Perception Test, were implemented to investigate the acquisition of onset consonant clusters. For the Production Test, a Word Reading Task was used, in which the learner participants were given a word list on paper and asked to read the words as naturally as possible. They were allowed first to go through the words for approximately three minutes, and to ask questions regarding any words with which they were unfamiliar. After the recordings were uploaded, the Praat software program (Boersma & Weenik, 2012) was used to analyze the speech sounds. To identify the cluster and the /s/ boundaries, the onset and offset of /s/ was marked with a boundary where the high frequency energy appeared and ended. The oral closure was marked at the point at which the intensity dropped distinctly, with a loss of energy in the higher formants. During segmentation, if it was difficult to determine a boundary point, the spectrogram display and auditory judgment were used. After the speech was segmented and labeled, the duration of every /s/ and one of the oral closures was measured. All interval durations were also investigated to see whether vowel insertion and epenthesis occurred between consonants and in the starting position of syllables. Together with the acoustic properties of the spoken data, human rating methods were implemented. Four hundred speech tokens (twenty words * twenty subjects), two hundred for the low-achievement group and two hundred for the high-achievement group, were presented for rating by two native English speakers who had more than three years of teaching experience and evaluated the recorded data independently. The two native raters also participated in evaluating the Perception Test, and rated the total set of speech data on a 5-point scale where 1 = “very poor accurate English /s/ + complex onset clusters,” and 5 = “very excellent accurate English /s/ + complex onset clusters.” 4. Results 4.1 Production test 4.1.1 Vowel epenthesis Epenthesis was assessed by scanning the spectrogram and the waveforms visually. The researcher looked for a sharp change in energy at the onset or offset of the clear formant structure, and checked the frequency of the formants by reference to Ramírez’s (2006) study to detect the epenthetic vowel. For example, the first, second, and third formants of the epenthetic /i/ had means of 569.17, 1944.00, 3039.95 Hz, respectively. Vowels normally have three different formants that seem to differ from consonants, which appear as noticeable dark bands based on the vowel position. Three students in the low-achievement group produced vowel epenthesis when a syllable began with /s/ and was followed by a voiceless stop either in triliteral or biliteral onset (compare Figures 1 and 2). For the high-achievement group, vowel epenthesis did not serve as a strategy in the articulation of English /s/ + consonant onset clusters. In addition, there was a significant difference in the /s/ durations, as well as the durations of the oral closure between both groups, which will be discussed in the next section.

ALLS 7(2):48-54, 2016 51

Figure 1. The word skip without vowel epenthesis by a high-achievement student

Figure 2. The word skip with vowel epenthesis by a low-achievement student

4.1.2 Duration of /s/ and oral closure The mean durations for both groups were calculated to investigate how the high- and low-achievement groups differed in their production of each type of cluster. An independent sample t-test was conducted to interpret the effects of group differences in the production of /s/ and oral closure. As shown in Table 4, the high-achievement group differed significantly from the low-achievement group in terms of their duration of production of /s/ in triliteral and biliteral onset with word-initial /s/, except /s/ in /s/ + nasal. The duration of pronunciation of /s/ by the high-achievement group was approximately 234% (/s/ + stop + liquid), 52% (/s/ + stop), and 12% (/s/ + liquid) longer than that in the low-achievement group.

Table 4. Mean /s/ duration (in s) for high and low-achievement groups Triliteral Onsets Biliteral Onsets /s/ in /s/ + stop+ liquid /s/ in /s/ + stop /s/ in /s/ + nasal /s/ in /s/ + liquid M SD t M SD t M SD t M SD t

High 0.21 0.01 0.000* 0.17 0.02 0.002* 0.14 0.01 0.122 0.14 0.01 0.017* Low 0.06 0.02 0.15 0.02 0.13 0.01 0.12 0.02 * p < 0.05

In addition, to determine the quantitative relationship of the /s/ sound to the entire utterance of a target word, the percentage of the duration of /s/ pronunciation was calculated to analyze the association between the students’ proficiency and the mean /s/ duration, while controlling each student’s latency to pronounce a given target word. The process of calculating the percentage entailed dividing the time taken to pronounce the /s/ sound by the total time taken to pronounce a target word that contained the calculated /s/ sound.

Table 5. Mean /s/ duration (in %) for high and low-achievement groups Triliteral Onsets Biliteral Onsets

/s/ in /s/ + stop+ liquid /s/ in /s/ + stop /s/ in /s/ + nasal /s/ in /s/ + liquid χ2 p χ2 p χ2 p χ2 p

20.00 0.018* 20.00 0.029* 6.53 0.366 20.00 0.045* * p < 0.05

As shown in Table 5, the results were similar to those in Table 4. The percentage of the duration of pronunciation of /s/ in the /s/ + stop + liquid cluster was approximately 38% for the high-achievement group and 6% for the low-achievement group. The /s/ + stop cluster and /s/ + liquid cluster were approximately 29% and 39% for the high-achievement group, and 15% and 29% for the low-achievement group, respectively. Thus, the percentage of the

ALLS 7(2):48-54, 2016 52 duration of pronunciation of /s/ by the high-achievement group was approximately 533% (/s/ + stop + liquid), 93% (/s/ + stop), and 34% (/s/ + liquid) longer than that of the low-achievement group. Because the data above showed a significant difference in the /s/ duration between the two groups and the spectrograms demonstrated quite a difference when scanned visually, the duration of the oral closure in the clusters was analyzed further. A significant difference was observed in the mean duration between the high and low-achievement groups when /s/ was followed by a stop sound (see Table 6). Contrary to the results for the duration of pronunciation of /s/ above, the mean duration of oral closure for the low-achievement group was found to be relatively longer than that of the high-achievement group. The low-achievement group was approximately 295% (/s/ + stop + liquid), and 154% (/s/ + stop) longer than was the high-achievement group. In addition, when the percentage of the duration of oral closure was calculated, the mean duration of the low-achievement group (38% for /s/ + stop + liquid; 33% for /s/ + stop) was also significantly longer than that of the high-achievement group (9% for /s/ + stop + liquid; 13% for /s/ + stop).

Table 6. Mean duration of oral closure (in s) for the high and low-achievement groups Triliteral Onsets Biliteral Onsets

Oral Closure in /s/ + stop+ liquid

Oral Closure in /s/ + stop

Oral Closure in /s/ + nasal

Oral Closure in /s/ + liquid

M SD t M SD t M SD t M SD t High 0.04 0.02 0.000* 0.06 0.05 0.000* · · · · · · Low 0.17 0.08 0.15 0.04 · · · ·

* p < 0.001 An example of the findings above is provided below in Figures 3 and 4, which show two pronunciations of the word script. The waveform and spectrogram show clearly that for a student in the high-achievement group, the /s/ is longer and the oral closure is shorter than are those of a student in the low-achievement group.

Figure 3. The word script without oral closure by a high-achievement student

Figure 4. The word script with oral closure by a low-achievement student

4.2 Perception test To test the hypothesis that the difference in pronunciation caused by the proficiency level affects teachers’ judgments of accuracy, we examined whether there was any relationship between the score of each English /s/ + complex onset

ALLS 7(2):48-54, 2016 53 cluster production by the two groups according to their L2 proficiency. With respect to the ratings of the samples, the dependent variable was the mean of the accuracy ratings that were calculated by averaging the two English listeners’ ratings for the twenty Korean subjects. When the intra-class correlation coefficient measured the degree of inter-rater reliability for each group of raters’ evaluations of the subjects’ speech, the raters’ coefficients were highly correlated, r2 = 0.90, p < 0.001, thus indicating high levels of agreement among the native English speaking raters. The Pearson Chi-Squared statistic was employed for statistical analysis of the association between students’ proficiency level and their perception test scores. According to the type of complex onset clusters, either the scores were, or were not, related significantly related to the proficiency levels. Triliteral onset with word-initial /s/ showed a much more significant association (χ2 = 17.33, p < 0.05), than did biliteral onset. Among biliteral onsets, the score for the /s/ + stop clusters (χ2 = 14.29, p < 0.05), was the most significantly different, followed by the /s/ + liquid cluster (χ2 = 13.46, p < 0.05). However, /s/ + nasal clusters (χ2 = 5.91, p > 0.05), did not differ significantly. 5. Conclusions The findings overall showed that, compared to biliteral onset, triliteral onset with the word-initial /s/ was associated significantly with the (a) acoustic properties of pronunciation and English proficiency, and (b) ratings and English proficiency. As the syllable structure rules in Korean do not allow two or more consonants to occur in the onset of a syllable, it was presumed that the Korean L2 learners have even more trouble when three consonants rather than two occur at the beginning of syllables. More interestingly, the results of this study are related to biliteral onset with word-initial /s/. The SSP theory has been adopted by many researchers, such as Carlisle (1991), and Eckman and Iverson (1993), as a theoretical framework to justify consonant cluster production. Because the sonority distance in the /s/ + nasal clusters is smaller than in the /s/ + liquid, the SSP would predict that /s/ + nasal clusters would be more difficult for Korean L2 learners. However, this study demonstrated that the SSP does not always hold true. The finding that /s/ + stop clusters, among other cluster types of biliteral onset with word-initial /s/, showed the most significant association between the (a) acoustic properties of pronunciation and English proficiency, and (b) ratings and English proficiency, could be explained by the SSP. Yet, in contrast to sonority distance, /s/ + nasal clusters did not differ significantly, while /s/ + liquid clusters did. Here, the well-known phenomenon that many Korean L2 learners have difficulty in differentiating between the /r/ and /l/ sound, which is seen commonly as evidence of negative L1 transfer because Korean lacks the phonemic and phonetic distinctions between [r] and [l] found in English, should be taken into account (Kang & Ahn, 2013; Kang, 2015). Thus, the reason that learners in the low-achievement group were less proficient in /s/ + liquid clusters than in /s/ + nasal clusters might be relevant to the problematic segment /l/. In addition, the learners who had difficulty pronouncing biliteral onset with word-initial /s/ and a stop sound were found to struggle with triliteral onset with word-initial /s/ (i.e., s + stop + liquid), but not the converse. The results of this study have many pedagogical implications as the beginning of words is crucial for accurate word recognition and latencies in word recognition of 250-300 milliseconds may cause a continuous breakdown in communication (Byrd & Mintz, 2010). Among three cluster types, i.e., s + stop, s + nasal, s + liquid, this study suggested that the pronunciation of /s/ in /sk/, /sp/ and /st/ in onset clusters requires more attention in L2 acquisition studies than do others, such as /sm/, /sn/, or /sl/. In the classroom, L2 teachers should be encouraged to exaggerate the initial /s/ as one pedagogical technique to deal with /s/ in onset consonant clusters (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010; Koffi, 2011). For example, the initial /s/ in words such as, skip, study, and speak can be elongated as /sssskɪp/, /sssstʌdi/ and /sssspi:k/. Further, words like street, script, and spring can be practiced as /sssstri:t/, /sssskrɪpt/ and /ssssprɪŋ/. More research on English consonant onset clusters is needed to benefit L2 learners of English, and specific materials must be developed to facilitate pronouncing English in a natural and effective way. References Abrahamsson, N. (1999). Vowel epenthesis of /sC(C)/ onsets in Spanish/Swedish interphonology: A longitudinal case study. Language Learning, 473-508. Al-Shuaibi, A. (2006). Phonological analysis of English phonotactics of syllable initial and final consonant clusters by Yemeni speakers of English (Master’s thesis, Malaysia University, Penang State, Malaysia). Retrieved from http:// www.languageinindia.com/nov2009/ganithesis.pdf Altenberg, E., & Vago, R. (1983). Theoretical implications of an error analysis of second language phonology production. Language Learning 33, 427-447. Anderson, J. (1987). The markedness differential hypothesis and syllable structure difficulty. In G. Ioup & S. Weinberger (Eds.), Interlanguage phonology: The acquisition of a second language sound system (pp. 279-291). Cambridge, MA, Newbury House. Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. (2012). Praat: doing phonetics by computer. [Online] Available: http://www.praat.org/(December 20, 2015). Broselow, E. (1984). An investigation of transfer in second language phonology. IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 22, 253-269. Byrd, D., & Mintz, T. (2010). Discovering speech, words, and mind. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.

ALLS 7(2):48-54, 2016 54 Carlisle, R. (1991). The influence of environment on vowel epenthesis in Spanish/English interphonology. Applied Linguistics, 76-95. Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D., Goodwin, J., & Grice, B. (2000). Teaching pronunciation: a reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Davidson, L., Jusczyk, P., & Smolensky, P. (2009). The initial and final states: theoretical implications and experimental explorations of richness of the base. In R. Kager, J. Pater, & W. Zonneveld (Eds.), Constraints in phonological acquisition (pp. 321-371), Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Duanmu, S. (2002). Two theories of onset clusters. Chinese Phonology 11, 97-120. Eckman, F., & Iverson, G. (1993). Sonority and markedness among onset clusters in the interlanguage of ESL learners. Second Language Research, 234-252. Goldsmith, J. (1990). Autosegmental and Metrical Phonology. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, Inc. Kang, S., & Ahn, H. (2013). An Intelligibility-Based Approach to English Pronunciation Teaching: Evidence of [r] Pronunciation. Language Research 49.3, 631-646. Kang, S. (2015). The intelligibility-based approach to the pronunciation teaching of English: Experimental evidence of /l/ and /r/ distinction. English Language and Linguistics, 61-81. Kharma, N., & Hajjaj, A. (1989). Errors in English among Arabic speakers: Analysis and remedy, London, UK: Longman Publishing Group. Kim, Y. (2002). Coda cluster simplification and its interactions with other coda processes in Korean, Working Papers of the Cornell Phonetics Laboratory 14, 82-112. Kløve, M., & Young-Scholten, M. (2001). Repair of L2 syllables through metathesis. IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 3, 103-133. Koffi, E. (2011). The pronunciation of /s/ in complex onset and coda clusters in Somali-accented English. In. J. Levis & K. LeVelle (Eds.), Proceedings of the second pronunciation in second language learning and teaching conference (pp. 130-143). Ames, IA: Iowa State University. Ladefoged, P. (2006). A course in phonetics. New York, NY: Thomson-Wadsworth. Lado, R. (1957). Linguistics across cultures. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Major, R. (2001). Foreign accent. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Osburne, A. (1996). Final cluster reduction in English L2 speech: a case study of a Vietnamese speaker. Applied Linguistics, 164-181. Park, H. (2008). The effect of gender and length of English study on the pronunciation of certain English consonants: A case study of Korean EFL learners. Unpublished B.A. Honours’ Degree thesis, Southern Illinois University. Prator, C., & Robinett, B. (1985). Manual of American English pronunciation, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Ramirez, C. (2006). Acoustic and perceptual characterization of the epenthetic vowel between the clusters formed by consonant+liquid in Spanish. In Manuel D.-C. (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the second conference on laboratory approaches to spanish phonetics and phonology (pp. 48-61). Sommerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. Roca, I., & Johnson, W. (1999). A course in phonology. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Sperbeck, M. (2010). The acquisition of consonant clusters by Japanese learners of English: interactions of speech perception and production. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. The City University of New York. Tarone, E. (1980). Some influences on the syllable structure of interlanguage phonology. International Review of Applied Linguistics 18, 139-152. Weinberger, S. (1997). Minimal segments in second language phonology. In A. James & J. Leather (Eds.), Second language speech: Structure and process (pp. 263-312). Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter. Yavas, M. (2005). Applied English phonology. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Yoo, H. (2004). Longitudinal study of consonant cluster acquisition, Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 10, 481-503.



On Definiteness and Information Trigger in Arabic

Marwan Jarrah School of English Literature, Languages & Linguistics Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne/England


Aseel Zibin (Corresponding author) School of English Literature, Languages & Linguistics Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne/England

P.O. Box: NE1 7RU, Percy Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne/England Email: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.55 Received: 07/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.55 Accepted: 15/01/2016 Abstract The current research shows that the definite article in Standard Arabic (SA) is not exclusively used for semantic/pragmatic purposes. Definiteness in SA can be divided into anaphoric (context-dependent) and formal (syntactically-conditioned). With focus on the latter, the current research describes the definiteness markers (i.e., the definite article and the nunnation suffix -n (NnnS) as devices for managing the information flow in the sentence and maintaining its informativity balance. The study argues that NnnS -n, is not an indefinite article, contra what has been widely suggested. NnnS’s role is rather to stimulate the speaker to add further information about indefinite nouns. Information basically triggered due to NnnS is labelled as 'balancing materials', whose aim is to restore sentence acceptability which is assumed to degrade due to the presence of indefinite nouns. Balancing materials can be of two types: semantic and formal. When the speaker balks at adding either types of balancing materials, the definite article is used. Here, definiteness is seen as a resort to resolve the tension of adding further information and refraining from doing so. All of these issues are supported by empirical evidence. With this new role of definiteness, new insights into some pertinent issues including sentence building and translation were offered. Keywords: Definiteness; information trigger; sentence acceptability; transfer; Arabic 1. Introduction Many attempts have been made to explore the definiteness role in sentence production and comprehension within various schools of thoughts (cf. Kathryn Bock and Irwin 1980; Bock 1982; Gernsbacher and Hargreaves 1988; Clifton and Frazier 2004; Cornilescu and Nicolae 2012; and Despić 2015). Several accounts of discourse building and pragmatic use have been basically grounded with reference to (in)definiteness. For instance, Heim (1982) links definiteness with information givenness, whereas Lobner (1987) with semantic necessity. Pertinently, Fraurud (1990) argues that ‘lexico-encyclopaedic’ knowledge of the (head) noun must be recovered together with other available ‘anchors’ so as to examine how definiteness is triggered and thus interpreted.i However, such attempts have not passed unchallenged. Cross-linguistic approaches have given rise to a range of variations that abstract away from the traditional assumptions on definiteness role in cross-linguistic syntax (Lyons 1999). New accounts have been made, connecting definiteness to, among others, specificity (Von Heusinger 2002), uniqueness (Roberts 2003), identifiability (Chen 2004), and ellipsis and reference tracking (Nariyama 2003). A further line of enquiry has shown that definiteness might play an integral role in syntax, most notably in relation to case assignment (cf. Belletti 1988; De Hoop 1996; Danon 2001, 2008 and and Alhaisoni et al 2012). On the other hand, with few attempts to investigate its role in Arabic, definiteness has been mainly grounded and interpreted in Arabic with regard to discourse and givenness structure (Retso 1984; Belyayeva 1997; Dickins 2013). No in-depth account of definiteness on Arabic has been advanced, accounting for all functions the definite article serve, especially those beyond discourse and semantics. One look at the previous approaches addressing this phenomenon signals the controversies of the findings of pertinent studies. Few studies have investigated meta-pragmatic-and- semantic functions of definiteness in Arabic.ii Against this background and following the current debate on definiteness functions (cf. Alexiadou 2009; Czardybon et al. 2014; and Despić 2015, among others), the current research argues that definiteness in Arabic might be utilised for purposes beyond semantics or pragmatics. The paper proceeds as follows: section 2 touches on previous work on definiteness, indicating that definiteness has been largely deemed to be a pragmatic device for discourse production and perception. Additionally, this section addresses some attempts tackling definiteness in formal terms. Section 3 provides an account of how definiteness is related to sentence derivation in Arabic. It explores the underlying relation between nunnation and definiteness loss on the one


ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 56 hand and between definiteness and the use of expletive expressions on the other. Section 4 proposes some implications of this novel analysis of definiteness in Arabic on sentence informativity and negative transfer (occurring in translation). Finally, section 5 concludes the paper. 2. Definiteness Although definiteness has been analysed for decades, no consensus on its nature or role has been reached (cf. Hawkins 1978; Löbner 1985; Fraurud 1990; Von Heusinger 2002). No clear account of definiteness was made, leaving this side of linguistic theory subject to debate. In the following subsection, some of salient studies conducted on definiteness are introduced and reviewed. 2.1 Definiteness as a discourse building device Several theories on definiteness have been propounded, focusing on ‘universal’ functions of definiteness. For many researchers, one prominent function of definiteness is anaphoricity (Hawkins 1978; Sidner 1979; and Reinhart 1983). The general outcome of anaphoricity-based studies is that the definite article introduces a new referent or refers back to a referent which is already anchored in the previous discourse or in the speaker’s mind. As such, definite DPs stimulate the listener’s previous knowledge and/or discourse; hence; functioning as anaphors, e.g., the woman in sentence (1a). On the other hand, indefinite DPs are viewed as new information without an already-established referent, e.g., a woman in sentence (1b) (see Heim 1982). Definite DPs are counted as given information.iii

(1) a. The woman left. b. A woman left.

Accordingly, DPs encode different types of information due to their definiteness/indefiniteness status. However, what seems problematic within this approach is how first-mentioned definite DPs, referring to entities not established in previous discourse context, are processed. For Hawkins (1978), such DPs are interpreted with reference to what he names as ‘triggers’. However, according to Fraurud (1990), Hawkins's (1978) use of ‘trigger’ is not valid simply because it implies mistakenly that first-mentioned definite DPs rely on other DPs previously-established in shared discourse. A glimpse at sentence (2) below demonstrates that the listener has to search for some connection to necessary information for interpretation of the DP ‘the queen’ outside the accompanying context. Hence, the existing trigger is not another DP as claimed by Hawkins (1978).

(2) The queen visits a school for children in need.

If sentence (2) is a headline in a Jordanian newspaper published in 2015, then the DP the queen refers to Queen Rania. This result follows from the assumption that the listener searches for some trigger to interpret the relevant DP. However, due to the absence of such a trigger, he/she appeals to universal discourse within which the sentence is said (cf. Hurford et al. 2007). The immediate question suggesting itself here is what is the role played by the definite article in such cases? It seems that the definite article is not sufficient to interpret definite DPs. This so being, any argument proposing that the search for the referent of definite DPs is different from that of indefinite DPs is questionable. Further studies postulated that definiteness role goes further beyond anaphoricity. In this regard, Löbner (1985: 411) argues that the head noun of definite DPs encapsulates a functional concept. The head noun possesses some linguistic arguments that help to specify its referent. Arguments are thus divided into two types, namely situational and object arguments. The former refers to possible case scenarios in semantics, whilst the latter denotes states explicitly or implicitly. To illustrate this point, see the following sentences:

(3) a. The statue (in Venice) is remarkable. b. The crown prince (of Jordan) likes football.

In (3a), the situational argument, in Venice, of the definite DP, the statue, denotes a location. In (3b), the prepositional phrase, of Jordan, is viewed as an object argument, denoting a state. However, although Löbner's (1985) theory paved the way for a new approach to definiteness, his approach did not offer a plausible solution for uncertainties and confusion sometimes attached to definiteness (Fraurud 1990; Renaud 1996). Other recent studies have examined definiteness and interpretation of DPs with reference to what they call ‘anchors’ identification’ (e.g., Fraurud 1990; Von Heusinger 2002; Schumacher 2009; and Doran 2012). Under this approach, the reference of first-mentioned definite DPs is identified once anchors related to the relevant DP are found. This relation between definiteness and anchors gives rise to an argument by Von Heusinger (2002), who suggests that specificity is not synonymous with definiteness. Even indefinite DPs which are not referential can have a relative specific meaning once an anchor is established. Following this, definiteness is not the only available factor in the search for referents; other factors including lexico-encyclopaedic knowledge related to the head noun as well as the concomitant anchors may contribute to the interpretation of DPs in discourse. On the other hand, recent reasoning of definiteness functions reveals the other role definiteness plays in sentence building. Definiteness might have formal functions (i.e., beyond semantics) which are necessary for sentence grammaticality. In the next subsection, an overview of such attempts is provided.

ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 57 2.2 Formal/syntactic definiteness Recent related literature has argued that definiteness might be invoked for purely formal reasons, most notably case assignment. In this connection, Danon (2001) observes that the use of the definite article with generics varies cross-linguistically in a way that has no possible effect on interpretation. There are languages such as Spanish or French that use definite articles with non-count generics unlike other languages such as English. This variance in definiteness marking on generic DPs indicates that definiteness is not always driven by semantics. According to Danon (2001), Hebrew provides indisputable evidence for this contention, relying on the fact that the object marker et precedes only definite objects. Danon (2001) assumes that verbs in Hebrew only assign inherent Case, whilst prepositions assign structural Case.iv What is important here to highlight is that the object marker et is used to meet some requirements for structural Case which cannot be assigned by (lexical) verbs. This requirement is related to the representation of definiteness as a formal feature with no reference to any semantic property. The object being definite is not due to a certain semantic-pragmatic factor, but due to the fact that a structural Case is needed, and there is no way of assigning this Case by et apart from using an object introduced by the definite article:

The presence or absence of et can now be reduced to the structural versus inherent case distinction: et is used because it assigns structural case, as opposed to the verb, which doesn’t. In other words et doesn’t really select a definite DP, it just happens that it isn’t needed with indefinites, which receive inherent case from the verb. An advantage of such a reduction is that it turns an apparently arbitrary selectional restriction into a link between two formal, structural aspects of the syntax of DPs: structural case and formal definiteness. (Danon 2001: 1094)

Furthermore, Danon (2008) states that Semitic languages exhibit definiteness agreement in terms of number and gender. There is an obligatory definiteness agreement between DPs and their modifying adjectives. This obligation is a syntactic phenomenon whose explanation requires no semantic knowledge. Consider the following example, adapted from Danon (2008: 875):

(4) ha-tmunot ha-xadašot DEF-pictures DEF-new ‘The new pictures’

In sentence (4), the attributive adjective xadašot agrees with the head noun tmunot in definiteness. Although xadašot is definite, it neither selects a referent in the outside world nor contributes to the semantic content of the DP. It follows that definiteness marking on adjectives is purely formal. 2.3 Definiteness in Arabic As hinted at above, few studies have addressed definiteness in Arabic, claiming that definiteness must be semantically interpreted (e.g., Belyayeva 1997). Other studies link definiteness with agreement, especially when it is assigned to non-nominal entities (Brustad 2000; Kremers 2003; Ryding 2005; and Almansour 2012; and Abdullah and Dejani 2014). It should be stressed that these studies, among others, have treated the nunnation suffix –n (NnnS), attached to the end of indefinite entities, as an indefinite article. One apparent evidence for their assumption is the complementary distribution between it and the definite article ʔal-. DPs which are not marked with the definite article can be marked with NnnS:v

(5) ʃtarait-u (*ʔal-)kitaab-a-n buy.PAST-I book-ACC-NnnS ‘I bought a book’

However, such an account has not been supported. Fassi-Fehri (1993, 1999, and 2000) suggests that the NnnS cannot be analysed as an indefinite article. Alternatively, he states that even though the noun marked with NnnS is interpreted as indefinite; NnnS should be taken as a possessive marker. However, no clear evidence has been furnished in support of this point, leaving the actual nature of NnnS blurred. In a related vein, one of the issues heavily-disputed in the related literature on Arabic is the presence of the definite article with generic DPs (cf. Alexiadou 2005; Danon 2010; Nofal 2011; and Abu-Melhim 2013). In this respect, Fassi-Fehri (2005) postulates that the definite article with generic DPs affects how such DPs are interpreted. If the DP is preceded by a definite article, the given DP has a generic reading (as in (6a) below where the DP ʔalʔusuudu ‘the lions’ does not refer to any specific lion, but to the feline species in general). Conversely, if the DP appears free of the definite article, the DP has an existential reading, as in (6b) below where the DP ʔusuudun refers to some lions.

(6) a. tazʔaru l-ʔusuud roar.3SF.PRESENT the-lions ‘lions roar.’ b. tazʔaru ʔusuud-u-n fi-s-sahil roar.3SF.PRESENT lions-NOM-NnnS in-DEF-plain ‘Some lions roar in the plain.’

ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 58 The interpretation of definite DPs is taken to be governed by the context in which they are used. Whether they are referential or not relies on the existence of an antecedent in previous discourse or in listeners’ minds. Nonetheless, no study has clearly revealed why generic DPs are prefixed with the definite article, while indefinite DPs must be suffixed with NnnS followed by some information which seems obligatory for the acceptability of the given sentence. For example, if the PP fissahili ‘in the plain’ is deleted from (6b), the sentence is rendered unacceptable despite the fact that the PP fissahili functions as an adjunct, revealing information known to be associated with lions.

(7) ? tazʔaru ʔusuud roar.3SF.PRESENT lions ‘Some lions roar.’

Summing up, definiteness role in interpreting DPs in discourse has been debatable in the last few decades. Several studies maintained that anaphoricity is not by far the ultimate reason for definiteness trigger in discourse. As a result, definiteness has been investigated within other perspectives, including syntax. On the other hand, definiteness studies on Arabic engendered several controversies with no feasible implications or interpretation. The next section examines the function of definiteness as a cognition-satisfying tool. 3. Definiteness beyond semantic-pragmatic necessity As seen in the preceding section, some recent attempts have analysed definiteness as a way of satisfying certain formal requirements. This satisfaction is not semantically triggered, depriving the definite article of its main function in relation to define nouns. The current research argues for a deeper role of the definite article in the derivation process in Arabic. It explains how definiteness is used as a cognitive satisfaction tool when the speaker abstains from using further information in order to render his/her sentence more informative. However, this assumption is better understood and argued for when NnnS’s behaviour is explained. 3.1 NnnS’s behaviour As seen in section 2.3, the notion whether NnnS in Arabic is an indefinite article or not has been addressed (e.g., Fassi Fehri 1993; Marogy 2004; and Hoyt 2008). Although such studies have brought inroads into underpinning the actual role of NnnS in Arabic, the use of this suffix and its inextricable relation with definiteness are still a controversial aspect blurred by various assumptions without tenable evidence. The main obstacle to understand the functions of NnnS is its peculiar behaviour vis-à-vis definite and indefinite DPs on one hand and the proper DPs on the other. Although this particle is suffixed to indefinite DPs (unlike definite nouns), it can also be suffixed to proper nouns, which are definite on their own. Consider first the contrast between sentences in (8):

(8) a. raʔai-tu r-radʒul-a fi-s-suuq-i see.PAST-1S DEF-man-ACC in-DEF-market-GEN ‘I saw the man in the market.’

b. raʔai-tu radʒul-a-*(n) fi-s-suuq-i see.PAST-1S man-ACC-NnnS in-DEF-market-GEN ‘I saw a man in the market.’

The DP radʒul ‘man’ is definite in (8a). In (8b), it is indefinite; hence, it should be suffixed with NnnS. One might argue that indefinite DPs must be suffixed with NnnS. However, this argument does not hold all the time. Indefinite DPs must not be suffixed with NnnS when showing up at the end of the sentence. For instance, if the DP suuq ‘market’ in (10a) is rendered indefinite, it must not be suffixed with NnnS.

(9) raʔai-tu r-radʒul-a fi-suuɡ-i-(*n) see.PAST-1S DEF-man-ACC in-market-GEN-NnnS ‘I saw the man in a market.’

Thus, a correlation between the non-necessity of NnnS and the position of indefinite DPs at the end of sentence must hold. This correlation can be taken in part as an argument against the assumption that NnnS is an indefinite article. Furthermore, the complementary distribution of the definite article (ʔal) and NnnS does not justify the assumption that the latter is an indefinite article (Fassi Fehri 1993; and Ziadeh and Winder 2003). What supports our contention that NnnS is not an indefinite article is the suffixation of NnnS to proper nouns:

(10) raʔai-tu mohammad-a-n fi-s-suuq-i see.PAST-1S Mohammad-ACC-NnnS in-DEF-market-GEN ‘I saw Mohammad in the market.’

Although the proper noun Mohammad is definite on its own (the definite article cannot be prefixed to it), NnnS is attached to its end. It should be the case that there is something shared by proper nouns and indefinite nouns being both suffixed with NnnS. It will become evident later that such connection between proper nouns and indefinite DPs might be ascribed to the notion that such entities are headed by a null Dº.

ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 59 Additionally, what reinforces our assumption that NnnS is not a morphological realisation of indefiniteness in Arabic is its behaviour in conjunction with construct-state nominals. In Arabic, there are two realisations of definiteness: synthetically (by virtue of prefixing the definite article -ʔal to nouns) or analytically where an indefinite DP is annexed to a definite DP as in (11a) or to a proper noun or as in (11b) (The annexed elements are bracketed).

(11) a. ðahab-tu ʔila [matħaf-i l- madinah] go.PAST-1S to museum-GEN DEF-city ‘I went to the city museum.’

b. ðahab-tu ʔila [bait-i khalid] go.PAST-1S to house-GEN Khalid ‘I went to Khalid’s house.’

In such analytic constructions, the resulting constructs (the annexed indefinite DP and its associate, the definite DP) are termed as ‘Construct-state Nominals’, which are treated as one constituent (Borer 1999; Siloni 2002; Shlonsky 2004; Al-Shaer 2014). In such constructions, NnnS cannot be attached to the annexed indefinite DP:

(12) ðahab-tu ʔila [matħaf-i-(*n) l-madinat-i] go.PAST-1S to museum-GEN DEF-city-GEN ‘I went to the city museum.’

However, NnnS is neither permitted on the associate of the construct unless it is a proper noun: (13) ðahab-tu ʔila [bait-i khalid-i-n] ʔal-kabiir-i go.PAST-1S to house-GEN Khalid-GEN-NnnS DEF-big-GEN ‘I went to Khalid’s big house.’

On the other hand, when the associate of the construct-state nominal is indefinite, NnnS can be attached to it rather than the head noun:

(14) haaða [qawl-u-(*n) ħaqq-i-n] sˤaaʔib this speech-NOM right-ACC-NnnS reasonable ‘This is a reasonable true speech.’

If NnnS is an indefinite marker, why it is blocked from attaching to the head of the construct-state nominal. We are aware of the fact that construct-state nominals have unique properties which must be taken into consideration when addressing such constructions. However, what is important for our research are two observations. Firstly, NnnS can be attached to proper nouns and indefinite DPs, alike. Secondly, NnnS comes at the end of the construct state nominal where nominal modifiers and adnominal complements are located. Before addressing these observations, let us show how definiteness in Arabic can be meta-semantically or pragmatically triggered. Consider sentence (15) where the DP mudʒtamaʕ ‘community’ and qaadˤi ‘judge’ do not refer to any particular community or judge. However, following related literature, although both of them are definite, they are generic in referentiality.

(15) laa zˤulm-a fi-l-mudʒtamaʕ-i ʔiða kaan no injustice-ACC in-DEF-community-GEN if was l-qaadˤi-u ʕaadil DEF-judge-NOM fair

Given that both DPs i.e. mudʒtamaʕ ‘community’ and qaadˤi ‘judge’ are generic, sentence (15) should be interpreted as follows:

(16) There is no injustice in any community if any judge is fair.

However, two counter-arguments for this interpretation are in order. Firstly, although the DP zˤulm has a generic reference like the DPs mudʒtamaʕ ‘community’ and qaadˤi ‘judge’, no definite article is realised on it.vi Secondly, the DPs mudʒtamaʕ ‘community’ and qaadˤi ‘judge’ are not similar in generic-hood. Whereas the former has a broad general reference, the latter has a less-restricted generic reference bounded by the referentiality of the former:

(17) There is no injustice in any community if any judge in that community is fair.

The generic reference of the DP qaadˤi ‘judge’ must be associated with what is picked out in discourse for the DP mudʒtamaʕ ‘community’. This association is important because it dispenses with any reading associating all judges with a particular community. The following figure illustrates this association:

ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 60

Figure 1. Generic-hood of the DPs mudʒtamaʕ ‘community’ and qaadˤi ‘judge’

The significant point to highlight here is that generic-hood of one entity cannot, we wager, be gradable. Let us assume this to be the case, the assumption that one generic DP is less generic (i.e., more specific) than another DP is thus untenable. This discussion, if it is on the right track, does not leave us with any options but to stress that the utter notion of generic-hood as well as its so-called correlation with definiteness is not backed by compelling evidence. It has been merely a way to combine a syntactic phenomenon with possible semantic and pragmatic solutions without tangible indications or actual manifestation. What supports our contention is that the assignment of the definite article to generic DPs varies cross-linguistically. There is no unanimous mechanism exhibited by languages to use the definite article in conjunction with generic DPs. For example, when the English sentence in (18a) is juxtaposed with its translation in Arabic in (18b), it appears that the word ‘fire’ has a different status of definiteness in both languages albeit the same degree of generic-hood, i.e., indefinite in English but definite in Arabic.

(18) a. When fire starts to burn, it starts to spread. b. ʕindama tabdaʔu n-naar-u bil-ʔiʃtiʕaal-i,

When start.3SF.PRESENT DEF-fire-NOM with-burning-GEN, fa-ʔinna-ha tantaʃiru. then-that.it speard.3SF.PRESENT One significant point is that the attachment of the definite article to generic DPs can be dispensed with if existential expressions are added. For instance, if the existential expression hunaaka ‘there’ is added to a sentence having a generic DP attached to the definite article, it is not obligatory for the generic noun to retain the definite article. Compare the following sentences:

(19) a. ʔiða kaan *(l)-qudˤaat-u ʕaadiliin….. if was DEF-judges-NOM fair ‘If judges were fair….’

b. ʔiða kaan hunaaka (*l)-qudˤaat-u-n ʕaadiluun….. if was there DEF-judges-NOM-NnnS fair ‘If there were fair judges…..’

In case the definite article is omitted, the existential expression must be inserted and NnnS is suffixed to the end of the associate DP as in (19b). The obvious question to raise at this juncture is why adding existential expressions lessens the need for the definite article in such cases. The presence of the definite article on generic DPs is governed by the absence of existential expressions. On logical grounds, since the addition of a dummy existential expression is formally called for (i.e., to fill SpecTP forced by the EPP), it follows that the addition of the definite article can be formally-triggered as well. On the basis of the data in general and the behaviour of NnnS in particular, we argue for the assumption that when one noun is used indefinitely, Arabic makes available NnnS as a device to stimulate the speaker to add information about this noun. This assumption can account for the loss of NnnS at the end of sentences. Under this analysis, NnnS is an information-stimulant device employed to encourage the speaker to add information about indefinite DPs. It should be stressed that our assumption for the function of NnnS must be understood with reference to the notion that the use of indefinite DPs disturbs sentence informativity, rendering it less acceptable (cf. Enç 1991 and Ionin et al. 2011). As long as the main objective of sentences in particular, and communication in general is informativity (Peti-Stantić 2013), using indefinite DPs diminishes sentence informativity. Once an indefinite DP is used, there should be some way stimulating the speaker to add information about the given DP so the required level of informativity (governed by cognition, cf. Bowdle and Gentner 1997) is obtained. In our terms, NnnS is the device dedicated for achieving this goal. It follows that the use of NnnS is governed by the definiteness status of the relevant DP, i.e., if the DP is definite, NnnS is not triggered. However, when the DP is used indefinitely, NnnS is triggered and thus information about the indefinite DP is called for. This being the case, our belief is that when an indefinite DP is used, sentence informativity is lessened. NuuP is employed once one indefinite DP is used. Any materials motivated by this specific need are labelled as ‘balancing materials’, since their function is to retain informativity balance.

One Community

Judges

ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 61 3.2 NnnS as an information trigger The speaker has three ways to meet NnnS’s requirement to add balancing materials. Firstly, he/she might add what we call ‘formally-triggered information’ (FTI). Such type of information has no significant value to the propositional content of the given sentence. Consider the following sentence:

(20) raʔai-tu radʒul-a-n fi-l-maadˤi see.PAST-1S man-ACC-NnnS in-DEF-past ‘I saw a man in the past.’

In sentence (20), although the PP filmaadˤi is redundant (i.e., its meaning is presupposed by the tense of the verb), its use follows the presence of NnnS. On the other hand, FTI is hardly used in conjunction with definite DPs:

(21) ? raʔai-tu r-radʒul-a fi-l-maadˤi see.PAST-1S DEF-man-ACC in-DEF-PAST ‘I saw the man in the past.’

Although FTI does not contribute to the propositional content in either sentences (21), its presence in the former is important. Secondly, the speaker might add balancing materials which do contribute to the prepositional content of a given sentence. Such information is called ‘discourse pillars’ (DisP) because the discourse interlocutors are heavily contingent on them to yield actual information about the indefinite DP at issue. DisP includes any type of information with semantic or pragmatic value to the hearer. For instance, the PP fissuuqi ‘in the market’ in sentence (8a) (which is reproduced below for convenience) is a DisP inasmuch as it gives concrete information about the indefinite DP radʒulan.

(22) raʔai-tu radʒul-a-n fi-s-suuq see.PAST-1S man-ACC-NnnS in-DEF-market ‘I saw a man in the market.’

The division of the information added by NnnS to FTI and DisP can be syntactically supported. Contrary to DisP, FTI is immobile. For example, consider the ungrammatical sentence in (23) where PP filmad?i is preposed to the left periphery of the sentence:

(23) *fi-l-maadˤi raʔai-tu radʒul. in-the-PAST-GEN see.Past-1S man

‘In the past, I saw a man.' Since FTI does not encode any propositional content necessary for hearers, it cannot be topicalised or focalised. Their presence is demanded by NnnS’s requirement to add materials about the indefinite DP. Following this line of analysis, the existence of optional information preceded by indefinite nouns which is neither new nor important to the propositional content of a given sentence follows. Thirdly, the speaker might add existential expressions as a response to NnnS. Such expressions only co-occur with indefinite DPs in Arabic.

(24) hunaaka/yuudʒad radʒul-u-n fi-s-suuq there/be.3SM.PRESENT man-NOM-NnnS in-DEF-market ‘There is a man in the market.’

Although the existential expressions and FTI do not contribute to the propositional content of a given sentence, they are important for the sentence to be processed. Cognition requires sentences to be informative. Once one entity entering sentence derivation does not increase sentence informativity, cognition demands adding further information about this entity. Such a demand can be executed via attaching the information-trigger device, NnnS, to the end of this entity. Some outcome of this demand is that either existential expressions or FTI are added. However, an immediate question suggesting itself is that since these two types of information are not semantically or even pragmatically significant, whey there are called for. Put differently, neither existential expressions nor FTI can be clues to interpret indefinite DPs, how come that they are driven by informativity-based requirement. Our answer to this question is that cognition is more concerned about existence of materials, regardless of their content. When the speaker might lack any information about the indefinite DP he/she uses, one way of getting around the demands of cognition is to add non-semantic materials whose presence is important rather than their semantic/pragmatic import. It should be emphasised that the use of NnnS is not restricted to Standard Arabic (cf. Ingham 1994). In Najdi Arabic, NnnS is employed under the same conditions, namely with indefinite DPs which do not mark the end of the conversation. This conclusion comes from an experiment study we conducted. We have asked five Najdi Arabic speakers to comment on any topic. All of their replies have been recorded (with their permission). It seems that NnnS is

ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 62 used when the speaker adds information about indefinite DPs they come across. Consider the following examples in (25):

(25) a. yoom jikoon ridʒaal-n muħtaram gadħaaluh …… when be man-NnnS respected confident ‘When he is a respected, confident man…..’ b. ʔiʕrasit wa-ʃtareet beet. married.1S and-bought.1S house ‘I got married and bought a house.’

In (25a), the indefinite DP ridʒaal ‘a man’ is used with NnnS. However, in (25b), the indefinite DP beet ‘a house’ is used without NnnS. What is patently clear is that the indefinite DP ridʒaal ‘a man’ is followed by further information, i.e., nominal modifiers, which are, based on our approach, invoked by NnnS. In (25b), NnnS is not attached to the indefinite DP beet ‘a house’; hence, no nominal modifiers follow the DP. On the other hand, when the speaker abstains from adding balancing materials, he/she can make use of the definite article. In such cases, the speaker is not bound to add materials about the indefinite DP which has become formally definite as a result of adding the definite article. Hence, there is no need for balancing materials. Subsequently, NnnS is not utilised and no balancing materials are thus triggered because cognition does not require adding new information for the entities that the speaker seems aware of (by virtue of the definite article). Under these circumstances, the definite article is used formally, and since no anaphoricity is intended, the generic reading (for the indefinite DPs defined formally) is generated. Thus, the need to add information about one entity is governed by the presence or absence of the definite article. The presence of the definite article is seen as evidence that the speaker is totally aware of what he/she is talking about. Two last issues to tackle before winding up this section are, first, the use of NnnS with proper nouns, and second, the behaviour of the prefix ha- in some Arabic dialects. Regarding the former, as is clear from the discussion above, NnnS can be suffixed to proper nouns which are definite on their own. This observation seems problematic for our analysis. However, there is no problem arising for our analysis with regard to proper nouns if we stick to the notion that such nouns, even definite, need further information about them to be qualified as real definite entities by cognition. It is more or less ubiquitous that when using a proper noun in conversation, it seems important to tell the interlocutors more information about the proper noun. A single name can refer to many people (i.e., namesakes). Thus, more detail or information about this proper noun is needed. In order to attest this finding, another experiment study has been carried out. A recorded sessions for four participants whose native Arabic dialect is Jordanian Arabic were conducted (all of the sessions were conducted after gaining the permission of these four people to carry out the task). The subjects were asked to speak with each other using Jordanian Arabic about any topic they select. However, this topic must be related to some people they had some experience with so as to trigger the use of proper nouns. It turns out that when speakers come across one proper noun, they add some formation about this noun in order to make clear its identity. The following are some examples:

(26) a. mhamamd ʔaχ-i…. Mohamamd brother-my ‘ Mohammad, my brother, …..’

b. lamaħit omar mʕalim l-midrasih…. saw.1S Omar teacher DEF-school ‘I saw Omar, the school teacher,’

Proper nouns can then be regarded as entities which are short on information. This being so, the attachment of NnnS to them follows. The fact that proper nouns require further information to be provided by the speaker brings to mind another entity that stipulates the same requirement, i.e., indefinite DPs. It must be the case that the two entities have something in common, given that both can be suffixed with NnnS. This connection is revealed by appealing to the type of head of the relevant DP (null vs overt). The syntactic structure of both proper nouns and indefinite DPs demonstrates that they are headed by a null Dº, whereas definite DPs are headed by an overt D. If this reasoning is on track, the reason why proper nouns are marked with NnnS follows directly. The lack of an overt head in proper nouns and indefinite DPs licenses the addition of further information by the speaker. In case the head of DP is occupied by the definite article, the presence of the latter prevents the provision of further information. As such, we assume that the demand of cognition to add further information about one DP is invoked once the resulting DP is headed by a null head.vii With regard to the latter issue, what substantiates the semantic/pragmatic and cognition-based dichotomy of definiteness function in Arabic is the behaviour of the prefix ha- in some Arabic dialects, including Jordanian Arabic. ha is prefixed to definite anaphoric DPs.viii Following related literature on specificity (Fiengo 1987 and Ionin 2006), we argue that this prefix is a specificity marker. It is only used with a DP whose referent is specific. Consider the following example:

ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 63 (27) lageet ha-z-zalamih bi-s-suuq

found.1S. SPEC-DEF-man in-DEF-market ‘I found the man in the market.’

What bears on our argument is that this marker does not occur with a definite DP whose referent is generic.

(28) ʔiðaa kaan (*ha)-l-qudˤaa ʕaadiliin….. if was SPEC-DEF-judges fair ‘If there were fair judges…..’ The behaviour of the prefix ha- demonstrates that the definite article might occur without a specific referent. We assume that the cases where this prefix does not accompany the definite article, the latter is used for purposes beyond semantic or pragmatic needs. However, more examination is needed to attest our assumption; hence; leaving this issue open for future research. Having introduced our account of NnnS and cognition-based function of definiteness, we move on to examine this account against some controversial issues. 4. Implications 4.1 Definiteness and acceptability When using the definite article, the speaker believes that the listener knows the specific referent of the DP to which the definite article is adjoined. Knowledge of such a referent is part of the assumed knowledge between the interlocutors (Von Heusinger 2002 and Chen 2009). Once the speaker utters one DP and the listener receives it, the latter attempts to retrieve the information relevant to the referent pertinent to the DP if the definite article is attached to it. The presence of the definite article triggers the engine of presupposition inside the listener’s mind, making an inference about the DP in question (Abbott 2004). Under such circumstances, the listener realises that the speaker need not provide any further information, i.e., DisP, in order to ascertain that the listener has understood the speaker’s message; hence, no need for foregrounding (cf. Belyayeva 1997; Keenan and Schieffelin 2011). The definite article only reinforces the retrieved referent of the DP attached to the definite article. Reasoning along these lines, it can be posited that the definite article serves as a block to the provision of further information about the definite DP in question. Although any sentence must be informative, a certain level of informativity must be maintained. When further information is added to a definite DP, the sentence informativity reduces its acceptability. In other words, the definite article restricts the required level of information about the definite DP. Differently, if the definite article is not used with a DP, NnnS is instantaneously called for to stimulate the speaker to add information about the indefinite DPs used in an attempt to restore sentence informativity. For the listener, the DP marked by NnnS is new information to which reference in the mind of the listener does not exist. Hence, upon hearing such a DP, the listener does not embark on searching for the referents of the indefinite DP. On the contrary, he/she assumes that further information from the speaker will follow to clarify the referent’s identity; thus, exerting less effort in interpreting the speaker’s message. As a result, NnnS plays a role in orchestrating the communication between the speaker and the listener. Similarly, unlike the definite article, NnnS is seen as a means to trigger more information; hence, enhances sentence informativity. This correlation between information and definiteness articles and NnnP can be diagrammed as follows:

Figure 2. The role of NnnS and the definite article verses informativity

Figure 2 is read as follows. When informativity goes down the allowed level of sentence acceptability, NnnS is employed to trigger the speaker to add information about the indefinite DPs. Such an addition is meant to raise sentence informativity which is fading way due to the indefinite DPs within the given sentence. Conversely, if informativity exceeds the allowed level of sentence acceptability, the definite article is used to block any addition of information about the definite DPs whose (austere) presence, e.g., without nominal modifiers, is enough to maintain sentence

ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 64 acceptability. In this light, both NnnS and the definite article in Arabic have the same ultimate goal in restricting sentence informativity within the limits sanctioned by its acceptability. 4.2 Formal definiteness transfer Several studies indicated that Arab learners encounter problems when transferring the definite article to other languages like English (e.g., Kharma 1981; Khuwaileh and Shoumali 2000; Smith and Swan 2001; Crompton 2011; Harb 2014; Husni and Newman 2015). Following our discussion in section 3, this difficulty of translating the definite article into other languages emerges due to the conceptually-based use of the definite article in Arabic. Arab EFL learners assume that the presence of the definite article is fundamental for sentence acceptability. Hence, they neglect to acknowledge incompatibility of the definite article and its function in the targeted language, falling in the trap of negative transfer (cf. Mohan and Lo 1984, Ellis 1994, Larsen-Freeman and Long 2014; Altakhaineh and Zibin 2014; Zibin and Hamdan 2014).ix This type of transfer takes place when a structure in L1 is utilised in L2 inappropriately (Saville-Troike 2012). Following our argument, the definite article, when used non-anaphorically, is negatively transferred into L2, yielding a structure deemed unsuitable or even bizarre by native speakers of, say, English. In order to attest this finding, we conducted an experiment study, asking 40 Arabic learners of English to translate the Arabic sentence in (29a), 35 of them (87.5%) translated with the definite article in the English translation, as seen in (29b):

(29) a. r-ridʒaal wa n-nisaaʔ yasˤtatˤiiʕuuna taħqiiq n-nadʒaaħ DEF-man.PL and DEF-women can.3PL.ACC attainment DEF- success

b. Both the men and the women can attain the success The definite article is realised on the DPs men, women and success even though it is uncalled for, since those DPs are non-anaphoric. The formal definite article, which is required on meta-semantic/pragmatic grounds, turns out to be the main cause for this negative transfer. 5. Conclusion In this study, we argued that not all instances of definiteness in Arabic are grounded within anaphoricity or generichood. Differently, the definite article, under certain circumstance, is driven so as to retain the definiteness balance of the sentence, which is realised through various types of what is called 'balancing materials'. Contrary to what has mainly been agreed upon in the relevant literature, we argued that NnnS is, in fact, not an indefinite article. Arabic employs NnnS as a tool to stimulate the speaker to add information about indefinite DPs. This information might be FTI, DisP, or existential expressions, rendering the sentence more acceptable. Conversely, such information is blocked by the definite article that serves as an anti-information trigger, preventing cognition from requiring additional materials as it jeopardises sentence acceptability. It follows that when the definite article is present; NnnS becomes of no avail and; hence, uncalled for. The use of NnnS with proper nouns has been attributed to the lack of information supplied by such nouns as they may refer to more than one individual. Lack of an overt D, we argued, acts as a stimulant for cognition to require further information about the entity in question. We concluded that the key factor behind the use of the formal definite article in Arabic revolves around sentence informativity, which is intertwined with its acceptability. Additionally, the study shows that the definite article used for cognition-satisfying needs is the underlying reason for the negative transfer of the definite article from Arabic into English. Acknowledgments We are indebted to all participants who took part in the experiments. Additionally, we would like to thank both Abdel Rahman Altakhaineh and Murdhy Al-Shamari for their insightful comments on the earlier version of this paper. All remaining errors are ours. References Abbott, B. (2004). Definiteness and indefiniteness. In Horn, L. R., and Ward, G. (Eds.) The handbook of pragmatics (pp. 122-149). Oxford: Blackwell. Abdullah, H., and Dejani, B. A. (2014). A Comparative Study on Definiteness and Indefiniteness in Arabic and Malay Languages. Dirasat Human and Social Sciences, 41(1), 436-452. Abney, S. P. (1987). The English noun phrase in its sentential aspect. Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Abu-Melhim, A. R. (2013). The Presence or Absence of Definiteness in the Native Language and Its Impact on ESL Learning. English Language Teaching, 7(1), 50-65. Alexiadou, A. (2005). Possessors and (in) Definiteness. Lingua, 115(6), 787-819. Alexiadou, A. (2009). On the role of syntactic locality in morphological processes: the case of (Greek) derived nominals. In Giannakidou and Rathert (Eds.), pp.253-280. Alhaisoni, E., Jarrah, M. A., and Shehadeh, M. S. (2012). An investigation of evidentiality in the Arabic language. International Journal of Linguistics, 4, 260-273.

ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 65 Almansour, A. H. (2012). A Phase-based Approach to the Construct State. Journal of King Saud University-Languages and Translation, 24(1), 23-34. Al-Shaer, I. (2014). Arabic and English Genitive Constructions: A Corpus-based Contrastive Analysis of Patterns and Equivalence. Languages in Contrast,14(2), 163-190. Altakhaineh, A., and Zibin, A. (2014). Perception of Culturally Loaded Words by Arab EFL Learners. International Journal of Linguistics, 6(3), 1-22. Al-Jarrah, R. S., Abu Dalu, A. M., and Jarrah, M. (2015). A relevance–theoretical account of three Arabic pragmatic operators of concession in a political discourse. Lodz Papers in Pragmatics, 11, 51-76. Belletti, A. (1988). The Case of Unaccusatives. Linguistic inquiry. 1-34. Belyayeva, D. (1997). Definiteness realization and function in Palestinian Arabic. Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science Series, 4, 47-68. Bock, J. K. (1982). Toward a Cognitive Psychology of Syntax: Information Processing Contributions to Sentence Formulation. Psychological Review, 89(1). Borer, H. (1999). Deconstructing the Construct. In: Johnson, Kyle, Roberts, I.G. 43-89. Bowdle, B.F., and Gentner, D. (1997). Informativity and Asymmetry in Comparisons. Cognitive Psychology, 34(3), 244-286. Brustad, K. (2000). The syntax of spoken Arabic: A comparative study of Moroccan, Egyptian, Syrian, and Kuwaiti dialects. Georgetown University Press. Chen, P. (2004). Identifiability and Definiteness in Chinese. Linguistics, 42(6), 1129–1184. Chen, P. (2009) Aspects of Referentiality. Journal of Pragmatics, 41(8), 1657-1674. Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht: Foris. Chomsky, N. (1986). Knowledge of language. New York: Praeger. Clifton, C., and Frazier, L. (2004). Should Given Information Come Before New? Yes and No. Memory and Cognition. 32(6). 886-895. Cornilescu, A., and Nicolae, A. (2012). Nominal Ellipsis as Definiteness and Anaphoricity: The Case of Romanian. Lingua, 122(10), 1070-1111. Crompton, P. (2011). Article Errors in the English Writing of Advanced L1 Arabic Learners: The Role of Transfer. Asian EFL Journal, 50(1), 4-35. Czardybon, A., Hellwig, O. and Petersen, W. (2014). Statistical analysis of the interaction between word order and definiteness in Polish. In Advances in natural language processing (pp. 144-150). Springer International Publishing. Danon, G. (2001). Syntactic Definiteness in the Grammar of Modern Hebrew. Linguistics, 39(6), 1071-1116. Danon, G. (2008). Definiteness Spreading in the Hebrew Construct State. Lingua, 118(7), 872-906. Danon, G. (2010). The Definiteness Feature at the Syntax-Semantics Interface. Features Perspectives on a Key Notion in Linguistics. 144-165. Despić, M. (2015). Phases, Reflexives, and Definiteness. Syntax, 18(3), 201-234. Dickins, J. A. M. E. S. (2013). Definiteness, genitives and two kinds of syntax in Standard Arabic. Nicht nur mit Engelzungen: Beiträge zur semitischen Dialektologie. Festschrift fuer Werner Arnold zum 60. Geburtstag, 59-72. Doran, R. B. (2012). Definiteness, specificity, and the multiple uses of demonstrative expressions. Doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University. Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press. Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press. Ingham, B. Najdi Arabic: Central Arabian (Vol. 1). John Benjamins Publishing. Enç, M. (1991). The Semantics of Specificity. Linguistic inquiry. 1-25. Fassi Fehri, A. (1993). Issues in the structure of Arabic clauses and words. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Fassi-Fehri, A. (2005). Verbal and Nominal Parallelisms. Documents and Reports. 1-22. Fehri, A. F. (2000). Distributing Features and Affixes in Arabic Subject Verb Agreement Paradigms. Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science Series, 4, 79-100. Fehri, Fehri, A. (1999). Arabic Modifying Adjectives and DP Structures. Studia Linguistica. 53(2). 105-154. Fiengo, R. (1987). Definiteness, Specificity, and Familiarity. Linguistic Inquiry. 163-166. Fraurud, K. (1990). Definiteness and the Processing of Noun Phrases in Natural Discourse. Journal of Semantics. 7(4). 395-433. Gernsbacher, M.A. and Hargreaves, D.J. (1988). Accessing Sentence Participants: The Advantage of First Mention. Journal of Memory and Language, 27(6), 699-717.

ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 66 Harb, M. A. (2014). A Closer Look at the English Article System: Internal and External Sources of Difficulty Revisited. International Journal of Linguistics, 6, 87-101. Hawkins, J.A. (1978). Definiteness and indefiniteness: a study in reference and grammaticality prediction. Croom Helm Ltd. Heim, I. (1982). The semantics of definite and indefinite noun phrases. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Hoyt, F. (2008). The Arabic noun phrase. The Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. Leiden: Brill. Hurford, J. R., Heasley, B., and Smith, M.B. (2007). Semantics: A coursebook. Cambridge University Press. Husni, R., and Newman, D. L. (2015). Arabic-English-Arabic-English translation: Issues and strategies. Routledge. Ionin, T. (2006). This is Definitely Specific: Specificity and Definiteness in Article Systems. Natural Language Semantics, 14(2), 175-234. Ionin, T., Montrul, S., and Santos, H. (2011). An Experimental Investigation of the Expression of Genericity in English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. Lingua, 121(5), 963-985. Jarrah, M. A. (2016). Explicit-implicit Distinction: A Literature Review. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 7(1), 175-184. Kathryn Bock, J., and Irwin, D. E. (1980). Syntactic Effects of Information Availability in Sentence Production. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19(4), 467-484. Keenan, E. O. and Schieffelin, B. (2011). Foregrounding referents: A reconsideration of left dislocation in discourse. In Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (Vol. 2). Kharma, N. (1981). Analysis of the Errors Committed by Arab University Students in the Use of the English Definite/Indefinite Articles. IRAL-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 19(1-4), 333-345. Khuwaileh, A. A. and Shoumali, A. A. (2000). Writing Errors: A Study of the Writing Ability of Arab Learners of Academic English and Arabic at University. Language Culture and Curriculum,13(2), 174-183. Kremers, J. (2003) The Arabic noun phrase. Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics. Larsen-Freeman, D., and Long, M. H. (2014). An introduction to second language acquisition research. Routledge. Löbner, S. (1985). Definites. Journal of Semantics. 4(4). 279-326. Lobner, S. (1987). Harry C. Bunt. 1985. Mass Terms and Model-Theoretic Semantics. Studies in Language, 11(2), 469-478. Lyons, C. (1999) Definiteness. Cambridge University Press. Marogy, A. (2004) Inversion, Definiteness, and Case Assignment in Arabic Nominal Structure. The Classical Theory. Al-'Arabiyya:': journal of the American Association of Teachers of Arabic, 77. Mohan, B. A., and Lo, W. A. Y. (1985). Academic Writing and Chinese Students: Transfer and Developmental Factors. Tesol Quarterly, 19, 515-534. Nariyama, S. (2003). Ellipsis and reference tracking in Japanese. John Benjamins Publishing. Nofal, K. H. (2011). Nouns and Adjectives of Old English and Modern Standard Arabic: A Comparative Study. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(18), 203-225. Owens, J. (2013). The Arabic Grammatical Tradition. The Semitic Languages, 46. Peti-Stantić, A. (2013). Informativity of Sentence Information Structure: The Role of Word Order. Language as Information. 155-178. Reinhart, T. (1983). Anaphora and semantic interpretation. Taylor and Francis. Renaud, F. (1996). The Definite Article: Code and Context. Journal of Semantics, 13(2), 139-180. Retso, J. (1984). State, Determination and Definiteness in Arabic. A Reconsideration. Orientalia Suecana. 33. 341-346. Roberts, C. (2003). Uniqueness in Definite Noun Phrases. Linguistics and philosophy, 26(3), 287-350. Ryding, K. C. (2005). A reference grammar of modern standard Arabic. Cambridge university press. Saville-Troike, M. (2012). Introducing second language acquisition. Cambridge University Press. Schumacher, P. B. (2009). Definiteness marking shows late effects during discourse processing: evidence from ERPs. In: Anaphora processing and applications. 91-106. Shlonsky, U. (2004). The Form of Semitic Noun Phrases. Lingua, 114(12), 1465-1526. Sidner, C. L. (1979). Towards a computational theory of definite anaphora comprehension in English discourse (No. AI-TR-537). Massachusetts Inst of Tech Cambridge Artificial Intelligence lab. Sigurðsson, H. Á. (2012). Minimalist C/case. Linguistic Inquiry, 43, 191-227. Siloni, T. (2002). Adjectival constructs and inalienable constructions. In: Themes in Arabic and Hebrew syntax. 161-187.

ALLS 7(2):55-67, 2016 67 Smith, B., and Swan, M. (2001). Learner English: A teacher's guide to interference and other problems. Ernst Klett Sprachen. Taha, K. T., Jarrah, M. A., and Al-Jarrah, R. S. (2014). The Discoursal Arabic Coordinating Conjunction Wa (And). International Journal of Linguistics 6: 172-183. Von Heusinger, K. (2002). Specificity and Definiteness in Sentence and Discourse Structure. Journal of Semantics, 19(3), 245-274. Von Heusinger, K. (2002). Specificity and Definiteness in Sentence and Discourse Structure. Journal of Semantics, 19(3), 245-274. Woolford, E. (2006). Lexical Case, Inherent Case, and Argument Structure. Linguistic inquiry, 37, 111-130. Wright, W., and Caspari, C. P. (2011). A grammar of the Arabic language. Cosimo, Inc.. Ziadeh, F. J., and Winder, R.B. (2003). An introduction to modern Arabic. Courier Dover Publications. Zibin, A., and Hamdan, J. (2014). The acquisition of metaphorical expressions by Jordanian EFL learners: A cognitive approach. Saarbrücken: Lambert Academic Publishing. i The term ‘anchor’ refers to the entities with which first-mention definite DPs may be interpreted (Fraurud 1990: 415).

ii It should be stressed that few studies have explored the role played by definiteness beyond pragmatics and semantics within current syntactic theory (cf. Wright and Caspari 2012). However, a lot of work relating to the traditional ‘perspective’ approaches on SA can be traced back. Here again, the main emphasis was at best descriptive, having aimed basically to numerate the cases where the definite article is used without mentioning or even speculating on the reason behind it (cf. Owens 2013).

iii Abney’s (1987) DP theory is adopted in this research. Thus, single DPs are taken as DPs headed by a null Dº.

ivStandard Case theory (cf. Chomsky 1981, 1986) divides Case into two types, namely: structural and non-structural, which both differ in their behavior and manner of licensing. In turn, the non-structural Cases further subdivide into two distinct types, lexical and inherent, which also differ in their behavior and manner of licensing (cf. Woolford 2006). In general, inherent Case is associated with certain theta positions, whereas structural Case is associated with the syntactic position an argument occupies (i.e., Nominative vs. Accusative) (cf. Sigurðsson 2012). v Grammaticality judgement of all SA sentences used throughout this research was made by 10 SA experts.

vi That is because zˤulm refers to any type of injustice.

vii Indeed, this line of thought sheds light on the mere presence of indefinite articles. Why are indefinite articles used? Logically speaking, definiteness is marked by some articles, whereas indefiniteness can be marked with the loss of definite articles (as the case of indefinite plural in English). Following our account, indefinite articles are just a way of materializing the head Dº; hence, the demand of cognition to add information about indefinite DPs is no longer invoked. However, we keep this issue open for further research.

viii This marker is assumed to be derived from the demonstrative pronoun haða used in standard Arabic through some grammaticalization process.

ix Additionally, misuse of the definite article might stimulate the hearer to exert more effort, seeking for any implicit message the speaker appears to mean (see, Taha et al 2014; Al-Jarrah et al 2015; and Jarrah 2016, among others).



Wordplay in English Online News Headlines

Roya Monsefi (Corresponding author) School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia,

11800 USM, Penang, Malaysia E-mail: [email protected]

Tengku Sepora Tengku Mahadi

School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang, Malaysia


Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.68 Received: 12/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.68 Accepted: 16/01/2016 Abstract Within the endless stream of information available on the news media market, news headline language is characterised by several linguistic, pragmatic, rhetorical and functional features that distinguish it from other varieties of language that are not specialised. In the present study, the rhetorical features of English news headlines, through wordplay investigation, using a sample of 100 headlines were studied. Wordplay is investigated because it leads to the persuasiveness of message that is sometimes so subtle that the readers might not even recognise it. A taxonomy of wordplays was constructed according to Leigh’s (1994) model which made it possible to access a comprehensive checklist. The way the persuasive element, i.e. wordplay, was presented for the English headline readers was examined using the descriptive method and in light of textual rhetorical analysis. The outcome of the study suggests that English news headlines are likely to contain one or more clearly defined wordplay. The most frequent wordplay is that of tropes or more specifically metonymy. However, there are some wordplays such as polysyndeton, anadiplosis, antimetabole, epistrophe and polyptoton that are absent in English headlines. The majority of unused categories fall under the category of schemes. Keywords: wordplay, news headlines, schemes, tropes, rhetoric 1. Introduction In such a world where, as Sandell (1977) and Oaks (2012) remarked, mass communication have a crucial part in shaping attitudes, opinions, events and objects, the wording of the message may be the most important factor in persuading the recipient to adopt a particular point of view. Ungerer (2000) argued that for successfully communicating the message, all texts must seduce their audience. They must urge the potential reader into reading and into accepting the message. No surprise that media texts are saturated with strategies to win the audience and maintain the impression. Accordingly, it seems likely that wordplay (rhetorical figures of speech) may be used in news headlines for attracting readers to read the whole article, and ultimately persuading in accepting or rejecting a particular opinion. Headlines are usually written by different people from those who write the main bodies of the news texts (Bell, 1991). Accordingly, Dor (2003) mentioned that news editors and copy editors usually dictate the choice of headlines for specific news stories. As a journalist, editor and linguist, Bell (1991) asserted that headlines are a “part of news rhetoric whose function is to attract the reader.” (p.189). Saxena (2006) claimed that skilled copy editors devote noticeable time to write headlines because they know that “dead and dull headlines drive readers away from good news reports.” (p. 17). Given that one of the main functions of headlines is “persuasion” and with considering the fact that “wordplay” is generally a significant means of persuasion, wordplay investigation in English news headlines is the salient issue that counts throughout this study. 2. Statement of the Problem and Research Methodology Iarovici and Amel (1989) claimed that both headline strategy and advertising strategy seek to bring about desire. In the case of headline the desire is to read the whole article; and with regard to advertisement the desire is to purchase the product. Ali (2009) mentioned that the headline writer has the purpose of capturing the readers’ emotion with as few words as possible. She claimed that the language of news presents factual content of the story as well as emotional tone. This emotional tone is mostly achieved through wordplay. However, “its role in headline writing and translation has largely escaped the attention of scholars and researchers.” (p. 33). It has been mentioned that wordplay has an effect in persuasiveness and attractiveness of message. However, the problem rises finding the answer to the regularity that they appear at news headlines. Regarding the present corpus, some categories of wordplay might frequently appear in


ALLS 7(2):68-75, 2016 69 English news headlines while others might seldom show themselves. On the other hand, headline writers might be reluctant even in using any kinds of wordplay and show preference in using straightforward headlines. Detecting wordplays in news headlines and the intention behind their use is not an easy task. Because, as van Dijk (1988) claimed, “news discourse will leave much information implicit, either because it is generally known and can be inferred by any reader of the same culture or because it is a possible inference the journalist does not want to make openly” (p. 107). van Dijk (1988) maintained that often, from a critical point of view, what is not directly mentioned is even more important than what is explicitly expressed and meant. The data for the present study is extracted from Euronews website with international influence. The analysis of wordplay is conducted using textual analysis and rhetorical theory. Leigh (1994) offered a taxonomy for classifying wordplay that can help the present study in making a checklist of different wordplay types in news headlines. His model is encapsulated in the following figure:

Figure 2.1 Taxonomy of wordplay (figures of speech). (Adopted from Leigh, 1994) Wordplay encompasses two major groups of tropes and schemes. The tropes, which involve the play on the meaning of words, are divided into puns and associations and their related subcategories. The schemes, which involve the play on grammar and the change in word order or pattern, consist of word order --coordinated, deliberate word omissions and insertions, repetitions and rhyme. These four categories are sub-divided into their related subcategories. The overall number of the scheme’s subcategories is 20. 3. Results and Discussion Ninety-seven percent of the 100 selected Euronews “English” news headlines have one or more clearly defined wordplay. These results suggest that Euronews English language copy editors are likely to engage their headlines with wordplays. However, it should be mentioned that they were moderate in using wordplays and headlines with the low mid-range set of wordplays in them; i.e. 3 wordplays, have been found to be used with highest frequency.

ALLS 7(2):68-75, 2016 70 Across the selected headlines, there is a preference for the use of tropes, namely metonymy, rather than schemes. Furthermore, there is no usage of oxymoron, parody, anthimeria, rhetorical questions, antithesis, climax, parenthesis, polysyndeton, anadiplosis, antimetabole, assonance, epanalepsis, epistrophe, polyptoton, repetition and end rhyme in them. The majority of unused wordplays belonged to the schemes category. In their study of advertising headlines, Leigh (1994) and Smith (2002, 2006) discovered a similar phenomenon, where some wordplays occurred frequently and others seldom. It can be suggested that certain wordplays are more suited to headline copy. One instance of English news headlines analysed in this study, contains the majority of wordplays, i.e. eight. It will be discussed below: Iran, Iraq back Syria peace plan, Annan says UN and Arab League envoy on Syria Kofi Annan said on Wednesday that both Iran and Iraq back his peace plan to end the 17-month standoff between President Bashar Assad’s regime and the opposition. Returning from a visit to the region after meetings with officials in Damascus, Baghdad and Tehran, Annan said both nations could play a key role in shaping a transitional government. “In both Iran and Iraq, the governments committed to supporting the six point plan. They supported the idea of political transition, which will be Syrian-led,” Annan told the Security Council via video link from Geneva. But Damascus says Annan’s plan is failing because the international community is turning a blind eye to countries supplying weapons to anti-Assad rebels. Bashar Ja’afari, Syrian ambassador to the UN, said: that “without putting an end to the funding and arming of the armed groups in Syria, it will be very difficult to see the plan of Mr. Kofi Annan succeeding on the spot.” Annan’s peace plan was approved by the UN Security Council and accepted by Syria in March. It called for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons from populated areas by the Syrian government. But the April 12 ceasefire agreement has failed to take hold. One of the instances of figurative language in the English headline above is the “metonymic” use of countries, i.e. Iran, Iraq and Syria. Place-name based metonymies are employed in order to conceptually represent Iran, Iraq and Syria’s government officials: Both Iranian and Iraqi government officials supported the Syrian-official-led peace plan. The metonymic use of place names preserves spatial value in headlines. Place-name metonymies trigger a whole-part relationship in which if as an entity the country is considered as a “whole”, the government officials of that country are considered as a “part” of that entity. Hence, the responsibility for political actions can be attributed to the country as a whole. Accordingly, metonymy has a crucial impact on the construction of stereotypes. They are connected with the country when the discourse itself focuses on the country instead of individuals. The metonymic use of countries also leads to the trope “personification”. The human trait of “backing” is attributed to inanimate entities; i.e. Iran and Iraq in Iran, Iraq back Syria peace plan. On the other hand, having a peace plan is attributed to Syria which creates another instance of personification. As the subsequent findings also reveal, news headlines have a tendency to personify the name of countries in order to project the final result as the consequence of country’s action as a whole. Considering schemes, the English headline contains one instance of “anastrophe”, “asyndeton” and “ellipsis”. The change in the syntactically correct order of subject, object and verb creates anastrophe. The normal sequence of words in English is subject followed by verb, and then object. The inversion of the normal word order in Iran, Iraq back Syria peace plan, Annan Says is for creating an effect and bringing Iran and Iraq’s support into focus. The deliberate omission of conjunction “and” in Iran, Iraq back Syria creates asyndeton which is used for achieving brevity in the headline. Asyndeton can speed up the rhythm and make a single idea more memorable. Finally, the omission of possessive “’s” creates the last scheme in the English headline, i.e. ellipsis. It can be recovered as in: Iran, Iraq back Syria’s peace plan. Ellipsis does not alter the original meaning of headline. It just condenses the lexical units for preserving space and brevity. In order to better elucidate the wordplays, the following table is presented: Table 3.1 The wordplay employed on the English headline Wordplay Schemes Tropes Anastrophe à Annan says Personification (2) à Iran, Iraq back / Syria peace plan Asyndeton à Iran, Iraq Metonymy (3) à Iran / Iraq / Syria Ellipsis à Syria peace plan

Generally, in all the one hundred headlines analysed in the present study, seven instances of English headlines have six wordplays which include the second-largest set of wordplay. Ten instances of English headlines contain five wordplays which include the third-largest set of wordplays. Fourteen instances of English headlines have four wordplays which include the high mid-range set of wordplays; and twenty-seven instances of English headlines have three wordplays which include the low mid-range set of wordplays. Twenty two instances of English headlines have two wordplays which include the second-lowest set of wordplay in headlines.

ALLS 7(2):68-75, 2016 71 Sixteen instances of English news headlines contain the minority of wordplays; i.e. only one. And, finally, three instances of English news headlines are the straightforward plain headlines with no wordplay in them. In order to better encapsulate the distribution of wordplays in 100 English news headlines of Euronews, the following Table 3.2 and column chart (Figure 3.1) are presented. In non-algebraic terms, the percentage is found by taking the number of occurrences of an event (one wordplay), dividing by the total instances of wordplays examined, and multiplying by one hundred percent: Number of Occurrence Percentage = 100 Total Number Example: Number of occurrence of pun Percentage of pun in 100 English News Headlines = 100 = 1.01 % Total number of wordplay occurrence

Table 3.2 The sum of the frequencies of wordplays in 100 English news headlines

Wordplay Category Frequency Percentage Pun 3 1.01 % Allusion 9 3.03 % Personification 52 17.51 % Simile 1 0.34 % Irony 1 0.34 % Metaphor 17 5.72 % Oxymoron 0 0 % Paradox 1 0.34 % Parody 0 0 % Anthimeria 0 0 % Metonymy 98 32.99 % Periphrasis 0 0 % Imagery 1 0.34 % Onomatopoeia 1 0.34 % Euphemism 2 0.67 % Hyperbole 15 5.05 % Litotes 2 0.67 % Rhetorical Questions 0 0 % Anastrophe 3 1.01 % Antithesis 0 0 % Apposition 6 2.02% Climax 0 0 % Parallelism 3 1.01 % Asyndeton 3 1.01 % Ellipsis 67 22.56 % Parenthesis 0 0 % Polysyndeton 0 0 % Alliteration 8 2.69 % Anadiplosis 0 0 % Anaphora 0 0 % Antimetabole 0 0 % Assonance 0 0 % Epanalepsis 0 0 % Epistrophe 0 0 % Polyptoton 0 0 % Repetition 0 0 % End Rhyme 0 0 % Internal Rhyme 4 1.35 % ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sum 297 100%

ALLS 7(2):68-75, 2016 72

Figure 3.1 The distributions of wordplays in 100 English news headlines

From the total number of 297 instances that wordplay occurred in 100 English news headlines, below the wordplay categories are arranged from the most frequent to the least in the descending order which provides the answer for the research question: Metonymy 98 (32.99%), Ellipsis 67 (22.56%), Personification 52 (17.51%), Metaphor 17 (5.72%), Hyperbole 15 (5.05%), Allusion 9 (3.03%), Alliteration 8 (2.69%), Apposition 6 (2.02%), Internal Rhyme 4 (1.35%), Anastrophe, Asyndeton, Parallelism and Pun 3 (1.01%), Litotes and Euphemism 2 (0.67%), Paradox, Irony Simile, Imagery and Onomatopoeia 1 (0.34%) and no instances of Oxymoron, Parody, Anthimeria, Periphrasis, Rhetorical Questions, Antithesis, climax, Parenthesis, Polysyndeton, Anadiplosis, Anaphora, Antimetabole, Assonance, Epanalepsis, Epistrophe, Polyptoton, Repetition and End Rhyme. The latter group fall under the category of others in the above column chart (0 frequencies). The largest portion belongs to “Metonymy” which falls under the category of Tropes and the smallest to Oxymoron, Parody, Anthimeria, Periphrasis, Rhetorical Questions, Antithesis, climax, Parenthesis, Polysyndeton, Anadiplosis, Anaphora, Antimetabole, Assonance, Epanalepsis, Epistrophe, Polyptoton, Repetition and End Rhyme in which the first five fall under the category of Tropes and the remaining 13 fall under the category of Schemes. Overall, the occurrences of tropes were much higher than Schemes. This finding is in line with Smith’s (2002, 2006) studies of English-language printed advertisements who concluded that the wordplays used in his selected advertising headlines were more of trope category than the schemes. In a contrastive study conducted by Bonyadi and Samuel (2013), the rhetorical devices in the 20 editorial headlines of English newspaper, The New York Times and those of Persian newspaper, Tehran Times were studied. Their study is mentioned here to emphasise the similarity in findings. The most frequent wordplay that emerged in Bonyadi and Samuel’s study in both English and Persian news headlines was “metonymy” which is in line with the results of the present research which can lead to the conclusion that copy editors favored using this wordplay the most. The result of the research question has confirmed Newmark’s (1988) claim that seldom has a text exclusively one function (e.g. informative function) and in the majority of cases the two or more functions (e.g. expressive, informative and vocative functions) are intermingled in a text with an emphasis on one. Euronews headlines were no different and besides being informative, they were saturated in wordplays. Particularly, the trope metonymy’s dominant position in headlines was remarkable. Metonymy in Leigh’s (1994) term is substituting the name of an attribute for what is actually meant. Metonymy has basically a referential function; i.e. it allows one entity to stand for another. Since with metonymy one concept stands for another while both concepts are actually activated at least to some degree, metonymy can be considered as an effective mental shortcut; i.e. expressing two things for the price of one. One particular type of metonymy, namely capital / country for government metonymy (from the capital / country as the metonymic source towards government as a metonymic target) was frequent in English and Persian news headlines. Referring to the result of the study it can be concluded that, at least in theory, any capital / country can be considered as a viable metonymic source. The content and context of the news story determined specifically the entity that the capital

ALLS 7(2):68-75, 2016 73 / country name referred to; i.e. if the whole government, just a ministry, or some other institution, legal, economic or otherwise was actually meant. Example: Amsterdam tries to get round coffee-shop tourist ban Referring to the news text, Amsterdam’s last year’s government introduced a ban which barred the tourists from marijuana-selling coffee shops. However, Amsterdam’s mayor intended to get round the law for his city because ninety percent of revenues would be lost if foreigners could not let in. The headline represented the social actor impersonally by means of reference to a place with which he was, in the given context, closely associated. Using this type of metonymy, the representational choice is manifested in a way to exclude social actors in relation to a given action. Then, the social actors are pushed into backgrounds and mentioned later in the news text, but they are not deemphasised. Doing so, the headline attempts to exclude the social actor of any possible criticism. On the other hand, in headlines such as “Merkel praises Greek reform and promises support” the social actor is being brought in the spotlight. All the emphasis is put on Merkel though she was not the only one who decided to support Greek’s reform. In fact, the proper name stands for the German government as a whole with Merkel on top of it. The headline holds Merkel thoroughly accountable for imposing pressure on Greece for its austerity measures. The second and third most frequent wordplays in the English headlines were the scheme ellipsis and the trope personification; respectively. Leigh (1994) defined ellipsis as the intentional omission of a word or words that can often be provided by referring to the context. Brevity is the soul of wit in news headlines and a short, attention-grabbing headline counts a lot for a news article because headlines have to maximise information output and minimise space. For instance in the headline Military past and present protest Portugal’s 2013 budget, certain lexical units of the headline is omitted in order to meet space constraints and present immediate and quick information. The omitted words are recoverable from the context as in: Military of Portugal’s past and present members protested at Portugal’s 2013 budget. Furthermore, one of the instances of ellipsis in the headlines that above saving the space had specific pragmatic function was the omission of auxiliaries in the passive headlines as in: Journalist killed in southern Russia Ghana presidential vote extended by a day Obama named Time magazine’s Person of 2012 Five killed in Moscow shooting The above-mentioned headlines made the actors who killed the journalist in southern Russia, extended Ghana presidential vote, named Obama as Time magazine’s Person of 2012 and killed five people in Moscow shooting unclear to the reader(s). The headlines used passive voice to emphasise the act itself without mentioning the actors involved in the act which makes it possible for the journalists to evade the role of responsible actors and which in a way makes it difficult for the reader(s) to judge about the perpetrator of an action. As the unique constraint of headline grammar, auxiliaries are omitted in passive structures to make the headlines more assertive. Personification, the third most frequent wordplay in English news headlines, is used to add dramatic power to inanimate objects or abstract notions. It emotionally connects the readers with the object that is personified which in a way makes the readers feel empathy or sympathy for that idea or object. The tendency to personify the name of the countries was seen in the majority of news headlines in the corpus. For instance, Israel fires on militants in Gaza strip Turkey closes airspace to Syrian aircraft UK to reduce Afghanistan troop numbers The concept of the country mentioned as an autonomous individual made it convenient for copy editors to save space in the news headlines by allowing the attribution of action to single individual agents. In addition, personification blurred and disguised the role of actual people responsible for the actions described. The fourth most frequent wordplay in English news headlines was metaphor. It was used to structure an abstract, more complex and fuzzy concept in terms of a concrete, more familiar concept. For instance Flag raising error stirs anger in Portugal Georgian dream leader looks to mend ties with Moscow Israel fires on militants in Gaza strip Application of metaphor facilitated discourse by underpinning the cognitive function of conceptualising. The use of above lexical units stirring anger, mending ties, and firing militants in headlines allows the reader greater understanding

ALLS 7(2):68-75, 2016 74 of the concept being described by comparing it to an item that is more familiar to the reader. Metaphoric words extended the meaning by providing two or more ideas for one which can leave a lasting impression on readers’ minds. Hyperbole, the fifth most frequent wordplay in English news headlines, was used to make deliberate exaggerations for making rhetorical effect. For instance, in the headlines Cash crunch for Greece in November Protesters angry at Spain’s “hunger budget” Hyperbole is used as a warning to the political parties about the country’s deplorable financial conditions in order to emphasise the seriousness of the situation and the urgency for action. Or in the headline As Europe suffers, America stands by Hyperbole is used in order to criticise America and its indifference towards Europe suffering. And in the headline No White House for Romney Hyperbole is used to belittle Romney and his political party with initiating the headline with strong negation. Hyperbolic headlines can change the emotional state of readers to approve or disapprove an action or a character. Allusion was the sixth most frequent wordplay in English news headlines which is the incidental mention of an event, place, person or thing, either directly or by implication. For instance in the headline: Kenyans win torture case against British government The alluding unit torture case referred to the brutal British Empire- era abuse in which thousands of Kenyans were tortured during an anti-colonial uprising in the 1950s. The use of allusion was significant for the economy of space in headline and could remind the readers of pertinent event latent in the headline. It made it possible for headline writers to better convey the message by associating the readers’ emotions in the word “torture”. In the allusive headlines examined in the corpus, allusion also permitted the copy editors to imply something which if explicitly mentioned could seem libellous. Alliteration, the seventh most frequent wordplay in English news headlines, was used to draw readers’ attention to certain words and make those words stand out in order to create a particular concept. Apposition, a structure in which a noun or phrase used alongside another noun or phrase as an explanatory equivalent, was the eighth most frequent wordplay in English news headlines. It was mainly used as a guide to help the readers’ in the interpretation of a message and to minimizing the ambiguity. Internal Rhyme, the ninth most frequent wordplay in English news headlines, enhanced the musical effects of headlines and made it possible for the copy editors to provide the headlines with rhythm and emphasis. Pun, anastrophe, parallelism and asyndeton were the 10th most frequent wordplays in English news headlines. Pun added brevity and profound meanings to the news headline by providing semantic links; anastrophe, by deviating the normal word order, was used for adding extra emphasis; parallelism added rhythm to the headline and created balanced and smoother flow of ideas; and finally asyndeton provided the implied meaning in a succinct form by eliminating the conjunctions. Euphemism and Litotes were the 11th most frequent wordplays in English news headlines. Euphemism was used in preventing face loss, observing general social mores and showing solidarity with the referent. Litotes, on the other hand, was used as an ironical understatement in which the real identity of addresses was blurred in order to either hide the potential implications or to divert readers’ attention to certain points; i.e. decreasing the real identity of social actors to increase attention and sympathy towards them. Simile, Irony, Paradox, Imagery and Onomatopoeia were overall the 12th most frequent wordplays in English news headlines. As a direct comparison, simile was used to add a visual aspect to understanding concepts in order to imply how two things that were not alike in most ways, were similar in one important aspect. Irony was employed for criticism in a humorous way in order to insult the government’s economical policies. The use of paradox was to highlight a truth through using a sentence that was self contradictory in order to make the intention more memorable. Imagery was employed to evoke certain images and feelings in the mind in a way that it was both appealing and realistic to make the headline more tangible for readers, and finally by using the words which looked like the sounds they make, the headline employed onomatopoeia to make the reader hear the sounds as he reads. By describing the sound, the headline became more lively and appealing and directed attention to a particular concept.

ALLS 7(2):68-75, 2016 75 4. Conclusion The main conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that the employment of wordplays strengthened the headline capabilities, facilitated discourse, met the economy of space, brought the social actors into focus or blurred their role with regard to particular actions, created the atmosphere of sympathy and empathy, exaggerated the certain concepts or faded the importance of others, created the image in the mind or made the reader hear the sounds in the strings of words which could create lasting impression on the readers’ mind. The aforementioned claims should be concluded with stating that the findings for research question met the requirements for research objective. The investigation of wordplay can contribute to the enhancement of awareness of the latent meaning of journalists’ words within news headlines. The careful analysis of headlines containing wordplay uncovers rhetorical techniques. It uncovers principles and rules that are used for delivering language in a way that is impressive and persuasive. Examining the wordplay suggests that headline rhetoric is a significant contribution to understand the complexity and richness of journalistic texts in providing implied layers of meaning. References Ali, G. A. (2009). How Arab journalists translate English-Language newspaper headlines: Case studies in cross-cultural understanding. Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press. Bell, A. (1991). The language of news media. London: Blackwell. Bonyadi, A., & Samuel, M. (2013). Headlines in newspaper editorials: A contrastive study. Sage Open, 3(2), 1-10. doi: 10.1177/2158244013494863 Dor, D. (2003). On newspaper headlines as relevance optimizers. Journal of Pragmatics, 35 (5), 695-721. Iarovici, E., & Amel, R. (1989). The strategy of the headline. Semiotica, 77(4), 441-459. Leigh, J. H. (1994). The use of figures of speech in print ad headlines. Journal of Advertising, 23(2), 17-33. Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation. New York: Prentice hall. Oaks, U. (2012). Working with the news media: A different kind of advocacy. NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Sandell, R. G. (1977). Linguistic style and persuasion. London: Academic Press. Saxena, S. (2006). Headline writing. New Delhi: SAGE publications India Pvt Ltd. Smith, K. L. (2002). The translation of advertising texts: A study of English-language printed advertisements and their translations in Russian. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies: University of Sheffield. Smith, K. (2006). Rhetorical figures and the translation of advertising headlines. Language and Literature, 15(2), 159-182. Ungerer, F. (2000). Introduction. In F. Ungerer (Ed.), English media texts past and present: Language and textual structure (pp. vii-xiv). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. van Dijk, T. A. (1988). News analysis: Case studies of international and national news in the press. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.



Impact of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) on EFL: A Meta-Analysis

Imtiaz Hassan Taj (Corresponding author)

PO Box 110324, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21361 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia


Norrihan Binti Sulan Center for Modern Languages and Human Sciences,

Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, Pahang 26300, Malaysia


Muhammad Aslam Sipra PO Box 80283, King Abdulaziz University Jeddah 21589

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia E-mail: [email protected]

Waqar Ahmad

PO Box: 110345, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21361 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

E-mail: [email protected] Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.76 Received: 06/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.76 Accepted: 17/01/2016 Abstract Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) has emerged as a potential tool in the instruction of English as a foreign language (EFL). Meta-analysis of 13 studies published between year 2008 and 2015 was conducted. Four point criteria for the selection of studies for analysis is based on the year of publication, quasi-experimental design, pretest and posttest method and finally use of mobile device for intervention. Findings of the analysis suggest that MALL has fostered the EFL instruction. Overall effect size was (d = 0.8) which is considered a large effect size. Keywords: MALL, technology assisted language learning, EFL, vocabulary acquisition, vocabulary instruction, meta-analysis 1. Introduction We live in a world now so obsessed with speed (Devine, 2014). In fact speed is one the most defining ideals of our lives. Speed is further propelled by technological innovations in the field of telecommunications. It has reached mind boggling limits of 1tbs/s (Hecht, 2004). The web has registered a phenomenal growth of 806 % over the past fifteen years with more than 3.2 billion users (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm). Mobile phones are used by over two billion users. An average American is glued to electronic screen for about 56% of a workday (http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/). Ubiquitous nature of this connectivity has drawn the interest of educators worldwide. In this regard, language studies are of particular beneficiaries. Since use of language is free of time and place constraints, it stands to reason that its instruction may also be free of such constraints. Mobile phones offer such an opportunity where language can be learnt anywhere and anytime. 2. Literature Review Mobile phones have recorded a tremendous growth since Chickering and Ehrmann (1996) coined the term MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning). More recently, the term has been associated with mobile phones. These phones with user friendly interfaces, ubiquitous access and improved data storage and retrieval capacities offer a good platform for learning (Gabarre, Gabarre, Din, Shah, & Karim, 2014; Godwin-Jones, 2011; Miangah & Nezarat, 2012). Insights from CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) can be used to inform the learning activities presented through mobile phones (Kukulska-Hulme, 2005). Because these phones are miniature form of PCs with additional benefit of portability which surpasses laptop computers. This leap of technology from lap to palm has literally given a potential language learning tool in the hands of the teachers and their students (Kukulska-Hulme, 2009). Our lives are deeply immersed in technology. Same view was held by a majority of participants (Huw Jarvis & Achilleos, 2013). Mobile


ALLS 7(2):76-83, 2016 77 phones can deliver interesting, engaging and motivating learning activities. Learners like these affordances of mobile technology where they can connect with their peers to complete learning activities (Palalas, 2011). Completing learning tasks collaboratively through mobile phones was found effective (Lan, Sung, & Chang, 2007; Lim Abdullah, Hussin, Asra, & Zakaria, 2013). From the standpoint of transactional distance, also mobile phones have an advantage. The instructors can initiate the learners into a learning environment where they provide initial scaffolding and then gradually withdraw the support to allow learners take charge of their learning (Park, 2011). MALL fits well into PPP (Presentation, practice and production paradigm). Mobile phones can present rich learning material in multimodal ways (HA Jarvis, 2015; Mayer, 2003). Evaluation of six pilot projects in developing countries (Valk, Rashid, & Elder, 2010) concluded that mobile phones have the potential to impart instruction. They have the potential to help create an environment that is conducive for a variety of learning scenarios such as formal and informal learning (Lung‐Hsiang Wong, 2012). SMS is considered the ace application in the mobile industry. Over 150 billion text messages were sent in the UK alone in 2011 (https://www.textmarketer.co.uk). It seems to be the most frequently used option in imparting language instruction as well. In many studies, it was employed and positive results were reported on its efficacy (Alavinia & Qoitassi, 2013; Chen, Hsieh, & Kinshuk, 2008; Motallebzadeh & Ganjali, 2011; Yang, 2013). In addition, the skill area of the choice seems to be vocabulary acquisition (Duman, Orhon, & Gedik, 2015; H.-S. Kim, 2011; H. Kim & Kwon, 2012). Teachers and students alike have embraced the idea of mobile learning with a lot of enthusiasm. The salient popular feature of such learning are mobility and ubiquitous access. The teachers liked the idea as it gives them a lot of options to present instructional material in interesting ways (Oz, 2015). The students also like the idea of mobile learning because of its mobility feature, the convenience it affords in terms of time management and the option to engage in group work (Anaraki, 2009; Deng & Shao, 2011; Tai, 2012; L‐H Wong & Looi, 2010). The design of MALL tasks needs special attention. The tasks should be user friendly, sensitive to the social and cultural setting and engaging and short. Built around these guidelines, the MALL tasks have a lot of potential for learning (Stockwell & Hubbard, 2013). 3. MAMALL Initially, 15 studies were selected for the meta-analysis but two studies were dropped because of highly inconsistent results. The meta-analysis was undertaken to shed light on the lessons learnt through research so far. The need for this kind of analysis was felt by Glass (1976). There is a growing body of evidence being accumulated in research articles individually, which has given rise to the need that this evidence may be collected and informed analysis is conducted of what has already been learnt. MALL is relatively young field, which can benefit from the type of inquiry undertaken in this meta-analysis. A collection of annotated bibliography (Burston, 2013) brought forth interesting information. Bulk of research on MALL has been published in diverse type of journals while only 10% research is reported in CALL journals. Absence of a MALL dedicated journal makes the meta-analysis studies more beneficial. 4. Hypotheses and Objectives The meta-analysis sought to answer the following research questions. 1. How effective is Mobile Assisted Language Learning in teaching EFL? 2. Is Mobile Assisted Language Learning effective for certain age group of learners? The studies reviewed in the literature review point to the efficacy of Mobile Assisted Language Learning in teaching EFL. It is also evident that the area of choice so far is vocabulary acquisition. Almost all the studies consistently produced positive results. The participants seem to benefit from this new platform. An effort was made in this meta-analysis to collect quantifiable information from the studies included in the analysis to glean knowledge from the information dispersed in these studies (Glass, 1976). Majority of MALL studies out of 54 (Viberg & Grönlund, 2012) had no mention of theory. Experiment was found to be the favoured method. The experimental methods are favoured because they are better than no experiment at all (Cooper, Hedges, & Valentine, 2009). 5. Methodology This section describes the methodology used in this meta-analysis. It also discusses the methods through which studies were searched and retrieved. 5.1 Literature Search Literature search was conducted using different databases including ERIC, digital libraries of University of Jeddah, Universiti Malaysia Pahang and Google Scholar. There were 25 MALL studies collected through these searches. Out of these, 13 were used in this meta-analysis. Others were rejected as they did not match the criteria as described below: 5.2 Criteria The following criteria for inclusion were set: a. The study was published between 2008 and 2015. b. The study used quasi-experimental method. c. The study report or part of it had pretest, posttest design with a control group. d. The study used mobile device or devices for intervention Thirteen studies satisfied the above-mentioned criteria and were included in the meta-analysis.

ALLS 7(2):76-83, 2016 78 6. Study Characteristics Following study characteristics were studied: a. Sampling procedure b. Sample size c. Participants grade level d. Target language area e. Duration of treatment f. Type of instrument used (standardized vs researcher made) g. Type of application used for treatment The above-mentioned characteristics of the studies in the meta-analysis were tabulated. As presented in the tables below, most of the studies about 31% reported here were published in year 2011(table.1). Iran topped the list in the countries where these studies were originated. About 38.5% studies were done in Iran followed by China and Korea about 15.5% each. Conspicuously, no study from an Anglophonic country was reported (table.2). Majority of studies used researcher made or non-standardized instruments for data collection about 61.5% while about 38.5 % studies used standardized instruments (table.3). All studies in this meta-analysis except one that used PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) used mobile phones as platform on which content was delivered (table.4). Application of choice for learning content delivery was SMS about 65.5% followed by dedicated applications about 30.8% (table.5). Sample size of about 54% studies was between 30 to 50 subjects. One study had sample size between 100 to 200 subjects (table.6). Majority of studies 84.5% had treatment duration of between 1 to 10 weeks. Only one study which 7.7% of the studies included in the meta-analysis had a treatment period of six months (table.7). Majority of the subjects about 54% in these studies were sophomore students. They were in their first or second year at the universities. Only one study 7.7% had fifth grader subjects (table.8). Target language area in about 93% of the studies was vocabulary. Only one study targeted grammar (table.9).

Table 1. Year of Publication Year Number Percentage 2008 1 07.7 2010 3 23 2011 4 30.7 2012 2 15.3 2013 1 07.7 2015 2 15.3 Total 13 100

Table 2. Studies by Country of Origin

Year Number Percentage Korea 1 07.7

Netherlands 1 07.7 Thailand 1 07.7 Turkey 1 07.7 Taiwan 2 15.38 China 2 15.38

Iran 5 38.46 Total 13 100

Table 3. Type of Instrument Used for Data Collection

Instrument Number Percentage Standardized 5 38.46

Non-standardized 8 61.53 Total 13 100

ALLS 7(2):76-83, 2016 79 Table 4. Platform Used for Content Delivery

Platform Number Percentage Mobile Phone 12 92.3

PDA 1 7.7 Total 13 100

Table 5. Application Used for Content Delivery

Platform Number Percentage SMS 8 61.54

Special Application 4 30.77 Unknown 1 7.7

Total 13 100

Table 6. Statement of Sample Sizes

Year Number of studies Percentage 30-49 7 53.9

50-100 5 38.47 100-200 1 7.7

Total 13 100

Table 7. Treatment Duration of the Studies

Weeks Number Percentage 1-10 11 84.61 11-20 1 7.7 21-30 1 7.7 Total 13 100

Table 8. Grade Levels of Participants Grade Level Number Percentage

K-5 1 07.7 K-10 2 15.38 K-12 1 07.7

Sophomore 7 53.9 Undergraduate 1 07.7

Total 13 100

Table 9. Targeted Language Area

Skill Number Percentage Vocabulary 12 92.3 Grammar 1 7.7

Total 13 100

7. Effect Sizes Effect size refers to the magnitude of effect made by the treatment. It has been identified as an important measure in evaluating research outcomes (Cohen, 1992; Cooper et al., 2009; Kline & Association, 2004). It is scale free measure

ALLS 7(2):76-83, 2016 80 originally proposed for research in psychology and is used in other social sciences such as language studies. Importance of effect sizes multiplied with the advent of meta-analysis in late 70s (Glass, 1976) and more recently with growing dissatisfaction with statistical testing of the hypotheses (Kline & Association, 2004). Scary possibility of getting every result significant if a large enough sample size could be employed (Thompsons & Snyder, 1998), has brought some researchers to the point that they have started advocating a ban on statistical testing. There is growing pressure on researchers to report effect sizes in their research reports. Calculation of effect sizes is not as straight forward as it sometimes looks at the surface. There are two competing approaches to calculate effect size of a study or of studies for the purpose of meta-analysis. One approach is to calculate it as d commonly known as Cohen’s d which is calculated on the basis of mean scores of the treatment and control groups and pooled standard deviation. Cohen (1992) provided some guiding scale in which .2, .5 and .8 are suggested as small, medium and large sizes respectively. There are two more variations of this approach in form of Hedge’s g and Glass’s which are basically slight improvements of d calculations (Turner & Bernard, 2006). Second approach is called r type effect size. This approach calculate effect size through t value and degrees of freedom. To satisfy one of its assumptions of normal distribution r is transformed into Fisher’s z (Kline & Association, 2004; Rosenthal, 1991). In the present meta-analysis, the d type effect sizes were calculated first for each study along with Hedge’s g with the help of a calculator downloaded from http://www.stat-help.com/. In the second step, r type effect sizes were calculated through a calculator downloaded from http://www.uccs.edu/~lbecker/. These effect sizes were transformed into Fisher’s Z to satisfy normal distribution assumption through the following formula:

Zr scores were then multiplied by (n-3) to get weighted effect sizes accommodating sample sizes (table. 10). Overall Zr and standard error were calculated through the following formulas:

Table 10. Effect Sizes of the Studies

No. The Study Sample n Effect Size Zr

Weighted E.S. (n-3)Zr

1 Wu, Q. (2015) 199 0.43 40.38 2 Derakhshan, A., & Kaivanpanah, S. (2011) 43 0.30 5.79 3 Sandberg, J., Maris, M., & de Geus, K. (2011) 51 0.59 14.16 4 Chen, C.-M., & Li, Y.-L. (2010) 36 0.11 1.70 5 Kim, H.-S. (2011) 42 0.63 11.37 6 Azabdaftari, B., & Mozaheb, M. (2012) 80 0.61 22.61 7 Basoglu, E. B., & Akdemir, O. (2010) 58 0.09 2.24 8 Suwantarathip, O., & Orawiwatnakul, W. (2015) 80 0.31 11.50 9 Baleghizadeh, S., & Oladrostam, E. (2010) 40 0.55 9.42 10 Zhang, H., Song, W., & Burston, J. (2011) 64 0.30 8.23 11 Hayati, A., Jalilifar, A., & Mashhadi, A. (2013) 45 0.80 21.71 12 Alemi, M., Sarab, M. R. A., & Lari, Z. (2012) 45 0.23 3.21 13 Lu, M. (2008) 30 0.34 4.14

8. Results and Discussion In this section the results of the analysis are presented. As shown in the table 11 below, the overall effect size was 0.425 (ES = 0.425) which is markedly different from 0 as Z combined was found to be 8.156 which is greater than 1.96 for α = 0.05 in standard normal distribution. Standard error was calculated as 0.0521 (SE = 0.0521). Lower and upper limits for 95% confidence interval were found to be 0.323 and 0.527 respectively.

ALLS 7(2):76-83, 2016 81 Table 11. Results of the Meta-analysis

Effect size Z Combined Standard Error Confidence Interval 95 % Lower Limit Upper Limit 0.425 8.156 0.0521 0.323 0.527

MALL has come a longway since Chinnery ( 2006) used the term first time. Over all results of the present meta-analysis suggest that intervention through mobile phones helps in EFL learning. Similar results have been reported in (Lim Abdullah et al., 2013; Miangah & Nezarat, 2012). Research in the field of MALL seems to be in disarray as there seems to be no dedicated journal for MALL studies. Bulk of literature comes from conference proceedinds (Burston, 2014). As evident from present meta-analysis, major focus of the research is vocabulary acquisition (Chu, 2011; Duman et al., 2015; H. Kim & Kwon, 2012). In view of the critical importance of vocabulary especially in EFL settings MALL is emerging an important tool for vocabulary instruction. Present study seems to confirm the view that mobile phones with their increasing capabilities to provide connectivity in a ubiquitous environment can be used as effective tools for delivering lnguage learning content. As in this study and elsewhere (H. Kim & Kwon, 2012; Motallebzadeh & Ganjali, 2011) as well it is found that MALL activities have been mostly directed at sophomore students. As for as the second research question regarding age of the learners is concerned there was no pattern discovered to indicate that MALL intervention is useful only for certain age group. It has been found effective with learners irrespective of their age. However keeping in view the number of studies included in this meta-analysis (N = 13), the findings may be interpreted more cautiously. Staticians believe that a publication bias might exist because of which studies that do not have significant results are not published. This is commonly referred to as “The File Drawer” problem. As for as the present meta-analysis is conecrned, the number of studies which could have existed but were not published because of this bias is calculated through the following formula by Rosenthal (1991):

According to the calculations 51 studies are needed to reverse the findings of this meta-analysis. As shown in the figures below, there was no corelation visible between either the grade level and effect sizes (figure.1) or between the sample size and effect sizes (figure.2). it can be concluded that effect of MALL seems independent of grade level and sample size.

Figure 1. Effect Sizes vs Grade Levels

Figure 2. Effect Sizes vs Sample Sizes

9. Limitations The present meta-analysis like all other inquiries in social science has some limitations. Firstly, the number of studies included in the analysis was very small. MALL is relatively a young field only a couple of decades have passed since its

ALLS 7(2):76-83, 2016 82 beginning in mid-90s. That is one reason for the shortage of studies. Another reason may be absence of a dedicated journal for MALL. Secondly, only studies reporting mean scores and standard deviations for control and treatment groups were included. 10. Conclusion Mobile Assisted Language Learning has emerged as a potential assistive tool in the complex process of language learning. Technological advances in the last quarter of the last century have made it mandatory for the teachers to employ technology as a tool to help in the process of teaching and learning. The present meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the lesson learnt so far in the field of MALL. The findings confirm the efficacy of the platform of MALL in EFL instruction. References Alavinia, P., & Qoitassi, K. (2013). On the viability of vocabulary learning enhancement through the implementation of MALL: The case of Iranian EFL learners. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 4(2), 412-426. Anaraki, F. B. (2009). A flash-based mobile learning system for learning English as second language. Paper presented at the ICCET '09 Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Computer Engineering and Technology, Singapore, IEEE, 400-404. Burston, J. (2013). Mobile-assisted language learning: A selected annotated bibliography of implementation studies 1994–2012. Language Learning & Technology, 17(3), 157-224. Burston, J. (2014). The Reality of MALL: Still on the Fringes. CALICO Journal, 31(1), 103. Chen, N.-S., Hsieh, S.-W., & Kinshuk, A. (2008). Effects of short-term memory and content representation type on mobile language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 12(3), 93-113. Chickering, A. W., & Ehrmann, S. C. (1996). Implementing the seven principles: Technology as lever. AAHE Bulletin, 49, 3-6. Chinnery, G. M. (2006). Emerging Technologies: Going to the MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning). Language Learning & Technology, 10(1), 9-16. Chu, H. (2011). The effect of the features of smart phone vocabulary applications on Korean college students’ satisfaction and continued use. Multimedia Assisted Language Learning, 14(2), 91-112. Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155-159. Cooper, H., Hedges, L. V., & Valentine, J. C. (2009). The handbook of research synthesis and meta-analysis: Russell Sage Foundation. Deng, H., & Shao, Y. (2011). Self-directed English vocabulary learning with a mobile application in everyday context. Paper presented at the 10th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning: mLearn 2011 Conference Proceedings, Beijing, China. mLearn, 24-31. Devine, A. (2014). Colour Coding for Learners with Autism: A Resource Book for Creating Meaning through Colour at Home and School: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Duman, G., Orhon, G., & Gedik, N. (2015). Research trends in mobile assisted language learning from 2000 to 2012. ReCALL, 27(02), 197-216. Gabarre, C., Gabarre, S., Din, R., Shah, P. M., & Karim, A. A. (2014). iPads in the foreign language classroom: A learner’s perspective. Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 20(1), 115-127. Glass, G. V. (1976). Primary, secondary, and meta-analysis of research. Educational researcher, 3-8. Godwin-Jones, R. (2011). Emerging technologies: Mobile apps for language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 15(2), 2-11. Hecht, J. (2004). City of light: the story of fiber optics. New York: Oxford university press. Jarvis, H. (2015). From PPP and CALL/MALL to a praxis of task-based teaching and mobile assisted language use. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language Electronic Journal, 19(1), 1-10. Jarvis, H., & Achilleos, M. (2013). From Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) to Mobile Assisted Language Use (MALU). TESL-EJ, 16(4), 1-18. Kim, H.-S. (2011). Effects of SMS text messaging on vocabulary learning. Multimedia Assisted Language Learning, 14(2), 159-180. Kim, H., & Kwon, Y. (2012). Exploring smartphone applications for effective mobile-assisted language learning. Multimedia-Assisted Language Learning, 15(1), 31-57. Kline, R. B., & Association, A. P. (2004). Beyond significance testing: Reforming data analysis methods in behavioral research. Washington, DC 20002: American Psychological Association. Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2005). Mobile learning: A handbook for educators and trainers. New York, NY 10016: Routledge. Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2009). Will mobile learning change language learning? ReCALL, 21(02), 157-165. Lan, Y.-J., Sung, Y.-T., & Chang, K.-E. (2007). A mobile-device-supported peer-assisted learning system for collaborative early EFL reading. Language Learning & Technology, 11(3), 130-151. Lim Abdullah, M., Hussin, Z., Asra, B., & Zakaria, A. R. (2013). MLearning scaffolding model for undergraduate English language learning: bridging formal and informal learning. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 12(2), 217-233. Mayer, R. E. (2003). The promise of multimedia learning: using the same instructional design methods across different media. Learning and instruction, 13(2), 125-139. Miangah, T. M., & Nezarat, A. (2012). Mobile-assisted language learning. International Journal of Distributed and Parallel Systems, 3(1), 309-319.

ALLS 7(2):76-83, 2016 83 Motallebzadeh, K., & Ganjali, R. (2011). SMS: Tool for L2 vocabulary retention and reading comprehension ability. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(5), 1111-1115. Oz, H. (2015). An Investigation of Preservice English Teachers’ Perceptions of Mobile Assisted Language Learning. English Language Teaching, 8(2), 22-35. Palalas, A. (2011). Mobile-assisted language learning: Designing for your students. In S. Thouësny & L. Bradley (Eds.), Second language teaching and learning with technology: Views of emergent researchers. Dublin, Ireland: Research-publishing.net. Park, Y. (2011). A pedagogical framework for mobile learning: Categorizing educational applications of mobile technologies into four types. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 12(2), 78-102. Rosenthal, R. (1991). Meta-analytic procedures for social research. In L. Bickman & D. J. Rog (Eds.), Applied Social Research Methods Series (Vol. 6). Newbury Park, California 91320: SAGE Publications, Inc. Stockwell, G., & Hubbard, P. (2013). Some emerging principles for mobile-assisted language learning. The International Research Foundation for English Language Education. Retrieved from http://www.tirfonline.org/english-in-the-workforce/mobile-assisted-language-learning Tai, Y. (2012). Contextualizing a MALL: Practice design and evaluation. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 15(2), 220-230. Thompsons, B., & Snyder, P. A. (1998). Statistical significance and reliability analyses in recent Journal of Counseling & Development research articles. Journal of Counseling & Development, 76(4), 436-441. Turner, H. M., & Bernard, R. M. (2006). Calculating and synthesizing effect sizes. Contemporary issues in communication science and disorders, 33, 42-55. Valk, J.-H., Rashid, A. T., & Elder, L. (2010). Using mobile phones to improve educational outcomes: An analysis of evidence from Asia. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 11(1), 117-140. Viberg, O., & Grönlund, Å. (2012). Mobile assisted language learning: A literature review. Paper presented at the 11th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning, Helsinki, Finland. mLearn 2012. 1-8. Wong, L. H. (2012). A learner‐centric view of mobile seamless learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(1), E19-E23. Wong, L. H., & Looi, C. K. (2010). Vocabulary learning by mobile‐assisted authentic content creation and social meaning‐making: two case studies. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(5), 421-433. Yang, J. (2013). Mobile assisted language learning: review of the recent applications of emerging mobile technologies. English Language Teaching, 6(7), 19-25.

Appendix (List of Studies)

1. Alemi, M., Sarab, M. R. A., & Lari, Z. (2012). Successful learning of academic word list via MALL: Mobile assisted language learning. International Education Studies, 5(6), p99.

2. Azabdaftari, B., & Mozaheb, M. (2012). Comparing vocabulary learning of EFL learners by using two different strategies: mobile learning vs. flashcards. The EUROCALL Review, 20(2), 47-59.

3. Baleghizadeh, S., & Oladrostam, E. (2010). The effect of mobile assisted language learning (MALL) on grammatical accuracy of EFL students. MEXTESOL Journal, 34(2), 1-10.

4. Basoglu, E. B., & Akdemir, O. (2010). A Comparison of Undergraduate Students' English Vocabulary Learning: Using Mobile Phones and Flash Cards. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET, 9(3), 1-7.

5. Chen, C.-M., & Li, Y.-L. (2010). Personalised context-aware ubiquitous learning system for supporting effective English vocabulary learning. Interactive Learning Environments, 18(4), 341-364.

6. Derakhshan, A., & Kaivanpanah, S. (2011). The Impact of text-messaging on EFL freshmen's vocabulary learning. European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning, 39.

7. Hayati, A., Jalilifar, A., & Mashhadi, A. (2013). Using Short Message Service (SMS) to teach English idioms to EFL students. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(1), 66-81.

8. Kim, H.-S. (2011). Effects of SMS text messaging on vocabulary learning. Multimedia Assisted Language Learning, 14(2), 159-180.

9. Lu, M. (2008). Effectiveness of vocabulary learning via mobile phone. Journal of computer assisted learning, 24(6), 515-525.

10. Sandberg, J., Maris, M., & de Geus, K. (2011). Mobile English learning: An evidence-based study with fifth graders. Computers & Education, 57(1), 1334-1347.

11. Suwantarathip, O., & Orawiwatnakul, W. (2015). Using Mobile-Assisted Exercises to Support Students’Vocabulary Skill Development. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 14(1), 163.

12. Wu, Q. (2015). Pulling Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) into the Mainstream: MALL in Broad Practice. PloS one, 10(5), e0128762-e0128762.

13. Zhang, H., Song, W., & Burston, J. (2011). Reexamining the effectiveness of vocabulary learning via mobile phones. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology 10 (3), 203–214 (2011).



(Re)locating (I)dentity With(in) Politicized (Re)presentation of Fe/Male Body in Kamala Das’ Poetry

Sharmin Sultana (Corresponding author)

Department of English, Comilla University Kotbari, Comilla-3506, Bangladesh


Nadia Sarwar Department of English, Comilla University

Kotbari, Comilla-3506, Bangladesh E-mail: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.84 Received: 18/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.84 Accepted: 19/01/2016 Abstract This paper is going to argue that the selected poems of renowned Indian poet Kamala Das are inclined to relocate both feminine and masculine identity through the politicized representation of body. Kamala Das’ representation of body in her poems has always been viewed as a medium of re-historicizing the pain, sufferings, and psychological trauma that a woman goes through in a patriarchal society. Though apparently female body seems to be submissive under patriarchal dominance but this paper reveals how female body in Das’ poems acts as a powerful agent over the male body. The objective of this paper is to analyze and evaluate kamala Das’ representation of body to understand the gender reality in a patriarchal society, to question the existing discourse of sexed/gendered identity, to find a new way of viewing to both female and male body. Echoing Beauvoir, Judith Butler and Hall, this paper is going to analyze how Kamala Das represents body as an important factor in her poems to fight back the normative concept of identity based on patriarchal sex and/or gender stereotypes. Keywords: identity, body, sex/gender, performativity, representation 1. Introduction With the specific analysis of the representation of both female and male body in Kamala Das’ poem, a political (re)construction of (I)dentity based on sex/gender binary can be sketched. The female and male body are represented in most of Das’ poems with meticulous details and unconventional edge. Although, apparently, both the female and male body are articulated in her poems as the material expression of pain, sufferings and frustration through the voice of poetic persona, it unravels the complex construction of patriarchal power structure based on the heterosexual sex/gender binary. Therefore, this paper is going to argue that the representation of body in her poems are much politicized and functions as the substantial agency to relocate the feminine and masculine identity. The (hi)story of woman has long been absent in the realm of Indian discourse and literature. Interestingly, whereas, Body has always been used as a substance for one’s identity from time to time, woman’s body is always represented as an ‘abject’; being viewed and/or represented’ by patriarchal gaze. Kamala Das, in her poems, breaks the silence by rejecting the ‘role’ playing and denying to be ‘represented’ through the patriarchal eye. Henceforth, she becomes the representing subject from the represented ‘abject’ by reorganizing both feminine and masculine identity as a social construction. It will mainly focus on the three selected poems of Kamala Das; ‘The Looking Glass’, ‘The Freaks’ and ‘An Introduction’, with references to the poems , ‘Forest Fire’, ‘Winter’ and ‘The Old Playhouse’ . Resonating Simone de Beauvoir and Judith Butler in the above mentioned poems, this paper will identify the relationship among body, sex, gender and identity, analyzing how female body acts as an authoritative agent over the male body. Moreover, with references to Stuart Hall, this paper is also going to argue that the selected poems of Kamala Das one way or other subverts the patriarchal representation of sexed/gendered identity. 2. Literature Review In Kamala Das’ poetry the diversified representation of fe/male body provides a critical space to discover multi-dimensional interpretations from several perspectives. The body in Das’ poetry has always been viewed as a medium of searching feminine identity in a patriarchal world. Her poems directly discloses the “unquenchable thirst for identity with respect to her repressed self which is artistically trapped in the labyrinth of male chauvinism.” (Prakash & Sujata, A Desperate Craving for Identity in the Major Works of Kamala Das). Bhattacharya argues that “[T]he hitherto premises of male hegemony are violently shaken by Kamala Das who can defy the conventional ideological discourse of sexism and love.” (Love as a Quest for Identity in the Poetry of Kamala Das). In her poems “Female body becomes


ALLS 7(2):84-89, 2016 85 the manipulated place of sexual pleasure leading towards suppression of female Identity (Baghira, Dichotomy between ‘Female Desire’ and ‘Constructed Identity’: The Subversion of ‘Male Ego’ in Kamala Das’ My Story and “The Looking Glass”). Gradually “[H]er woman emerges from a passive role to the point of discovering and asserting her individual freedom and identity…her feminine self wants to be attached with ‘body’s wisdom.”(Rawal, “Quest for Female Identity in Kamala Das”). Kamala Das, attempts to “transcend the body through which she expresses herself through body (Nirmala, 2002, P.69). Contrary Rao viewed body as a trap which prevents her (Das) from experiencing true love” (2000, P.60) and/or real identity. In her poems, body has been epitomized as an “object of glory”, “decaying form” “source of disgust” that encapsulates the feminine identity throughout various stage of a woman’s life. (Rahman, 1981, p. 42). It is apparent that most of the critics regarded body either as a medium of attaining spirituality or a derogated object which shapes the feminine identity. Instead of interpreting body as a means of lamenting the pathos of feminine psyche and/or a mere medium of establishing feminine identity , this paper attempts to expose the politicized representation of Fe/Male body on the part of Kamala Das which (as this paper argues) subverts the patriarchal demonstration of sexed/gendered identity. 3. Performing Identity and Body in Kamala Das’ Poems Being a confessional feminist poet, Kamala Das’ pursuit to re-examine the identity comes from a continual sense of deprivation, sufferings, frustrations and injustice in her own life. In most of her poems, the poetic persona unleashes the sufferings of womanhood, pain and disappointment in love and relationship. A close reading of Kamala Das’ poems reveals that she anticipated identity as a mere performativity of the normative gender stereotypes. Judith butler influenced by postmodern post-structuralist feminism, in the book Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990) identifies the idea of ‘gender performativity’ arguing both sex and gender as a social and cultural construction. Butler’s idea of gender performativity is remarkably implied in Das’ poem ‘An Introduction’, where she realizes how the idea of sex/gender is predetermined in our society following certain bodily features and how it exists with(in) the functioning of gender. In this poem, she portrays how gradually and by degrees in the life of a woman, body becomes an important factor to form her feminine identity where the poetic persona finds her grown up body becoming a part of social structure at her adolescent years: They told me I grew, for I become tall my limbs Swelled and one or two places sprouted hair (“An Introduction”. 25-26) Here the poetic persona is under immense pressure to perform the normative gender role decided by the society because she has already been defined as a women according to her bodily features. Now she needs to give a life to her ‘womanliness’ endowing herself with gender ‘performativity’: “Dress in saree, be girl /Be wife... Be embroiderer, / be cook, be a quarreler with servants” (“An Introduction, 34-36). As Butler said, one’s body "becomes its gender through a series of acts which are renewed, revised, and consolidated through time” (Butler 1988). Simone de Beauvoir, discussed that female body develops as the weaker sex by naturalizing itself as an object of the patriarchal gaze. She is encouraged to be like “a passive object … an inert given object” (Beauvoir, 306), whereas a boy is encouraged to involve in outdoor activities that needs physical vigor. There begins a woman’s journey to live a life as submissive object dependent on patriarchal gaze for the appraisal, approval and identity. Being the object of persistent observation burdens her physical ability (355). As the poetic persona realizes that her bodi(ly) feature is making her a weak person after a painful sexual encounter with a man, she starts to dress in “a shirt and my/Brother's trousers/cut my hair short” (“An Introduction” 32-33) and ignoring her ‘womanliness’. She subverts the normative gender performativity by denying the norms and performs her chosen identity rather than conforming to the normative stereotypes. She denies to ‘fit in’ to patriarchal stereotypes by following certain dress codes and playing those given roles. A man is designated to wear shirts and trousers that enables him to move with ease as he is going to work outside. A multilayered complex dress like saree allows little freedom to women to move spontaneously. But that is necessary because it will ensure that she must stay at home, to be a cook, to be dependent on man and to allow him to have the upper hand in a heterosexual relationship. But rejecting to conform to such norms, the poetic persona raises herself to the level of her male counterparts and declares:

… I have no joys that are not yours, no Aches which are not yours. I too call myself I. (“An Introduction”, 57-58)

As Judith Butler said, “the act that one does, the act that one performs, is, in a sense, an act that has been going on before one arrived on the scene. Hence, gender is an act which has been rehearsed, much as a script survives the particular actors who make use of it, but which requires individual actors in order to be actualized and reproduced as reality once again." (Butler, 1988) Here, likewise, the poetic persona of this very poem not only chooses to perform an identity that is a derivative of patriarchal codes, she makes it apparent that the males are not omnipotent superior sex by birth rather he is also the social and cultural construction. 4. Transgressing the Image of Fe/Male Body In the Indian patriarchal society, female body is viewed as medium of reproduction and motherhood but Kamala Das “critiqued, mocked and subverted these representations by writing… about her bodily needs.” (Sarker, 2013). As Sarker claims, “In her writings the Indian first viewed the desire, the sexuality that as a woman she feels and how audaciously she proclaims it.” In this patriarchal world, female body has always been represented as an object of pleasure and sexual gratification for man which doesn’t leave a single space for female sexual gratification. Kamala Das in her

ALLS 7(2):84-89, 2016 86 poems, deconstructs these traditional images of female body being a sense less sexual object rather ‘we find a rare body and its feelings’ (Raju, 2001, P.25) where women are seen to be a sensual creature who are very conscious and curious about their body and body’s desire. In Das’ “Forest Fire”, the poetic persona is lustful over male body:

…My eyes lick at you like flames Consume; and, when I finish with you, in Pram, near the tree and, on the park bench Out small heaps of ash, nothing else. (8-11)

Likewise in, ‘An Introduction’ the female poetic persona feels; “the oceans' tireless Waiting” to fulfill her sexual and emotional needs just as the man feels the lust for women as “the hungry taste Of rivers”; only her desire is deeper (ocean) than the man’s (river) (“An Introduction” 45-46).She is a person who enjoys life, gets sad, makes love, and drinks at midnight. She does not refrain herself from having sexual pleasure from a male body because she has every appetite that a man has. In the poem “Winter” also she declares, ‘I loved his body without shame’ (Das, 1965, 5). It is noteworthy that in most of her poems “kamala Das does not ignore the physical aspect of love. Sex remains an outer grab for her inner worlds of emotion and feelings.”(Chakravarty, 2003, p.119). Although the poetic personae in Kamala Das’ poems long for emotional love, they do not ignore the pleasure of body. They view the sexual encounters of the body as expression of love as well as imagines to be lost into male lover’s arm, to enjoy the warmth of his body. In the poem ‘Forest Fire’, though the poetic persona has been given an edge of motherhood but she is also desiring to have the warm physical embraces with her lover and consume the male body with her desire. Kamala Das, in these poems, attempted to reconstruct the feminine identity associating it with sexual desire. In the poems, ‘Relationship’ and ‘In Love’, ‘Krishna’, female sexuality is celebrated likewise. On the other hand, The Male body, in Kamala Das’ poems is often represented through peculiar and unusual imagery where the rough and aggressive features of masculinity is always present in the male body and the body is unable to reciprocate emotional advances. The lover in “The Freaks”, who has ‘mouth like cavern full of stalactites....’ (3) represents a man with mouthful of uneven teeth. When he talks his sun-burned checks are noticed. He talks, turning a sun-stained Cheek to me, his mouth, a dark Cavern, where stalactites of Uneven teeth gleam! (“The Freaks”, 1-4) The male body is not a very aesthetically appealing one here. Kamala Das’ portrayal of his body is critical here because by using certain parts of male body like, “sun-stained Cheek, mouth as dark cavern, uneven teeth gleam”(Das ,1965, “The Freaks” 4), she is providing a negative image of male body shrinking him only to a body and thus determining his identity through it. Further, what makes this male body a freak is its inability to have any emotional connection to the female body: Can this man with Nimble finger-tips unleash Nothing more alive than the Skin's lazy hungers. (“The Freaks” 9-12) In “Forest Fire” too the same pattern of representation of male body can be found where the man is not aesthetically appealing. The image of male body is portrayed as an old man and ‘a bald child into open pram’ (“Forest Fire”5). The male body is represented here as an ambiguous combination of a child and an old man. Usually the image of an ‘old male body’ is associated with knowledge, self-preservation and experience. But the male body of her old lover is compared with a child, hairless, bald, helplessly put into a perambulator signifying its immaturity, dependency and ignorance. In Prashantha Kumar’s words: “Kamala Das conceives of the male as beast wallowing in lust with a monstrous ego under which the woman loses her identity “(34). Portrayal of male body as a corrupting force is very obvious in the poem “An Introduction”:

When I asked for love, not knowing what else to ask For, he drew a youth of sixteen into the Bedroom and closed the door, He did not beat me But my sad woman-body felt so beaten. The weight of my breasts and womb crushed me. I shrank Pitifully. (26-31)

Here the body of the poetic persona experiences a painful sexual encounter with a man, who ‘crushes her breasts and womb’ (30) she feels sad and beaten although she was not physically tortured. However, the action of the male body implies it as intruder, sexually aggressive and emotionally distant conforming all masculine features. The representation of male body in “The Looking Glass’ deconstructs preconception of male body image associated

ALLS 7(2):84-89, 2016 87 with phallus. The man is portrayed as the stronger one with the perfection of limbs of his body. But the movement and activities of his body do not associate with the conventional phallocentric identity of a man. In the patriarchal social construction, the power of masculinity is often center around the phallus which makes him a difference to woman. But the unusual image of urinating undo all of these illusion of phallus reduced it only to a biological part of the body. Shyness is not a virtue of male according to patriarchal social norm, it is attributed upon female. The male in this poem is represented as shy and vulnerable, which is a transgression from conventional masculine image of a man. The phallus is not embodying the erect penetrative power male body over female body in this poem, rather it is shown as flaccid and vulnerable part of one’s biological body:

The shower, the shy walk across the bathroom floor, Dropping towels, and the jerky way he Urinates. (“The Looking Glass” 10-11)

5. Subversion of Power and/or Politics (of Representation) One’s identity is created through representation as Stuart Hall argues that “… identity is ‘production ‘which is never complete always in process and always constitute within, and not outside, representation”.(Hall,1994) Hall assumed the identity of the marginalized people is always being constructed and changed by those who holds the center of the power. In Indian patriarchal society and discourse, woman is always regarded as the negligible, mere an element to serve the male discourse. Woman is represented by the male, through the male gaze, is given an arbitrary inferior identity based on her constructed gender. After having a critical analysis of the selected poems of Kamala Das, it is noteworthy that the patriarchal politics of representation regarding gendered identity has been overturned here and one way or other, being a feminist poet, Kamala Das seems to subvert this power politics visualizing the power of representation and discourse. In the poems, ‘The Freaks’ and ‘The Looking Glass’ she does not separate the male body from its masculine form, rather shows that this phallocentric masculinity is dependent on female body for the recognition and the assurance of masculinity:

Stand nude before the glass with him So that he sees himself the stronger one And believes it so, and you so much more Softer, younger, lovelier. (“The Looking Glass”, 3-6)

Here Kamala Das doesn’t go beyond the gendered portrayal of body rather she accepts the femininity in female body and the masculine traits in male body. What makes her different is the attempt to reshuffle the underlying power struggle between the two gendered bodies showing the politics of representation. Again the representation of male body takes the center in ‘The Looking Glass’ for unconventional representation of male nudity. Dependency of the masculine identity over the feminine body is also obvious here. The woman in the poem, in her attempt to explain the man-woman relationship suggests that she and her male counterpart stands before a looking glass and keep looking at their nude bodies. The male body is nude and being exposed and scrutinized which is quite an unfamiliar pattern in our familiar world of art and literature. It’s the woman who has always been the object of gaze, the object of display. The body of women becomes publicly acceptable in the representation of nudity from a very long period. Kamala Das deliberately put the male body on display making it exposed and vulnerable. Apparently, it seems that the sensitive female psyche is vulnerable under the power and behavior of a male body, but a close reading of the images of represented bodies subvert the underlying power struggle between two gendered bodies. By putting the male on display and making it an object of exposure, this poem attempts to re-construct the masculine identity in a different way:

Notice the perfection Of his limbs, his eyes reddening under ……………………………….. All the fond details that make Him male and your only man. (“The Looking Glass”, 6-12)

Conversely, the representation of female body is at the same time feminine and unusual in this poem. The female body is represented as softer, younger and lovelier comparing to the roughness of male body. The sweat, the menstruation, odor of female body is not very often seen to be a part of female aesthetic. Das portrays these quintessential image of womanhood that always been missing in the representation of women by the male writers and thus deliberately presenting the ‘unnatural’ things of women as ‘natural’ making it a part of the existing discourse:

…Gift him all, Gift him what makes you woman, the scent of Long hair, the musk of sweat between the breasts, The warm shock of menstrual blood, and all your Endless female hungers. (“The Looking glass”, 12-15)

ALLS 7(2):84-89, 2016 88 As Helen Cixous proposed, "woman must write herself: must write about women and bring women to writing, from which they have been driven away as violently as from their bodies" (1976). Cixous echoes women must represent themselves and put themselves into the discourse animatedly. As the sexuality of women has been denied over the time and consequently she lost the possession of her body. However, Kamala Das in her poems, represented the women body with all its womanliness, sexual desire; “endless female hungers’ ‘sweat of breasts’ ‘menstrual blood’ (“The Looking Glass”, 14-15). Subsequently, her body is retained back to her. Das’ representation of female body transports the women from the periphery to the center of the discourse. Interestingly, the representation of male body through female gaze pervades over the poem ‘The Looking Glass’ which is rare in patriarchal discourse. kamala Das attempted to represent both male and female body through the eye of a woman in the poem ‘The Looking Glass’ where the poetic persona through her female gaze is constituting the identity of herself and of her male partner .Here, the female is the identifier whereas the man is being identified subverting the patriarchal pattern of representation. The female body emerges as the powerful one simply by recognizing her feminine body on her own. Consequently, the female identity is a complete individual vocal with its both physical and emotional desire on the other hand, man’s identity remains underdeveloped, fragmented, silent and dependent upon the acceptance and approval of female body. 6. Conclusion While analyzing the politicized representation of female male body in the selected poems of kamala Das through which, as this paper argues, she attempted to relocate both feminine and masculine identity. Being a “rebel against the restraints of man-made world” (Baruah 2014), Kamala Das tries to uncover and subvert the politicized patriarchal representation of gendered identity. In her poems, identity is perceived as a performatitive act which is vulnerable to change, transformation and modification. The poetic personae here rise above the stereotypes of submissive women declining to be a silenced sexual object. The female persona evolves as an assertive individual who is aware of her own emotional predicaments, sexual desires, frustrations and trauma. On the contrary the male identity is revealed here as vulnerable, emotionally unreachable, prude, insensitive and dependent on female body for its ego gratification. While the male body is being represented, female body is representing itself. Thus Kamala Das, in her poems, with her authoritative power, is able to overturn the power structure of gender binary relocating both feminine and masculine identity from a female’s perspective. References Baghira, T. “Dichotomy between ‘Female Desire’ and ‘Constructed Identity’: The Subversion of ‘Male Ego’ in Kamala Das’ My Story and “The Looking Glass”. International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities. III (ii) Beauvoir' de S. (May 3, 2011). The Second Sex. Vintage. Bhattacharjee, R. “Love and Sex in the Poetry of Kamala Das.: A Quest for Identity” .www.academia.edu/2955594/Love_as_a_Quest_for_Identity_in_the_Poetry_of_Kamala_Das Boruah, M. (2014). “An Analysis of the Poems of Kamala Das: from Feminine Perspective”: Perian Spring. Silapathar: Creative Writers’ Circle. 002. Butler, J. (1988) “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory” Theatre Journal. 40(4). (pp. 519-531) Johns Hopkins University Press. Butler, J. (1993). Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "Sex". New York, NY: Routledge. Butler, J. (1996) “Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity”. In Feminist Literary Theory: A Reader. Ed. Mary Eagleton. Oxford: UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Cixous, H. (1976). The Laugh of Medusa. (Trans. Keith and Paula). 1(4) University of Chicago Press, (pp. 875-893.) http://www.jstor.org/stable/3173239 Chakravarty, J. (Ed.). (2003) Indian Writing in English: Perspectives. New Delhi, DL: Atlantic. Das, K. (1965). Summer in Calcutta. New Delhi, DL: Everest Press. Das, K. (1967). The Descendants. Calcutta: Writers Workshop. Das, K. (1973). The Old Playhouse and Other Poems. New Delhi, DL: Orient Longman Private Limited. Dodiya, J. (2006) Critical essays on Indian Writing in English. New Delhi, DL: Sarup and Sons. Dwivedi, A. N. (2006). Kamala Das and Her Poetry. New Delhi, DL: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (P) Ltd. 2. Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Sage Publications. Hall, S. (1994). “Cultural Identity and Diaspora”. Williams, Patrick; Chrisman, Laura. (Eds.). Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: a reader. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Kumar, N. P (1998). Writing the Female: A Study of Kamala Das. Kochi: Bharatiya Sahitya Pratishthan. Nirmala, M. (2002). “Man-Woman Relationship in Kamala Das and Sugathakumari” Indian English Poetry: New Perspectives. Ed. Surendran, K. V. New Delhi, DL: Sarup & Sons.

ALLS 7(2):84-89, 2016 89 Prakash, S. & Sujatha. “A Desperate Craving for Identity in the Major Works of Kamala Das”. MPACT: International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Literature (Impact: IJRHAL) 2(7) Raju, Dr. V. A. (2001). “The Inevitable Metamorphosis: The Cocoon Breaks and ‘Surayya’ Comes out of ‘Kamala Das.’” Indian Journal of Postcolonial Literatures 2. (1).23-36. Rahman, A. (1981). Expressive Form in Poetry of Kamala Das. New Delhi, DL: Abhinava Publications. Rao, P. M. (2000). “Body and Beyond: Love poetry of Kamala Das.” Kamala Das: A Critical Spectrum. Ed. Piciucco, P. P. New Delhi, DL: Atlantic Publishers & Dist. Rawal, T. D. “Quest for Female Identity in Kamala Das” Rajasthan: Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal. Shri JJT University. http://www.galaxyimrj.com/V2/n5/Tarun.pdf Sarker, D. D. (2013). “An Introduction” “and “Stone Age”: A Feminist Approach to Kamala Das Poems.” IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science. (IOSR-JHSS)ISSN: 2279-0837, ISBN: 2279-0845.Volume 6(6).15-17, www.Iosrjournals.Org.



Identity Crisis in Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses

Hayder A. K. Gebreen College of Education, University of Al-Qadisiya, Iraq

E-mail: [email protected] Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.90 Received: 10/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.90 Accepted: 16/01/2016 Abstract The issue of identity is one of the main issues that encounters man in each culture. Identity is a set of behaviors, emotions, and thought patterns which are unique to every individual that define him as a member of a certain group. Identity is shaped by race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, language, physical features, childhood experiences, sexual preferences and culture. Moreover, identity is usually recognized during adolescence or early adulthood in which both positive and negative features are essential in the development of individual identity. However, an identity crisis is the failure to establish identity during that age. In addition, an identity crisis is not only concerned with matters such as ethnicity or religion as it is also concerned with inner conflicts, search for identity, west vs. east, old Vs. modern. The diversity of identity in the American culture is expressed in many literary works by contemporary American writers who depict characters' search of their psychological and cultural identity. Among those contemporary writers is Cormac McCarthy (1933-) whose All the Pretty Horses (1992) tackles this quest for identity as its basic theme, both psychologically and culturally. This paper is an attempt to investigate both dimensions of the quest in this novel as being one of McCarthy's masterpieces. Keywords: Identity, Identity Crisis, Cultural Criticism, Contemporary American fiction 1. Definitions The term 'identity' is widely used in the fields of cultural studies, literary theory, politics, sociology, and psychology, to name but a few. However, it is not easy to provide a single, straightforward definition of this term. Therefore, one can examine a range of definitions that come under this umbrella term. But individuals have psychosocial growth beside the historical origins in earlier psychosocial stages. In its broader sense, identity refers to “a person's sense of continuity with the past that constitutes the foundation for a meaningful personal and social present, which in turn proposes directions for future” (Deaux, 2000, p. 222). Erik Erikson devised the term 'identity crisis' to label the doubt, even unease, which adolescents might sense as they realize that they are no longer children. They turn out to be confused about their present and future roles in life. Another possible anxiety could result from the passing insecurity and confusion that adolescents feel as they try a range of choices. The concept of identity crisis does not indicate a coming disaster, but rather a "critical turning point in the life history of an individual, in which development can only move forward by taking a new directional course," (Hopkins, 2000, p. 234). The concept 'identity crisis' defines a young individual's quest for identity, but youths who in a lively exploration of identity are more motivating than disappointing. The most painful thing about identity crisis is the failure to establish an identity. Then, individuals might sense an actual identity crisis (Shaffer, 2007, p. 453). 2. Introduction All the Pretty Horses, henceforth (Horses), has been credited as presenting a new cowboy protagonist who is coming into conflict and ruin as he rides through the landscape. Although he is 16 years old, John Grady Cole reflects the cowboy culture of the West, the novel depicts the frontier's modernization. The protagonist, John Grady Cole is conscious that something is 'happing to country' (Inness, 2000, p. 6). The novel records the life of John Grady Cole and his disinheritance from the ancestral ranching dream and his following quest for that dream in Mexico. He refuses to abandon his cowboy self-identity and he appears in the novel as the mythical cowboy who in search of a lost land. It is set in the wilderness of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico, where modern technology and military activities have ruined the pastoral frontier life that is already disappearing from John Grady after his grandfather's death. Horses begins on 13 September 1949, with the burial of John Grady's maternal grandfather in San Angelo, Texas, the latter's passing marks the loss of the family ranch. With his grandfather's death, the last of the line of deep commitment to the land ended, as John Grady's mother sells it for an oil company. Then, he travels on a horseback to Mexico to achieve his pastoral ambition as a trainer of wild horses, and he also finds and loses a kind of passionate love. He and his friend Rawlins also experience the bloody realities of life there. The novel also tackles the disappearance of the cowboy culture in the revival of a progressively urbanized American culture, and the efforts of John Grady to resist it. He does so by heading south the borders towards Mexico, where he


ALLS 7(2):90-99, 2016 91 hopes to retain the cowboy lifestyle. However, what John Grady realizes there is also a changing world. This modern catastrophe meant the fading of the cowboy lifestyle. Though it still physically exists, by 1951 the frontier faded, and cowboy culture faded with its frontier. It is no longer a pastoral land in the pressures of urbanization and industrialization. This erasure of frontier open space was an identity crisis for those cowboys (Rodriguez, 2014, p. 3). One can highlight John Grady's identity crisis as he fails to create a stable identity. Phillip Snyder (2001) argues that John Grady cannot prove that he is able to create a stable identity. Snyder's analysis concentrates on his development that defines his identity as 'cowboy', and he claims that the "central issue" is "the shifting locus of American cowboy identity and the displacement of the vocation within which that identity and its attendant values once flourished". Although Snyder concentrates on the confusion status of the cowboy identity, he clarifies the protagonists' greatest key development is their ability to fit their 'cowboy identities to "a new western environment" (p. 198). McCarthy shows how individuals construct an identity that consists of 'commitments and explorations' which establish the essential beliefs that let individuals spot their situation in the world. Individuals shape their primary identity which informs their sense of self, but as adolescents acquire new information, their perspectives increase to contain an understanding of past crises. 3. Adolescent at Home The opening paragraph of the novel shows a sense of identity crisis in its portrayal of John Grady when he enters the house which contain his grandfather's corpse. There is a reflection of him in the mirror of the portrait of his dead ancestors. The portrait depicts a culture which realizes its present in terms of its past, a culture which attempts to re-establish an identity. The novel starts as follows: “The candleflame and the image of the candleflame caught in the pierglass twisted and righted when he entered the hall and again when he shut the door” (Horses 1). David Dary (1989) in his treatment of the cowboy culture and its golden age in the American West said that it vanished in the mid-20th century. Further, he states that this cowboy culture was still shining intensely in the minds of Americans and it still breaks through the American culture, it is not the culture of the real 19th century cowboys, but rather, it is a combination of fact and imagination. After they try without success to find a place for themselves in Mexico (the original paradise of cowboys), McCarthy's cowboys who work in the mid of the 20th century, are in danger of extinction by the crisis of loss and familial displacement. Those cowboy characters need to adjust themselves into a new western environment or die (p. 199). In order to deserve and be fully worthy of the name of the Grady family, John must seek out heroic actions and must face the crises of loss that may come with these actions. McCarthy presents John Grady's mythical ancestry who have experienced cruel deaths when they were young. These deaths differ expressively from his father's and grandfather's deaths:

His grandfather was the oldest of eight boys and the only one to live past the age of twenty-five. They were drowned, shot, kicked by horses. They perished in fires. They seemed to fear only dying in bed (Horses 4).

The grandfather's funeral signifies the end of the Grady name as a result of the violence of the Old West and old age, a name which is "buried with that old man" (Horses 4). This name has left John Grady both connected and at the same time dislocated from the ancestral line because he carries the family name, but from the mother's side. His psychological crisis of the loss of his mentor in life is indicated here. He remains the sole inheritor who carries the name that is already buried and this is something which increases his confusion (Morrison, 1999, p. 176). McCarthy signals the grandfather's death as the gradual end of the American plains where ranchers sell their lands for oil companies. This is a cultural crisis in which where an entire history of people ends up, among generation of young cowboys like John Grady who will be disconnected with their traditions. The changing landscape and the death of men in wars add greatly to this crisis (Scoones, 2001, p. 142). Because the cowboy culture is diminishing, John Grady must engage with other cultures, such as the Mexican ones, in order to survive this crisis. In addition, the identity of a culture, Derrida argues, is a way of being self-differentiating by the culture of individuals, nations, language, ethics… etc. However, both critics, Gail Moore Morrison and Dianne C. Luce stress the "individuality" of John Grady's development in his quest to recover the lost ranching life in the fallen world of the West. They both argue for the ultimate usefulness of that quest at least in his self-actualization, but only Luce stresses his self-development (as cited in Snyder, 2001, p. 203). It appears what they have said is true, especially if one noticed that John Grady ignored all the warnings concerning his relationship with the Mexican girl Alejandra. John Grady's grandfather's death and the loss of the family's ranch serve as a catalyst for the transition of his identity which is based on his family influences, for a new self-identification. Then, this crisis threatens John Grady's major beliefs and isolates him from the life of a cowboy so as to settle him down. This is his 'identity crisis' which affects the process of his development and leaves him confused due to the experiences that contradict with his beliefs. To build an identity, one must settle the present situation with one's past beliefs and this must be repeated throughout an individual's life. Thus, this process of development aims to state an individual ethical orientation and self-conception to fit his present (Jackson, 2010, p. 19). Moreover, the introduction of technology into the wilderness is so disturbing to John Grady. The use of the machine into the Old West disrupts John Grady's fixed sense of culture and of himself. Thus, looking at this relationship between landscape and identity, the transformation of the Old West through fences or trains, interrupts John Grady's dream to

ALLS 7(2):90-99, 2016 92 live the cowboy life of the Old West (Cameron, 2011, p. 49). Therefore, the solution is to search for a landscape that is really connected with their deep desire for a stable, recognizable identity but technology as it is represented here by the train as:

Some supplicant to the darkness over them all and he stood there for a long time. As he turned to go he heard the train… It comes boring out of the east like some ribald satellite of the coming sun howling and bellowing in the distance and the long light of the headlamp running through the tangled mesquite brakes and creating out of the night the endless fence-line down the dead straight right of the way and sucking it back again wire and post mile on mile into the darkness (Horses 1).

The passing of the train through the landscape from the East to the West marks the end of open spaces for cowboys. A century passed since cowboys wandered without fences, or trains in the plains. John Grady is influenced by that cowboy culture and its vast space to roam. In that patriarchal culture of cowboys, his divorced mother is the inheritor of a long line of ranching men, but she prefers a more civilized life in San Antonio rather than the life on a ranch in the frontier (Hage, 2010, p. 34). The novel shares some of the traditional heroic cowboy codes and sets the tone for the exploration of these codes in the modern world. The novel starts with what the critic Gail Moore Morrison depicts as "John Grady Cole's expulsion from paradise" as he loses the family ranch, which have been sold by his mother upon the death of her father. Despite the boy's efforts to preserve it, the ranch is lost, which makes him alienated as the Indians Comanche were alienated when their lands were taken from them (p. 176). John Grady's identity crisis is also embodied in the arrival of technology, the vanished Indian tribes, his grandfather's death and the terminal line of frontier ancestors, the lost culture of the Old West, in the selling the family's ranch and his awareness of his father's illness and despair. As he was riding along an old road once used by Comanche Indian, John Grady invokes a vision:

That lost nation come down out of the north with their faces chalked and their long hair plaited and each armed for war which was their life and the women and children and women with children at their breasts all pledged in blood and redeemable in blood only… nation and ghost of nation passing in a soft chorale across the mineral waste to darkness bearing lost to all history and remembrance like a grail the sum of their secular and transitory and violent lives (Horses 3).

McCarthy compares the cowboys to those lost Native nations of the West in which they were extinct with the coming of the Anglo cowboys to the area. Then, he suggests that it is time for cowboys and their culture to extinct as well. Besides, he describes John Grady as "a man come to the end of something." That something may be taken as his way of life which is approaching the end. As he rides his horse on the old Comanche Indian road, John Grady feels the souls of the Native Indian cultures that formerly rode this road and now his cowboy way of life is dying just as the Native's culture. It is these continuous comparisons between the perished and the vanishing cultures that McCarthy cares about, he depicts those cultures on the border as they moved towards extinction (Hage, 2010, p. 51). Although McCarthy is referring explicitly to the Comanche, their passing violent lives could be compared to any race, even if it was an Anglo American such as John Grady. By doing this, McCarthy identifies his hero's culture with those of the Native one (King, 2012, p. 120). This points out the link between the Comanche Indians and the lost cowboy culture of the Old West. McCarthy highlights this link by describing John Grady as being "like a man come to end of something" (Horses 3). On his way to the city of San Antonio where his mother lives, John Grady went with an old man who was driving a truck. The old man talks to him, but John Grady didn't talk that much and the old man asks him: "You dont talk much, do you?" John Grady answers "Not a whole lot." John Grady's personality speaks for cowboy culture in which cowboys are expected to reflect the strong, silent stereotype of the Western hero (Snyder, 2001, p. 223). As the funeral of John Grady's grandfather marks the fading of the cowboy, his cultural crisis is reinforced by his parents' denial of the cowboy lifestyle in favor of city life. His father lives alone, his experiences as a prisoner for the Japanese in WW II have left him unable to function in society or to be of much use to his son. His mother is a stage actress in San Antonio. John Grady's interaction with Mr. Franklin, the family lawyer, shows his unfulfilled efforts at invoking the law due to his young age:

Son, not everybody thinks that life on a cattle ranch in west Texas is the second best thing to dyin and goin to heaven. She [John's mother] dont want to live out there, that's all (Horses 13).

John Grady's mother is the character in the novel who shows the effects of modernity and how could it interrupts John Grady's dream of a pastoral life as she rejects his wish to look after the ranch himself. John Grady attempts to understand his mother's choice of life by watching one of her plays, but he fails to drive from her play anything "to tell him about the way the world was or was becoming" (Horses 17). In the West, the new way of life is taking the place of the old, but the old way of life still echoes. Richard Slotkin states

ALLS 7(2):90-99, 2016 93 that some central change of the story structure of a myth indicates some intense change in the culture that creates it. Here, the wounded link is connecting America's mythical past with its troubled present. This myth is the vicious birth of a national icon of the West that formulated protagonists from "scalp hunters and Indian killers" (as cited in Spurgeon, 2009, p. 104). John Grady wishes to have an established identity, but the crisis of loss of the ranch defies his capacity to catch consistency concerning his past and his current situation. In addition, the collapse of his family leads him to doubt the views of other individuals such as remarking the sale of the ranch as a betrayal by his mother. At this point, he perceives the adults in his life as absent, dead, and powerless. As he needs self-education, he decides to take a journey to Mexico, which is going to help him to form the basis for his identity. In Western novels, cowboys ride in the yearning for that horse culture that they have lost. The crisis of loss of the ranch marks a local loss of domesticity and wilderness and John Grady has either to live in the city of San Antonio and abandoning the wilderness and its vast lands or turning into a homeless nomad. Then, McCarthy's novel is placed in a critical moment in the development of a national identity, the moment where the Mexican desert lands are combined into what has turned out to be the American Southwest. The novel focuses on the dispossession of the Anglo ranching culture by the oil industry and military activities (Ellis, 2006, p. 202). John Grady strives to settle his wish of an ideal pastoral lifestyle which leads to his crisis. However, in their last ride together, his father is described as having a depressed outlook that has been transferred in some form to his son as he views the pastoral landscape (Guillemin, 2001, p. 95). His father assures his self-perception and offers him a saddle, as a way of confirming his cowboy identity. He tells his son while riding the horse that the country and its culture are changing. McCarthy reflects the changes in the Old West through John Grady's father who sees a vast change occurring there. This change in the nature of the land affects their way of life so that the father looks at the land as if he might not see it again. Then, McCarthy assures John Grady's cowboy nature when he describes him as "The boy who rode slightly before him sat a horse not only as if he'd been born to it." The biggest effect of the crisis in the cowboy's everyday life is the destruction of security. His father compared the ranching culture to the Comanche two hundred years ago and acknowledges the cowboys' demise by the same forces that legitimized their presence in the first place. Then, it is not surprising that John Grady and his father compare themselves to the Comanche Indian. The attraction of Mexico south of the border is the only place remaining of the ranching culture that gives meaning for them. Mexicans and the Indians who live there represent for them a mode of non-instrumental existence of which any cowboy dream of and that they come to identify themselves with (Beck, 2009, p. 134). Through the changes of the countryside, John Grady's father expresses his beliefs about the changing world of cowboys and about himself. His father projects the cowboy sense of crisis through the changing country itself. McCarthy suggests their sense of crisis:

The last thing his father said was that the country would never be the same. People dont feel safe no more. We're like the Comanche was two hundred years ago. We dont know what's going to show up here come daylight. We don't even know what color they'll be (Horses 20).

Before he leaves San Angelo, John Grady seems unsure of himself and having a status of everlasting emptiness, but like most adolescents, he has been controlled by a search for meaning for his life. Through exile, John Grady attempts to break from his family identity, he seeks a new beginning that will open his eyes to a world outside his boyish understanding in which he enters into a world of obligation and responsibility. His country appears to be transformed into something he is not realizing. Thus, he sets out in order to make a new identity in his life as a cowboy. 4. The Journey to the Foreign Land The journey to Mexico begins, however, as if John Grady and Rawlins were setting out into a world suddenly transformed. McCarthy suggests a promise of a new life beginning with the boys' departure from Mexico. As the journey begins, John Grady and Rawlins are described as "lined out behind one another and making for the alien shore like a party of marauders" (Horses 38). Before entering Mexico, McCarthy implied the national identity in the borderlands. They passed by an American of Mexican origin who lives on the American side of the border and whom McCarthy ironically prefers to call as a Mexican. He seems much a product of the border as they are (Sugg, 2001, p. 199). Rawlins asked him: "You know that Country Down there?, The Mexican shook his head and spat. I have never been to Mexico in my life" (Horses 27). They find Mexico 'wild and strange', an 'alien world'. Then, what is down there has presented as alien in the incoming adventures. Certainly, they frequently appear to go back in time as soon as they reached the border. Nevertheless, the separation between the two cultures is not always clear as the borderlands themselves are a place of hybridization, a place where the two cultures seem sometimes to have melded. For example, John Grady's capacity to change between binary dissimilar languages (Hage, 2010, p. 51). This attachment to that lost cowboy world imprisons John Grady in a cyclic dependency on the restructured experience

ALLS 7(2):90-99, 2016 94 of the 'vanishing' cowboy. So, John Grady can never resolve the identity crisis to which he is attached. He has to move to Mexico to chase more cowboy life that would drive him to more crises of loss in the forthcoming days. This yearning for constancy in his life has a similar conflict with the modernizing world. This is the purpose why they go to Mexico, a place that they believe is 'symbolic of some lost time or imagined of the 'Old West'. James D. Lilley claims that the journey to Mexico is a "repeating of the American project itself, looking for a new beginning that reestablished itself with a forgotten past" (as cited in Campbell, 2010, p. 46). Although, John Grady takes part in violence and bloody actions later, which is one of the great themes of the borderlands, for him, Mexico projects his notions of existence that followed the old cowboy codes. The critic Katherine Sugg (2001) suggests that for McCarthy's Anglo protagonists, this Mexican land offers the chances that were closed in the West by the time of World War II where open pastures were decreasing and cowboys begin to work in urban culture (p. 118). When they come across Jimmy Blevins on the road, their enthusiasm to a new risky experience with ruthless consequences of their border journey is revealed. Then, Rawlins asks him why he rides with them? Blevins answers: "Cause I'm American." Here, the national identity plays a role in their acceptance to let him go with them, although they know that Blevins is a confused teenager who cannot take care of himself. He loses his horse and clothes in a thunderstorm. Then, he asks them to help him to recover his stolen horse. John Grady does not take this quite seriously, and Rawlins supports his friend. Culturally, Rawlins shows the 'superiority' of the American character on the other nations by saying: "It damn sure dont belong to them Mexican." Then, John Grady and Rawlins help Blevins in the devotion of both their national and cultural identity. Moreover, on the psychological side, both Erikson and also Marcia agree that diffused youth is likely to engage in criminal acts. When they recover Blevins' horse, they separated from him after they were followed by Mexican men. However, the heroics cowboy codes that John Grady embraces, are the cause for his downfall, mainly his desire to help Blevins. This only contributes to his alienation and identity diffusion at the end of the novel. Although All the Pretty Horses fits in the American tradition of fiction which portrays how young men defeat their difficulties in order to achieve moral growth, John Grady's journey to Mexico is to struggle for a cowboy culture that he wants to preserve it from fading away. However, his development requires an intersection that makes him realizes his personal usefulness. Yet, he continues to live according to the values which make his life an unrealistic one. What makes him confront the illusory nature of his heroic code is his experience with violence (Morrison, 1999, p. 175). McCarthy constructs those cowboys who are lost because of what happens to their country. The more they feel isolated and alienated, the more they are faced with their own wasted meaningless existence. The alterations of the cultural and physical backgrounds of the West reduce their chances to survive in such setting. Fitting the developing identity, the first step must an individual make, is to assert his independence. This is what made those three young cowboys desert their homes and make their personal path (Scoones, 2001, p. 142). However, violence, danger, and heroic deeds are the ingredients of a cowboy's identity that presented by tales of the bloody history of the Old West (Hage, 2010, p. 25). John Grady recognizes the passing process of the crisis and learns that it occurs at the heart of human experience:

He lay a long time listening to the others breathing in their sleep while he contemplated the wildness about him, the wildness within (Horses 50).

John Grady is affected by the massive desert of Mexico, which leads him to self-examination. As the journey continues, he has a profound look inside himself in an effort to settle an identity in the changing world. He realizes that his current identity is what he wishes to be in the future as a cowboy living on a ranch (Leitner, 2008, p. 18). He starts a journey which is representative of the Western type of journeys through the plains, deserts and the mountains of the border. But, he continues his journey of self-realization, conscious that he is trying to come back to the old and mythical cowboy life. He realizes at the end that such a coming back is difficult. Nevertheless, there is something heroic that is taken from the myth of The Old West in his journey which he is pursuing (Woodson, 2011, p. 42). The boys meet on the road a group of Zacateros, cultivators of hay where the image that the boys had in mind of Mexico is shattered as they come across those Mexican "a rough lot, half dressed in rags, they smelled of smoke and tallow… and they looked as wild and strange as the country they were in." One can say that McCarthy emphasizes the differences between nations with the acknowledgment the fact that "one country is not another" (Horses 122). Although Jose Limon applauds the novel's celebration of a sympathy between John Grady and Mexican-American community and applauds the crossing implied in the novel's switching between Spanish and English, but the novel is filled with the oppositions of contradictory and rival cultures of the Anglo, the Comanche and the Mexican (as cited in Morrison, 1999, p. 175). The two cowboys think that they ought to bring back their vanished heaven of cowboys when they get jobs as vaqueros (cowboys) on the ranch of Don Hector (Horses 82). They drink coffee with some local vaqueros, for most of whom America is "the country to the north was little more than a rumor" (Horses 81). 5. The Promised Heaven of Cowboys John Grady rapidly wins the appreciation and approval of the other cowboys for his skills with horses, taming sixteen

ALLS 7(2):90-99, 2016 95 horses in four days. While the situation is temporary, the fact that John Grady has gambled in his journey to Mexico is what makes him continues shortly creating his identity in a place that he is happy with. The chance for advancement in his work is exposed, he planned to create an identity away from his motherland. The term 'identity crisis' describes young persons who are in search of identity or even anxiety that they feel when the face intersection in their lives, here one can see that John Grady is facing this intersection. He seizes the chance proposed by Don Hector to work permanently with stallions, an option to carry on establishing his identity as a cowboy. He appears to be happy with his own journey as a try to build the identity and the connections he departed from. But when Don Hector asks what he is doing in Mexico, he is not aware what he is trying to do at Don's ranch, then he replies: "I just wanted to see the country, I reckon" (Horses 96). His uncertainty clarifies his exact reasons in which he is now experiencing an identity crisis. With a presumed father and an occupation as a cowboy guaranteed, John Grady starts a romantic affair with Alejandra. But, he does not realize that Alejandra (Don Hector's daughter) has linked herself with the modern world. This makes him unable to understand why she ultimately refuses his marriage proposal. While discussing her with Rawlins, he highlights the point that he has not yet achieved to himself an identity in a foreign land (Sullivan, 2001, p. 241). The relationship between John Grady and Alejandra represents a complex relationship of forces, especially that of the nation. Alejandra is the projection of her country (Mexico) in which people differ from that the people of the USA and that's what an identity means. John Grady finds what he did lose in America, he finds his dream of pastoral life at the hacienda working with horses and riding them through the landscape with his friend and falling in love with Alejandra. Here, the novel reflects the allegories of the 20th century where frontier life is being the last castle against progress in the wilderness. The myth of the Old West, then, include the dispossessed of the last cowboy and the frontier (Guillemin, 2001, p. 93). Soon, after his relationship with Alejandra, John Grady realizes the differences between the two nations and their cultures in regard to honor and women. As with most adolescents who have no commitment to a set of goals and beliefs, Alejandra ignores all the social norms of her family by sleeping with a man. Her aunt Alfonsa forbids their relationship, and tells John Grady:

I want you to be considerate of a young girl's reputation… You must understand. This is another country. Here a woman's reputation is all she has… There is no forgiveness. For woman. A man may lose his honor and regain it again. But a woman cannot. She cannot (Horses 115).

Then, John Grady is defying the cultural superego in sleeping with Alejandra. The aunt, Alfonsa, reveals that John Grady cannot marry her niece Alejandra because he does not understand the cultural difference between the two countries. The cowboy involves in a larger conflict of the cultural crisis in which John Grady finds himself involved with Alejandra and the aunt rejects him because he is "from another country" (Canfield, 2001, p. 263). When Jimmy Blevins, their momentary friend, murders a Mexican man in a neighboring town, the Mexican police chase John Grady and Rawlins to the ranch. Don Hector finally gives them to the police when he knows of his daughter's relationship with John Grady. At that point, they depart from the Mexican ranch, and this marks a great change in their tendency towards the journey. Their first challenge that marks the significance of the national identity came when the Mexicans execute Blevins in the wilderness. In doing so, McCarthy expresses the modern uncertainty about the ways in which contemporary society enacts technological and social means (Yee, 2010, p. 52). Moreover, during their imprisonment in Saltillo, they involve in continuous violence for their survival as when they both barely survived a knife fight with other prisoners. While in recovery, Rawlins admits that he received a blood transfusion: "they put Mexican blood in me." He is worried because a liter of Mexican blood may somehow change his American nationality. In this regard, John Grady jokes with him saying: "Well a liter would make you almost a halfbreed. No. Hell, it don’t mean nothing. Blood's blood. It dont know where it come from" (Horses 177). This struggle for survival culminates in a knife fight between John Grady and a young cuchillero (cutler). John Grady kills his attacker by bringing his knife and sinking it into the cuchillero's heart. Although he kills him in self-defense, he finds himself haunted by it for the rest of the novel. "He'd of done it to you," Rawlins says in an attempt to comfort him. "You don’t need to try and make it right. It is what is," John Grady responds (Horses 181). Because of his concern over his ability for violent acts, John Grady struggles morally to maintain his actions in the frame of the stable cowboy identity that he is trying to make for himself. McCarthy characterizes John Grady as an adolescent whose male flesh is violated. The cowboy culture describes the cultural inversion of involuntary bleeding in any form because this culture requires the professional skill and strategic application on the part of the surgeon and self-mastery on the part of the patient and here John Grady has done them both. In Western novels, the image of the male body violated often develops a process of slow recovery that leads to renewed strength (Sullivan, 2001, p. 243). So, John Grady has self-devastating tendencies in which he has no obligations towards himself or others. In his struggle towards a cowboy dying culture, as he was always preoccupied with the loss of the Old West, he has a sense of confusion in life since childhood. It is evident that his crisis turns around the passing culture of the Old West where McCarthy has implied this sense of loss in John Grady's loss cowboy way of life (Sugg, 2001, p. 118).

ALLS 7(2):90-99, 2016 96 There is also a profound significance to the indication of the borderlands where the protagonists usually appear to be composed of two cultures or in that neither county in which the boundary is fixed between existence and extinction. One can see the fading and the growing of cultures and of lifestyles in the novel (Hage, 2010, p. 24). 6. Passing Adolescence On the condition that Alejandra promises not to see John Grady anymore, Alfonsa arranged their release from the prison. He insists on pursuing Alejandra which leads him back to the La Purisima. Absolutely depressed and diffused after he met Alejandra for the last time in which he failed to convince her to accept his marriage proposal, John Grady thinks that the crisis of loss of Alejandra will be his permanent status in life. His confusion status over the loss of Alejandra makes him thinks of his history of past crises:

He saw very clearly how all his life led only to this moment and all after led nowhere at all. He felt something cold and soulless enter like another being and he imagined that it smiled malignly and he had no reason to believe it would ever leave… What he had not known was that it was mindless and so had no way to know the limits of those souls and what he feared was that there might be no limits (Horses 214).

This is the modification of one's identity to fit his situation. Here, McCarthy reveals the effects of the psychological phases of the crisis of loss upon John Grady as his faith in himself fades away. In the night, John Grady avoids any human connection because of his crisis and he tries to think where he has mistaken. He laid there deprived of any solid base upon which he can form a stable identity from his experience: "He slept that night in a field far from any town. He built no fire… and he listened to the wind in the emptiness" (Horses 214). Here, one can understand John Grady's detachment from society which causes him further crisis. Alejandra provides him with a sense of what it means to keep on living and to look forward to being in the world, but as he finally lost her, he senses abandonment in the world with no place to go. These effects go beyond his youthful recognition of the crisis that he bears in Mexico. Unable to articulate his own damaged identity, he cannot make up any others, and this sense of confusion comes to be an essential feature of his life, the one thing which links him with the world: "as he lay there the agony in his heart was like a stake" (Horses 214). Then, the novel takes a twist as John Grady starts to seek vengeance from the Mexican captain who killed Blevins, rather than seeking the cowboy way of life he loves. At first, it seemed that John Grady might kill him to revenge for his injuries, and Rawlins's and the death of Blevins but he returns to recover the horses. This scene culminates when he manages to rescue the horses that belong to him, to Rawlins and Blevins and he takes the captain as hostage. Alone on the borderlands in the village of Los Picos, after he survives these dangerous encounters, John Grady has visibly flown the edge of danger. Then, a change is displayed in John Grady's personality since he left Texas. Earlier, John Grady's idealism has no limit, but here one can see that he recognizes the limits that range outside youth and affect the identity of each individual. After rescuing the horses, his status transfers from guilt of these youthful experiences to a kind of development in his character that is obvious now:

He remembered Alejandra and the sadness he'd first seen in the slope of her shoulders which he presumed to understand and of which he knew nothing and he felt a loneliness he'd not known since he was a child and felt wholly alien to the world although he loved it still. He thought that the world's heart beat at some terrible cost and that the world's pain and its beauty moved in a relationship of divergent equity (Horses 235).

One can describe a developing young man who attempts to settle the past with the present, in terms of finding a meaning in his experiences. As he realizes the connection between people, John Grady senses the individuality of his life. Still, he reaches to view life as a place which causes the suffering that symbolizes the human crisis. The following day, John Grady has a new crisis, namely, the loss of his father: "when he woke he realized that he knew his father was dead." When he finally returns from Mexico, he continues to feel lost: "a loneliness he'd not known since he was a child and he felt wholly alien to the world although he loved it still," (Horses 235). His crisis of loss increases as he grieves the death of his nanny "Abuela", he appears to realize the sacrifices of others and their effect on his identity. The loss of his major advisors in his family pushes him to admit that the meaning of his life is determined by the meaning he shares with others (Hage, 2010, p. 101). Nevertheless, he appeared in the court of law in Texas, where conveys his story, this helps as an additional phase in the development of a settled identity. John Grady struggles to establish a complete identity that comprises the crossing of his confusion status from moments of responsibility and connections among people. The judge rules in John Grady's favor, he identifies the latter's maturity by the judgments of the law (Arnold, 2001, p. 71). Later, John Grady tells the story of his recent adventure to the judge, that makes him inquire his own journey. The adolescent's psychological struggle contributes to his desire to make a stable identity. Thus, Mexico does not offer the longed for pastoral life for John Grady, who has the self-perception as brave and chivalrous, as he was accepting the ideals of cowboy culture that collapsed. He cannot continue living as a cowboy if he is unable to settle his passion as the man he seeks to be. His journey into Mexico ends and it echoes his identity crisis as he laments the loss of the 'country' that cannot be brought back as its culture died. He keeps that sense of permanent crisis that worried him at the beginning of the novel. He returns home, but only to confirm his continuing status as a restless wanderer looking for a

ALLS 7(2):90-99, 2016 97 lost 'country' (Guillemin, 2001, p. 95). Jay Ellis (2006) records such restlessness in McCarthy's characters and suggests that it condemns the individual to loneliness and perpetual yearning for a completion and fulfillment that is unattainable. The future for John Grady once more involves leaving out the country of his childhood where he no longer feels that he belongs to (p. 264). The final conversation between John Grady and Rawlins sums up the effects that the trip had on him:

John Grady: I think I'm going to move on. Rawlins: This is still good country. John Grady: Yeah. I know it is. But it aint my country. Rawlins: Where is your country? John Grady: I don't know. I don’t know where it is. I don’t know what happens to country (Horses 250).

Here, the idea of "country" seems to highlight John Grady's region as well as the larger sense of the "nation". He is implying that he does not belong to his birth country, and also indicating that the culture of the Old West that he sought on his journey to Mexico has lost. All what is left for him to head out once more (Hage, 2010, p. 27). McCarthy offers a grim variation on quest themes, one in which is the identity crisis. One can see that John Grady is not only coming back passionately bare hands after his trip to Mexico, but he is also unable to find the national identity, he has before "I don’t know where (my country)." When his friend Rawlins suggests that he may stay in Texas and get a job in an oil Company, his reaction indicates the chasing of the myth of Western open space. If one asks what does John Grady means by "country?" One definition suits McCarthy's characters that a "country" is a region, territory, or a large tract of land that can be distinguished by cultural features. For example, when he rides across the border territory, he realizes the mix of cultures of the American West and Northern Mexico (Ellis, 2006, p. 180). Benedict Anderson says in his book Imagined Communities (1991), that national identity is not continuous in these limited border areas and recorded as a simple device and this attitude resounds in the Border Trilogy as well. However, it is not merely the "country" but also the lifestyle and methods of survival that are submitted to the temporary nature of the borderlands. All the Pretty Horses moves through crucial changes that crushed the cultures of the region in which massive open deserts and plains are occupied with railroads and divided into ranches and the ranches one by one are bought to turn them into oil fields. By the first thirty years of the 20th century, some of the small "cattle towns" developed into cities and the heart of the oil industry in the USA. "The vast cattle country was opened to the petroleum industry." By the time of John Grady, the oil industry had a strong position in the cowboys' lands and their way of life was quickly fading (p. 33). In these scenes, McCarthy sets the ways in which the deep misery embodied in such ways that impact the character developing identity. Additionally, John Grady's growing awareness of the declination of pastoral life is reflected in his sense of confusion. He struggles against the changing world:

Perhaps as if to slow the world that was rushing away and seemed to care nothing for the old or young or rich or poor or dark or pale or he or she. Nothing for their struggles, nothing for their names. Nothing for the living or the dead (Horses 251).

An uncertain path is his future, but it also a path directing him to the previous lifestyle of the Old West. It is a journey marked by his association, once more, with the Comanche tribes of the past, a suggestion of how John Grady's storyline has also reached its full circle (Beck, 2009, p. 131). McCarthy makes implicit historical cycles of nation-building on violence as the USA was built on the blood of the Native Americans as did the Native before. This suggests that Cowboys are fading as the Indians. This passage below echoes the scene of the Comanche trail ride which is previously mentioned in the novel and suggests the bloody history of the past:

The Indian stood watching him. He could see that none of them spoke among themselves or commented on his riding there nor did they raise a hand in greeting or call out to him. They had no curiosity about him at all. As if they knew all they needed to know. They stood and watched him pass and watched him vanish upon that landscape solely because he was passing. Solely because he would vanish (Horses 251).

McCarthy emphasizes John Grady's naivety concerning his vision of the Indians. It could be suggested that this vision of vanishing Indians is reversed at the end of the novel as the Indian watch him vanished while he "passed and paled into the darkening land", his future is assured in the world to come (Morrison, 1999, p. 179). John Grady's crisis sets up the heroic archetype journey of the novel which moves John Grady, according to Morrison, towards his final journey back home, no longer a naive person, but a man who is deepened and enriched by experience (p. 191). Yet, McCarthy's Comanche comparison suggests that while John Grady's may evoke the epic journey of the Western tradition, it may also be doomed to failure as the Comanche because of the loss of the community and culture in which his individual superiority flourishes (Snyder, 2001, p. 205).

ALLS 7(2):90-99, 2016 98 The mid of 20th-century background of the Border Trilogy hints at the collapse of the cowboy ranching culture which is started by "the inheritors of the 19th-century expansionists." This constructed backwardness for the increasingly outmoded cowboy culture and to characterize the disability of that community that is illustrated in McCarthy's novels (Beck, 2009, p. 16). The lost pastoral life of the cowboys which strikes a nostalgia, and the drought that plagued Western landscapes are shown in the novel:

In the evening a wind came up and reddened all the sky before him. There were few cattle in that country because it was barren country indeed yet he came at the evening upon a solitary bull rolling in the dust against the bloodred sunset like an animal in sacrificial torment. The bloodred dust blew down out of the sun (Horses 252).

The Failure of John Grady's journey is shown through the Native Indians who are terminated a century ago. Modernity threatened the cowboy lifestyle through the arrival of technology in the 20th century. All the Pretty Horses ends with the disillusioned cowboy riding:

With the sun coppering his face and the red wind blowing out of the west across the evening land… horse and rider and horse passes on their long shadows passed in tandem like the shadow of a single being. Passed and paled into the darkening land, the world to come (Horses 252).

In this passage, McCarthy invokes the symbolic image of the cowboy riding through the vast plains before vanishing into "the darkening land." However, the end of the history of the cowboy is anticipating as modernity is still affecting the frontier. Then, it is John Grady, not the Indians, who represents the vanishing American West and the decline of the cowboy way of life. He originally departs from Texas so that he can develop and make his identity in a location similar to his home. But in fact, while he was trying only to make an identity there, he discovers that his accomplishment in Mexico was brief. Upon his reappearance in Texas, he has tested different identities: cowboy, a lover, a fighter, and a diplomat. Although his opinion of home is transformed because of this process, his original wish to restore the cowboy culture of the past stays a powerful force for the story (Peebles, 2011, p. 51). 7. Conclusions John Grady fails to construct a settled identity due to an inability to confirm a sense of the self. McCarthy shows that experiences do not only have the ability to ruin one's predetermined views of the self and the world, but they certainly help one to build an identity in response to these moments of crisis. The major transformation in John Grady's personality results from his own experiences of violence and personal loss that correct his way of seeing the world. As an adolescent who develops his sense of the self in the ranching community that collapses, his story conveys the meaning of identity crisis in McCarthy's model of development. Even after he becomes conscious of the crisis of loss and its effects on him, John Grady did not maintain a complete identity for himself. All of this does not alter his immature identity as well as continuing diffused status. His story portrays the crises as the foundation upon which one makes sense of life experiences, and the response to these crises determines the identity. He represents the self-realization in cowboy culture in which excellence, isolation, and independence are the basics of a cowboy identity. This identity also depends on relationships formed in a familial community without which the Western individuality would be incomplete. John Grady's obsession with recovering and returning to what has been lost, whether horses or people or lifestyle, can be seen as reflecting this sense of psychological and cultural crisis within himself.

References Arnold, E. T. (2001). "Go to Sleep: Dreams and Visions in the Border Trilogy." A Cormac McCarthy Companion: The Border Trilogy. Ed. Edwin T. Arnold & Dianne C. Luce. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Anderson, B. (2006). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and the Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso. Beck, J. (2009). Dirty Wars: Landscapes, Power, and Waste in the Western American Literature. Lincoln: University of Nebraska. Cameron, J. M. (2011) Border Wars and Armageddon: Contemporary American Literary Naturalism in Cormac McCarthy's Western Novels. USA: Georgetown University. Canfield, J. D. (2001). "Crossing From the Wasteland into Exotic in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy." A Cormac McCarthy Companion: The Border Trilogy. Ed. Edwin T. Arnold & Dianne C. Luce. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Campbell, N. (2010). "The Western." A Companion to Twentieth-Century United States Fiction. Ed. David Seed. Chichester, U.K: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Deaux, K. (2000). "Identity." Encyclopedia of Psychology: Volume 8, section IV. Ed. Alan E. Kazdin. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. Dary, D. (1989). Cowboy Culture: A Saga of Five Centuries. Lawrence: University Of Kansas Publishing.

ALLS 7(2):90-99, 2016 99 Ellis, J. (2006). No Place for Home: Spatial Constraint and Character Flight in the Novels of Cormac McCarthy. Ed. William E. Cain. New York: Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group. Guillemin, G. (2001). "As of some site where life had not succeeded: Sorrow, Allegory, and Pastoralism in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy." A Cormac McCarthy Companion: The Border Trilogy. Ed. Edwin T. Arnold & Dianne C. Luce. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Hopkins, J. R. (2000). "Erikson, Erik H." Encyclopedia of Psychology: Volume 8, section III. Ed. Alan E. Kazdin. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. Hage, E. (2010). Cormac McCarthy: A Literary Companion. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company. Inness, J. (2000). Cliffsnotes on McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses: Notes. Lincoln, Nebraska: Cliffsnotes. Jackson, G.A. (2010). The Meaning of Pain in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy. Missoula, Montana: University of Montana. King, M. (2012). Unattainable Manhood: Masculinity and Folk Culture in late 20th Century American Fiction. USA: University of Illinois at Chicago. Leitner, W.H. (2008). Naturalistic Determinism in the Border Fiction of Cormac McCarthy. USA: The University of Georgia. McCarthy, C. (1992). All the Pretty Horses. Volume One: The Border Trilogy. USA: Vintage International: A Division of Random House, Inc. Morrison, G.M. (1999) "All the Pretty Horses: John Grady Coole's Expulsion from Paradise". Revised Ed. Perspectives On Cormac McCarthy Southern Quarely Series. Ed. Edwin T. Arnold & Dianne Luce. Rev. ed. Jackson: University of Mississippi. Peebles, S. (2011). "Hang and Rattle: John Grady Cole's Horsebreaking in Typescript, Novel, Film." Cormac McCarthy: All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, The Road. Ed. Sara L. Spurgeon. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Rodriguez, M. Y. (2014). "Relocating the Cowboy: American Privilege in All the Pretty Horses." Vol. 8. USA: Global Tides. Web. http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1135&cont xt=globaltides. Feb 5, 2015. Shaffer, D. R. (2007). "Identity Crisis." Encyclopedia of Social Psychology. Ed. Roy F. Baumeister, Kathleen Vohs. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Scoones, J. (2001). "The World on Fire: Ethics and Evolution in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy." A Cormac McCarthy Companion: The Border Trilogy. Ed. Edwin T. Arnold & Dianne C. Luce. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Snyder, P. A. (2001). "Cowboys Codes in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy." A Cormac McCarthy Companion: The Border Trilogy. Ed. Edwin T. Arnold & Dianne C. Luce. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Sullivan, N. (2001). "Boys Will Be Boys and Girls Will Be Gone: The Circuit of Male Desire in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy." A Cormac McCarthy Companion: The Border Trilogy. Ed. Edwin T. Arnold & Dianne C. Luce. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Spurgeon, S.L. (2009). "Foundation of Empire: The Sacred Hunter and the Eucharist of the Wilderness in Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian." Bloom's Modern Critical Views: Cormac McCarthy. Ed. Harold Bloom. New ed. New York, NY: Bloom's Literary Criticism. Sugg, K. (2001). Multicultural Masculinities and the Border Romance in John Sayles's Lone Star and Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy. USA, Michigan State University Press. Woodson, L. (2011). "This is another Country: The Complex Feminine Presence in All the Pretty Horses." Cormac McCarthy: All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, The Road. Ed. Sara L. Spurgeon. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Yee, Ch. (2010). The Salitter Drying from the earth: The Apocalypse in the novels of Cormac McCarthy. New Zealand: University of Canterbury. Note This paper is a part of the author’s M.A. thesis entitled "Identity Crisis in Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy" written at the University of Al-Qadisiya, College of Education, Department of English.



A Theoretical Account on the Study of Metaphor in Didactic Discourse

Ahmad El-Sharif

Department of English Language and Literature, Al-alBayt University, Jordan E-mail: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.100 Received: 02/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.100 Accepted: 18/01/2016 Abstract This article makes a literary review to the linguistic research in the use of metaphor in didactic discourse; especially the religious one. Acknowledging Conceptual Metaphor Theory as the primary theory in the field, the researcher embarks upon how metaphor is perceived and analysed in discourse in order to pertain its persuasive function. The article presents different approaches to metaphor analysis and their interconnection. The implications of these approaches are later deduced and interpreted within the scope of Islamic religious discourse as an example of didactic discourses. Keywords: Metaphors, Metaphor Analysis, Didactic Discourse, Persuasion 1. From Critical Discourse to Critical Metaphor In the 70s of the last century, several linguistic approaches emerged whose main interest was to come up with a comprehensive theory for the analysis of discourse and text. These approaches recognized the role of social factors in shaping the language and the discourse where they emerge. Discourse analysis can be recognised as approaching the relationship between the text and its context. It involves many tenets and methods which aim to scientifically dig the textual elements and hidden meanings in the discourse under investigation. Most of these approaches encompass large sets of designs and techniques acquired from mounting the perceptible bridges between the different disciplines of linguistics; namely socio-linguistics, semantics, pragmatics, and applied linguistics. However, the theory of discourse analysis proves how this intricate discipline is a challenge especially when it comes to simply conceptualize the definition of the word ‘discourse’. 1.1 What is a discourse? The foremost definitions of ‘discourse’ sound conflicting and overlapping because they are formulated from a range of different theoretical and disciplinary standpoints (Fairclough, 1992: 3). The simplest account of the topic argues that a discourse is “a continuous stretch of (especially spoken) language larger than a sentence, often constituting a coherent unit such as a sermon, argument, joke, or narrative” (Crystal, 1992:25). In the Foucauldian sense, a discourse involves “a group of statements which provide a language for talking about—a way of representing the knowledge about—a particular topic at a particular historical moment” (Hall, 1992: 291). This interpretation entails that the study of discourse, or discourse analysis, can be approached either synchronically or diachronically following both quantitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis in order to break in the essence of the discourse and uncover its textual, functional, and ideational contents. What is more, it tells us that discourse analysis should reveal how a discourse is constructed in reflection of the accumulative thoughts and ideologies of a society and its shared history. The attitude of such approaching to the text is the very radical assumption that most of meanings in a given text are hidden and not explicitly visible to the layman discourse receiver. Approaches and techniques of discourse analysis uncover any opaque discursive meanings and interpretations in the discourse of a text for the reader. To elaborate, the linguistic study of discourse must tackle the historical, social, and political context where a discourse emerges in order to render the existing social relationships and structures; such as legitimization, power distribution and abuse, and ideologies. These issues are believed to be influential in shaping a discourse, and they are in turn shaped by it as well. Such issues are mostly approached and elaborated by the ethnographic study of different disciplined of social sciences; especially politics and religion. For instance, it is unsurprising that once political or religious groups reproduce a discourse, their argument mostly revolve around some constructed effects of an ideology. Such an ideology, as Teun van Dijk defines, makes shared social representations that have specific functions for social groups. And he accentuates that discursive practices between social actors are one site where ideologies are reproduced, transformed and challenged (van Dijk, 1998: 191). From this bold postulation, Critical Discourse Analysis emerged (See Wodak, 2001). 1.2 Critical Discourse Analysis Fundamentally, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) can be seen as a means to arrange the ways in which difference of power emerges in conversation. In a series of different works which have been developed since 1989, Norman


ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 101 Fairclough draws most of the ideas of CDA which have influenced his contemporary following researchers. In this regard, CDA aims to critically associate language, ideology and social change in any given discourse by focusing on ideology and hegemonic politics, in order to challenge the ‘value-free’ assumptions and ‘cause–effect’ relationships which underlie most of the social science (Agger, 1991: 109). Fairclough accentuates that any piece of text (written or spoken language) can be simultaneously considered an instance of discourse that involves an instance of social practice and an instance of discursive practice (Fairclough, 1992; 1995). Now, since discourse analysis is basically concerned with description of the textual (form) and ideational (meaning) meanings in the text discourse, CDA mainly takes the discursive production and interpretation of the text (discourse practice) as its point of departure as it operates at the level of broader social analysis, or the ‘socio-cultural practice’ (Fairclough, 1992: 4). One may allegedly presume that CDA pays attention exclusively to the content of political-like genre of discourse by focusing on the ways in which different power relations and ideologies are introduced in such genres of discourses. In fact, the scope of CDA covers several genres of texts and discourses. For example, in conversation analysis, CDA draws attention to ‘power’ issues such as dominating a topic by an interlocutor(s) in a conversation; especially the manner of interaction and turn-taking. This can structurally involve showing how topics are introduced and changed by the dominant participant(s) in the conversation, showing how power-differences determine who speak(s) first, and about which topic, and for how long. Working on applying a consistent framework of conversation analysis in a given social context or domain of experience, CDA can even reveal the underlying (ideological) arguments and beliefs and prove how they are related to the different social order in a society (Pennycook, 2001:85-94). CDA amplifies our critical awareness to the language and to the culture where discourse practices occur. And among the most salient discourse practices perceived are figurative language and metaphors. 1.3 Metaphorical Language in Discourse As rule of thumb, a metaphor plays a key role in manifesting the creativity of any ideological discourse by adding more vividness to the ideational meanings of the discourse content and argument. Although metaphor has a significant and undeniable role in eliminating monotony and ‘boring’ uniformity from discourse, it is also has an ‘ideological’ significance which has to be ‘ideologically’ invested (Fairclough 1995: 74). Lakoff and Johnson demonstrated that metaphorical language holds a rather critical position in language:

[M]etaphors […] highlight and make coherent certain aspects of our experience […] metaphors may create realities for us, especially social realities. A metaphor may thus be a guide for future action […] this will, in turn, reinforce the power of the metaphor to make experience coherent. In this sense metaphors can be self-fulfilling prophecies (Lakoff and Johnson 1980: 156).

As one of the most salient discourse practices, metaphors, in any language or culture, are not always subscribed to physical explanations; in fact they must be considered as another reflection of the socio-cultural practices of the culture. This is argued from the perspective that any discourse constructs its own context in accordance with a specific standpoint in which the same discourse is in turn constructed by this standpoint. Metaphors, from a cognitive linguistic viewpoint, are linguistic instantiations of discourse in texts where textual and ideational linguistic features and meanings noticeably emerge in connection to the overall cumulative cognitive representations of the individual and society. The cognitive power of metaphors and the way how it works allow the discourse producer to make his metaphors carry an explanatory and persuasive power that makes the strange and incomprehensible more familiar. Kittay (1987:39) maintained that “metaphor has cognitive value and that this stems not from providing new facts about the world but from a reconceptualisation of the information that is already available to us”. Thus, metaphor can play on resolving the ambiguous and incomprehensible arguments by bringing into the surface what is considered more comprehensible aspects of the argument from different domains of experience. Kittay, added that “Metaphor actually gives us ‘epistemic access’ to fresh experience and, to the extent that we have no other linguistic resources to achieve this, metaphor is ‘cognitively irreplaceable’” (Kittay, 1987:39). Persuasive and ideological discourse exhaustively exploits metaphors. Taking political discourse as a (favourable) example, this type of discourse involves a great portion of language loaded with covert representations about abstract and ‘hegemonic’ ideological assumptions. And most of these assumptions, such as the existence of a ‘wise’ leadership, the common good of the people, the shared destiny, the actuality of internal and external threats, are quite inseparable from the accumulative cognitive memory of the given society. Such abstract representations demystify the inherent knowledge of politics to what is beyond its institutions. A metaphor, then, can draw attention to intrinsic ideas about the actuality matter of the abstractness of politics, the state, and its structures and institutions. For example, history tells that leaders are constantly portrayed by their propaganda machine in terms of honorific metaphorical rather than literal titles. The title Pater Patriae (Father of the Nation) for instance is a metaphoric representation that used as an honorific title bestowed to a leader. This leader (unsurprisingly always a man) is considered the driving force behind the establishment of his country, state, or nation. The list of Pater Patriae involves, to mention but a few, Simón Bolívar, Sukarno, Jomo Kenyatta, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Nelson Mandela, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and of course Gandhi. As the layman knowledge about leaders and leadership might naturally be deficient because of the lack to any experiential knowledge about them/it, the propaganda machine predominantly assigns them the metaphoric image of ‘father’ with all its entailments and implications. Herein, the image of the leader is drawn by directing the attention to images and traits of father on the basis of the conceptual

ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 102 metaphor ‘THE LEADER IS A FATHER’. By combining the experiential knowledge about the real world to the hegemonic political beliefs, this metaphoric representation draws attention to particular ‘symbolic’ features of the leader such as his legitimacy, power, and compassion. Consequently, this metaphor, as a universal socio-cultural practice, facilitates the people’s understanding of what the duty to their father is or should be, and even without questioning the real nature of this Pater Patriae or approaching his inaccessible characteristics. What is more, the ‘THE LEADER IS A FATHER’ metaphor may arouse the sense of weakness and limitation in relation to the leader’s illimitable might. Metaphors can take part in creating a persuasive impact on any hegemonic and political context making the followers of that political system or ideology willingly subdue to its statement of beliefs. As a result, we can say that metaphor plays an essential role in political discourse in portraying the necessity of the Pater Patriae as an imperative requirement for the people and the state. People, like children, are always in need for their father-figure to whom they turn in moments of despair; a figure that represents all sorts of power and authority in the eyes of his children regardless of his own character and behaviour. 2. Metaphors in Persuasion A discourse is a purposeful activity, or a social practice. Its purposefulness significantly relies on how the discourse (re)producer recognises the different participants and factors involved in the context with the aim is to influence the discourse recipients. A purposeful didactic discourse then conveys a point of view carried in a message to be transmitted, and the outcome of this message can success in introducing new beliefs, or changing certain attitudes. A purposeful didactic discourse then that its ultimate function is to change attitudes and beliefs is what we call a ‘persuasive’ discourse. 2.1 Persuasion Persuasion, according to Jowett and O’Donnel (1992:21) is an interactive communicative process in which a message sender aims to influence the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour of the message receiver. The process of persuasion involves a process of interaction between two types interlocutor: the sender(s) and the receiver(s). The message carried in a persuasive discourse can be transmitted through different channels; visual channels such as images or texts shows; or auditory channels such as speeches and music. And it is very common to use the both channels such as in TV shows. During the Middle Ages, persuasion was considered an art that must be mastered by any educated man who studied in the universities of Europe; from the days of imperial Rome through the Reformation, it was raised to a fine art by preachers who used the spoken word to inspire purposeful actions such as virtuous behaviour or religious pilgrimages; however, theorists emphasised the existence of some similarities between persuasion and education (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2008: ‘persuasion’). They maintained that persuasion is strongly similar to the process of teaching new information through informative communication. Consequently, since repetition in communication modifies learning, they assume that it has persuasive impact as well; and that principles of verbal learning and conditioning are widely and profitably applied by persuaders (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2008: ‘persuasion’). Figurative language, irony and sarcasm (allusions), recounting anecdotes and rhetorical questions are among the most rhetorical devices which can significantly be employed to (re)produce a persuasive discourse. These devises are the main ways of arousing audience interest and retaining the attention of the hearer (Charteris-Black, 2005:8). 2.2 What Makes a Metaphor Persuasive? Many theories highlighted how the comprehension of metaphor may attain its persuasive force in discourse such as the ‘literal-primacy’ view, the ‘salience-imbalance’ theory, and ‘structure-mapping’ theory. From these theories and views six perspectives on the relationship between metaphor and persuasion were reviewed (Sopory and Dillard, 2002: 383-391): (a) pleasure or relief, (b) communicator credibility, (c) reduced counterarguments, (d) resource-matching, (e) stimulated elaboration, and (f) superior organization. First, any instance of metaphor may have a persuasive power from its ‘pleasure’ or ‘relief’. According to the ‘literal-primacy’ view metaphor is an exceptional language, but it is literally false and involves ‘semantic anomalies’. Both ‘pleasure’ and ‘relief’ perspectives indicate that a metaphor involves a ‘pleasure’ aspect. However, a metaphorical expression causes a negative tension because of its semantic anomaly, and to reveal this aspect it is important to solve the semantic tension. Then, solving this tension can only be done by making the metaphorical meaning becomes comprehensible (Reinsch 1973; Tudman 1971). In ‘pleasure’, it is important to determine the metaphorical meaning and uncover the “unexpected similarities” between the components of the metaphor to make ‘pleasurable’. In ‘relief’, it is important to find how metaphorical meaning drives way the negative tension to lead to ‘relief’. Consequently, since literal language does not cause any semantic tension to be resolved, neither ‘pleasure’ nor ‘relief’ will be resulted from its understanding. On the other hand, in metaphorical expressions, the outcome of the states of ‘pleasure’ or ‘relief’ will cause the reinforcement and evaluation of the metaphorical meaning, thereby increasing persuasion. From the ‘communicator credibility’ perspective, any communicator, a discourse maker, will be judged more credible if he uses metaphors more than one who uses literal language (Osborn and Ehninger, 1962; Reinsch, 1970). The credibility of the metaphor users are attributed to two reasons: the first is the Aristotelian position that those (speakers or writers) who employ metaphors should be judged quite positively; the second is that metaphors can draw attention to some unfamiliar similarities existed between different entities. For the first argument, it is acknowledged that Aristotle once stated: “The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It is the one thing that cannot be learnt from others; and it is also a sign of genius” (Aristotle, 1952: 255; cited in Sopory and Dillard, 2002: 385). For the second argument, the detection of similarities existed between different entities may be highly appreciated by the discourse receiver. In

ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 103 addition they may become a source of interest and pleasures to the discourse receiver who in return will be impressed by the discourse maker and favourably judge his (the discourse producer’s) credibility according to the ‘literal-primacy’ (Bowers and Osborn, 1966; Osborn and Ehninger, 1962). The third perspective, according to Guthrie (1972) suggested that the process of metaphor comprehending produces a lot of associations that may lead to “an overload in the receiver’s mental circuitry” (Guthrie, 1972: 4). The key argument of this ‘reduced counterarguments’ view is that the processing of any metaphor in discourse require more cognitive resources than processing literal language. Therefore, a metaphor receiver will need a high proportion of the cognitive resources to ‘decipher’ the metaphorical persuasive message. Consequently, smaller amount of resources are left to “derogate or exclude the message content or the source” (Guthrie, 1972: 4). In addition, the reduced counterarguments view assumes that all message recipients are inclined to ‘counterargue’ a message apart from of what it is advocating. Consequently, a result of this counterargument caused by the existence of metaphor will be a greater agreement with the ideas advocated in the message of the discourse. And this is apparently what causes a disruption between an argument and its counterargument which leads to the increase of the persuasive power of metaphor. The fourth perspective assumed that the relationship between metaphor and persuasion can be pointed to from a more sophisticated use of the cognitive resources. This idea is suggested by the ‘resource matching’ view (Jaffe 1988, cited in Sopory and Dillard, 2002). This view proposed that the meaning of a metaphorical expression can be derived by calling some cognitive elaboration to guarantee a better ‘integration’ in memory of the discourse message and its arguments, and that leads ultimately to a greater persuasion effect in relation to the literal message (Ortony, 1979). As elaboration calls for more efforts and more ‘mobilization’ of the cognitive resources in the human brain, the greatest portions of elaboration and comprehension of metaphors take place when there is a mutual conformity between the available resources required to realize the metaphorical message from one hand and the other resources available to the discourse interpreter, or receiver. Consequently, persuasion is guaranteed if there are disconformities between the two cognitive resources because of the paucity of complete comprehension. Equally, the overload in available resources in the cognition of the discourse receiver may lead to the diminution of the persuasive impact of the metaphor in the message and its content. The fifth ‘stimulated elaboration’ perspective perceives that the understanding of metaphors motivates our thought by drawing attention to the similarities of the relational structures between the metaphor components rather than simple linguistic and rhetorical features. This process leads to bringing to mind more affluent associations in the discourse receiver’s semantic memory when compared to what literal language does (Whaley, 1991). Hence, the enhancement of semantic connections can produce a greater portion of elaboration in the message content that leads to an increase in the impact of persuasion. Since certain types of metaphors appear to incite more arguments; then their processing and comprehension may produce more elaboration than that of messages transmitted in literal language (Whaley, 1991). Therefore, if the message, or the discourse, recipient has high motivation and ability to process the metaphor, and if the content of the message is convincing, then the outcome will be a greater portion of thoughts which agree with the message advocacy; and thereby to a greater persuasion (Chaiken et al., 1989). Finally, the ‘superior organization’ view proposes that a metaphor facilitates structuring and organizing the message arguments better than literal language (Mio, 1996). As a metaphor brings to mind a greater portion of semantic associations, and if these associations prove its consistency with the metaphor, then the diverse raised arguments will connect themselves more coherently by using the available semantic associations. What is more, the links between the semantic associations and metaphor will show up the hidden arguments in the discourse and make them more prominent, and this makes them easier to be processed by the discourse receiver and improves the understanding of message arguments and persuasion (McGuire, 1972; 1985). Sopory and Dillard (2002) argued that in spite of the fact that each one of these perspectives stands in contradiction to one another, a variety of hypotheses and assumptions can be derived from them. For example, they argued that each of the six perspectives predicts that metaphors should show ‘suasory’ (tendency to persuade) superiority over literal language and those messages with metaphors are more persuasive than the literal ones. This leads to the presumption that the number, or density, of metaphors in the message and their locations in the discourse text can be of positive function in persuasion. 3. Studying Metaphor in Language, Text, and Discourse In this section, I present the most common approaches in studying metaphor in text and discourse. Most of my presentation is oriented toward the theoretical cognitive account of contemporary metaphor theory and the technical procedural corpus-based approaches in studying metaphor. I point here to the contributions of major metaphor scholars who have combined corpus-linguistics with the traditional cognitive approach of metaphor research such as Lakoff and Johnson, Zoltan Kovecses, Fauconnier and Turner, Alice Deignan, Andrew Goatly, and Jonathan Charteris Black. 3.1 Metaphor and Thought The study of metaphor has flourished as an academic discipline since the emergence of major works such as Ortony’s collection Metaphor and Thought (1993[1979]) and Lakoff and Johnson’s Metaphors We Live By (1980). These leading works deserve recognition for the renaissance of scholarly interest in the queen of tropes, metaphor. However, other important works contribute in highlighting different aspects and characteristics of metaphor from different viewpoints. In his work Metaphor: A Practical Introduction (2002) Zoltan Kovecses introduces different aspects of the contemporary theory of metaphor that are based on Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). This

ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 104 work provides rich linguistic examples of metaphors from different languages and cultures; emphasizing the linguistic, cognitive, psychological and cultural aspects of metaphor. However, although it is considered the most conventional theory of metaphor, it is crucial to note that CMT has also some limitation in that Lakoff and Johnson, and their followers, present frequent examples of verbal manifestations of metaphors from different domains, but their examples seem to be invented and artificial, rather than citations of everyday language and public discourse. Most of the examples in these works are quoted out of their context without raising any question about who is using the metaphor and to whom, and in what textual, or discursive context, considering the discursive functions that these metaphors achieve in the given domain. It is imperative in linguistic study and research that the readers, or the scholar, be given more details about the examples of metaphors and their context rather than giving them the option to imagine a context from themselves. Furthermore, the ‘traditional’ works of Lakoff and Johnson, Kovecses, and even Gillis Fauconnier and Mark Turner’s works on Integrated Blending Theory mostly give unsatisfactory consideration to the different textual forms of the metaphors themselves. This theory appeared in 1994 shortly after Lakoff and Johnson’s CMT. This theory emphasises that the study of conceptual metaphors must not be restricted to the study of conventional metaphors in spite of their importance. A conventional metaphor will not become ‘conventional’ if it has not been once a ‘novel’ metaphor. For this reason Lakoff’s emphasis on studying conventional metaphors was not highly appreciated by other scholars. The (Integrated) Blending Theory (BT) suggests that metaphors are the product of many general processes which take place at the human cognitive system. These cognitive processes involve a cross-domain series of combinations between different types of information which already exist in particular domains, or ‘mental spaces’, in the human cognitive system, and this process is called ‘conceptual integration’ or ‘blending’ (Grady, 2007:198). To a degree, the Blending Theory (BT) shares the same cross-domain model with Lakoff and Johnson’s CMT. The two theories suggest models which construct conceptual metaphors by means of ‘structural’ conceptual domains; the source and the target domains, and both of them involve a process of mapping process between the two domains (spaces in BT); source and target. Nevertheless, the BT considers conceptual metaphors differently where conceptual metaphors are resulted from more complex relationships between the elements in separate conceptual domains, or ‘spaces’. The conceptual metaphor occurs when these relationships are highlighted in different scenarios of mappings where they are ‘blended’ in a third domain, or ‘space’, in the cognitive system, and this process is called the ‘Conceptual Blending’. So, the BT extends the traditional two-domain model into a new ‘four-space’ one. Each ‘space’ in the BT model is understood as a mental space in the sense of a coherent bundle of information activated in the mind at a particular time, representing an understanding of a real or imaginary scenarios (Grady, 2007:199). Fauconnier and Turner (1998) presented a schematic framework for blends in which conceptual metaphors are characterized by the existence of some degree of irregularity in the mapping process. In order to outline the structure of a blend we need to different types of information from the two input spaces before drawing the mapping in the conceptual metaphor. In other words, to make a conceptual metaphor we ‘blend’ some information that we already have with new acquired experiential knowledge about the object, or person, that we are describing metaphorically. To illustrate, the following figure exemplifies the different mapping processes between the conceptual spaces according to the Blending Theory:

Figure1. The Conceptual Blending Theory; Fauconnier and Turner (1998) source: http://markturner.org/blending.html

To make it in a more illustrative example, Grady et al. pointed out that in the expression “this surgeon is a butcher” the speaker, or the writer, aims to convey an idea that the surgeon is incompetent (Grady et al. 1999). The BT model suggests that in such example the speaker is ‘blending’ some information from his knowledge about the domain of surgery in all its features with his experiential knowledge from the domain of butchery. Accordingly, the BT sees that when perceiving such metaphorical expression a series of conceptual mappings occur between the four conceptual spaces in the cognitive system. First, our mental representations will structure two ‘input spaces’, where the first involves the real experience and knowledge about the domain of surgery. The second involves what we already know

ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 105 about the domain of butchery. Then, on base of the common features of the two spaces and which are already exist in the ‘generic space’, the two input spaces assign a conceptual mapping into a fourth space, the ‘blend space’. This space carries the new metaphorical structure resulted from the mapping of selected conceptual materials in the two input spaces. To illustrate is the following figure:

Figure 2. The conceptual metaphor “A SEGEON IS A BUTCHER” according to the BT (See Fauconnier and Turner 1998; Croft and Cruse 2004:208); source: my drawing.

We see from Fig.2 above that a mapping occurs between the distinctive characteristics of each input spaces on base of the common feature which they already have in the generic space. Then, the different elements from the two input spaces project into the blended space to establish a new idea with a new relationship which is described by the conceptual metaphor. Croft and Cruse explained the example “this surgeon is a butcher” according to Grady et al. By saying that:

“[T]he inference of incompetence arises through an elaboration of the basic elements of the blended space, that is, we imaginatively reconstruct a scene in which a butcher is in charge of an operation, and uses his normal butcher’s techniques on the patient: there is a basic incompatibility between the goal and the means, which leads to the inference of X’s [the surgeon’s] incompetence”. (Croft and Cruse 2004:209)

The previous example draws our attention to the existence of three successive stages which must be performed in order to construct the blend; ‘composition’, ‘completion’, and ‘elaboration’ (Fauconnier and Turner 1998). By ‘composition’ Fauconnier and Turner argued that any blending involves certain kinds of attribution between the different elements from the input spaces which leads to providing relations that do not exist in the separate inputs. In the ‘completion’ stage we have a situation where the structure in the blend agrees with the information already stored in our long-term memory. Finally, in the ‘elaboration’ stage certain processes which involve imaginative cognitive simulations are developed in the blend. After these successive stages a new structure emerges in the blend that is not entirely copied from the inputs. On the other hand, Fauconnier and Turner raised five standards for any given conceptual blending metaphor in order to work effectively, and they call these standards the ‘optimality principles (Fauconnier and Turner, 1998). The first of these principles is the ‘integration’ principle where the scenario in the blended space must be in complete integration with its component and form a perfect scene for the metaphor. The second principle is called the ‘web’ principle where we must have some sort of fixed and sustained connections between the blend and the inputs in a way that any event occurs in one of the input spaces will entail an immediate change in the matching event in the blend. Thirdly, we have the ‘unpacking’ principle that says structure of connecting networks of the two input spaces must be simple and straightforward for interpretation to give the appropriate blend space. Fourthly, there is the ‘topology’ principle which suggests that all the elements in the blend space must participate in similar sorts of relations as their counterparts in the inputs. Finally, we have the ‘good reason’ principle that says any element appears in the blend must be meaningful. The BT did not come as a reaction against the CMT or to disprove it. A meticulous understanding to both theories reveals that they complement each other. While the CMT pays much more attention to conventional metaphors, the BT seems to be more feasible and practical in studying novel and creative metaphors. The four-space model of BT greatly elaborates in detail what are the particular elements exist behind the linguistic metaphors such as their context sensitivity. This last postulation gives the BT the capability to deal with the instances of innovative and nonconventional metaphors in different kinds of discourse such as the political and religious discourses. The BT gives more attention to the elements which each mental space has and their connections with the other spaces of experience and knowledge which greatly participate in construct the conceptual metaphor.

ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 106 3.2 Studying a Metaphor in its (Linguistic) Context Despite the genuine technicality of cognitive theories of metaphors, they have not been principally immune to criticism though. The most critical argument against these approaches was in regard of the ‘artificiality’ of their illustrative examples. Metaphors do not always occur in ordinary language in the prototypical form (X is Y, or X is like Y); in fact, they predominantly take a variety of structural forms especially when semantic factors and ideational interpretations are fore-grounded. For example, both “a budding love” and “he cultivated his love relationship with her” could be considered amenable to the conceptual metaphor LOVE IS A PLANT, but the two metaphors are not completely interchangeable in terms of their impact upon discourse and their interpretation; as the first metaphor emphasizes the nature of the love relationship, and the latter pay more attention to the course of love, implying impediments and problems that face this relationship. In addition, it is common that a metaphor comes in the company with other rhetorical devices, or ‘schemes’ such as end-rhyme, alliteration, and assonance, or by making another a combination with other tropes such as metonymy, irony, and hyperbole (Leech, 1969). These devices may affect the form of metaphor and change its prototypical structure in order to serve some intended ideas in a discourse. In one of his speeches the former American president Bill Clinton said “...and so today we pledge an end to the era of deadlock and drift, and a new season of American renewal has begun (20 January 1993; cited in Charteris-Black, 2005:129). Here, the combination between the alliteration and metaphors form serves the rhetorical purpose of the discourse. Hence, any change that occurs in the metaphor form may affect the attraction of the alliteration and vice-versa. Nevertheless, the study of metaphor had to overtake a remarkable shift by moving from cognitive-based approaches to the advantage of corpus-based approaches which pay more attention to the discourse details and its immediate linguistic context. Jacques Derrida was among the first prominent scholars who emphasized the necessity of studying language in its context. Derrida maintained that meaning can never be in possession of language speakers exclusively, and any language speaker has a false impression that he has a control over meaning while he speaks; ignoring that the meaning of utterances and statements is determined by the place they hold in a discursive system (Derrida, 1984). Many linguists emphasize that there must be a return to language itself when studying metaphorical language, yet without denying its conceptual nature; thus, it is essential to pay more attention to the different details of the conceptual nature of metaphorical expressions in addition to the qualities of metaphors which they involve (Crisp, 2003; Semino and Culpeper, 2002; Müller, 2004). The most fruitful approach then was to extensively study the immediate linguistic context in which a particular instant of metaphor in different types of discourse. Recently, this approach of handling metaphors and their linguistic textual context becomes more methodological and uncomplicated by means of computer software. Such software paved the way to corpus-approaches of metaphor analysis. 3.3 Corpus-Based Research of Metaphors Corpus-based research of metaphors is based on studying the different linguistic realizations of a metaphor and all its forms in a corpus developed by the researcher (that contains text under study). Alice Deignan (2005a: 75) states that the term “corpus” refers to “collections of citations of various kinds, such as dictionary entries, or pre-selected collection of utterances containing linguistic feature of interest, such as metaphor”. Furthermore, she emphasizes that this “collection” must comprise naturally-occurring texts which have been stored in machine-readable form that can be studied using various computer programs (Deignan, 2005a: 76). In fact, most corpus-based linguistic studies and theories are built around the orthographic nature of an individual word or a group of words and their occurrence in any given text. Thus, corpora as large collections of orthographically represented texts can only be accessed by searching for individual entry (a word) or any other groups of words by the means of computer software. Early empirical studies of naturally occurring metaphors in both spoken and written corpus-based forms have focused on providing the specific contextual data needed in order to predict the appearance of metaphors in certain kinds of discourse (Martin, 1994: 211). For instance, Pollio et al. were amongst the earliest to comprehensively analyze the frequency of metaphor and metonymy in a wide variety of texts (Pollio et al., 1990). The results of their analyses reveal that both metaphors and metonymies emerge in any text relatively frequently, and they estimate the emergence of metaphor in a text on average around 5 times per 100 words of any given text, regardless of its nature. However, it is found that one of the major obstacles that face corpus-based analysis of metaphors is the fact that metaphorical mappings are not associated with specific lexical items. Still, early corpus-based studies of metaphors prove that corpus linguistics can be a helpful instrument for establishing many empirical bases for studying other aspects of metaphorical language structure such as their lexical semantics and grammatical forms. To solve this problem, it is very important to deal with metaphors in any given corpora by looking at the metaphorical markers. Metaphorical markers are those linguistic expressions that can be understood as indicating a particular metaphor, and once they are identified within a discourse it becomes easier to find them and study their recurrence within the corpus. Goatly (1997) refers to metaphorical markers by elucidating them as the words and phrases occurring in the environment of a metaphor’s vehicle term (or the ‘Source’ domain in CMT). Furthermore, a metaphorical marker can be any unit of discourse that unconventionally refers to or colligates with the topic of a metaphor on the basis of similarity, matching or analogy (Goatly, 1997: 8). In view of that, Sznajder and Angordans (2005) have classified Goatly’s metaphorical markers into 20 types, and the following table illustrate them:

ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 107 Table 1. Metaphorical markers (Following Goatly, 1997: 174-5); source: Sznajder and Angordans (2005: 114)

Marker Category Metaphorical Markers 1. Explicit markers metaphor/-ically, figurative/-ly, trope

2. Intensifiers literally, really, actually, in fact, simply, fairly, just, absolutely, fully, completely, quite, thoroughly, utterly, 3. Hedges and downtoners

in a/one way, a bit of, half-..., practically, almost, not

exactly, not so much ... as..., ... if not 4. Semantic metalanguage in both/more than one sense/s, mean(-ing), import

5. Mimetic terms

image, likeness, picture, parody, caricature, model, plan, effigy, imitation, artificial, mock 6. Symbolism terms

symbol(-ic /-ically), sign, type, token, instance, example

7. Superordinate terms

(some) (curious, strange, odd, peculiar, special) sort of, kind of 8. Copular similes

like, as

9. Precision similes and other comparisons

material verb + like x, the y of a x, y’s x; noun-adj., the x equivalent of 10. Clausal similes

as if, as though

11. Perceptual processes

seemed, sounded, looked, felt, tasted, + like/as though/as if 12. Misperception terms delusion, illusion, hallucination, mirage, phantom, fantasy, unreal 13. Cognitive processes

believe, think, regard, unbelievable, incredible

14. Verbal processes

say, call, refer to, swear

15. So to speak

16. Orthography

“ “ . ! white space

17. Modals + Verbal Processes

could say, might say 18. Modals

must, certainly, surely, would, probable/-ly, may, might, could,

possible/-ly, perhaps, impossible/-bility 19. Conditionals

if ... could, would, might, imagine, suppose

20. As it were

However, Sznajder and Angordans (2005) see that although it is not fully described in his studies, Goatly’s classification of metaphorical markers would allow for relatively direct access to potential metaphorical material in any linguistic corpora that are stored electronically. This method enables the researchers to highlight the phrases used as markers of metaphors in context and find it easily by using suitable concordancing computer software. Among the most significant works to study metaphors in real contexts are the works of Alice Deignan (Deignan, 2005a; 2005b; 2003; 1999a; 1999b; 1999c; Cameron and Deignan, 2003). In her work Metaphor and Corpus Linguistics, Alice Deignan (2005a) recapitulate her long experience in the field of corpus-based studies of metaphors. This work is a practical survey of different approaches to the analysis of metaphor in discourse. Deignan is one of the exceptional metaphor scholars who have combined corpus linguistics and metaphor research. Her work mainly involves the investigation and analysis of metaphors in different electronic texts or transcripts of spoken discourse from different domains. Deignan’s investigations, based on CMT, examine how metaphorical language is used for meaning-making in different types of spoken and written language. Deignan’s investigations also aim to answer her primary questions about the extents to which a theory of metaphor-as-thought can account for patterns found in natural language. To pursue the answer, she relied on the analysis of a cross-section investigation of some corpora of the Bank of English Corpus. According to Deignan, evidence from corpus analysis of metaphors, such as their frequency and context of use, can draw sensible conclusions about distinctions between the different categories of metaphor which could be classified in terms of their ‘metaphoricity’ as innovative, conventionalized, dead, or historical metaphors (Deignan, 2005a: 36-46). For example, she states that “any sense of a [metaphorical] word that is found less than once in every thousand citations of the word can be considered either an innovative or a rare [metaphor]” (Deignan, 2005a: 40). On the other hand, she sees that an historical metaphor is one which is found to only show the metaphorical meaning in the citations of an expression in the corpus if the literal (not metaphorical) sense has since dropped out of use (Deignan, 2005a: 40). The most significant aspect of Deignan’s work (2005a) is her introduction of many of the basic concepts and techniques of studying metaphors by relying on corpus linguistic work. In fact, corpus linguistics raises new questions for research under CMT. If we take as examples the different tense forms of the same verb, or the singular versus the plural form of a given noun, we notice that they often have different meanings. For example, Deignan analyzed the singular noun rock, which metaphorically signifies the feature of stability, while the plural form rocks indicate danger (Deignan, 2005a: 87). Herein, the two different uses of the words rock and rocks participate in defining a situation in which the two grammatically different forms of the same word rock can correspond to different target domains. In addition, Deignan pays attention to the cognitive and psycholinguistic approaches to metaphor research. In this respect she draws attention to some problematic issues of the study of metaphors in corpora; their ambiguity, frequency,

ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 108 context and authenticity, for example, in terms of the frequency of certain words and the assessment of their most frequent use. In contrast to the expected intuitions of most native speakers of English, Deignan discovered that less than 10% of the corpus citations of the verb soar (and its inflections) in her sample are literal (Deignan, 2005a:118). She states that the norm for most of her examples of the verb soar in expressions like “...first time buyers, driven out of Dublin by soaring housing prices” involves a metaphorical rather than literal (or physical) rising of house prices. On the other hand, Deignan emphasizes the problem of context and its significance to corpus-based studies of metaphor. She points out that some experiments have attempted to provide the context of any expression that involves metaphors. However, these texts which aim to explain the context are not part of the real context, but they are imposed by the researcher himself or herself. This fact, according to Deignan, brings many problems such as the inadequacy of these texts (Deignan, 2005a: 118) and their contribution to the understanding of the metaphorical or literal meaning because of the need to attain some shared knowledge between the speaker or the writer from one side and the listener or speaker from the other. Furthermore, Deignan sees that in any invented text used to describe a context in a corpus “indications of the people involved, their relationship and the channel of communication are often absent” (Deignan, 2005a: 118). So, even though these invented texts could be of significant importance in explaining the surrounding environment of the real text in a corpus, they may also raise other problematic issues which can shift the attention from the formal context of the speech to other informal and pointless content. To sum up, Deignan (2005a) argues effectively in favour of employing different types of texts corpora from different domains in metaphors research. She also sees that even large corpora, such as the Bank of English Corpus, are at the heart of corpus linguistic studies, small and special invented corpora of texts from different domains such as politics, economy, and advertising can better suit the researcher’s own purposes when studying metaphors in different domains. Furthermore, such small corpora may have the advantage of being accessible and searchable by using simpler software than those highly sophisticated ones which are normally used with the larger corpora databases. Deignan’s contribution to the fields of corpus linguistics and metaphor research has paved the way for other researches of metaphor using small or large corpora in studying metaphors in genuine texts. These corpus-based studies of metaphor involve texts from different domains such as politics and ideology (Goatly, 2006; Charteris-Black, 2004), advertising (Lundmark, 2005), educational contexts (Cameron, 2003), and politics, race, and economics (Skorczynska and Deignan, 2006). 3.4 Critical Metaphor Analysis Another noteworthy approach of metaphor analysis is Jonathan Charteris-Black’s Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA). This approach combines the techniques of corpus linguistics, cognitive semantics and Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis. In his monograph Corpus Approaches to Critical Metaphor Analysis, Charteris-Black examines metaphor in different types of discourse: political discourse, press reporting (including sport and financial reporting), and religious discourse. Furthermore he emphasizes the idea that metaphors should not be studied in isolation from the context in which they are used (Charteris-Black, 2004: 10). CMA approach presupposes a process of identifying and analyzing metaphors through close reading of the texts for identification, interpretation and explanation of the metaphors (Charteris-Black, 2004: 35-39). In his analysis of the different corpora that he compiled, Charteris-Black makes the first move in metaphor analysis by looking for the different source domains of metaphors in each text such as journey metaphors, building metaphors, plant metaphors conflict metaphors, and religious metaphors. Then he investigates their representation within different small samples of texts for their occurrences, frequencies and values in the different parts of the corpora, or ‘registers’. This methodology of metaphor analysis in different kinds of discourse depends on looking for “the presence of incongruity or semantic tension – either at linguistic, pragmatic or cognitive levels – resulting from a shift in domain use” (Charteris-Black, 2004: 35). This incongruity is considered the key factor for identifying a metaphor. Then, Charteris-Black suggests classifying metaphorical expressions which are commonly used with a metaphoric sense as ‘metaphor keywords’. The analysis of these metaphor keywords involves a quantitative search for such keywords in a text corpus. By this quantitative analysis, Charteris-Black aims to assess the degree of conventionality of each metaphor keyword, and whether it is used metaphorically or not. So, wherever a metaphor keyword is found to be of high frequency, it is a conventional metaphor, which is, according to Charteris-Black, more important than creative ones, because they give us more indications about the different rhetorical or ideological strategies employed by the discourse maker and these may reflect hidden aspects of his character. One the most elaborate examples that Charteris-Black discusses is his discussion of the word ‘crusade’ in the phrase ‘crusade against terror’ which was uttered by the American President Bush after the attacks on the two towers of the New York Word Trade Centre in 2001 (See Charteris-Black, 2005). Charteris-Black sees that this example as topical but controversial since it is argued that President Bush intended crusade metaphorically whereas many Moslems interpreted it literally. Charteris-Black points out the word crusade is particularly painful to Muslims since it takes them back to its literal and historical meaning (‘any of the mediaeval Christian military expeditions to win the Holy Land from the Muslims’) which implies that this war against terrorism is, in fact, against Islam. However, Charteris-Black claims that he looked for the keyword expression ‘crusade against’ in a corpus of different academic and newspaper texts, and found that its metaphoric sense often collocates with ‘corruption’, ‘slavery’, ‘communism’, ‘cancer’ and ‘crime’; thus, it is obvious that all of these collocations carry strongly negative evaluations (Charteris-Black, 2005: 36). Charteris-Black argues that Bush’s rhetoric draws on the conceptual metaphor POLITICS IS RELIGION whereas his opponent in ideology, the Islamist terrorist Osama Bin Laden, draws on the metaphor CONFLICT IS RELIGION.

ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 109 Furthermore, he argues that the constant use of these metaphors from the domain of religion has created a problematic link between the domains of ‘politics’, ‘conflict’, and ‘religion’, and each of them participates in creating different conceptualizations of terrorism in the audience (Charteris-Black, 2005: 41). Charter-Black has also studied metaphors in religious discourse from the Bible and the Koran, for example, in his study of the semantic field of ‘Light’ and the way it is used in the Holy Koran as an example of metaphor in religious discourse. He argues that both ‘Light’ and ‘Dark’ metaphors are a common collocation in the Koran, with sixteen occurrences in the same verse. One example from the Holy Koran states:

With Allah guides him who will follow His pleasure into the ways of safety and brings them out of utter darkness into light by His will and guides them to the right path. (The Dinner Table, 5:16)

Charteris-Black sees that this systematic occurrence aims to highlight the conceptual metaphor SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE IS LIGHT and SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE IS DARKNESS (Charteris-Black, 2004:231). This argument within religious discourse in general and the Koran in particular makes metaphors “carrying a strong role in evaluation of behaviour and its relationship to spiritual welfare predominate” (Charteris-Black, 2004: 230-231). In fact Charteris-Black emphasises in his corpus-based analysis of different kinds of metaphors in the domains which carry an ideology that has to be transmitted to other people. He argues that cognitive semantics conceals the fact that “metaphor selection in particular types of discourse is governed by the rhetorical aim of persuasion” (Charteris-Black, 2004: 247), and according to him his corpus-based approach fills this gap in metaphor research. Another case in point of Charteris-Black’s corpus-based analysis of metaphor is his focus on the link between the frequency of certain metaphors and their values within the discourse. For example, he notes a high frequency of body part metaphors in American presidential speeches. Nations, as well as cities and all human and political communities, are often metaphorically conceptualized as persons or bodies:

“These [body part metaphors] are quite high frequency in the corpus and are perhaps best considered as blends of metaphor and metonymy based on some familiar relations of correspondence of particular parts of the body with particular actions. The hand is metonymically associated with all types of physical action, the heart with feeling, the head with thinking and the eyes with seeing (and metaphorically with understanding).” (Charteris-Black, 2004: 105).

As a result, Charteris-Black argues that CMA approach complements the traditional cognitive theory of metaphor. Furthermore, he insists that cognitive semantics can present a good model of the interpretation of metaphors, but it is not adequate to account for why certain metaphors are chosen by certain discourse makers and in specific discourse contexts. In fact, Charteris-Black’s main argument is that social, ideological, and societal factors contribute greatly to the choice of conceptual metaphor, which in turn implies the inevitability of studying context in any research that deals with metaphors. Charteris-Black’s work demonstrates that after the remarkable shift to the study of metaphor from a cognitive to a corpus-based point of view, metaphor researchers are right to redress the balance and pay more attention to the study of the context. 4. Implications An oral or written discourse represents an organized form of human experience, and this representation is established through processes of recitation and interpretation of different events and in different contexts within many domains of experience such as literature, trade, politics, or religion. The presentations above accentuate the significance of the scientific contextual study of metaphorical language because a discourse does not constantly constitute a continuous set of literal meanings. The nature and function of any type of discourse in addition to its context can affect its language. Consequently, I conclude this theoretical account by commenting on the use of metaphorical language in didactic discourse taking the Islamic religious discourse as my case study. The term ‘religion’ covers ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and experience. And any religion involves a set of tenets and practices that presume the existence of a supernatural power that controls life. This power can be the ‘best’ and most accepted explanations for many incomprehensible events and phenomena such as the creation of earth and universe, human nature, his birth and death. In general, the religious traditions come in a form of verbal and ‘linguistic’ activities such as prayers, rituals, and ethical principles and instructions. And in many religions, these traditions are codified to encompass a great portion of the componential burden of rites, principles, and laws which codified within the religious scripts. However, most of these codified forms where written in a distinguished style that provides the necessary magnitude and dignity of the religion. The rhetorical and stylistic components exist in the linguistic repertoire of the community where a religion emerges can play a significant role in arousing the awareness of dignity and reverence for the religious text. In addition, the narrative interpretations of principles, instructions, ideas and beliefs of the religious experiences of any group of people who belongs to a religion can make the religious language of this group. When a religion emerges in a community, its language (the language of the community) will be primarily used as an instrument for worshipping. Sometimes, and after a quite long period of time, the early forms of the language may ‘suffer’ from some changes in its linguistic

ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 110 system. Nevertheless, the new religion followers often assign a sort of virtuous and divine nature to the early forms of this language in order to protect it from change, because it was the first language used to carry the message of their religion. Consequently, solemnity and dignity will be associated to the early forms of the language to promote its place over other existing new varieties of the language. Furthermore, the religion followers will start believing that it is important to learn the ‘correct’ language and its words to use them in their worshipping. The religious language of the expressions used in sermons such as prayers and rituals has an undeniable role in arousing the feelings of ecstasy that accompany the religious rituals. The words of these expressions carry religious or other emotional meanings which can convey the speaker’s religious emotions, and they can arouse similar emotional responses from the listeners. Religious language has been studied at first by philosophers who focused primarily on the epistemological nature of the religious beliefs of certain communities. In general, most of their interests have been oriented to the connotation and denotation of the religious words and their roles in arousing certain kinds of ‘necessary’ religious emotions. However, religious language can serve other purposes beyond stimulating emotions. From this point, many scholars highlighted the significance of investigating the ideological and intellectual functions and beliefs impeded in religious discourse. Metaphorical language was appreciated in Arabic rhetoric but did not enjoy similar appreciation by philologists. In the past, it has been considered as supportive and ornamental instruments in the language that involves arguments and debates to attract the reader or the hearer. However, metaphorical language enjoyed a special status in didactic discourse because of its capability on revealing deep insight into a few impeded relationships between different things. Although a metaphor is essentially used as an ornament for a discourse, its importance stems from its capability to influence the readers’, or hearers’, feelings. This emotional appeal is attributed to the admiration it acquires by the reader for its being strange and extraordinary. Now, in a didactic discourse, like the religious one, a metaphor can be used to explain an abstract metaphysical spiritual message for the purpose of emphasizing its meaning and overstating its properties. A metaphor is capable to refer to a meaning rhetorically in a few words or clarifying the intended message and is meanings in a way that could not be achieved entirely by using everyday literal language. This postulation is imperative within the Arabic religious context as Islamic religious discourse has been largely influenced by the necessity to interpret the Holy Quran and the Prophetic Tradition, the Hadith. The development in the science of inference and explanation (Tafsir) of the divine word in the scriptures of the Holy Quran and the Hadith relies mainly on the full mastery of the sciences of the Arabic language including its rhetoric. Accordingly, it was necessity for studying metaphors in order to correctly deduce the principles and orders of Islam from the sacred texts. In addition, the study of metaphorical language methodically questioned the nature of metaphors in Islamic religious discourse, especially in the Holy Quran. As some philosophers and theologians believed that the word ‘metaphor’ is a synonymous to ‘untrue’ and ‘false’, they refused the idea of the existence of metaphors in the Holy Quran and the Hadith. On the other hand, some other religious “Sufi” (puritans) groups (such as the Esoteric (Batinites)) maintained that almost all the words in the Holy Quran, and many other kinds of religious texts, are metaphorical, and that they must be interpreted metaphorically. On the basis of the long tradition of studying (cognitive) metaphors in language and discourse, one may sustains the argument of the inevitability of metaphors in any religious discourse. The incomparable nature of divine communication entails the existence of metaphors which can transmit the divine message content into the human language. Since religion does not have a special language of its own; it must resort to ordinary language in accordance with society’s convention in which the given language operates as a means of conversation. Accordingly, messengers (of faith) easily expressed the distinguishing qualities of the divine language to the common people through similitude; taking into consideration that messengers were always sent speaking the language of their societies. Still, the copious existence of metaphors in religious language does not necessarily entail that a metaphorical interpretation can be always taken for granted. In Islam, a metaphoric interpretation can be deemed unsound and disregarded if it goes, explicitly or implicitly, against the well-established principles of Islamic faith and creed explicitly mentioned in the Holy Quran or the Prophetic Tradition. Metaphorical expressions in any given religious discourse require some sort of metaphorical interpretation (ta’wil) related to the inference or exegesis (tafsir) of the religious text. A sound metaphorical interpretation, then, must be subject to the norms and rules. First of all, a professional mastery of the Arabic language and its conventional use is indispensible. Secondly, we must always look for a ‘religious evidence’ (dalil naqli) that can support our ‘rational evidence’ (dalil aqli) to maintain the metaphorical interpretation that we have. Thirdly, and possibly most importantly, we can never accept any metaphorical interpretation if it goes against the known principles of religion. And we can add that it is vital to look at the society in which the metaphors were delivered taking into consideration that words meanings evolve over time. So, some metaphors may have certain implications when the Prophet and his Companions used them that have not the same effect or meaning in our days. We may willingly admit that symbolic language, in general, and liberal use of metaphors in particular may have a deep and continuing impression on the heart, and give the religious texts more esteemed and ‘divine’ status. Hence, the immense weight of metaphors in didactic religious discourse cannot be ignored since no language, especially a didactic religious one, means always literally what it appears to mean. So, no one can deny that metaphorical language is a normal, perhaps even necessary, phenomenon in religious language (Ayden, 1997: 2).

ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 111 References _____________. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/ Agger, B. (1991). Critical Theory, Poststructuralism, Postmodernism: Their Sociological Relevance. Annual Review of Sociology, 17: 105–131. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2083337 Aristotle. (1952). Poetics. (I. Bywater, Trans.). In W. D. Ross (Ed.), The works of Aristotle: Rhetorica, de rhetorica ad Alexandrum, poetica. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Aydin M. S. (1997). Al-Ghazali on Metaphorical Interpretation. Paper presented at the L.A.U.D Symposium, Duisburg. Bowers, J. W., and Osborn, M. M. (1966). Attitudinal Effects of Selected Types of Concluding Metaphors in Persuasive Speeches. Speech Monographs, 33(2), 147–155. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03637756609375490 Cameron, L. (2003). Metaphor in Educational Discourse. London and New York: Continuum. Cameron, L. and Deignan, A. (2003). Combining large and small corpora to investigate tuning devices around metaphor in spoken discourse. Metaphor and Symbol, 18/3, 149-160. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15327868MS1803_02 Chaiken, S., Liberman, A., and Eagly, A. H. (1989). Heuristic and Systematic Processing within and beyond the Persuasion Context. . In J. S. Uleman and J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended Thought. New York: Guilford Press. Charteris-Black, J. (2004). Corpus Approaches to Critical Metaphor Analysis. Basingstoke and New York, NY: Palgrave-Macmillan. Charteris-Black, J. (2005). Politicians and Rhetoricians: the Persuasive Power of Metaphor. Basingstoke and New York, NY: Palgrave-Macmillan. Crisp, P. (2003). Conceptual Metaphor and its Expression. In J. Gavins and G. Steen (Eds.) Cognitive Poetics in Practice. London and New York: Routledge. Croft, W., and Cruse, A. D. (2004). Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Crystal, D. (1992). Introducing Linguistics. London: Penguin English. Deignan, A. (Ed.). (2005a). Metaphor and Corpus Linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Deignan, A. (2005b). A Corpus-Linguistic Perspective on the Relationship between Metonymy and Metaphor. Style, 39(1), 72-91. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/style.39.1.72 Deignan, A. (2003). Metaphorical Expressions and Culture: An Indirect Link. Metaphor and Symbol, 18/4, 255-272. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15327868MS1804_3 Deignan, A. (1999a). Metaphorical Polysemy and Paradigmatic Relations: A Corpus Study. Word, 50/3, 319-338. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1999.11432491 Deignan, A. (1999b). Corpus-Based Research into Metaphor. In L. Cameron and G. D. Low (Eds.) Researching and Applying Metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Deignan, A. (1999c). Linguistic Metaphors and Collocation in Non-literary Corpus Data. Metaphor and Symbol, 14/1, 19-36. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327868ms1401_3 Derrida, J. (1984). Jacques Derrida, in Dialogues with Contemporary Continental Thinkers by R. Kearney. Manchester: Manchester University Press Eubanks, P. (2000). A War of Words in the Discourse of Trade: The Rhetorical Constitution of Metaphor. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press. Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity. Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical Discourse Analysis: the Critical Study of Language. London: Longman. Fauconnier, G. and Turner, M. (1998). Conceptual Integration Networks. Cognitive Science, 22: 2: 133-187. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog2202_1 Goatly, A. (2006). Ideology and Metaphor. English Today, 22(3): 25–39. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0266078406003051 Goatly, A. (1997). The Language of Metaphors. London: Routledge. Grady, J. (2007). Metaphor. In D. Geeraerts and H. Cuyckens (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Grady, J., Todd, O., and Coulson, S. (1999). Metaphor and Blending. In G. R. W. and G. J. Steen (Eds.), Metaphor in Cognitive Linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Guthrie, M. (1972). Effects of Credibility, Metaphor, and Intensity on Comprehension, Credibility, and Attitude Change. (Master Thesis), Illinois State University, Normal, IL. Hall, S. (1992). The West and the Rest. In S. Hall and B. Gieben (Eds.), Formations of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press/Open University. Jaffe, F. (1988). Metaphors and Memory: A Study in Persuasion. Doctoral Dissertation. Northwestern University. Dissertation Abstracts International, 49, 2311.

ALLS 7(2):100-112, 2016 112 Jowett, G., and O’Donnell, V. (1992). Propaganda and Persuasion. (2nd edition). London: Sage. Kittay, E. F. (1987). Metaphor: its Cognitive Force and Linguistic Structure. Oxford: Clarendon. Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Leech, G. (1969). A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry. London: Longman. Lundmark, C. (2005). Metaphor and Creativity in British Magazine Advertising. (Linguistics in the Midnight Sun, Vol. 42). Luleå: Luleå University of Technology. Martin, J. H. (1994). A Corpus-Based Analysis of Context Effects on Metaphor Comprehension. CiteSeerx. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1.1.39.6003 McGuire, W. J. (1985). Attitudes and Attitude Change. In G. Lindzey and E. Aronson (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology. New York: Random House. Mio, J. S. (1996). Metaphor, Politics, and Persuasion. In J. S. Mio and A. N. Katz (Eds.), Metaphor: Implications and Applications. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Association. Müller, C. (2004). Metaphors, Dead and Alive, Sleeping and Waking: A Cognitive Approach to Metaphors in Language Use, unpublished Habilitationsschrift, Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany. Ortony, A. (1993[1979]). Metaphor and Thought. (2nd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Osborn, M. M., and Ehninger, D. (1962). The Metaphor in Public Address. Speech Monographs, 29(3), 223–234. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03637756209375346 Pollio, H. R., Michael K. S., and M. R. Pollio .(1990). Figurative language and cognitive psychology. Language and Cognitive Processes, 5: 141–167. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01690969008402102 Pennycock, A. (2001). Critical Applied Linguistics: a Critical Introduction. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum. Reinsch, N. L., Jr. (1970). An Investigation of the Effects of the Metaphor and Simile in Persuasive Discourse. (Ph.D Thesis), Central Michigan University. Semino, E. and Culpeper, J. (2002). Cognitive Stylistics: Language and Cognition in Text Analysis. Amsterdam and Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. Skorczynska, H. and Deignan, A. (2006). Readership and Purpose in the Choice of Economics Metaphors. Metaphor and Symbol, 21(2): 87–104. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1207/s15327868ms2102_2 Sznajder, H. S. and Angordans, J. P. (2005). A Corpus-Based Description Of Metaphorical Marking In Scientific And Popular Business Discourse. Metaphorik.de Journal zu Metapher und Metonymie (www.metaphorik.de) ISSN 1618-2006; Vol. 9, 112- 129. Sopory, P., and Dillard, J. (2002). The Persuasive Effects of Metaphor: A Meta-Analysis. Human Communication Research, 28, 382–419. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2002.tb00813.x Tudman, R. B. (1970). An Experimental Study of the Effects of Thematic Metaphor on Readers’ Attitude Toward Message Topic and Message Source. Central Missouri State College, Warrensburg. Van Dijk, T. A. (1998). Ideology: a Multidisciplinary Approach. London: Sage. Whaley, B. (1991). Toward a Comprehensive Model of Analogy in Persuasion: A Test of the Persuasive Roles of Analogy. Purdue University. Wodak, R. (2001). What CDA is about: A Summary of its History, Important Concepts and its Development. In R. Wodak and M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Sage.



Distinctiveness of Saudi Arabian EFL Learners

Manssour Habbash (Corresponding author) English Language Center, University of Tabuk

PO box 741, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia E-mail: [email protected]

Srinivasa Rao Idapalapati

English Language Center, University of Tabuk PO box 741, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia

E-mail: [email protected] Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.113 Received: 08/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.113 Accepted: 20/01/2016 Abstract In view of the increasing concern among English language teachers dealing with students from Saudi Arabia, as it manifests in TESOL community discussions, about the uniqueness of Saudi Arabian EFL learners, this paper attempts to document the outcome of a study of their distinctiveness from the perspective of expatriate teachers working for PYPs (Preparatory Year Programs) in Saudi Arabia. This study examines the distinctiveness with regard to the learning attitudes of Saudi students that are often cultivated by the culture and academic environment in their homeland. Employing an emic approach for collecting the required data an analysis was carried out in light of the other studies on ‘education’ in Saudi Arabia that have particular reference to the factors that can positively influence student motivation, student success and the academic environment. The findings were used in constructing the rationale behind such distinctiveness. Assuming that the outcome of the discussion on the findings of this exploration can be helpful for teachers in adapting their teaching methodology and improving their teacher efficacy in dealing with students both from the kingdom and in the kingdom, some recommendations are made. Keywords: China Distinctiveness, Saudi Arabian University context, Expatriate teachers’ perspective, Distinctiveness Theory 1. Introduction On the one hand, Saudi Arabia is attracting teachers from many parts of the world, and on the other hand, a lot of students from Saudi Arabia are looking forward to pursue their higher education abroad. “The number of Saudi students in the U.S. last year grew to 44,566, a nearly 30% increase from 2011, largely fueled by a new scholarship program that encourages them to study abroad” (Song, 2013). With the continuity of increase in the number of students studying abroad every year from Saudi Arabia, mainly in the USA, the UK and Canada, TESOL communities and the list serves online are inundated with strands of postings in a discussion on Saudi Arabian EFL students. The focus of the discussion is mostly on the classroom dispositions, learning attitudes and learning styles of Saudi Arabian students attending language classes at different universities in the USA. Many of them shared their experiences with the Saudi Arabian students stating that they are in many ways distinctive when compared to the students in other parts of the world. In spite of the abundance of discussions online, the scarcity of authentic research works on this issue prompted us to study and report more on the issue. The PYPs in Saudi Arabia have a long history that can be traced back to 1937, the year in which the first “Foreign Mission Preparatory school” (Abdulkareem, n.d) was established. The purpose of the school was to prepare Saudi Arabian students ready for their higher education in Egyptian Universities. Mahboob & Elyas (2014) write about the SPS (Scholarship Preparatory School) that was established in 1936 and was meant for preparing the students to go mainly to USA or UK and continue their education. Nowadays, every university in Saudi Arabia has its own PYP that is meant for preparing their prospective freshmen undergraduate students academically for their intended programs. Searcy & AlRaddadi (2010) compare the Preparatory Year Programs in Saudi Arabia with the Student Services Programs in the USA that work for acculturating the first generation college students into the college environment and its work-culture. The term first-generation student in the United States refers to a student who doesn’t have any guidance towards the culture of university education as their parents neither attended college nor otherwise earned a college degree. The comparison implies that most of the students in PYPs in Saudi Arabia are akin to the first generation US students. Paradoxically the teaching crew at PYPs can be labeled the first generation Saudi Arabian teaching community as it constitutes teachers from diverse backgrounds, cultures and nationalities with disparate classroom experiences and so needs a preparatory year for themselves to get familiar with the learning attitudes and styles of their students as well as the teaching and administrative processes at their workplace. With the objective of


ALLS 7(2):113-120, 2016 114 addressing the confusion about the student dispositions and the academic environment prevalent at the PYPs, this study is set to take on mainly at the PYP to which the authors are also affiliated. Because the PYP and the university reflect a quintessentially Saudi Arabian academic environment, generalizations of the findings could be logical and valid. The preparatory year program at the University is developing fast with a great increase in the number of freshmen registrations for undergraduate courses every year. The teaching staff constitutes teachers from the USA, the UK, Canada, India, Sudan, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and some other countries. These teachers join the university with their experiences in the academic environments, in their homelands and in other parts of the world, that are much different from the academic culture in Saudi Arabia. During the first week of teaching at the university, these teachers find that the working environment at the universities is different in many ways, and they also understand that they need to adapt their ways of dealing with the students and the Saudi Arabian academic environment. Informal interviews with the expatriate teachers reveal that the most striking differences that most of the teachers said to have identified are the degrees of variation in the seriousness of the students towards learning (learning attitudes and motivation), in the attendance of the students to the classes (regularity and punctuality), and in the teachers’ authority (systemic authority) in enforcing the classroom rules that are said to be in action purportedly. Teachers also mention that there is a significant discordance between what the departments propose in their meetings and the ground realities in the classrooms. Consequently the teachers feel that they are obliged to consume their valuable time in some unproductive activities and undesirable stresses that may deter their efficiency. However, there isn’t any documented evidence in this regard. In an effort to fill the void and to provide a platform to future scholars this study endeavors to examine and document the Saudi Arabian student uniqueness from the perspective of the expatriate EFL teachers at the University where this study is set. 2. Rationale Since the number of expatriate teachers heading their way to teach in Saudi Arabia is always in ascending trend, it’s seemly that the prospective teachers as well as those already working for PYPs at different universities are provided with a better understanding about the way the Saudi Arabian educational environment, the students’ learning attitudes and their learning styles are distinctive when compared to those in other parts of the world. Moreover, it’s worthwhile for the administrative personnel at the academic institutes in the kingdom to have a greater insight into the perceptions of the expatriate teachers about the academic environment and the student dispositions in order to bring about reformations for more productive outcomes. The basic assumption is that the teachers, having come from different parts of the world, tend to view the Saudi Arabian students, their classroom dispositions and the academic environment from the perspective of their experiences in their home lands. The second assumption is that there would be a great difference in the learning styles and attitudes of the students in different countries because of the differences in the cultures of the countries, and as Saudi Arabia is known for its stringent conservative cultural inheritance it’s quite natural that the students would certainly have different learning attitudes and classroom behaviors. And the third assumption is that when Saudi Arabian student uniqueness is understood from the expatriate teachers’ perspective, an analysis of the teachers’ classroom dispositions would be easier and the results can be considered in designing the in-service teacher trainings more competently so that the training sessions can enable the teachers to adapt their teaching methods, sync their classroom behaviors and work in compliance with the academic culture in Saudi Arabian universities. By mentioning ‘Saudi Arabian students', we mean the EFL students in Saudi Arabia because our focus is limited to bringing out the striking differences of the Saudi Arabian students from the perspectives of expatriate EFL instructors. 3. Theoretical Framework In view of the highly contrasting cultural backdrops of the expatriate teaching community and the Saudi Arabian EFL learner community, it’s seemly to invoke the framework of optimal distinctiveness theory and the theory of social anxiety to analyze and explain the factors that operate in perceiving the distinctiveness by each other. Distinctiveness of a person or a group constructs their identity. In fact, concepts of ‘distinctiveness’ and ‘identity’ are mutually complementary. The distinctiveness reflects the values that they hold, the culture that they carry in doing things and the things that they offer and so someone’s distinctiveness is their identity (Gwinnett, 2011). The ‘optimal distinctiveness’ theory proposed by Brewer (1991) defines distinctiveness as sustenance of identity within assimilation. According to the optimal distinctiveness theory, individuals have two essential identity needs. One is “to be included or assimilated” and the other one is “to be differentiated or distinguished.” The optimal distinctiveness theory is modeled basically on the premise that the group identification is motivated by the two identity needs of individuals that always work in opposition (Brewer, 2003 p.483). Individuals in a group don’t feel comfortable when they are totally differentiated or isolated from other groups in a community and then they tend to seek assimilation or inclusion into the other groups in the community. When individuals in a group couldn’t see any difference between them and the people in other groups they feel the loss of their identity and uniqueness and then they seek to be distinguished. The social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) explains the process of social identity of groups in three stages. First individuals are categorized in order to understand and identify them. Second, individuals adopt the relevant category that best describes them and identify with the category, and the third, the groups start comparing themselves with other groups and start comparing and competing with the other groups (See McLeod, 2008). As per the social distinctiveness theory relative distinctiveness is a factor of social identification. “With in a given social context, or frame work of reference, an individual can be categorized (by self or others) along a dimension of social distinctiveness-inclusiveness that ranges from uniqueness (i.e. the features that distinguish the individual from any other persons in the social context) at one extreme to total submersion in the social context at the

ALLS 7(2):113-120, 2016 115 other…. Individuals will resist being identified with social categorizations that are either too inclusive or too differentiating but will define themselves in terms of social identities that are optimally distinctive…. Equilibrium is maintained by correcting for deviations from optimality. A situation in which a person is overly individuated will excite the need for assimilation, motivating the person to adopt a more inclusive social identity. Conversely, situations that arouse feelings of deindividuation (sic) will activate the need for differentiation, resulting in a search for more exclusive or distinct identities. Thus, the theory holds that individuals will actively seek to achieve and maintain identification with groups that are optimally distinctive within a given social context” (Brewer, 2003, p.483). ‘Anxiety’ refers to a general state of nervousness, fear, apprehension or worrying that individuals experience when they confront a somewhat challenging situation such as a test, an interview, a public performance. However, when anxiety affects an individual’s ability to perform then ‘anxiety’ is considered a problem to be dealt with thoroughly. The theory of social anxiety attributes the causal and maintenance of social phobia or anxiety to negative cognitions (Huppert Roth & Foa, 2003). The theory maintains that when individuals have no confidence in their performance in something they tend to avoid the situation. The two extremities of social anxiety are on the one hand the overestimation of negative aspects of social interactions and on the other hand underestimating the positive aspects (Kukes, n.d). In situations of social interactions the focus of individuals on their ‘self’ impairs their performance and blurs their ability to view the positive things in the situations. “Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or uneasiness often brought on by an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. A lot of learners experience stress and/or anxiety before learning activities such as taking an exam, giving a presentation, answering questions in class, speaking during group activities, or turning in a paper. Sometimes just going to class can be a source of stress and anxiety to a learner” (Agunbiade, 2013). 4. Previous Studies Although we have a very limited number of creditable works on Saudi Arabian students and education, most of those on the teacher/student expectations and behaviors indicated ‘cultural dissonance’ as the major factor that influences the EFL classroom dynamics (Moores-Abdool, Yahya, & Unzueta, 2011). A study by Shaw (2009) finds that Cultural dissonance between the teachers and students can be the result of the lack of intercultural competence in the students. However, this study doesn’t mention the level of intercultural competence in the teachers that deal with the Saudi Arabian teachers. The study also reports that the students from Saudi Arabia are successful in learning English when they have ‘resilience’ and ‘intercultural competence’. The study also recommends that the Saudi Arabian EFL course focus more on developing resilience and intercultural competence. Moores, Yahya & Unzueta (2011) identified that while the Saudi Arabian University students welcome and enjoy partner and group activities, they are reluctant to participate in certain activities that would put them on center stage… they were not ready to share or display their individual work with peers. This could be a result of the influences of a tribal culture, where the group is more highly valued than the individual. Alhmadi (2014) reported that the ‘text anxiety’ and ‘longer hours’ as demotivating factors for Saudi Arabian EFL learners. Text anxiety refers to the fear of coping with the language level used in the curriculum of the courses. When teachers have no choice to either choose or design their own curriculum suitable to the level of the students both the teachers and the students are forced to deal with the texts that were prescribed by someone else. Sitting for four or five hours with single teachers also discourages the students from attending the classes. Alhmadi identifies ‘student reticence’ to participate in speaking activities as one of the major barriers to learning English for Saudi Arabian students. Patil (2010) writes about the reverse visualization of English words by Arabic EFL learners. Because the people, who use Arabic language, read and write from right to left in contrast with the users of many other languages that read and write from left to right, the EFL learners of Saudi Arabia in their earlier stages habitually tend to read English words from right to left and that delays their learning. Moreover, English learning in Saudi Arabia is mostly confined to classrooms and the opportunities to use the language outside the classroom are scarce and only with the foreigners who don’t know Arabic at all (Kariminia & Salehizadeh, 2007; Shishavan & Sadegi, 2009). Hagler (2014) argues that the students with a positive attitude towards the West have better means to learn English (and through English), being aware of its usefulness in the international market and with expectations to coalesce with the West through language. Hagler reports that it’s quite assuring, to the teachers working with Saudi students, that the preconceived notions of many of the Saudi students about the west are positive. With the fact that a few of participants in his study expressed negative views about the West, Hagler advises the teachers to view this as an opportunity to provide them with a constructive experience with a Westerner, thereby promoting the likelihood of positive dispositions and productive associations with the West. However, Hagler holds that it may not likely that a non-western researcher also can obtain the same favorable results in this regard. 5. Method Informed by the previous works on ‘education in Saudi Arabia’ that focused mostly on what the teachers can do in their positions as EFL instructors, this qualitative research work is set to document the results of the survey of the views of the expatriate EFL teachers at the chosen university from the emic perspective (Harris, 1976). “An emic approach (sometimes referred to as “insider,” “inductive,” or “bottom-up”) takes as its starting point the perspectives and words of research participants” (Foundations of Qualitative Research in Education, 2008). By adopting ‘interpretive approach’ in its exploration of the data collected by the survey, through purposive sampling method, that was conducted with the EFL instructors at the PYP of the university, this research work seeks to construct meaning for the expatriate teachers view of the Saudi Arabian EFL learners, from the etic perspective (Harris, 1976). “An etic approach (sometimes referred to as “outsider,” “deductive,” or “top-down”) uses as its starting point theories, hypothesis, perspectives, and

ALLS 7(2):113-120, 2016 116 concepts from outside of the setting being studied” (Foundations of Qualitative Research in Education, 2008). As per the interpretive approach “everyday life revolves around persons interpreting and making decisions about how to act based on their personal experiences and their interpretation of the experience and behavior of others. The purpose of interpretive research is to specify how interpretations and understandings are formulated, implemented and given meaning in lived situations“ (Radnor, 2002). The research questions that have been formulated for the set objectives in this study are reproduced below.

1. What are the distinctive characteristics of EFL students at PYPs in Saudi Arabia in view of the expatriate teachers working at PYPs in Saudi Arabia?

2. To what extent is the contribution of organizational processes to the perceived distinctiveness? 3. Are there any specific impediments that constrict the teachers from performing effectively and make the

difference in the academic environment and the teaching learning process? 6. Data Collection Although the required information for analysis can be obtained by surveying with these questions, in view of the difficulty in convincing the participants to spend their time in answering the open ended questions, the three main questions have been simplified to nine Likert items with check boxes along with an additional comments field, and three open ended questions. Likert items are to understand their general opinion and the comments field and the open-ended questions are to obtain detailed information about the reasons that lead them to develop their opinions. 1) Saudi Arabian EFL students are different in many ways when compared to the students in my country. 2) Could you please rate your Saudi Arabian students? 3) Students in Saudi Arabia are easily manageable. 4) I can manage my class well, but there are some barriers that restrict me from managing my class effectively, which I don't find in the classes in my country. 5) How likely would you debate in a discussion on the distinctiveness of Saudi Arabian EFL learners? 6) About the departmental meetings and the solutions that you find in the meetings. 7) I need additional support from the department for managing my classes and for making them more creative and productive. 8) Please rate the evaluation process of the teachers by the administrative personnel? 9) Teachers are encouraged for their efficiency and evaluated fairly based on their performance. 10) Please write about the kind of support do you expect from the administrative personnel in order to improve yourself as a productive teacher in the KSA. 11) Please mention the distinctive characteristics that you have observed in your Saudi Arabian students when compared to the students of the same age and level in your home country? 12) Please share your ideas to improve the teachers' performance and the learning outcomes in the EFL classroom. 13) Could you please mention some of the constraints that prevent you from performing effectively in the classroom? The questionnaire was prepared with the online survey software ‘esurve’ (www.esurve.org) and was sent to the email ids of 100 EFL teachers available in the list serve of the university that includes different nationalities from both male and female campuses. Out of the hundred expected participants online we received responses from 15 participants and so we agreed to collect information from more teachers. We thought of conducting personal interviews with the same questionnaire and we interviewed 25 teachers on the male campus. Although we tried to interview some more teachers in the female campus, due to the local cultural impediments we couldn’t carry on with our face-to-face interviews with female teachers. Finally, we decided to work on the responses of the 40 teachers in total. After providing the findings based on the analysis of the responses to the items given above, this paper provides a discussion in light of the set frame work as well as the relevant findings in other works so as to reach valid conclusions and recommendations. 7. Findings The Likert items 1, 2 and the question 11 are related to the teachers’ view of their students and can be related to the first one of the three main research questions given above. More than 82% of the participants agreed with the item number one, “Saudi Arabian EFL students are different in many ways when compared to the students in my country.” When they were asked to assess their students with the item “Could you please rate your Saudi Arabian students?” about 35% rated them as average and about 47% rated them as below average. While only 11% of the respondents assessed their students as good, none of the participants rated their students as excellent. Responses related to the question one of the three main questions reveal that about 70% of the participants hold that the lower level of English proficiency of the students to continue with their education at the PY programs is due to the faulty junior and secondary schooling where English as well as the other studies would not be taken seriously. The teachers mention that the examination system in the schools is often corrupted by unfair practices. For example, in schools the teachers prepare the question papers for their students’ exams and the teachers leak the question papers to win the favor of the students who can lure the teachers for trinkets. It could be that the students bribe their teachers in

ALLS 7(2):113-120, 2016 117 order to get him/her reveal the question papers. Even after the exams, the teachers would not fail a student who is supposed to secure a zero in his or her exam. A teacher says that he worked for a school before he joined the university and in his experience one of his colleagues was threatened for failing a student in an exam and he had to compromise and pass the student again in order to secure his job and to be assured of his personal safety. And the students who proceed to the university education move on with the similar learning attitudes and expectations about the study environment that they are already habituated to. Almost all the teachers hold that the education in the schools in Saudi Arabia needs a lot of reformations at the administrative, student and teacher levels in order to welcome organized behaviors at the university level. The reformations are required more for inculcating good learning attitudes and for developing organized classroom behaviors than for improving curricula. A participant described his students as “unmotivated, arrogant and lazy.” Another interesting comment is that the students’ maturity levels are low due to the lack of general knowledge and exposure to the world outside. “They behave like thirteens’ at the age of twenty”. With regard to classroom activities a teacher writes, “in the US IEP situation they tend to 1) not do homework as a learning assignment but as a "drudgery" to be completed as quickly as possible 2) in writing less focus on sentence level structural accuracy (translating too much); in reading -- difficulty in ability to categorize into tables, spider maps, etc.; in speaking -- tend to do fine in interpersonal situations and in longer presentation situations; listening -- also tend to do fine in classroom situations 3) more interested in the "grade" than getting prepared for university study 4) tend to think that memorizing is most important, while synthesizing is unimportant 5) tend to generalize and not to give specific support for statements.” It can be pointed out that according to a teacher, the students in Saudi Arabia who come from rural areas exhibit better learning attitudes compared to those from urban areas. Some teachers expressed that a lot of students, though not all, exhibit undesirable attitude towards English and so dislike learning English. However, they say that the students who really dislike learning English also keep attending the classes for other reasons like; not to be fallen short of attendance; be eligible for the government scholarship; and also to graduate in the present level in order to be promoted to the next level of the course. The Likert items 6, 7, 8, 9 and the open ended question 10 are related more to the administrative processes and the responses to these questions could reflect the academic environment and could address the second question of the three main research questions. To the item “About the departmental meetings and the solutions that you find in the meetings”, with the options ‘very useful, useful, neutral, useless, very useless’, more than 40% responded with useless while 20% felt that it was useful while about 40% were neutral. In the face-to-face interviews with the teachers more than 80% of them expressed that decisions taken in the departmental meeting will never be put into practice. For instance, the teachers are asked to mark absent to the students who don’t show to the class and to those who attend the classes late. And when the rule says that a student who is absent for more than 25% of the classes shouldn’t be allowed to take the exams, the rule will be usually violated before the exams and all the students will be allowed to sit for exams. Responding to the item 7, more than 60% of the teachers hold that they need additional support. The kind of support they need to bring reformations is that they should be left for their judiciousness in allocating the internal assessment marks, in choosing the syllabus and the pacing schedules. Most of the teachers say that the role of supervisors and administrative people is more dominating and the teachers are expected to obey all kinds of orders thrust by supervisors with regard to the classroom activities, pacing schedules and marking the internal assessments. By and large, the situation is that teachers have no control on the selection of instructional materials suitable to their students, preparing the questions for internal or the external exams, awarding the internal assessment marks and holding the absent students from attending the final exams. During final exams, teachers have limited power in controlling the students from cheating. Although the annual exams are held with four different sets of question papers with planned seating arrangement that can prevent the students from cheating in the exams, teachers have limited control in preventing the students from using their mobile phones, talking to their neighboring students and copying from others answer booklet. Moreover, the examination team that prepares question papers for exams doesn’t tend to take measures to repeat the same questions in all the booklets. When they were asked to assess and comment on the evaluation system with the items 8, 9 and 10 over 41% of the teachers hold that the teacher evaluation system is ineffective and biased while 24% find it effective and about 35% are neutral. However, to the item 9, “Teachers are encouraged for their efficiency and evaluated fairly based on their performance”, 30% of the teachers agree while 30% disagree. The face-to-face interviews reveal that there was no proper system for evaluating the teachers. They also say that most of the times the jobs are secure and the administrative personnel follow the rules set by the university. However, more than 85% of the teachers say that often the evaluation reports by class observers tend to be biased but the administrative personnel in the decision-making positions depend very rarely on the reports by classroom observers in taking decisions on contract renewals or cancellations. Almost all the teachers express their disapproval to classroom observations and say the reports reflect dishonesty since the evaluation teachers are neither qualified nor have the required competency to teach as well as to evaluate others’ teaching. To the query about the kind of support that they expect from the administrative personnel in order to improve themselves as productive teachers as it was mentioned in question 10, the teachers say that whenever their students fall short of attendance they often resort to go to the administrative personnel with some kind of recommendation from people in authoritative positions and without any intimation to the teacher concerned the administrative people waive off all the absences and allow the students to sit for exams. All the students know that they can manage their shortage of

ALLS 7(2):113-120, 2016 118 attendance through different means and so they don’t tend to show any seriousness to the class work and the activities. Teachers strongly feel that there must be a strict policy to be used with regard to student attendance. The second major issue highlighted is that the curriculum should be developed apposite to the levels of the students. In fact, the students in every class are highly heterogeneous. One can find three types of students in every class: highly motivated, moderately motivated and not motivated at all. Any one kind of curriculum cannot serve the purposes of all the students. Rules of the university say that there shouldn’t be any diagnostic tests to segregate the students according their levels. In case they are segregated according to their levels, universities can’t test all of them with the same examination papers. And the final exams cannot be with beginner level questions to some students and with advanced level questions to the other. And this way the entire examination system becomes unfair. Linked to the third of the three main research questions, the Likert items 3, 4, and the questions 12 and 13 are set to understand the teachers view of the students’ attitudes and the way they think about the possible measures to improvise the attitudes. To the Likert item 3, about 55% of the teachers said that the Saudi Arabian students are easily manageable. On the contrary, some teachers say that because the teachers have no complete control either to punish or reward their students, some of the students, most of the time, refuse to oblige, tend to misbehave and keep disrupting the entire class. The students’ attitude also depends on their educational background and the educational levels of the family members. Some students who are very confident about the support that they can obtain from the people in authoritative positions show carelessness to their attendance to the classes, the teacher and keep on misbehaving in the classroom. And the administrative people also have nothing to do with them. Teachers’ responses to the Likert item 4 are mostly optimistic with more than 50% of the teachers agree with the statement and while 35% are neutral. Only about 15% disagreed with the statement, which means that as per their analysis the drawbacks of disruptive classes are not due to the students or teachers but somewhere in the administrative processes that we are going to analyze in the discussion part of this paper. When the teachers’ were posed with the questions 12 and 13 with an idea that they may come up with some suggestions for improving the classroom management of their classes most of the teachers say that the teachers should be given the complete authority of their classroom activities with regard to the method of teaching and the pacing schedule. Because the teachers have limited scope in controlling their students’ irregularity to the classes and punishing them for any pending assignments or classroom activities they think that they should at least have complete authority in awarding the internal assessment mark that accounts for 20% of the total marks by the end of the semester. Creating small classes can be much productive since most of the students attend the classes just to fulfill the attendance criteria that are essential for obtaining scholarships. An analysis of the survey results about the distinctive characteristics mentioned by the participants to the queries of the above listed Likert items and the questions finds that all the distinctiveness perceived by the expatriate teachers can be codified under the following categories. Code A: Students Existent English levels are low compared to the expected and required levels Code B: Lack of motivation. Code C: Administrative Interference into the supposedly teachers’ work. Code D: Negative view of English. Table 1. Research Questions Strongly

Agree Agree Disagree Strongly

Disagree Neutral

1) Saudi Arabian EFL students are different in many ways when compared to the students in my country.

47.06 35.29 5.88

0.00 11.76

2) Students in Saudi Arabia are easily manageable.

5.88

47.06 11.76

0.00 35.29

3) I can manage my class well, but there are some barriers that restrict me from managing my class effectively, which I don't find in the classes in my country.

23.53

29.41 11.76

0.00 35.29

4) I need additional support from the department for managing my classes and for making them more creative and productive.

41.18

17.65 17.65

5.88

17.65

5) Teachers are encouraged for their efficiency and evaluated fairly based on their performance.

11.76

17.65 5.88

23.53 41.18

ALLS 7(2):113-120, 2016 119 Table. 2 Research Question Excellent Good Average Below

Average Poor

2) Could you please rate your Saudi Arabian students?

0.00 11.76 35.29 47.06 5.88

Table 3. Research Question Very

Useful Useful Neutral Useless Very

Useless 1) About the departmental meetings and the solutions that you find in the meetings.

11.76 11.76 41.18 23.53 11.76

Table 4. Research Question Very

Effective Effective Neutral Ineffective Very

Ineffective Please rate the evaluation process of the teachers by the administrative personnel?

5.88 17.65 35.29 35.29 5.88

8. Conclusion and Recommendations Although the distinctiveness of Saudi Arabian students at their university level education can be understood, the expatriate teachers find themselves confused about the measures to be taken to engage their Saudi students in classroom activities. In the wake of the cultural confinements that Saudi students have been brought up, the teachers may have to give up their expectations of the usual attitudes, of an undergraduate or graduate student, from a Saudi Arabian student and be positive to adapt their own classroom dispositions and teaching methods. The teachers who would like to succeed in dealing with Saudi students can think about being reciprocally optimally distinctive from their students in order to upgrade their student attitudes to the level of their actual expectations. During the initial days of their teaching, teachers may have to compromise with their usual classroom procedures and be relaxed in terms of their students’ irregularities in maintaining their class timings, attendance, assignments and the way they address their teachers. A little patience and initiation to build rapport with their students can make any teacher easy to motivate and mentor their Saudi Arabian students in order to enjoy wonderful classroom experience with them. “The days are gone when it was possible to believe that all a teacher had to do was to master and deliver the grade- level curriculum. It is now imperative that classroom teachers have strong content background in each of the subjects they teach, be familiar with the range of student differences in their classrooms, and be capable of diagnosing and prescribing appropriate instructional modifications based upon a knowledge of each child’s uniqueness (Sagor, p.10).” References Abdul kareem, S.A. (n.d). Historical Project: Education Development in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved on 15th May 2014 from http://www.webshots.com/search/search.fcgi?cl=1&ch=1&ws=1&new=1&words=SAUDI+ARABIA Agunbiade, F. (2013). Stress and Anxiety: Effects on Learning. Educational Theory and Practice, October 8. Retrieved from http://edtheory.blogspot.com/2013/10/stress-and-anxiety-effects-on-learning.html Al-Hayat (2014). KSA Ministries Pursue 'Saudi-ization' Of Economy. Posted September. Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East, 12/19/14. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/business/2014/09/httpalhayatcomarticles4395642----.html Alhmadi, N.A. (2014). English speaking learning barriers in Saudi Arabia: A Case Study of Tibah University. Arab World English Journal, Vol.5, Number 2, Pp. 38-53. Brewer, M.B. (1991). The social self: On being the same and different at the same time. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 475-482. Brewer, M.B. (2003). Optimal Distinctiveness, Social Identity, and the Self. In M. Leary and J. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of Self and Identity, pp. 480-491. Elyas, T. & Picard, M. (2010). Saudi Arabian educational history: impacts on English language teaching. Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, Vol. 3 Iss: 2, pp.136 – 145 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863945 Elyas, T. & Picard, M.(2013) "Critiquing of higher education policy in Saudi Arabia: towards a new neoliberalism",

ALLS 7(2):113-120, 2016 120 Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, Vol. 6 Iss: 1, pp.31 – 41 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17087466&show=abstract Fakee, M.S. (2009). Saudization as a Solution for Unemployment The Case of Jeddah Western Region. Dissertation Submitted to the University of Glasgow Business School, Faculty of Law Business and Social Science, May. Retrieved from http://theses.gla.ac.uk/1454/1/Fakeeh_DBA.pdf\ Foundations of Qualitative Research in Education. (2008). Emic and Etic Approaches. Retrieved on 11 November, 2014 from http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=qualitative&pageid=icb.page340911 Gwinnett, A. (2011). The distinctiveness gap: do students see the difference between universities? Guardian Professional. Thursday 17 November. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2011/nov/17/universities-distinctiveness-gap Hagler, A. (2014). A study of attitudes toward Western culture among Saudi university students. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, 11(1). http://lthe.zu.ac.ae Harris, M. (1976). History and significance of the emic/etic distinction. Annual Review of Anthropology, S, 329±50. Huppert, J.D., Roth, D.A., & Foa, E.B. (2003). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of social phobia: New advances. Current Psychiatry Reports, 5, 289-296. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/NcO1qh Kariminia, A. & Salehizadeh, S. (2007). Communication strategies: English language departments in Iran. Iranian Journal of Language Studies, 1(4), 287-300. Kukes. A. (n.d). The Cognitive Theory of Social Anxiety. Andrew Kukes Foundation for Social Anxiety. http://akfsa.org/research/the-cognitive-theory-of-social-anxiety/ Madhi, S.T. & Barrientos, A. (2003). Saudisation and Employment in Saudi Arabia. Career Development International, 8/2, pp. 70-77. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/13620430310465471 Mahboob, A. & Elyas, T. (2014). English in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. World Englishes, Vol. 33/1, pp. 128-142 Mallick, M.N. (2013). Current Employment Scenario of Saudi Arabia. 12 Manage: The Executive Fast Track. Retrieved from http://www.12manage.com/myview.asp?KN=3374 McLeod, S. A. (2008). Social Identity Theory. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html Moores-Abdool, W., Yahya, N., & Unzueta, C.H. (2011). Learning Preferences of Saudi University Students with Native English Speaking Teachers. TESOL Arabia Perspectives, 18/ 3 November. Retrieved from www.tesolarabia.org Patil, Z.N. (2010). Arab Learners of English and Reverse Visualization as a Reading Problem. Arab world English Journal, 1,1, 3-23. Sagor, R. (2000). Guiding School Improvement with Action Research. ASCD, Alexandria, Virginia, USA. Searcy, M.A. & AlRaddadi, A. (2010). A Comparative Discussion of First-Generation College Students in the USA with Preparatory Year Students in the Saudi Arabia with an emphasis on eLearning. International Conference; The Future of Education. http://conference.pixel-online.net/edu_future/common/download/Paper_pdf/ELE11-Searcy.pdf. Shaw, D. L. (2009). Bridging Differences: Saudi Arabian Students Reflect on Their Educational. November 16. Retrieved from http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/13826/ShawDonnaS2010.pdf Shishavan, H.B. & Sadegi, K. (2009). Characteristics of an Effective English Language Teacher as Perceived by Iranian Teachers and Learners of English. English Language Teaching, Vol.2, No.4. Retrieved from www.ccsenet.org/journal.html Song, J. (2013). More Saudi Arabians studying in the U.S. Los Angeles Times, November 24. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/nov/24/local/la-me-saudi-student-20131125 Springsteen, S.M. (2014). Examining Student Motivation in Saudi Arabia. Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in TESOL degree at the SIT Graduate Institute, Brattleboro, Vermont. Radnor, A.H. (2002). Research Your Professional Practice: Doing Interpretive Research. Open University Press, MK, UK. Royal Embasssy of Saudi Arabia. About Saudi Arabia: Oil. Washington DC. Retrieved on the 20th December, 2014 from http://www.saudiembassy.net/about/country-information/energy/oil.aspx Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. The social psychology of intergroup relations? 33, 47.



Investigating the Role of Pop Songs on Vocabulary Recall, Attitude and Retention of Iranian EFL Learners:

The Case of Gender

Pouya Shakerian (Corresponding author) Department of English, Faculty of Literature & Foreign Languages, Kashan University

P.O. Box: 87317-51167, Isfahan, Iran E-mail: [email protected]

Omid Rezaei

Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Isfahan Hezar Jerib St., P.O. Box: 8174673441, Isfahan, Iran


Zeinab Toghyani Murnani English Department, Faculty of Humanities, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University

Najafabad, P.O. Box: 8514143131, Isfahan, Iran E-mail: [email protected]

Hamid Moeinmanesh

English Department, Faculty of Humanities, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University Najafabad, P.O. Box: 8514143131, Isfahan, Iran


Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.121 Received: 25/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.121 Accepted: 21/01/2016 Abstract Pop songs are, in fact, an ideal source for incidental vocabulary learning because teenagers often spend large amounts of their free time listening to music and in particular to pop songs. Employing an experimental approach, this study attempted to investigate the role of pop songs on vocabulary recall, attitude and retention of Iranian advanced adult EFL learners based on their gender. In so doing a language placement test (Quick Oxford Placement Test) was administered to 100 male and female language learners studying English at different language institutes in Esfahan, Iran. Ultimately, 60 advanced learners (30 males - 30 females) were selected by leaving out the students of other levels of proficiency and randomly divided into two relatively homogenous groups as musical and non-musical groups. While the students of musical group (=30) were taught the new vocabulary in the syllabus through 60 different pop songs chosen by themselves through a questionnaire, the students of the non-musical group (n=30) were taught new vocabulary without using the songs. The participants were examined based on an English vocabulary test developed by the researchers, which probed into the learners’ vocabulary recall. A questionnaire was also used to investigate the attitude of the learners towards the instruction. A month later the vocabulary test was re-administered as a delayed retention test and obtained data were statistically analyzed. The results of t-tests demonstrated that the musical group outscored the non-musical group on vocabulary recall and retention. The results also showed the male learners perform better than the females. Keywords: incidental vocabulary, pop songs, vocabulary recall, attitude, retention 1. Introduction To be enough proficient in English language, a learner should become master of the four principal skills of language (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and language sub skills (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling). Among these sub skills, the vocabulary learning and teaching did not similarly receive its desirable attention in ESL/EFL classes until these recent decades. It was frequently considered that it would take account of itself and so did not get sufficient attention in ELT curriculums. As early as 1972, this lack of attention to L2 vocabulary learning in EFL contexts with the much-cited statement: “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed” was indicated by Wilkins (p.111). As Biemiller (2006) notes there might be a significantly strong link between the vocabulary development and later development of literacy. The read-for-meaning ability requires some knowledge of vocabulary meanings. If the students’ vocabulary is not enough rich, they cannot comprehend what they face in a text or what they listen to in a conversation. On the other hand, when someone masters


ALLS 7(2):121-128, 2016 122 the more vocabulary in English it would be easier for him to understand and communicate English itself. Flohr (2010, p. 2) stressed that students should learn vocabulary for otherwise they cannot express and express themselves in such a way that other native speakers of English can communicate with them. In EFL teaching context, Griva (2009) pointed out that learning of vocabulary has been regarded as basic and indispensible in language teaching area. Therefore, a large amount of vocabulary is now viewed as an inseparable part of communicative competence in second language and in parallel with this, and attempts to determine the most effective method of learning second language vocabulary have amounted. Since the 1980s, study and research into second language vocabulary learning has increased (Wang & Kelly, 2013). With the emergence of humanistic approach, a large amount of attention was paid to the environment of language learning in classroom and increasing motivation and lowering the affective filter became an important aspect of language learning process. Most of processes in learning are composed of knowledge which had been stored subconsciously; development of a multi-stimulant environment in the classroom increase learners’ motivation and also contribute to their subconscious learning. In this case, the most useful learning environment should include music, drama and kinesthetic elements and should be rich enough in stimulants, which can address to various senses and reinforce positive emotions because these elements speed up subconscious learning (Cengiz, 2004). Marin and Perry (1999) and Peretz (2006), stated that language and music have little and weak connection. The reason might be that music has pitch and rhythm, but speech doesn’t, and grammar of the language may not be completely present in music, neither are semantic meanings. Furthermore, these researchers and others maintain that music can include more emotion and feeling than language (Patel 2008). But on the contrary, the literature also demonstrates that a rhythmic presentation might help memorization, especially when the presented verbal information is to some extent meaningful (Jones, 2010; Salcedo, 2002). Besides, a number of researches have been done on the effects of music and songs on different processes of brain (Zhang, Wang, & Wu, 2011) during the process of learning and the results have demonstrated that melodies and songs can reinforce the processes of learning, and particularly language learning (Wallace, 1994; Peterson & Thaut, 2006; Ozment & Gurgen, 2010; Jones, 2010). Maess et al. quoted in Setia (2012:271) point out that some neurologists have also found out that language and musical processing occur in the same hemisphere of the brain, and there might be parallels in how music and linguistic syntax are processed in human brain. As a result, employing English songs memorization which consists of a musical melody, regarded as a technique in language teaching, may help the students to accelerate their learning process, especially the learning of vocabulary. Several other studies have demonstrated that teaching different skills and sub skills of a language employing songs might accelerate and facilitate the process of language learning (Sloboda, 1990; Fisher, 2001; Ransdell & Gilroy, 2001; Ayotte, 2004; Neumam, 2004; Fischler, 2006; Schon, Magne & Besson, 2008). For instance, Salcedo (2010) studied the effects of using song in the foreign language learning on text recall and involuntary rehearsal. His purpose was to explore whether English native speakers who are learning a foreign language can gain considerable advantage from integrating music into the syllabus. Students' text recall was examined after listening to the selected songs and text passages. The results revealed that in the condition of using songs recall was better than text passage. As well, Setia (2012) investigated the effects of exploiting songs in teaching English language to primary school curriculum. The results showed that the use of songs not only fosters the learners' comprehension, but also stimulates and reinforce the learners' confidence, when the activities are highly motivating and memorable. Shen (2009) also maintained some criteria why the songs can be a liable and flawless tool in English language teaching. It can be because of the existence of different functions such as being a kaleidoscope of culture, having expressiveness, recitability, and relaxation, in songs. It can be supposed that English songs can provide many opportunities for vocabulary rehearsal. They usually consist of a theme or topic which can provide the useful context for vocabulary learning. As another example, De Groot (2006) investigated the impacts of three stimuli and a musical background on paired-associate vocabulary learning. The stimulus variables were the concreteness and frequency of the words of the native language (L1) and the typicality of the foreign language (FL) words. Sixty four word pairs (L1-FL) were taught six times, followed by a vocabulary recall test after the second, fourth, and sixth round of teaching. One week later a fourth recall test was performed. The typical FL words and the FL words which were paired with the frequent L1 words, and the FL words which were paired with the concrete L1 words were learned significantly better than the atypical FL words and the FL words which were paired with the infrequent and the abstract L1 words, in the same order. The results were interpreted regarding the differences between the memory representations of the L1 words, the differences in phonological coding process which was enabled by the FL words, and the individual learners’ differences. The results revealed that more new words were learned when syllabus was integrated by songs than in the silent condition. Collins (2013) also investigated the effects of music on the recall and retention of English language in elementary schools. Both of the music and interactive play were employed in this study to demonstrate that the combination of the two is a better strategy in language teaching than rote learning. This strategy was adopted for three days and one day was for testing. The study revealed that integrating music with interactive play in the English language vocabulary syllabus had significant effect neither on the vocabulary retention nor on the vocabulary recall, comparing the musical group with the non-musical one.

ALLS 7(2):121-128, 2016 123 Onur Köksal et al. (2013) also studied the effects of teaching vocabulary to 5th graders using music on their vocabulary achievement, attitudes towards the English course and the retention of the learned words. The students in the musical group were taught the new vocabulary through songs composed by the researchers; on the contrary, the students of the control group learned the new vocabulary with the current English teaching programs. The study revealed that the teaching of English vocabulary using music enabled the learners to memorize the new vocabulary significantly better and the new vocabulary taught with music was stored for longer period of time. Mohammad Alipour, et al. (2012) investigated the effects of songs on vocabulary recall and retention of upper-level EFL learners regarding their gender. The learners were examined based on a multiple-choice test to investigate their vocabulary learning through songs chosen by themselves, with different music genres such as pop, country, and rap. The results showed that the musical-mode group outperformed on both vocabulary recall and retention tests. Better performance of the male learners was also reported. As the literature implicates, there is still a need for more investigation of the role of pop songs in vocabulary learning in order to find out whether vocabulary recall, retention, and attitude of Iranian EFL learners, studying English at different language institutes in Esfahan, Iran, would be affected by their favorite pop songs and their related lyrics. Consequently, this study seeks to provide answers to the following research questions: (1) Is there any significant difference between musical-mode group and non-musical mode group in English vocabulary retention and recall? (2) Is there any significant difference between male and female EFL learners in terms of the possible effects of using pop songs on EFL learners’ vocabulary retention and recall? (3) What is the learners’ attitude towards using pop songs in teaching of English as a foreign language? 2. Methodology 2.1 Participants Two different but advanced classes (n=30+30), aged from 20 to 32, from the same institute were randomly assigned as the control and the experimental group, half of each group was male students and the other half was female. While the students in the experimental group were taught new words in the lesson through pop songs, the students in the control group were taught the same new words with the method in the current educational program. 2.2 Instruments and materials 2.2.1 Tests An Oxford quick placement test (QPT) was administered to select two homogeneous groups based on the participants’ language proficiency. The test consisted of 60 multiple-choice items on grammar and vocabulary. The time given to the test was 45 minutes. The scores could be between 0-60 and this conversion table was used to choose advanced learners. Moreover, a vocabulary tests based on the lyrics of the used pop songs was developed by researchers. The British National Corpus was used to write the stems and the test was administered in the end (after 20 sessions). There were 30 items in each test which participants were required to answer in 22 minutes. The total score for the test was 30, each item has one point. The reliability of the test was met through the KR-21 formula and it was (0.77). One month later, this test was re-administrated to assess the retention of the words as well. An attitude questionnaire was developed to be completed by both groups to investigate the attitude of the learners towards learning vocabulary through songs. 2.2.2 Survey A survey was administered to select the participants' most preferred singer or music bands in the form of a questionnaire. The questionnaire composed of three questions regarding the learners’ musical interest. At first, the learners were required to write a list of their top ten favorite pop singers and groups, and in the second section, they were required to write a list of their top ten favorite pop songs. The last question was to find out how often the participants listened to their favorite pop music. Accordingly, some of the most preferred pop singers were Shakira, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez and etc. Therefore, the participants' favorite pop singers and music bands were selected based on their popularities among them. 2.2.3 Songs As a result, the above-mentioned questionnaire provided the researchers the opportunity to choose the participants' most favorite pop singers and music bands. As a result, 60 different pop songs were chosen by the learners through the questionnaire and three songs were taught in each session. The researchers tried to consider the participants' social and religious values and norms as far as the contents of the chosen songs were concerned. For example, some of the chosen songs had a lot of taboo words, like "f" words which were not appropriate for the classes, so the researchers had to discard such songs. Furthermore, the lyrics had to be relatively compatible with the learners' English knowledge; so the chosen songs, for example, which had a lot of slangs or idioms, were discarded too. 2.3 Procedure In every session, a listening activity was at the beginning for each song. The song was played while a copy of the lyric of the song with some deleted new words was distributed to the participants to fill in the deleted parts. The song was replayed and the participants were asked to give their answers. In the end, the words were also written on the board for

ALLS 7(2):121-128, 2016 124 those who might have missed some of the answers. Some writing activities were added in which the participants had to use the new words to do the language activities such as giving definitions for the words and writing synonyms, making some sentences and writing a summary of the song lyrics using those new words. After practicing the new vocabulary items, there was a discussion about the topic or the story of the song every session. The whole activities and exercises for each song took for about 25 minutes. Three songs were used and practiced every session. The length of each song was about four to five minutes and the class time was about one and a half hours. In the control group class, no song was played but the lyric of each song was distributed to the participants. The teacher read the lyrics part by part while the participants were writing the answers of the deleted parts. The participants tried to guess the meaning of the new words based on the context. Then, after practicing and reviewing the new words through writing definitions and synonyms, there was a discussion about the topic or story of the song. At the end of each five sessions, the developed vocabulary test was administered to evaluate the participants ' vocabulary recall. The same test was re-administered after each tenth session to investigate the participants' vocabulary retention. Altogether, there were 20 sessions of instruction for both of the groups which lasted for almost two months. 3. Results Finally after the related statistical analyses conducted in the end of the study, the following results were obtained: In this ANCOVA test which is tabulated below, the recall test scores are used as the dependent variable, the pretest scores as the covariate, and sex and the two groups as the independent variables. Table 1. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source Type III Sum of Squares

df Mean Square F Sig.

Corrected Model 337.994a 4 84.499 40.980 .000 Intercept 204.985 1 204.985 99.415 .000 Pretest .061 1 .061 .030 .864 Group 296.509 1 296.509 143.802 .000 Sex 35.023 1 35.023 16.985 .000 Group * Sex .256 1 .256 .124 .726 Error 113.406 55 2.062 Total 35300.000 60 Corrected Total 451.400 59

Regarding table 1, we can find no interactional effect between sex and the groups, since the last row of the table shows sig=0.726. It means that using these variables at the same time does not affect the main test results and they can be separately investigated. For the covariate (the pretest) sig= 0.864 is more than 0.05 which means that the pretest had no effect on the obtained results (after the musical instruction), so the results are reliable enough. The value of the significance level for the groups equals 0.000<0.05 which means that the musical-mode group’s performance and that of the control group are significantly different. In other words, the musical-mode group’s performance was positively affected by the musical instruction, since the mean score of this group was 4.47 more. Finally the degree of significance for the sex variable was sig=0.000 which shows that men outperformed in the test and the musical instruction improved their performance more. Retention of the instruction: In this ANCOVA test which is tabulated below, the retention test scores as the dependent variable; the recall test scores and the pretest as the covariate; and sex and groups as the independent variables have been examined.

ALLS 7(2):121-128, 2016 125 Table 2. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source Type III Sum of Squares

df Mean Square F Sig.

Corrected Model 277.841a 5 55.568 42.178 .000 Intercept 6.299 1 6.299 4.781 .033 Recall 47.883 1 47.883 36.345 .000 Pretest .683 1 .683 .519 .475 Sex 2.353 1 2.353 1.786 .187 Group 1.723 1 1.723 1.308 .258 Sex * Group .625 1 .625 .474 .494 Error 71.143 54 1.317 Total 34861.000 60 Corrected Total 348.983 59

Regarding table 2, there is no interactional effect between the group and sex variable because the sig=0.494, which is also shown in the last row of the table. It means that the co-existence of these two variables had no effect on the main test results and they can be separately examined. The value of the significance level for the pretest variable was more than 0.05 (sig=.475) showing that this test had no effect on the results so the results are more reliable. In the recall test the value of the significance level was sig=0.000<0.05. So it means that this test had a significant effect on the results, consequently this value of level significance indicates that there is a relationship between this test and the recall test and the retention of the musical instruction is obvious as expected. The significance level value of the group variable equals 0.258>0.05, so there was no significant difference between the two groups’ performance in the retention test. In another words it can be said that forgetfulness plays no decisive role here and the obtained mean scores of the musical-mode group were still more than the control group (25.76>22.2). Thus the knowledge of musical instruction has not been forgotten. Finally the value of the significance level for the sex variable was 0.187, indicating that the levels of men and women’s performance were not significantly different when the retention of the instruction was under examination. To manifest the attitude of both musical and non-musical groups towards the instruction of vocabulary in their classes the results of the questionnaire were put into chi square. Table 3. Group * variable Cross tabulation

Negative Attitude

Positive Attitude Neutral Attitude Total

Non-musical group 270 120 585 975

Musical group

210 75 810 1095

Total 480 195 1395 2070 Regarding table 3, non-musical group showed more negative attitude towards vocabulary instruction in comparison to musical group. It can also be seen that musical group manifested more positive attitude towards vocabulary instruction comparing to non-musical group. 4. Discussion and conclusion This study attempted to investigate the role of pop songs on vocabulary achievement, attitude and retention of Iranian advanced adult language learners based on their gender. The results indicate that teaching new vocabulary through music has significantly increased achievement in English vocabulary learning, positive attitudes toward the musical instruction and the retention of new vocabulary of the students in the musical-mode (experimental) group compared to the nonmusical-mode (control) group. Interestingly, musical-mode group students obtained higher scores whether immediately after the instruction or after the interval. In terms of attitudes towards English learning, the musical-mode group had a more positive attitude towards English learning and showed greater degree confidence, too. This musical instruction had several benefits to the class. First, the atmosphere of the class was almost free of any stress and anxiety during the musical instruction and the “affective filter” was low. The students were more focused and attentive to the lyrics to find and learn the new vocabulary and their feedback showed that the musical instruction was of great interest. Some learners maintained that they realized they could acquire new words (Zhang, Wu, Wei & Wang,

ALLS 7(2):121-128, 2016 126 2011) through the songs too and not just through books and movies and they suggested to keep on using pop songs even after the experiment. The students realized that this method of instruction for vocabulary learning had new dimensions (Zhang & Wu, 2011). Generally learning the new words became more funny and effective. This effectiveness could be achieved because the songs help the learners to have more pleasure during the learning process and singing the songs makes students easily to memorize and remember the new words and doing the same actions of the song make students understand what the lyric or new word meaning is without asking or looking them up in a dictionary. Second, acquiring and memorizing the new words were not a boring and difficult activity, since their chosen pop songs were employed in the instruction. Third, the students became more familiar with a large number of new social and cultural matters through the used songs (Gorjian, Alipour & Saffarian, 2012) that made the instruction more fulfilling and interesting for them. Finally, the students' cooperation in the class was more noticeable and the learners were more motivated in learning vocabulary items using songs (Gorjian, Pazhakh & Naghizadeh, 2012). Therefore, based on these findings, an EFL class which is intensively based on songs appears to be highly effective in English teaching, in terms of achievement, retention, and attitudes towards English learning. Since employing songs is a generally demanding task to the English teachers, only few academic empirical studies have so far studied the actual effectiveness of songs or music on language learning. The result of this study is in parallel with some of the studies on the use of music in language teaching (Šišková, 2008; Schuster and Mouzon, 1982, and Gfeller, 1983). Moreover, Medina (2000) maintains that music and its subcomponent, rhythm, in the psychological research have both been demonstrated to boost the rote memorization process. In a study done in Hong Kong, it is reported that vocabulary memorization levels of the learners who are interested in music or play a musical instrument at their early ages is higher up to 16% compared to other learners (Cengiz, 2004). In another study by this researcher in which brain-based learning activities involved using of music were employed, it was revealed that music had positive effects on students’ achievement levels. In another study by Baş (2010), based on brain-based learning in English lessons and involving learning by listening to some pieces of music and creating songs, it was reported that the activities done in the musical-mode group had some positive effects on the learners’ achievement and attitudes towards this kind of instruction. The effects of songs on vocabulary recall and retention were also investigated by Mohammad Alipour, et al. (2012) employing upper-level EFL learners considering the possible effects of their gender. Their results showed the outperformance of the musical-mode group on both vocabulary recall and retention tests and better performance of the male. In a similar study done by Onur Köksal et al. (2013), the possible effects of teaching vocabulary to 5th graders, employing songs on their vocabulary achievement, retention and attitudes towards the course, were investigated. Their study demonstrated some positive effects of songs on the teaching of English vocabulary. The songs helped the learners of the musical-mode group memorize the new vocabulary significantly better, their vocabulary retention was enhanced and their attitudes towards the instruction were to a large extent positive. Using music in language learning can enable learners to open all of their memory channels and thus the more channels are used in learning, the learning will be increased more. Information which has been encoded in different memory systems is recalled more readily and more easily as it can be called back from any possible memory system. It can also be deduced from this fact that students who can memorize new words in different components of memory by virtue of music can recall them more easily. Therefore, it was inferred that teaching of English vocabulary to adult learners through music enabled them to enhance the retention of new vocabulary in their minds more meaningfully. This method of musical instruction applied in the musical-mode group is more effective in comparison with the one applied in the nonmusical-mode group and that new vocabulary which has been taught using music is learnt much better and stored for a longer period of time. Employing another area of intelligence like musical intelligence to develop an area of intelligence will have some positive effects, as it is also emphasized in the theory of Multiple Intelligence. Eventually, it is discussed that the incorporation of music as a means of supplementary element in teaching of vocabulary in different programs applied by institutes will be of great contribution to the ease of learning and will provide longer retention. Understanding its high effectiveness, EFL/ESL teachers are highly recommended to exploit different songs to foster learners’ vocabulary growth and development. Finally, this study employed pop songs for Iranian adult EFL learners; future researches might investigate the role of music on learners of other countries or cultures. It would also be interesting to study music effectiveness on other language skills or sub-skills. References Alipour, M., Gorjian, B., Zafari, I. (2012). The effects of songs on EFL learners' vocabulary recall and retention: The case of gender. Advances in Digital Multimedia (ADMM), 1, 140-143. Ayotte, S. B. (2004). The acquisition of verb forms through song. Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 65(9), 3356-A. Baş, G. (2010). Beyin Temelli Oğrenme Yonteminin İngilizce Dersinde Oğrencilerin Erisilerine ve Derse Yonelik Tutumlarına Etkisi. İlköğretim Online, 9(2), 488-507.

ALLS 7(2):121-128, 2016 127 Biemiller, A. (2006). Vocabulary development and instruction: A prerequisite for school learning. In D. Dickinson & S. Neuman (Ed.), Handbook of early literacy research (Vol. 2, pp. 41-51). New York: Guilford Press. Cengiz, Y. (2004). Yabancı Dilde Sozcuk Öğretimine Muzik Kullanımının Etkilerinin Beyin Temelli Oğrenme Kuramı Isığında Arastırılması (Unpublished master thesis). Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey. Collins, H. M. (2013). The effects of music on foreign language retention in elementary schools, Unpublished MA Thesis. University of Southern Mississippi, the U.S. de Groot, A. (2006). Effects of stimulus characteristics and background music on foreign language vocabularylearning and forgetting. . Language Learning, 56, 463-506. Fischler, J. (2006). The rap on stress: Instruction of word and sentence. Unpublished Master thesis. Hamilton University, Minnesota. Fisher, D. (2001). Early language learning with and without music . Reading Horizons, 42(1), 39-49. Flohr, S. (2010). Retrieved May 20, 2010, from Presenting and teaching vocabulary in the EFL classroom: http://www.grin.com Gfeller, K. E. (1983). Musical mnemonics as an aid to retention with normal and learning disabled students. Journal of Music Therapy, 20, 179-189. Gorjian, B., Alipour, M., & Saffarian, R. (2012). The effect of multisensory techniques on reading comprehension among pre-intermediate EFL learners: The case of gender. Advances in Asian Social Science, 1(2), 192-196. Gorjian, B., Pazhakh, A. R., & Naghizadeh, M. (2012). Comparative study of conjunctive adverbials (CAs) in native researchers' (NRs) and non-native researchers' (NNRs) experimental articles. Advances in Asian Social Science, 1(2), 224-247. Gorjian, B., Pazhakh, A. R., & Parang, K. (2012). An investigation on the effect of critical thinking (CT) instructions on Iranian EFL learners’ descriptive writing: A case of gender study. Advances in Asian Social, 1(1), 114-118. Griva, E. (2009). Retrieved April 10, 2012, from Young learners’ vocabulary strategies employment in a foreign language: http://ressources-cla.univ-fcomte.fr/gerflint/SE_europeen2/griva.pdf Jones, A. (2010). Music and cognitive process student perceptions. Polyglossia, 19(2010), 143-150. Köksal, O. (2012). The effect of mnemonic devices on achievement, attitude, vocabulary learning and retention on the fifth year primary school English lessons (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey. Köksal, O., & Yağışan, N., & Çekiç, A. (2013). The effects of music on achievement, attitude and retention in primary school English lessons. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 93, 1897-1900. Marin, O. S. M., & Perry, D. W. (1999). Neurological aspects of music perception and performance. In D. Deutsch (Ed.). In The Psychology of Music (2nd ed., pp. 653-724). San Diego: Academic Press. Medina, S. L. (1990). The effects of music upon second language vocabulary acquisition. Paper presented at the TESOL conference, San Francisco, CA, the U.S. Neumann, S. B. (2004). Hear, Hear. Scholastic Parent and Child, 11(4), 22-23. Ozmentes, S., & Gurgen, E. T. (2010). Pre-school and elementary school pre-service teachers' learning outcomes for music. Procedia Socal and Behavioral Science, 9, 444-449. Palmer, C., and Kelly, M. (1992). Linguistic prosody and musical meter in song. Journal of Memory and Language, 31, 525-541. Patel, A. D. (2008). Music, language, and the brain. New York: Oxford University Press. Peretz, I. (2006). The nature of music from a biological perspective. Cognition , 100, 1-32. Peterson, D. A. (2006). Music increases frontal EEG coherence during verbal learning. Cognition, 19(4), 133-149. Ransdell, S. E., & Gilroy, L. (2001). The effects of background music on word processing writing. Computers in Human Behavior, 17(2001), 141-148. Salcedo, C. S. (2002). The effects of songs in the foreign language classroom on text recall and involuntary mental rehearsal. Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 63(11). Salcedo, C. S. (2010). The effects of songs in the foreign language classroom on text recall, delayed text recall and involuntary mental rehearsal. Journal of College Teaching & Learning, 6, 19-30. Schon, D., & Magne, C., & Besson, M. (2004). The music of speech: Music training facilitates pitch processing in both, music and language. Psychology, 41(2004), 341-349. Schuster, D., & Mouzon, D. (1982). Music and vocabulary learning. Journal of the Society for Accelerative Learning and Teaching, 7(1), 82-106. Setia, R. (2012). English song as a means of aiding students' proficiency development. Retrieved January 9, 2013, from (online), (www.ccsenet.org/ass)

ALLS 7(2):121-128, 2016 128 Shen, R. (2009). Using English Song: an Enjoyable and Effective Approach to ELT. Retrieved February 12, 2012, from (Online), (http://ccsenet.org) Šišková, D. (2008). Teaching vocabulary through music. Diploma Thesis. Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. Sloboda, J. (1985). The musical mind: The cognitive psychology of music. New York: Oxford Science. Wallace, W. T. (1994). Memory of music: effect of melody on recall of text. Journal of Experimental Psychology: [19] Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26(6), 1471-1485. Wang, D. & Kelly, P. (2013). Making vocabulary memorization strategies more effective and enjoyable for first year Chinese university students. The English Teacher, XLII(2), 74-88. Zhang, Y & Wu, L. (2011). Crop classification by forward neural network with adaptive chaotic particle swarm optimization. Sensors, 11(5), 4721-4743. Zhang, Y, Wu, L, Wei, G, & Wang, S. (2011). A novel algorithm for all pairs shortest path problem based on matrix multiplication and pulse coupled neural network. Digital Signal Processing, 21(4), 517-521.



An Investigation into the State of Status Planning of Tiv Language of Central Nigeria

Atonde Terkimbi

Department of English Language and Applied Linguistic University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

664 Bristol Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6BJ, United Kingdom E-mail: [email protected] /[email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.129 Received: 19/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.129 Accepted: 21/01/2016 Abstract The Tiv language is one of the major languages spoken in central Nigeria. The language is of the Benue-Congo subclass of the Bantu parent family. It has over four million speakers spoken in five states of Nigeria. The language like many other Nigerian languages is in dire need of language planning efforts and strategies. Some previous efforts were made to plan the language and government too has made policies to back up such efforts. This study therefore examines empirically the current state of the status planning of the language and its implication for the future and survival of the language. Status planning deals with the allocation of functions to a community’s language(s). The functions investigated here include the educational, the media and home functions and it has been discovered that the language has a weak functional status. This therefore requires some conscious and deliberate language engineering strategies to be set in motion to rescue the language from its present bleak and weak functional status, to which end some recommendations have been made. Keywords: Language planning, Status planning, Nigerian languages, Tiv language 1. Introduction Nigeria is a multimodal multilingual society (if we follow Fishman’s (1972) classification of nations as either amodal, unimodal or multimodal) with several great linguistic, cultural, religious and political traditions. While Crozier, Blench and Hansford (1992) keep the number at over 250, Ethnologue (2015) lists 527 languages with varying degrees of endangerment. These figures present a picture of what the linguistic composition looks like even if some seem exaggerated. Tiv language is one of the major languages spoken in central Nigeria in the states of Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, Plateau and some parts of Cross River with a numerical strength of over 4 million speakers. It is the major language spoken by the Tiv people who occupy the greater part of the Benue Valley. The language co-exists with other languages like Idoma, Igede, Jukun, Etulo, Abakwa and Alago. Considering the fact that this language is a major language in central Nigeria and it coexists among other languages, the need to consciously plan it to make it more viable and usable within its community becomes very expedient. This is so because in multimodal speech communities issues of language planning are not a given and are not allowed to follow a natural selection process but are given attention and efforts made to ensure that all the language resources of the community are properly harnessed and utilised in such a manner that does not disadvantage other languages or groups. This study focuses on investigating empirically the state of the ‘status planning’ of Tiv language. Status planning deals with the allocation of functions to a language or among a community’s languages (Cooper 1989) to enable it/them serve the purposes for which they are supposed. The primary concern of status planning therefore is the conscious allocation of functions to a language(s) in a speech community. This research therefore investigates the current level of planning of Tiv language in relation to the functions allocated to it or those it is serving at the moment and the implications of such status on the future of the language. In doing so, the study seeks to provide answers to the following questions: What are the functions the Tiv language is serving in Benue State? Is Tiv language used in the educational system? Is Tiv language used in the media? Is Tiv language used in the homes? The questions above relate to the key functions a language is expected to serve especially at the regional or national level.


ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 130 This paper is structured in seven subsections as follows: brief history of Tiv Language, theoretical framework, literature review, methodology, analysis, conclusion, recommendations and suggestions for further study. 2. A Brief Background of the Origin and Development of Tiv Language The Word “Tiv” refers to the people as well as their language. The paradigm also extends to cover the ancestor of the people. Hembe (2005) affirms this that “the word ‘Tiv’ refers to the people, their language as well as their progenitor” (30). When used as the language it is usually prefixed with the prefix ‘zwa’ (Zwa-Tiv – Tiv language) as it is typical of the Bantu languages. The Tiv Language belongs to the parent language family called the Bantu language family which is the dominant language family southern half of the African landmass spoken by over 157 million people (Benji 1989:991). There is enough internal (Gbor, 1986 and Abraham, 1940) and historical evidence to support this classification. Abraham for example states categorically that ‘The Tiv are an originally Bantu tribe who have penetrated so far west as to become cut off from the main body and isolated among the Sudanic people’ (5). Hembe (2005) comments relevantly on the authenticity of Abraham’s conclusion that

on the basis of linguistic affinities, he (Abraham) along with other scholars demonstrated the close connection between the Tiv and the Bantu Nyanza. The language similarity is so striking that no one is left in doubt that Tiv is a real Bantu and not just a Semi-Bantu language. This striking linguistic similarity suggests that the Tiv and the Bantu Nyanza once lived together or at least they lived as neighbours (35).

But the most specific subclass to which the Tiv language belongs is the Benue-Congo language family. Hembe (2005) backs up the basis for this subcategorisation. According to him ‘a more generally accepted suggestion, which is, also supported by empirical evidence, is that the Tiv migrated to their present location from the Congo region of Central Africa’ (35). Other scholars too agree with the fact that the Tiv were not originally of this place where they are today. Makar (1994:5) also maintains that the Tiv people migrated along the Benue coast through the Cameroon highlands as a result of increasing pressures and hostilities among their neighbours, wars and hardship, to the present location they are among the valleys of rivers Benue and Katsina-Ala. Yuhe (1978) too suggests that Tiv people faced with the hostility of their neighbours, abandoned their home and left for safety (Yuhe in Hembe 2005:35). The Tiv are located in five states of central Nigeria – Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Plateau and some parts of Cross River. Their principal occupation is farming as is the case with many of the languages within its family as opposed to the Afro-Asiatic and Sudanic languages whose speakers are predominantly nomads and traders. The Tiv language during its early period of growth and development had a lot of contacts with other languages like the Bafum, the Hausa, Fulani, The Jukun, Chamba and the Kuteb. This contact was as a result of trade and migration, and these languages have had considerable influences on the development of the Tiv language. Many of the words found in Tiv language are of foreign origin and mostly of the Hausa-Fulani, Chamba and Jukun languages. One of the major influences on the development of the Tiv language is the Dutch Reform Church Mission (DRCM) which came under the auspices of the United Sudan Mission (SUM) to Tiv land in 1911 and settled at Sai village in Shitire (Akiga 1939:1). The missionaries are acknowledged for this role because they emphasised the use of the Tiv language or other indigenous languages, as a matter of policy, in their evangelisation mission. As a result, they developed the Tiv from a purely oral to a written language. They developed the Tiv alphabet from the English alphabet with the exception of two letters “X” and “Q” from Tiv which are present in English. Gbor (1986) summarises that

The idea to develop and reduce Tiv into a written language was first enacted by the Dutch Reformed Missionaries (DRCM) who arrived in Tivland from South Africa in 1911. They adopted most of the English alphabets (sic) exception of the “Q” and “X” which are truly conspicuously absent in Tiv pronunciation. The DRCM developed the language and taught all Christian and other subjects in it (1).

They also wrote books of grammar and liturgical literature, which culminated in the translation of the Bible from English to Tiv language in 1964. The translation of the Bible from English to Tiv is a major impetus to the development of Tiv language because it has helped in preserving the language in its original form. Up till now, the Tiv Bible called “Bibilo” still remains one of the most authentic books housing the Tiv language that can be looked upon as a normative “standard”. The DRCM apart from developing and making available written literature also promoted the teaching and learning of Tiv language. They established schools and ensured the teaching, learning and use of Tiv language as medium of instruction. This contributed immensely to the development of Tiv language. The N.K.S.T Church commonly called the “Tiv Church” – by Non-Tivs is a lexical metamorphosis of the DRCM. However, the granting of independence to the Tiv Church from its parent mission in 1957 witnessed a decline of interest in Tiv language. The evangelists who were assigned the duty of education in mission schools initially took Tiv language seriously but with time their commitment dwindled, and as a result the language no longer had an impact. They did not continue with the vigour with which their predecessors – the DRCM and CRC – promoted Tiv Language (Gbor 1986:1).

ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 131 The arrival of other religious groups into Tiv land did not do any good to Tiv language. This is because many of them did not favour or promote the use of Tiv language in the conduct of evangelism and other liturgical rites and activities. They rather preferred English language and used interpreters to reach out to the people. This therefore slowed down the pace of the growth of Tiv language in many parts of Tiv land – where the DRCM were not in control of missionary activities. The post-independence political leadership too did not pay any particular attention to indigenous languages. Though indigenous languages have been given considerations in the educational policy, but Government has failed to implement its policy. The teaching of the Tiv language is still in effect in schools but not very effective and the teaching is not even enforced. However, the bleak picture painted above does not completely indicate that the Tiv language has remained stagnant. Some considerable efforts have been made especially by Tiv writers in areas of grammar and literature. Some of such works include Orkar’s grammar books – over ten of them written by Kpamor Orkar, Lydia Ingbiankyaa’s (course books) Hen Zwa Tiv 1 - 5, Tar Homon u Botwev by G.T. Humbe (1962), Adan-Wade Kohol Ga, (1982) by Suemo Chia, Dikishonali I Tiv by Sefan Gyangyan (2000) - and few others. This is a good signal but the picture painted by the amount of literature in the language shows that there is no enough available written literature in Tiv. This historical survey therefore shows that Tiv language has in recent times not received enough attention as compared to its early periods of development. Though this history appears in gloomy colours, the fact remains that Tiv language has a lot of prospects for development than extinction, if significant efforts are made. 3. Theoretical Framework Theoretical perspectives in language planning dwell most specifically on the foci of planning, and sociolinguists, notably Joshua Fishman (1968, 1972, 1974), Charles Ferguson (1968), Einar Haugen (1971, 1983), Joan Rubin (1971), Heinz Kloss (1969) and Robert Cooper (1989) among others, have given considerable attention to these theoretical perspectives. The theoretical framework for this research is based on the foci of language planning identified by Heinz Kloss (1969) and Robert Cooper (1989). Kloss identifies two of the foci: status and corpus planning, and Cooper identifies the third: Acquisition planning. This research is modelled or based on the status, corpus and acquisition planning dimensions. Corpus planning, according to Cooper (1989) ‘refers to activities such as coining of new terms, reforming spelling, and adopting a new script. It refers in short, to creation of new forms, the modification of old ones, or the selection from alternative forms a spoken or written code (31). He enumerates the processes and concepts involved in corpus planning, namely cultivation, reform, standardization, selection, codification, modernisation and elaboration. Cooper’s words clearly indicate that the focus of corpus planning is on the structure or form of the language - the corpus. That is, its spoken and written forms. Status planning, on the other hand, “refers to deliberate efforts to influence the allocation of functions among a community’s languages” (Cooper1989:99). Other scholars like Rubin (1971:340) refer to it as “Language Allocation”. The most widely recognised term in linguistic discourse, however, is status planning. The emphasis of this type of planning is on the functional allocation of the language(s) within a speech community. A well-known list of language functions is the one which Stewarts (1968:22) provides in his discussion of national multilingualism. He states the following functions as the foci of status planning: Official, provincial, wider communication, international, capital, group, educational, school subjects, literary, religious, mass media and work. The third type of language planning strategy is Acquisition Planning. While Corpus and Status planning take care of the structural and functional levels of language, Acquisition planning focuses on language teaching and learning. When the form and function of language are planned, there is usually the need for the teaching and learning (acquisition) too to be planned. Cooper (1989), its main proponent, defines Acquisition planning as “organized efforts to promote the learning of a language” (3). As stated earlier, the present study draws on these three dimensions of language planning but focuses specifically on status planning as it relates more directly to its primary concern. 4. Literature Review 4.1 The Concept of Language Planning The literature on language planning has several concepts, some of which include: Language Planning, Language Engineering, Linguistic Engineering, Language Development, Language Management, Language Regulation and Language Treatment. These concepts are in most cases products of lexical innovations, or preferences by some scholars. In some strict sense, there may be some little semantic variation among them which may still keep them within the same semantic continuum. In this study, the concept “Language Planning” is adopted. Language Planning has been given several definitions by different scholars. According to Das Gupta, it is “a set of deliberate activities systematically designed to organize and develop the language resources of the community in an ordered schedule of time” (157). In Fishman’s (1983) words “it is the organized pursuit of solutions to language problems typically at the national level” (79). Gorman (1973) on his part defines it as ‘coordinated measures taken to select, codify and, in some cases, to elaborate orthographic, grammatical, lexical, or semantic features of a language and to disseminate the corpus agreed upon’ (73).

ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 132 Cooper who has had an enduring impact on language planning defines it as “deliberate efforts to influence the behaviour of others with respect to the acquisition, structure and functional allocation of their codes” (1989:45). Cooper’s definition seem to have a wider scope as it embraces the three major foci of planning and also emphasises the key component: ‘behaviour’ and mentions ‘codes’ as language planning incorporates a broader semiotic scope than just language in the strict sense. This is so because language planning is intimately connected with and influenced by socio-demographic, linguistic, socio-psychological, political and religious factors (Appel and Muysken 1990:56). 4.2 Processes and Programmes in Language Planning Language planning is not a random or an accidental activity but a well-conceived and executed one. It involves “the design and implementation of strategies (conscious and deliberate steps) towards the rehabilitation and optimal utilization of individual languages” (HBC Capo 1990:1). It is an activity that is very methodical, involving several processes, concepts, stages, actors and programmes. Linguists have identified these processes, concepts, etc to be very useful in language planning. One of such scholars who dwells on some of the concepts is HBC Capo (1990). According to him,

In the textbooks, mention is made of such concepts as codification, standardisation, modernization development, reform etc. . . . Most of the time codification refers to writing, but it is more embracing than graphisation whereas the latter seems restricted to devising an alphabet or any other writing system (such as syllabary), the former includes the production of primers, spelling books, grammar books, dictionaries etc. Codification is like standardization except that the latter aims explicitly at a normalized (and prescribed) orthography and pronunciation prescriptive dictionary etc. As for modernization, it generally connotes expansion of the lexicon i.e. the creation and adoption of abstract and precise notions needed in philosophy, slaw, science and technology. The same applies to development except that this may not be restricted to vocabulary (1)

Capo’s insight indicate that language planning is a continuing and dialectic process including orthography design, corpus planning, materials development, encouragement of language use at all levels to account for and communicate the experiences of the speakers as well as aspects of the human legacy called language (Capo 1990:2). It shows that language planning is an omnibus process with several tentacles. Language planning may be carried out for different goals such as language purification, language reform, language revival and language standardization (Lucas and Nercissians 1988:2). Cooper too agrees with Lucas and Nercissians that if the establishment of the Académie Française, the promotion of Hebrew in Palestine, the American feminist movement’s campaign against sex bias in language, and the Ethiopian mass literacy campaign exemplify language planning, then language planning is directed towards a variety of ends and encompasses a variety of means (1989:29). He proceeds further that in language planning certain questions have to be answered. These are: who, plans what, for whom and how? Language planning as seen above is therefore a conscious and engaging activity involving several processes, factors and agents, and needs to be given the desired attention to achieve enduring and fruitful outcomes. 4.3 Language Planning in Africa One of Africa’s notable scholars, Ngugi wa Thiong’o has attributed the epileptic planning moves made by several planners and the state of African language to the continuous presence of foreign languages in Africa (2003:157). He decries this development and argues that African languages have great potentials for development and should be harnessed by African linguists and intellectuals. He commends the efforts of such scholars like of like Kwesi Kwaa Prah who is doing so much to advocate the use of African languages in all fields of learning, even in scientific thought. Others include Neville Alexander of South Africa who chaired the committee that came up with the new very enlightened South African policy on languages, and Kwesi Weridu, who long ago called on African philosophers to engage issues in African languages (Ngugi 2003:160). Several other examples mentioned by him include, the continued Ethiopean Scholarship in African languages (160-161). Ngugi (2003) therefore sees a similar commitment by other African intellectuals as a solution to her language problem. He is optimistic that it can be done and as has been done in Tanzania where Kiswahili has now developed a massive vocabulary in all branches of learning (161). To him, all it takes is courage and hardwork. He cites the case of Gatua wa Mbugua, a graduate student at Cornell University who in 2003 presented and successfully defended his Masters dissertation on “Bio-intensive Agriculture” to the department of crop science. According to Ngugi ‘There is nothing unusual in this, what is new is the fact that the entire masters was in Gikuyu language… He wrote the entire thesis in Gikuyu before translating it for his teachers who, of course, had to evaluate the scientific content’ (161). Gatua’s effort is a bold step with its roots on hardwork and courage. Ngugi therefore calls for African intellectuals to do for their languages and cultures, what other intellectuals in history have done for theirs (164). Another notable African linguist, Sammy Beban Chumbow (2003), also shares the same view as Ngugi and most specifically on language planning in education, science and technology. He says that linguists, psycholinguists and anthropological linguists agree however, that the use of the child’s mother tongue as medium of instruction in the school system has significant advantages over the use of an exoglossic language (170). He further adds that “the effective mobilisation of the masses of the rural population for national development requires the democratisation of access not only in an exoglossic language but also in a language (or languages) the people know best: an African national language” (171). He summarises the psychological and educational advantages of using the child’s mother

ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 133 tongue in the school system to include a greater participation of Africans in the life of their nation, a better development of adult education, as a means of transmitting and preserving cultural values, a greater interaction between ethnic groups and a higher degree of national awareness, a better quality of human resources for national development and a democratisation of access to scientific knowledge and technology to the benefit of the masses of the rural population (172-173).These advantages as enumerated by Chumbow really make a lot of promise of benefit to African languages and African development. However, there are those who have some objections to the thinking of Chumbow (2003) and his contemporaries. Some of such objections claim that African languages have no grammar. Others believe that the use of indigenous languages will impede the acquisition of the official languages. Children who attend schools where African languages are used will be at a disadvantage. Chumbow (2003), like Ngugi, argues against these objections. He calls them “objectionable objections” without any strong or rational basis. He however admits that the use of African languages in Africa has some key practical problems. The first he identifies is the inadequacy of scientific and technical vocabulary. The second point he raises is the multiplicity of languages in Africa. The third dwells on cost and resources and the last is the shortage of adequately trained teachers to teach in African languages (178). Chumbow’s position is that, for the African languages to be developed to serve their supposed functions, the above problems must be given considerable attention. This is a strong point that must not be neglected if our languages are to forge ahead. One aspect of the development of African languages which engages Chumbow’s attention most, is science and technology. He sees indigenous languages as the foundation for science and technology. According to him, indigenous languages are the vectors of indigenous science, culture and knowledge and should therefore be identified, developed and elaborated (2003:180-181). This implies that for Africa to contribute its quota in science and technology, there is the need to develop a culture of science and technology. This can be achieved through the demystification and democratisation of access to knowledge in science and technology by the use of community languages in education and the delivery of social services for national development. Chumbow therefore, advises that ‘African Governments should endeavour to allocate the funds necessary for the enterprise’ (2003:190). This is an advice that must not be neglected because national development in Africa has an intimate connection with language development. The development of Africa is therefore dependent on the development of African languages. Capo (1990), like Ngugi (2003) and Chumbow (2003), also examines the status of African languages. To him, they have marginal status because they are not the official languages of the countries where they are spoken. They are “unjustifiably discriminated against”. He says that “this situation must change so that African languages can be used to democratise knowledge and power” (2). He sees the over use and teaching of European languages as media of instruction throughout the formal school system as one of the reasons for the high degree of drop outs from the school system, and that it is bound to impede economic take-off of our countries and misdirect our priorities (2). He therefore maintains that more proactive steps be taken and a comprehensive scheme be designed to ensure the effective implementation of the language planning agenda for African languages (3). The solution to the above problem lies in the effective commitment of the linguists to the liberation struggle, such as providing an optimal orthographic system of their languages. The liberation of African languages must follow from their re-acquiring the property of intellectualisation (Capo:4-6). It is demonstratively true from Capo’s words that African languages need to be intellectualised as an impetus to their functional survival. 4.4 Tiv Language Planning The Tiv language too does not seem to be an exception from the many African languages that are in dire need of language engineering efforts and programmes. One of the Tiv language scholars, G.A. Gundu (1990) admits the fact that the Tiv language especially “Tivphone literature” as he calls it - the literature written in the Tiv language, has a lot of obstacles which need to be surmounted before the language can forge head. He categorises these obstacles into two; linguistic and sociological. The linguistic ones include (a) inconsistent language policy, (b) dichotomy between the oral and written forms and (c) challenges of the orthography. While the sociological ones cover questions bothering on issues like (a) the threat of the majority languages’ literatures over the Tiv language and (b) the issues about distribution (Gundu 1990:146). He also emphasises that in the Tiv language there is a great gap between the written and spoken modes. “A problem which appears difficult to reconcile despite various recognisable efforts made by several scholars in this direction” (1990:148). According to him, this problem spills over into the transcription. He identifies the disparities in transcription. The first is by indicating tone marks while the second is by ignoring them. These difficulties, according to him, have led to inconsistencies in the transcription of the Tiv language and the orthography. Gundu also addresses the issue of the orthography. He sees the challenges posed by the Tiv orthography of great concern for the survival of Tivphone literature. He maintains that unlike some other Nigerian languages, Tiv language has an orthography published by the National Language Centre (1983) with Robert G. Armstrong as the author but unfortunately, it has not reached the hands of the ordinary users of the language but rather only among linguists. This problem is quite practical because the existence of the Tiv orthography is not known to many and the most important issue emanating from it is the distance between it and its users. This has generated a lot of inconsistencies in the spelling of Tiv words. He (Gundu) enumerates inconsistencies in the works of such writers like Suemo Chia - Adan-Wade Kohol Ga (1982) and G.T. Humbe - Tar Homon U Botwev (1961). These issues relating to the orthography must not be taken for granted because they have considerable influence on the development of the Tiv language.

ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 134 Gundu (1990) however does not only identify the problem but also suggests some useful steps and strategies for the development of Tiv language. The first strategy he mentions concerns the National Policy on Education (NPE). According to him “if the language aspect of the NPE is implemented meaningfully in the Tiv speaking areas of the country, it will boost the production and consumption of the literature”(153). The second strategy he dwells on is on the gap between the authors and their readers. He states that ‘another factor that is likely to motivate and increase readership of Tivphone literature is the conscious efforts made by some of the authors to narrow the gap of interest between them and the readers of their works’ (153). Another prospect he identifies “lies in modern technology where visual and phonological gadgets have been developed which can be used for the documentation and preservation of the oral form of the literature without trying to reduce it to writing”(154). From Gundu’s (1990) views, we can deduce that the Tiv language literature has some obstacles militating against its development, but there is hope for its survival if careful and thoughtful planning is done. Though his views are based on Tivphone literature, they are seemingly representative of the state of the Tiv language because the fundamental issues he has raised are not restricted only to the literature but to the entire language. R.G. Armstrong’s (1986) publication, Orthographies of Nigerian Languages: Manual Four, in which the orthography of the Tiv language is contained was a good effort but there seems to be no further development as promised in the NPE. Captain R.C. Abraham’s books: A Dictionary of the Tiv Language (1940), The Principles of Tiv (1940), Tiv Reader for European Students (1940), Tiv Phonetic and Tonal Principles (1940), The Bantu Features of Tiv (1940), English-Tiv Dictionary (1940) and The Tiv People (1940) made some enduring impact on the language especially in relation to its structure, phonology and lexico-semantics. What is evident today is a lack of interest and commitment. Abraham is not even a Tiv person. He was a European Administrator in Tivland, but gave this amount of attention to the Tiv language. If only Tiv intellectuals gave this same degree of attention to their language, it could have grown by now to an inestimable level. What this suggests is the need for a renewed sense of commitment to the Tiv language by the Tiv intellectuals. The above review has revealed that the planning and development of Tiv language like many African languages have suffered some setbacks in many respects and therefore require urgent attention. Also considering the fact that some of the literature on the language seems a bit old, the present study seeks to investigate empirically the current state of the language, and most specifically the functions it currently serves within its speech community and the implications thereof. 5. Methodology 5.1 Research Design The survey design is adopted for this study. The survey design focuses on large populations. This research design is adopted for this research because of the large data involved. As a result, not all the subjects or items in the population can be studied. Hence the survey design selects a sample from the population using some techniques of sampling (Asika 2006, 13). One major feature of all survey designs is lack of control which leads to a high and objective degree of reliability. The focus of this research is on language planning and so the survey design is appropriate for it in the sense that it makes room for representative and objective views about the problem in question. 5.2 Area of the Study This research covers the Tiv speaking area of Benue State. This implies that the data is restricted to the Tiv people located in Benue State and not those in the other neighbouring states like Nassarawa, Taraba, Plateau, Cross-River etc. This restriction is because of space and time factors. 5.3 Population of the Study The population of this study comprises of twenty eight (28) respondents each from the following stakeholders in Tiv language planning: The clergy, second class chiefs, lecturers, teachers, students, linguists, parents, top government functionaries and members of Tiv Language Studies and Development Association. These sum up to two hundred and fifty two (252). The choice of the respondents is because of their roles as stakeholders/actors in language planning and the Tiv language in particular which implies that they will have more informed views about the subject matter. The choice of twenty eight from each group is for equal distribution based on the number of Tiv Local Government Areas in Benue State. That is, two each in every group from the fourteen (14) local governments. 5.4 Sample and Sampling The total of two hundred and fifty two (252) respondents that represent the population of the study comprises of reverend fathers, pastors, second class chiefs, lecturers in Benue State University, and College of Education Katsina-Ala, Primary and Secondary School teachers, Parents, Directors in the Benue State Ministry of Education, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Teaching Service Board, Secondary School and University students. 5.5 Instrumentation and Method of Data Collection The instrument used for data collection for this research is the questionnaire (Appendix 1). The items developed in the questionnaire relate directly to the planning of Tiv language function(s). The questionnaire has three possible options to show acceptance, rejection or indifference as can be seen below

ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 135 [Y] YES [N] NO

[NS] NOT SURE This is to enable the respondents to indicate the responses that suit their opinion. The 11-item questionnaire was administered to the target respondents (personally) with an appeal to respond to the questions appropriately, honestly and objectively. 5.6 Validation of the Instrument The developed instrument - the questionnaire - was validated so as to ensure reliability. The items in the questionnaire went through a thorough screening exercise by experts/linguists in the department of languages and linguistics, Benue State University, Makurdi. The criteria for inclusion of items in the questionnaire include simplicity, clarity, appropriateness of word use and relevance to the research questions. 5.7 Method of Data Presentation and Analysis The completed questionnaires were collected and presented in tables using a percentile analytical method. The analysis is done using the formula below

%1

100=X

TNRNR

NR= Number of Respondents

TNR=Total Number of Respondent

% = Percentages of Population Sampled. 6. Data Analysis and Discussion of Findings Below is the analysis of the data obtained from two hundred and twenty eight (228) respondents recovered out of the two hundred and fifty two (252) that were administered. The analysis is in two parts. The first is the tabular representation and analysis and the second is the discussion of findings. 6.1 Data Presentation and Analysis Question 1. Is there enough written literature in Tiv language to enable it function as a national and or regional

language? Table 1. Respondents’ views on the availability and adequacy of Tiv written literature

RESPONSES NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGES (%) YES 90 39.47% NO 122 53.51% NOT SURE 16 07.02% TOTAL 228 100%

From table 1, we can see that 90 respondents agreed that there is enough written literature in Tiv, 122 disagreed and 16 were not sure. This suggests that the existing written literature in Tiv language is not adequate enough. Question 2. Is Tiv Language adequate enough to be used in mathematical processes?

Table 2. Respondents’ views on the adequacy of Tiv language for mathematical processes RESPONSES NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGES (%) YES 40 17.53% NO 164 71.93% NOT SURE 24 10.53% TOTAL 228 100%

As table 2 shows, 40 respondents agreed that Tiv language is adequate enough to be used in mathematical processes, 164 disagreed while 24 were not sure. Since the number of respondents who disagreed are more than those who agreed and or were not sure, it is indicative that Tiv language is not adequate enough to be used in mathematical and by extension scientific and technological processes.

ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 136 Question 3a Is Tiv Language taught as a subject in schools in the Tiv speaking areas of Benue State?

Table 3a. Respondents’ views on the teaching of Tiv language as a school subject in Benue State

RESPONSES NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGES (%) YES 16 07.02% NO 186 81.58% NOT SURE 26 11.40% TOTAL 228 100%

Table 3a above shows that shows that 16 respondents agreed that Tiv language is taught as a subject in schools in the Tiv speaking areas of Benue State, 186 disagreed while 26 were not sure. This is suggestive that Tiv language is not taught as a subject in schools even in the Tiv speaking areas of Benue State. Question 3b If “Yes” to “a” above, is there any commitment by teachers to its teaching?

Table 3b. Respondents’ views on the commitment to the teaching of Tiv language in Benue state

RESPONSES NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGES (%) YES 0 0.0% NO 16 100% NOT SURE 0 0.0% TOTAL 16 100%

The responses for question 3b as presented in table 3b show that all the respondents disagreed that there is no commitment by teachers to the teaching of Tiv language in the Tiv speaking areas of Benue State. No respondents agreed nor were not sure. This therefore indicates that even in the instance where little efforts are made to teach Tiv language, there is no commitment to it. Question 4. Are there enough Tiv language teachers?

Table 4. Respondents’ views on the availability and adequacy of Tiv language teachers RESPONSES NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) YES 18 07.89% NO 202 88.60% NOT SURE 08 03.51% TOTAL 228 100%

18 respondents, as can be seen in table 4, agreed that there are enough Tiv language teachers, 202 disagreed while 08 were not sure. This suggests a dearth of Tiv language teachers. Question 5. Is Tiv Language used as a medium of instruction in the primary and junior secondary schools in the Tiv speaking areas of Benue State? Table 5. Respondents’ views on the use of Tiv language as a medium of instruction in schools in Benue State

RESPONSES NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) YES 24 10.53% NO 178 78.07% NOT SURE 26 11.40% TOTAL 228 100%

Table 5 above shows that 24 respondents agreed that Tiv language is used as the medium of instruction in the primary and junior secondary schools in the Tiv speaking areas of Benue State, 178 disagreed, while 26 were not sure. This indicates that Tiv language is not used as a medium of instruction in the primary and junior secondary schools in Benue State, even though the NPE stipulates so.

ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 137 Question 6.Should Tiv language be made a compulsory school subject for all Tiv children in the primary and secondary schools in Benue State?

Table 6. Respondents’ views on making Tiv language a compulsory school subject in the primary and secondary schools in Benue State


Table 6 above indicates that 208 respondents agreed that there is need to make Tiv language a compulsory subject for all Tiv children in the primary and secondary schools, 06 disagreed, while 14 were not sure. This indicates that there is need to make Tiv language a compulsory school subject for Tiv children in the primary and secondary schools in Benue State. Question 7. Is there any need for a B.A. degree in Tiv Language?

Table 7. Respondents’ views on the need for a B.A. degree in Tiv language RESPONSES NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE (%) YES 216 94.34% NO 04 01.75% NOT SURE 08 03.51% TOTAL 228 100%

In table 7 above, we can see that 216 respondents agreed that there is need for a B.A. degree in Tiv language, 04 disagreed, while 08 were not sure. This suggests a genuine need for a B.A. degree in Tiv Language in Nigerian Universities in order to train specialists in the language. Question 8. Do educated Tiv parents speak with their children in Tiv language in the homes?

Table 8. Respondents’ views on educated parents’ use of Tiv language in the homes with their children


From Table 8 above, 08 respondents agreed that educated Tiv parents speak Tiv language to their children at home, 218 disagreed while 02 was not sure. This shows that most educated Tiv parents do not speak Tiv language to their children at home. Question 9. Does Tiv Language feature frequently on Radio in Benue State? Table 9. Respondents’ views on the frequency of Tiv language on radio in Benue State


ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 138 Table 9 above shows that 64 respondents agreed that Tiv Language features frequently on Radio in Benue State, 146 disagreed while 18 were not sure. Based on the data above, we can deduce that Tiv language does not feature prominently and frequently on radio in Benue State. Question 10. Does Tiv Language feature frequently on Television in Benue State? Table 10. Respondents’ views on the frequency of Tiv language on television in Benue State


04 respondents as can be seen in table 10 above agreed that Tiv Language features frequently on Television in Benue State, 218 disagreed, while 06 were not sure, suggesting that Tiv Language features very infrequently on television in Benue State. Question 11. Does Tiv Language feature frequently in the Print Media? Table 11. Respondents’ views on the frequency of Tiv language in the print media in Benue State


Table 11 above shows that 02 respondent agreed that Tiv Language features frequently in the print media in Benue State, 222 disagreed, while 04 were not sure. Since those who disagreed are divergently higher, it is indicative that Tiv Language does not feature frequently in the print media in Benue State. 6.1 Discussion of Findings The data analysis has answered a lot of fundamental questions regarding the functional aspect of Tiv language planning and development. The functions of the language that were investigated in this study include, use in schools as a medium of structure, as a school subject as well as a degree course, the media, science and technology and the home, among others. The analysis suggests a bleak status as most of the questions were answered in the negative. For example the pedagogical aspect of Tiv language which is crucial to the survival of any language does not seem to receive the desired attention. There is therefore the need for more to be done by enforcing the teaching of Tiv language in schools. As part of such efforts, a B.A. degree in Tiv language becomes one of the necessary and significant pre-requisites. The Federal and State Governments’ commitment which, as the data has proven, is lacking has to be reaffirmed so as to give the language a firm backing and to make laws and policies in favour of Tiv language. The positive attitude of parents to Tiv language, especially the need to speak Tiv language to their children, will also be very significant to Tiv language development. The use of Tiv in the media also suffers a dearth of frequency. Tiv native speakers must cultivate the habit of using Tiv language in the media: newspapers, magazines, journals, radio and television. The ministries of education, information, communication and culture need to act positively in this direction. The findings of this study corroborate the findings of other scholars like Emenanjo (1990), Essien (1990), Williamson (1990) and Jibril (2006) who have identified and decried a similar dearth of attention given to the Nigerian languages. Emenanjo (1990) identifies the need for language engineering efforts to be expedited to develop Nigerian languages. He calls for the establishment of language planning agencies for all Nigerian languages in order to pay more enduring attention to language planning programmes, processes and issues concerning them thereby averting the danger or risk of extinction they stand. Essien’s (1990) views are in many respects similar to Emenanjo’s. Acording to him, the status of most Nigerian languages is one of low priority and underdevelopment. He identifies four factors as being responsible for the current state of Nigerian languages. These include: the Constitution, the National Policy on Education, the non-implementation of policy and the attitude of the Nigerian elite. The attitude of educated parents towards Tiv language as the findings of the present study have shown goes a long way to confirm Essien’s views. Williamson (1990) like Emenanjo and Essien sees the cooperation between the speakers of the languages and the language planning agencies as a useful strategy for the planning development of Nigerian languages. To her, the role of the speakers of the language is key to its development and survival.

ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 139 Jibril (2006) also reiterates the same position as Emenanjo as he laments the danger of extinction hanging on Nigerian languages and therefore calls for some significant efforts to be made to avert this ugly development. Tiv language, like many other Nigerian languages, belongs to this category of endangered languages as the findings have shown that it has a week functional status. 7. Conclusion The findings of this study have shown that the current functional status of Tiv language is weak as it does not seem to be serving the functions it is supposed. Therefore some conscious efforts need to be made to develop and enable it function optimally. Such efforts, as seen in the analysis and as contained in the recommendations, must not be taken for granted so as to ensure the survival, growth and development of the language. The effective application of such strategies like the writing of books for Tiv language, encouragement of authors, parents’ predilections for speaking Tiv language to their children, the promotion of Tiv language in the schools and the media, language sensitisation, revival and promotion, Government’s commitment and the linguists’ involvement and commitment will go a long way in the development of Tiv language and culture. But above all, the role and commitment of the native speakers who are the owners of the language are the most crucial factors in the development of Tiv language. As Williamson (1990:144) maintains, the task of developing indigenous languages is the principal responsibility of the owners of the language. If they care for them, they will develop them, if they do not, then the language will inevitably die in favour of another language. Tiv language too if not given the desired attention will gradually die in favour of English language, which is already engulfing it as cataract does to the lens of the eye. The Tiv native speakers must therefore rise up to this challenge in order to do to their language what other intellectuals in history have done to theirs (Ngugi 2003). 8. Recommendations

Based on the results of the study, the following recommendations are made: i. Tiv Language-medium authors be encouraged through research grants and sponsorship of their publications. ii. Tiv language be made a compulsory subject in schools in Benue State especially among Tiv pupils and

students. In addition, the medium of instruction in the primary and junior secondary schools in the Tiv speaking areas of Benue State be Tiv language.

iii. A B.A. degree in Tiv language be mounted in Nigerian Universities. iv. An academy be established for Tiv language. v. Tiv parents, especially educated parents, should endeavour to speak to their children in Tiv language. vi. More teachers be trained for Tiv language. vii. Tiv-medium newspapers and media houses be established. viii. The number of radio and especially television hours for Tiv language in Benue State be increased

considerably. ix. Language sensitisation efforts and cultural revival movements for Tiv language be embarked upon. x. The Tiv native speakers should show commitment, and form positive attitudes towards their language. This is

cardinal to Tiv language development because the bulk of the task of developing Tiv language rests in their hands.

9. Suggestions for Further Study This study embarked on the ambitious task of investigating the planning of Tiv language but focused on only one aspect of it: status planning. The other two: corpus and acquisition were not dealt with. Further research in these directions would prove useful in providing more holistic and illuminating insights about the language. Even within the status planning, not all the functions of the language were investigated such as the religious and administrative ones which are equally crucial in status planning. More in-depth studies addressing all the key functions of the language be embarked upon. The method adopted for this study was quantitative using the instrument of the questionnaire which certainly has its limitations. Studies utilising other approaches like qualitative or mixed methods would bring complementary insights to bear on an objective understanding of the subject matter. References Abraham, R.C. (1940). The Tiv people (2nd ed).. London: Crown Agents. --- (1940). A dictionary of the Tiv language. London: Crown Agents. --- (1940). The principles of Tiv. London: Crown Agents. --- (1940). Tiv reader for European students. London: Crown Agents. --- (1940). Tiv phonetic and tonal principles. London: Crown Agents. --- (1940). The Bantu features of Tiv. London: Crown Agents.

ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 140 --- (1940). English-Tiv dictionary. London: Crown Agents. Armstrong, R.G. (Ed.). (1986). Orthographies of Nigerian languages: Manual IV. National Language Centre, Federal Ministry of Education, Lagos. Appel R. and Myusken, P. (1990). Language contact and bilingualism. London: Edward Arnold. Asika, N. (2006). Research methodology in the behavioural sciences. Lagos: Longman. Benji, W. (1989). Swahili and the Bantu Languages. In Comrie, B (Ed.), The Major World Languages. London: Routledge. 991. Blench, R.M. (2002). Research on minority languages of Nigeria in 2001. Ogmios Capo, HBC. (1990). Comparative linguistics and language engineering in Africa. In Emenanjo, E.N (Ed.), Multilingualism, Minority Languages and Language Policy in Nigeria. Agbor: Central. 1-9. Chia, S. (1982). Adan-Wade kohol ga. Makurdi: Satos. Chumbow, B.S. (2003). The Language Question and National Development in Africa. In Mkamdawire, T. (Ed.), African Intellectuals. CODESRIA. Cooper, Robert. (1989). Language planning and social change. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. Crozier, D. & Blench, R. (1992). An index of Nigerian languages (2nd Ed.). Dallas: SIL. Emenanjo, E.N. (1990). In the tradition of the majors: Lessons in language engineering for the minority languages. In Emenanjo, E.N (Ed.), Multilingualism, Minority Languages and Language Policy in Nigeria. Agbor: Central. 88-98. Essien, O.E. (1990). The future of minority languages. In Emenanjo, E.N (Ed.), Multilingualism, Minority Languages and Language Policy in Nigeria. Agbor: Central.155-168. Ethnologue. (2015). Listing of Nigerian Languages. http://www.ethnologue.com/country/NG Federal Government of Nigeria. (2004) National policy on education (4th Ed). Lagos: Federal Government Press. Ferguson, C. (1968). Language development. In Fishman, J. A et al. (Eds.), Language Problems of Developing Nations. New York: John Wiley and Sons. 27-35. Ferguson, C. (1983). Language planning and language change. In Cobarrubias, J and Fishman, J.A. Fishman (Eds.), Progress in Language Planning: International Perspectives. Berlin: Mouton. 29-40. --- (1974). Language Modernisation and planning in comparison with other types of national modernisation and planning. In Fishman, J.A. (Ed.), Advances in Language Planning The Hague: Mouton. 79-102. Gbor, W.T. (1986). Study Tiv language. Zaria: Gaskiya. Gorman, T. P. (1973). Language allocation and language planning in a developing nation. In Rubin, J. and Shuy, R. (Eds.). Language Planning: Current Issues and Research. Washington: Georgetown Up. 72-82. Gundu, G.A. (1990). Problems and prospects of minority language literatures: The case of Tivphone literature. In Emenanjo, E.N (Ed.), Multilingualism, Minority Languages and Language Policy in Nigeria. Agbor: Central. 145-154 Gyanggyang, S. (Ed.). (2000). History of the NKST church: 1911-2000. Makurdi: Lamp and Word. Haugen, E. (1983). The implementation of corpus: Theory and practice. In Cobarrubias, J. and Fishman, J.A. Fishman (Eds.), Progress in Language Planning: International Perspectives. Berlin: Mouton. 269-289. Haugen, E. (1971). Instrumentalism in language planning. In Rubin, J. and Jernudd, B.J. (Eds.), Can Languages be Planned? Sociolinguistic Theory and Practice for Developing Nations. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii. 281-289. Hembe, G.N. (2005). J.S. Tarka: The dilemma of ethnic minority politics in Nigeria. Makurdi: Aboki. Humbe, G.T. (1961). Tar homon u Botwer. Zaria: Gaskiya. Jernudd, B.H. and Das Gupta, J. (1971). Towards a Theory of Language Planning. In Rubin, J. and Jernudd, B.J. (Eds.), Can Languages be Planned? Sociolinguistic Theory and Practice for Developing Nations. The Hague: Mouton. 103-124. Jibril, M. (2006). The future of Nigerian languages. International Journal of Linguistics and Communication. 1. 1-4 Kloss, H. (1969). Abstand languages and ausbau languages. Anthropological Linguistics. 9(7). 29-41. Lucas, C. and Nercissians, E. (1988). A game – theoretical approach to language planning. In Jorgensen, J.N et al (Eds.), Bilingualism in Society and School. Philandelphia: Multilingual matters. 1-10. Makar, T. (1994). The history of political change among the Tiv in the 19th and 20th centuries. Enugu: Fourth Dimension. National Population Commission. Census 2006 Result. Rubin, J. (1971). Evaluation and language planning. In Rubin, J. and Jernudd, B.J. (Eds.), Can Languages be Planned? Sociolinguistic Theory and Practice for Developing Nations. Honolulu: The University Pres of Hawaii. 217-252. Sai, Ak. Akiga’s story. (1939). East, R. (Trans.). London: Oxford Up.

ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 141 Stewart, W. (1968). A sociolinguistic typology for describing national multilingualism. In Fishman, J.A. (Ed.). Readings in the Sociology of Language. The Hague: Mouton. 531-545. Tauli, V. (1968). Introduction to a theory of language planning. Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksell. Wa Thiongo, N. (2003). Europhone or African memory: The challenges of the pan-Africanist intellectual in the era of globalisation. In Mkamdawire, T. (Ed.), African Intellectuals. CODESRIA. Williamson, K. (1990). Development of minority languages: Publishing problems and prospects. In Emenanjo, E.N (Ed.), Multilingualism, Minority Languages and Language Policy in Nigeria. Agbor: Central. 118-144. Yuhe, D.V. (1978). The encounter of Tiv religious and moral values with Catholicism in the time of secularisation (Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis). Pontificia Studicrum Universities at Thomas Aquinate in Urbe, Rome.

Appendix Sample Questionnaire Instructions: Tick [√] Y for YES, N for NO, and NS for NOT SURE as appropriate, from the alternatives provided in each of the questions below. 1. Is there enough written literature in Tiv language to enable it function as a national and or regional language?

[Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]

2. Is Tiv language adequate enough to be used in mathematical process? [Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]

3a. Is Tiv language taught as a subject in schools in the Tiv speaking areas of Benue State? [Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]

3b. If Yes to 13 above, is there any commitment by teachers to its teaching? [Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]

4. Are there enough Tiv Language Teachers? [Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]

5. Is Tiv language used as a medium of instruction in the primary and junior secondary schools in the Tiv speaking areas of Benue State? [Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]

6. Should Tiv language be made a compulsory school subject for all Tiv children in the primary and secondary schools in Benue State? [Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]

7. Is there any need for a B.A. Degree in Tiv Language? [Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]

ALLS 7(2):129-142, 2016 142 8. Do educated Tiv parents speak with their children in Tiv language in the homes?

[Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]

9. Does Tiv language feature frequently on Radio in Benue State? [Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]

10. Does Tiv language feature frequently on Television in Benue State? [Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]

11. Does Tiv language feature frequently in the print media? [Y][ ] [N][ ] [NS][ ]



The Effects of Using Multimodal Approaches in Meaning-Making of 21st Century Literacy Texts Among ESL Students

in a Private School in Malaysia

Malini Ganapathy School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia

Saundravalli A/P Seetharam (Corresponding author)

Fairview International School, Tingkat Bukit Jambul Satu, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia E-mail: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.143 Received: 14/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.143 Accepted: 17/01/2016 Abstract In today’s globalised digital era, students are inevitably engaged in various multimodal texts due to their active participation in social media and frequent usage of mobile devices on a daily basis. Such daily activities advocate the need for a transformation in the teaching and learning of ESL lessons in order to promote students’ capabilities in making meaning of different literacy texts which students come across in their ESL learning activities. This paper puts forth the framework of Multimodality in the restructuring of the teaching and learning of ESL with the aim of investigating its effects and students perspectives on the use of multimodal approaches underlying the Multiliteracies theory. Using focus group interviews, this qualitative case study examines the effectiveness of ESL teaching and learning using the Multimodal approaches on literacy in meaning-making among 15 students in a private school in Penang, Malaysia. The results confirm the need to reorientate the teaching and learning of ESL with the focus on multimodal pedagogical practices as it promotes positive learning outcomes among students. The implications of this study suggest that the multimodal approaches integrated in the teaching and learning of ESL have the capacity to promote students’ autonomy in learning, improve motivation to learn and facilitate various learning styles. Keywords: Multimodal Approaches; Multiliteracies; Monomodal; Flipped Classroom; Literacy; Multimodal texts; Ipad 1. Introduction The dynamic nature of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has largely affected the way people today live, communicate, work and play because elements of computers are found in almost everything (Frost, 1999). Students today are greatly exposed to mobile devices and the World Wide Web which enable them to acquire facts and gain access to various sources of knowledge in a mere touch of a screen.

“There is now a growing consensus that "real life" reading should be the starting point rather than the ending point of teaching initial literacy and that skills such as phonics should be used as a tool in helping learners understand the "print" they see around them. (Wrigley & Guth, 1992)

As seconded by Wrigley & Guth (1992), the dynamic nature of language teaching does not end at learning only grammar, phonics and vocabulary but also involves practical learning of interpreting everything around students today. According to Manan (2012), the fast diffusion of ICT into our daily lives urge for a shift in the literacy pedagogy from conventional teaching approaches to contemporary teaching approaches by enabling integration of ICT into daily lessons. Today’s students are greatly exposed to Multimodal Approaches (MMA) practices on a daily basis which leads to mounting acceptance of a wider range of literacy practices involving both print and digital technologies (Kaur & Ganapathy, 2013). Therefore, the changing nature of students’ exposure and interest in literacy learning has triggered the researcher to analyse the benefits of the MMA in the teaching and learning of ESL. Ganapathy (2011) expresses her view that Malaysian schools are considered to be limited to conventional teaching approaches in classroom confined settings. It is common for ESL educators to utilize print-based texts that are made available to educators in schools as all students have access to these textbooks via the existing Textbook Lending Scheme (Mohd Ghani, Mahmood, Abdul Halim & Rajindra, 2013). Therefore, this study aims to investigate if the Multimodal Approaches are beneficial to the students of ESL in meaning-making when confronted with various multimodal literacy texts as well as the students’ perceptions on the use of Multimodal Approaches in the teaching and learning of ESL.


ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 144 2. Review of related literature 2.1 21st Century Literacy Occupations now demand for multi skilled employees with higher level of literacy compared to the past (Mikulecky & Kirkley, 1998). Mikulecky & Kirkley (1998) emphasise on communicational skills, computational skills and skills of operating technical tools as the most significant abilities an employer should possess, mainly to facilitate the information processing in workplaces. Current generation of students known as Digital Natives have grown in a technology filled environment as they are flexible to changes and are accustomed to ICT language (Prensky, 2001 as cited in Carroll, 2011). Digital Natives are also skilled in using ICT innovatively and creatively (Considine, 2009 as cited in Carroll, 2011). In contrary, most teachers who teach current generation of students are Digital Immigrants as they face challenges in adapting to changes and understanding ICT language (Prensky, 2001 as cited in Carroll, 2011). Thus, rapid growth of technology is one of the main root causes in the shift from monomodality to MMA in the teaching and learning of ESL. Thus, urgent change needs to be made to the way literacy is being taught in schools and teaching approaches need to be shifted from monomodal to MMA. 2.2 Students’ Motivation in Learning ESL Students’ motivation and attitude are often linked to the learning of English as second language. Falk-Ross (2014) suggested that students reading difficulties will be motivated to read with the use of multimodal texts as they are more easily comprehended with the aid of other supporting modes such as visuals and sounds. However, the scenario is the opposite when teachers use print-based texts with focus on textual mode. A recent case-study on the effects of using multi-modal literacy has proven that immense amount of learning takes place amongst students when they were exposed to a range of multimodal tasks related to reading and writing (Walsh, 2010). According to Walsh (2010), students involved in the case studies were greatly involved in the tasks provided by viewing, searching for information and responding when they were given a multi-modal task to work on. Multimodal texts enrich students’ learning experiences and provide them a wider grasp of knowledge and skills and this is supported by Walsh (2010). On the other hand,

“Students’ personal aspirations and vocations cause their conceptions of knowledge and learning to be different from each other. Learning approaches are chosen according to their motivations and reasons for learning, so they may be deep or surface students who are either active or passive.”(Pillai & Vengadasamy, 2010)

As Pillai & Vengadasamy (2010) have mentioned, students’ inclinations and personal targets affects the lessons and determines their learning. 2.3 Theory of Multiliteracies With the changing nature of literacy in mind, The New London Group came together and came up with the Pedagogy of Multiliteracies in 1996. The main idea of Multiliteracies is the interrelationship between diverse modes of meaning and brings about the move from print-based texts to acknowledge the changing nature of literacy. 2.3.1 Three Elements of Design The New London Group (1996) presented three main elements of design to describe the activities as individuals identify, read and produce new text using varying semiotic codes. These three elements of design allow individuals to create patterns of meaning from the multiliteracies available in the surroundings and texts: Available Designs, Designing and Redesigned. “Design” is used to describe forms of meaning and “Designs” too includes a set of conventions associated with semiotic activity that take place in a social place. Available designs refer to grammars of language, styles, genres, dialects, voices and various semiotic systems from which we gain as designers (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000). Designing on the other hand refers to reading, seeing and listening which facilitates in the transformation of the available resources of meaning. It can also mean new use of old existing materials. The third element, Redesigning denotes the production of new meaning which is remade by the meaning-makers themselves. The redesigned meanings are then identified as the new resources of meaning making which is also known as the Available Design (The New London Group, 2000). From this, it can be derived that these three elements of design complement and affect one another. In order to communicate different forms of meaning found in the Available Designs and Redesigned, language is needed. Thus, the need for a metalanguage that describes escalated and indeed it was the main objective of the Multiliteracies Project to develop educationally accessible functional grammar that is metalanguage used to describe meanings in various domains. According to Cope & Kalantzis (2000), the main purpose of metalanguage is to identify, contextualise and differentiate between texts including the textual and visual.

ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 145 2.3.2 Conceptual Framework This study’s conceptual framework takes into account six major modes to describe and explain patterns of meaning which are the metalanguages or grammars of meaning-making that encompass Linguistic Design, Visual Design, Audio Design, Gestural Design, Spatial Design and the Multimodal Design (The New London Group, 1996). The Linguistic Design includes meaning-making through writing and reading various types of texts and structures, cohesion, modality, textual features, vocabulary, figurative elements, grammars, syntax, semantics. Visual Design refers to meaning-making based on colours, perspectives, size, shape, vectors and backgrounds. Audio Design refers to meaning-making through interpretation of music and sounds. Gestural Design refers to the movements of the body, proxemics, kinetics, gesture, emotional effect, presentation and behaviour. Spatial design is greatly related to the interpretation of spacing, proximity, layouts, and relationships within and across texts, and within the physical environment. The most significant Design of all six Designs is the Multimodal Design. Multimodal Design refers to meaning-making via interpretation of two or more modes of Designs. The six designs are vital in students’ process of learning as they interact with various forms of texts in their daily lives which takes into account the main aims of this study that are to examine the relevance of MMA to the students of ESL in meaning-making, to determine whether students benefit from MMA and to analyse students’ perceptions on the use of MMA in meaning-making via the use of MMA in the teaching and learning of ESL.

Figure 1. Multiliteracies Framework Source: adopted from Rush, 2003.

2.4 Multimodal Approach Key to multimodal perspectives on literacy is the basic assumption that meanings are made (as well as distributed, interpreted, and remade) through many representational and communicational resources, of which language is but one (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001 as cited in Jewitt, 2008).

ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 146 In the past, every field of study tended to focus on one mode of meaning and there has not been much emphasis put on various modes of meaning due to the heavy usage of print-based texts in daily routines. In contrary, current globalisation and rapid development of technology have shed light on the prospects of bringing all means of meaning making under the theory of Multimodality (Kress, 2009). Besides that, researches reveal that positive changes in learning takes place through the use of visual and verbal multimodal learning (Fadel, 2008, p. 12 as cited in Sankey, Birch & Gardiner, 2010). In other words, students perform better when learning takes place in accordance to their learning styles and preferences and MMA emphasizes on differentiation of learning experiences. According to Jewitt (2008), it is crucial for schools to avoid teaching static grammar of modes as it restricts the power of transformation and contextualizing among students. She too emphasises that the boundaries between modes are blurred when complex multimodal texts are used in meaning-making. 2.5 Past studies on MMA in ESL The Theory of Multiliteracies has been around since the year 1996 paving way to the emergence of multimodality and multimodal approaches in the teaching and learning process. There are a range of studies carried out in the past to examine multimodality and its approaches in real classroom situations. In a study carried out by the United Kingdom Literacy Association, it is found that students of 3-16 years old use a range of literacy skills when reading texts on-screen. Findings from this study have shown that the reading of texts-on screen involves radial browsing which is relatively different from linear reading of print-based texts. The researchers of this study affirmed that students were able to search through various modes of design to retrieve information and this process of reading can never be assessed similarly to that of reading print-based texts (Bearne et al, 2007 as cited in Walsh, 2010). In 2004, a different study was carried out in Malaysia investigating the use of Multiliteracies approach which was carried out in several selected schools in Perak. This study has reported that the teachers involved in this study confirmed and supported the multiliteracies approach as an effective pedagogical approach. Students who participated in this study were found enjoying the lessons more than their usual traditional lessons (Ahmad Suhaimi, 2004 as cited in Kaur & Ganapathy, 2013). Over a period of two years (2003-2004), a total of 20 teachers joined the Queensland Department of Education carried out the Queensland Learning by Design Project. Through this Project, teachers reflected on their existing teaching practices and considered Learning by Design as a new pedagogical framework (Neville, 2005). As a result of this project, teachers found students being highly collaborative and participative. In a recent study carried out in a local Chinese school on the use of Multiliteracies to engage learners to produce learning, Ganapathy (2014) found that students were positively engaged in multimodal literacy practices revealing teachers’ positive comments and students’ improved interest on their ESL writing lessons. It is found that the learning outcomes were productive and students were active and highly motivated. All these studies has one in common, the positive outcomes of MMA and Multiliteracies in developing students’ literacy skills as well as the emphasis on the urgent need for Malaysian schools to shift from traditional ESL classroom settings and resources to MMA based ESL classrooms. Although various studies have been carried out locally and internationally to examine the use of Multiliteracies and MMA in ESL lessons, this case study is different in settings and research methods as it is aimed to discover more of students’ perspectives and perceptions on the use of MMA in the teaching and learning of MMA. 3. Methodology 3.1 Research Design A case study design is useful when the focus of the study is to answer “how” and “why” questions, the behaviour of those involved in the study cannot be altered, contextual conditions are the required for the purpose of the study or when the boundaries are not clear between the phenomenon and context (Yin, 2003 as cited in Baxter & Jack, 2008). This research employed case-study research design as it is suitable for the context of this case study and qualitative methods have been chosen to address the research questions. The behaviours of those involved in this study were maintained at their original contextual conditions and the issue chosen was real. 3.2 Research Questions The study was guided by the following research questions: 1) To what extent are the Multimodal Approaches beneficial to the students of ESL in meaning-making? 2) What are the students’ perceptions on the use of Multimodal Approaches in the teaching and learning of ESL? 3.3 The Sample The participants of this case study are ESL students from a local private school with English as its medium of instruction. The Principal requested that the researcher preserve the identity of the school where the research will be conducted. Hence, the school is labelled as school A throughout this study. Participants were chosen using the purposive sampling technique based on certain common characteristics. Participants chosen to participate in this case study have English as their second language. They have all experienced MMA in their ESL lessons. They have access to the Internet, Flipped Classroom websites and Ipads/laptops for use during school

ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 147 hours and lessons which guaranteed integration of ICT tools in their ESL lessons. The sample contained 15 participants with 5 in each focus group. 3.4 Research Instrument This case study employed semi-structured focus group interviews as the research instrument. This instrument was used because it is a very flexible technique for small scale research (Drever, 1995 as cited in Pathak & Intratat, 2012). It is one of the most apt methods of data collection based on contexts which are not directly observable such as the context of this case study where learners’ preferences towards MMA in ESL classroom are to be investigated based on their personal experiences. The interviews were carried out in a face-to-face manner as it is claimed to be one of the most effective way to ensure cooperative from the participants and at the same time clarify matters or issues that needs to be rectified (Hopkins, 2002 as cited in Ganapathy, 2007). Questions posed in the focus group interviews were open-ended and semi-structured to allow participants to express their thoughts freely and openly without having to fit into pre-determined categories. Questions were rephrased and orally administered to reflect specific individual experiences instead of generalized thoughts in order to help the researcher to gain in depth information. The length of the interview was not pre-set. An advantage of employing the semi-structured focus group interview is that it allows the interviewer to have some control and power over the interview and promotes flexibility (Nunan, 1992 as cited in Ganapathy, 2007). 3.5 Procedure This study employed a qualitative approach whereby data was collected from 15 students of a private school through sessions of semi-structured focus group interview. Each focus group consisted of 5 students and each session lasted about 45 minutes to an hour. Every group has been given a particular time slot to avoid clashes with their school routines. The interview schedule was divided into two to effectively elicit answers from students to effectively answer the research questions. Data collected was immediately transcribed to avoid overloading the researcher with extensive amount of data. Data collected were collected and analysed based on the Grounded Theory. In the open coding stage, identification of concepts took place and raw data were sorted and categorised into conceptual categories. Following this, the conceptual categories were grouped into much abstract and broader categories. The final stage of coding was the selective coding stage when a core category was identified. Using these, a few themes emerged which served as the answers to the research questions of this case study. The themes emerged from this study are the learning styles of the students, self-directed learning, learners’ engagement and motivation as well as learners’ positive outlook on the use of MMA in the teaching and learning of ESL. 4. Results 4.1 Results of the Students’ Perceptions on the Use of MMA in Learning ESL In students’ respective focus groups, they were asked about the amount of time spent on their mobile devices and gadgets in and out of school on a daily basis. This question was aimed to discover the degree of exposure to technological devices and online activities among these students. Generally, all students involved in the focus-group interview sessions admitted to a minimum of 1 hour and a maximum of 8 hours of usage daily including in and out of school activities. The students commented that they commonly use their devices to complete school tasks, browse social media and use search engines to seek information necessary for their school tasks. All of them admitted to owning a smartphone and social media accounts especially Facebook. When asked about their comfort level when using online resources or mobile applications that are aimed to help improve their skills of English language, many of them responded unanimously that they felt very comfortable using these online resources and applications which were given to them by their English teacher. These students are comfortable using online resources as they have prior knowledge on ICT tools which led them to seamlessly navigate through the resources provided. However, some of them were of the opinion that mobile applications were much difficult to be learned as they needed step by step guidance and more time in order to familiarise themselves. One of the students’ response:

“Since I know how to surf the internet quite easily, and I know how to cite and summarise, I feel very comfortable using them. But when it comes to applications, it would be in different formats, so I’m not quite sure. However, when I’m taught how to use it, it is easy for me.” (E:FG1)

A different student’s response:

“I’m comfortable using them. Applications may be slightly difficult to work with in the beginning.” (B:FG2)

Generally, all students were comfortable with online resources provided to them by their English teacher as they have grown accustomed to it and some of them commented that they need time to play around with the applications to be more fluent in using them. Therefore, it is found that students are positive minded in accepting the use of online resources and applications. They are enthusiastic in learning English with the use of gadgets and technology in the class when compared to using books. A few of them were heard commenting:

ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 148 I feel comfortable using all those websites because it’s easier compared to books because we have to find resources in book by reading it but in the internet all the information are easy to be found and summarise.(B:FG2) I feel comfortable because it is easier than reading a book.(E:FG2)

The students were then asked to comment on the question, “Have you used Ipads/laptops or the World Wide Web in the classroom to help you with your study of English as Second Language? How useful was it?” All students commented positively and some expressed their experiences on the use of gadgets and the World Wide Web in their English lessons. Some of the students’ responses:

“In my perspective, using the Ipad and laptops helps me in English because I can find a word that I don’t fully understand, search it and find its deeper meaning”(A:FG1)

“It helps me a lot for if I don’t know something I can go online to search for it. For an example, if I need to find information about a character that I would like to write in my essay, I could go online and it’s useful.”(C:FG1)

The students were heard commenting on the effectiveness and the usability of the gadgets and the World Wide Web in facilitating their learning process of ESL in the classroom. They referred to the gadget and the World Wide Web as being useful in correcting their mistakes, enhancing their vocabulary and for searching extra information. This reflects students’ abilities to self-correct and self-initiate language learning. The use of MMA in ESL class prepares the students to be active citizens who are skilful and secure in identities (Kalantzis and Cope, 2005 as cited in Ganapathy, 2007). The next question required the students to comment on the frequentness of gadgets use in the class and their preferences. They all commented that their teacher often uses gadgets in the class and they would prefer their teacher to use such devices and technologies more often during ESL lessons. One of them stated, “I would like her to use it more often because there are more things that can be done with an Ipad. For an example, paper based activities will not allow us to make videos but we can create videos using Ipad. If we need to use a video, we can click the link and put it in (C:FG1).” Many of them added that Ipads and laptops are frequently used for group work, mind-mapping and note-taking which eased their burdens of having to jot down in papers or books. Another student commented “The teacher uses gadgets often and I would like it more often because it makes it easier to do work. I could share one document with everybody and know they contributing or not. It makes learning fun and easy too (B:FG1). Thus, it can be noted that team based tasks are easily executed with the use of gadgets in the classroom and ensures contribution from every member of the team. When asked if they face difficulties in using Ipads or laptops to learn in the class, all of them positively commented that they hardly face any difficulties but if they do, the problems are easily rectified. The next question is aimed to discover the students’ need for teacher’s assistance in the learning of ESL with the availability of Ipads and laptops in the class. All students claimed that they do need the teachers’ guidance but at a much minimal rate when compared to lessons without the use of technology. They stated that though Ipads and laptops are helpful in many ways, they still require the teachers to counter check and proofread their work as noted in student A’s response:

“Usually I will need assistance because some of the words, the Ipad can't really explain much, the teacher can explain to us better.”(D:FG3)

Students were asked the question, “How often do you come across reading materials or resources that use a combination of visuals and words in the learning of English?” From the students’ responses, the researcher found that these students often come across texts with a combination of visuals and words in the learning of English language. They were then asked the helpfulness of texts with a combination of visuals and words in their learning of English as highlighted in the responses below.

Quite often. Because some of us might not understand the words, we could use the pictures to understand the words. (A:FG3)

Quite often. To me, pictures make texts less wordy and I will be more interested to read them. (B:FG3)

Many of the students stated that texts with visuals help them to comprehend the text better and it induces their interest towards reading the texts. When students are interested to read a text, the teacher will be able to run the lessons much smoothly.

ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 149 For the next question, students were asked if they encounter difficulties in interpreting the meaning of posters or texts on websites which include words, animated pictures, still images and sounds. This question was asked to determine the easiness of interpreting MMA based texts and resources. Based on the responses received from the students, it is found that they do not face any difficulties in interpreting posters of multimodal texts as the images and visuals present helps them to make meaning. All of them claimed that if there were only words and descriptions, they may have faced slight difficulties in interpreting the meaning of the posters or texts on websites but with the help of visuals and sounds, they are able to easily make meanings out of such mediums. 4.2 Results on the Benefits of MMA in the Teaching and Learning of ESL Following that, the students were asked of the frequentness of using texts and handouts consisting only words in their learning of English. They answered in unison that their teacher rarely uses handouts or texts with only words. Some of them commented:

It’s very less, because the teacher knows that if it’s all words and no pictures, it will be very boring and sometimes, if there are no pictures if will be difficult to understand. (C:FG3)

Not often; If there is text alone, it is not easy because we may not know all the words. When there are pictures, we will know how something will look like. (B:FG2)

In general, students were of the opinion that handouts or texts from books are much interesting to be read in comparison to the entire book. They were heard expressing their disinterest in reading a whole book as they are able to easily look for information needed within a shorter time frame due to the much concise content through given handouts and excerpts from books. One student’s comment:

Yes, because it’s easier than reading the entire book. People may not have the interest in reading the entire book and handouts are easy, summarised and short. (B:FG1)

When these students were asked if the handouts or texts from books help them in improving their reading and writing skills, all of them thought it was of a great help as they were able to see different styles of writing and learn new vocabularies. It helped them to imitate the style of writing when producing their own texts. In view of audio design, students were asked the frequentness of their English teacher using music, audio or sound effects in their ESL classroom and its usefulness in helping them understand a text better. Students were then asked to comment whether or not the audio and sound effects used in their ESL lessons were helpful the development of students’ listening and speaking skills and they were asked to justify their answers. In relation to this question, two students’ responses:

“Audio helps because many people like me are not visual thinkers, so it helps me to understand.”(B:FG1) “Yes, because when we have someone to explain it to us by defining it more, it is easier for us to understand.”(D:FG3)

In the next question, students were asked, “Do you find still images and animated images useful in helping you make meaning during ESL lessons? If yes, how? If no, why?” Some students’ comments:

Yes, because we can interpret the text better. (A:FG1) Yes because with pictures, we can use it as shortcuts to remember things. (B:FG1)

Thus, with the help of images and animated images, students are able to make meaning much effectively during ESL lessons. In fact, students claim that they are able to see a bigger picture of a text when images and animated images are used during ESL lessons. In relation to that point, students’ were asked of their preferences of reading on screen especially via their Flipped Classroom website and links given by their ESL teacher. A majority of students stated that they prefer on screen reading due to the flexibility of adjusting the size of the texts on screen, portability, accessibility and convenience. Meanwhile, one of them added on that if the texts are too lengthy, it causes tiredness and lack of focus. In further examining students’ thoughts on Spatial Design, they were asked of their opinions on excursions and how they can be helpful in making meaning of new contents in ESL lessons. Based on the students’ responses, it is evident that they enjoy excursions and find excursions as an exciting ESL learning activity.

ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 150 Yes it will, because if we learn about aeroplane, we will read a lot about aeroplane but if we go for an excursion on aeroplanes, we will know more of how it looks like and how it works. (B:FG2)

Yes because if I just look at a drawing or a text, I wouldn’t get so much details about it. But when I go to a museum, I will be able to get a lot of information and details. (E:FG3)

The following question was aimed to explore students’ opinions on English lessons involving hands-on activities such as puzzles and games. One student’s comment:

Yes, because when we do an English task, if we just write it can sometimes be a little boring, so games and hands on activities will make it more interesting.(E:FG3)

Based on their responses, it is clear that students enjoy games and hands-on activities as a part of their ESL lessons. Apart from the fun factor, such activities in ESL classroom motivate students to learn. As for gestural design, students were asked if the actions in videos shown during ESL lessons are interesting and help them to make meaning. These are some students’ comments:

Yes, because I can understand what they are trying to say through their movements and actions. (D:FG1) Actually yes it will be useful, let’s say we read a text which says a guy is dancing, we wouldn’t know how he is dancing or what he did. But if there is a video with the actions of the guy, we will know what he exactly did. (C:FG1)

According to all of them, actions shown in videos helps them in their visualization and thus meaning making becomes easier. When descriptions in the texts are less focused or detailed, it hinders students’ understanding of the text. However, we the help of actions shown in videos, students are able to draw out a bigger picture in their minds in relation to the text or topic. In students’ respective focus groups, students were asked, ”Do you enjoy role plays and presentations during ESL lessons? If yes, why? If no, why?” In unison, all them stated that they enjoy to be a part of role plays and presentations during ESL lessons as they will be able to experience the characters for themselves. They added on that it helps them to understand a text better when they present it to their classmates via presentations. A student was heard commenting, “Yes, because it’s very fun. When our friends are presenting, we get to know each other’s point of views.(A:FG3)” Another student remarked, “I enjoy presentations and role plays, because it’s fun, just like watching TV shows. And we learn. (B:FG3)” Towards the end of each session, students were asked about their opinions in relation to the Multimodal Design. One of the question was “Does the use of Ipads and laptops help you in improving your reading, writing, listening and speaking skills? If yes, how? If no, why?” As soon as this question was asked, students rapidly made comments and contributed their answers. Some of the students’ comments:

Ipads and laptops can help us with English lessons because for listening and speaking, videos help to make us learn correct pronunciations of certain words. For writing, essay writing can be easier because we can check upon our mistakes. (D:FG2) Yes, Ipads and laptops help us improve our English skills because we can go look for more stories online and get inspired in writing our own stories.(C:FG3) Yes, because with a laptop I can see the way a text is written and watching a video tells me more about the text. It also gives me a better idea of how to speak and pronounce certain words. Besides, with written text, I need guidance to go through it. But with Ipad and laptops, I can be more independent because I can research by myself and self-learn pronunciations. (B:FG3)

Generally, students were of the opinion that MMA helps them to become more independent in learning and developing language skills. When they were asked in groups, if they find ESL lessons using a combination of images, words, sounds, and videos interesting, all of them stated that they enjoy lessons with the use of a variety of materials and resources. A student (B:FG3) commented, “Yes, because it will be more interesting. In some lessons, the teacher talks a lot and we instantly get bored. But with pictures, videos and music, it will be more fun for us. And we wouldn’t get so bored.” Students were disinterested towards traditional teaching style of more lecture-based activities and prefer a range

ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 151 of activities to keep them engaged. To further strengthen a student’s point, another student commented, “It’s interesting because with text, pictures, sounds, audio and video, it will attract me to see it and read along. I will be excited and want to learn.”(E:FG3) 5. Discussion 5.1 Learners’ Engagement and Motivation This case study claims that the MMA promotes learner engagement in the teaching and learning process of ESL as the researcher believes that students appear to be positive minded and motivated to learn with the use of MMA resources and materials in the class. According to student A:FG3, “if you keep showing us slideshows, we might get bored. But if you show us videos, slideshows, activities, we will not be so bored and we will be more interested.” The findings from students’ focus group interview sessions has drawn the researcher to make a claim that students are highly anticipative and participative in MMA based lessons when compared to lessons with the use of single design. The data clearly suggests that students greatly recognise learning resources with additional representations of content in helping them to comprehend and retain the content taught which is multimodal in nature to be more interesting and enjoyable to use. In parallel, Md. Yunus, Salehi and John, (2013) found that learners who often face difficulties in comprehending texts and literary concepts tend to manage such circumstances by using visual aids to facilitate their comprehension of the texts. According to Walsh (2010), students were highly participative in the tasks provided when given a multi-modal task to work on. They have clearly expressed their dislike towards lengthy texts consisting of words alone and commented of having greater enthusiasm towards multimodal resources which involve a combination of modals. For an example, student B:FG1 stated, “No, because it’s very difficult to focus if it’s a very long passage. We will lose interest.” They find videos and other forms of multimodal resources as interesting and engaging as they are able to make meaning with minimal guidance from the teacher. This point is relevant to the statement made by student B:FG1, “I don’t think so I need the teacher’s assistance very often with the help of the gadgets. If I don’t really know something, I can search online.”

Similarly, in a research carried out by Kymes in 2005, he found that everywhere around the world, motivated and interested students tend to go online to independently search for information needed (Kaur & Sidhu, 2007).

5.2 Self-Directed Learning The major benefit of MMA in the teaching and learning of ESL classroom, it promotes students’ autonomy and instigates self-directed learning. Based on the data collected from the students, students claimed to require less teachers’ facilitation with the use of technological gadgets in the class. Student A:FG3 commented when asked about the need for teacher’s assistance when their lessons integrates usage of ICT, “Not really often. For an example, if we want to find spellings, we just have to type it out and it would autocorrect. Another student added on, I think I don’t need teacher’s assistance that often because some things which the teacher can’t do, can be done with the Ipad (C:FG2). These comments reveals the degree of confidence students have in using the ICT tools made available to them during ESL lessons. In a recent study, Asfar and Zainuddin (2015) found that students showed self-directed learning values with the use of ICT to supplement their learning. Similarly, it is also found that the usage of ICT improves students’ creativity in dealing with their tasks on a daily basis (Choo, 2007 as cited in Asfar & Zainuddin, 2015). The researcher believes the students are able to seamlessly interpret and move from various modals and genres to construct meaning on their own. Most students felt they were able to self-correct their spellings and grammars with the use of their mobile devices in the class. In relation to this point, it is found in previous studies that MMA based lessons enable students to discover learning in their most comfortable ways which challenges them to learn in many other different ways moulding them more self-directed and interactive students (Picciano, 2009 as cited in Sankey, Birch & Gardiner, 2010). Cooper (2011) has made a point that students’ social interaction via cooperative learning, discussions and dialogues as important part of Constructivist Approach as it helps students to construct meaning on their own. This is clearly evident in ESL classes with MMA as students commented on their abilities to collaborate with their classmates with increased efficiency with the use of various medium such as Google Docs, mind maps and many more. 5.3 Learning Styles No learner is of the same in abilities, skills, interests and learning styles. This has made teaching and learning a much complex process as teachers can never deliver the taught content in the same manner to cater all students at once. Thus, there is a need to differentiate the teaching delivery methods and strategies. A few students were heard commenting on ways they learn best and a few of them commended the teacher’s use of videos, images and sounds which are some of the mediums which has helped them to learn best. For an example, a student who is an auditory learner commented, “For some people like me, I prefer audiobooks rather than texts with pictures.” Another student who is a visual learner commented, “Yes. For a few people like me, I have a hard time imagining the text when I am reading, so the pictures help me to understand better (B:FG2). Multiliteracies help to cater diversity, ensure inclusiveness which encourages intellectual quality and enable students to experience vast learning experiences (Kalantzis & Cope, 2005). With MMA, students may self-select the learning object, or representation, that best suits their modal preference based on their predominant learning style (Doolittle, McNeill, Terry & Scheer, 2005 as cited in Sankey, Birch & Gardiner, 2010). In addition, learners’ beliefs and learning preferences of the learning processes determine the success of second language acquisition (Rifkin, 2000 cited in Vayaravasamy & Abdullah, 2011). Students with poorer comprehension of texts tend to achieve less in ESL when compared to the others. In a study, Solvie and Kloek (2007) found that learner style

ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 152 preferences are more dominant amongst lower achieving students, leading to better performances by students with the use of multimodal content, which accommodates a wider range of learning styles.Therefore, this study claims that the use of MMA enable educators to cater to the different learners’ needs in ESL learning environments. 5.4 Students’ Perceptions of their ESL Learning Experiences using MMA Students’ perceptions of their learning experiences using the MMA to acquire their language skills in their ESL classroom were examined qualitatively through focus group interview sessions. The students in this case study experienced the use of new technology such as Ipads and laptops in the classroom as a supplementary tool to second language learning. These technologies aided them in developing literacy skills needed for their real world needs. Findings of this case study enabled students to reflect upon their ESL lessons and their experiences. Findings of this study reveal that students strongly agreed that texts and handouts with words alone are boring but they prefer handouts from books as it is comparatively shorter in length than books. They too made a point that lengthy texts do not interest them and cause them to lose motivation, be it monomodal or multimodal in nature. Similarly, it is found in a study that students prefer short texts which are not too time consuming and more comprehensive when compared to longer texts (Ghazali, Setia, Muthusamy & Jusoff, 2009). Besides, students claimed that texts without pictures and images have made their meaning-making process much difficult and they needed extra guidance to interpret such texts. They have not received texts without images in their ESL lessons which made them strongly believe that lessons with a combination of images, words, videos and audios as more interesting, motivating and enjoyable. According to Campbell (1999), learners tend to perform better in academics and cause lesser problems in the class when they are individually motivated to learn. If teachers strive to ensure students’ comprehension and understanding in the class, students will feel secured and positively challenged to learn (Eggen & Kauchak, 1997 as cited in Campbell, 1999). Thus, the use of MMA in the teaching and learning of ESL is clearly uplifting students’ intrinsic motivation to acquire English as their second language. This study highlights students’ perceptions about their experiences during ESL lessons which incorporate MMA as more exciting, motivating and promoting cooperative learning and teamwork which eventually made them better learners. The use of Ipads and laptops in class is said to have enhanced students’ cooperation and teamwork. Similarly, in a study conducted in 2015 found that iPads improve learning and students’ participation in class activities whilst enabling them to collaborate with their peers (Mango, 2015). Besides that, students interests and participation in role plays and presentations have shown their confidence and development of speaking and listening skills. According to Ghazali, Setia, Muthusamy and Jusoff (2009), activities such as dramas, watching films and videos topped the list of preferences amongst ESL students in Malaysia. This is also evident in this study as students expressed activities such as role plays and presentations as fun and enjoyable way of learning English. Some of them addressed their roles as assessors and active participants of their classmates’ role plays and presentations as exciting and educational. They added on that they were able to express themselves verbally and enjoy exchanging ideas via presentations during ESL lessons. In this study, all of them agreed that the use of ipads and gadgets during ESL lessons should be used frequently as they find it convenient to create documents, videos, mind maps and even audios with the help of their gadgets. Whilst working on these outputs of the lessons, they claimed that integration of technology in their learning experiences have greatly benefitted them in the development of their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. In a case study, computers are found to be an essential part of the teaching and learning in second language lessons and as a way to transfer language skills to the learners (Basheer Nomas, 2012). A majority of them mentioned that they find applications and online resources interesting although they require some time to become accustomed to using them. They were highly positive towards the use of Ipad applications and willingly learned to use various applications. Besides, all of them spoke highly of the World Wide Web as it offers a myriad of information for them to integrate in their compositions and presentations. A student commented, “Since I know how to surf the internet quite easily, and I know how to cite and summarise, I feel very comfortable using them” (D:FG2). This reflected upon their familiarity and intuitiveness with ICT related matters. The amount of time spent on their mobile devices per day too denotes to their fluency in ICT. These students described activities without the use of ICT or a combination of modals as non-appealing and causes disinterest. 5.5 Conclusion This case study recognizes the fact that MMA promotes students engagement in the teaching and learning of ESL by enhancing their meaning-making abilities with the supplement of ICT as a tool. This study affirms that students’ perception of MMA lessons in an ESL classroom is described as highly engaging, self-directed, and learner-centered and promotes meaning-making with minimal guidance from the teachers. In conclusion, this case study promotes teaching and learning experiences that are multimodal in nature to acquire literacy skills necessary for today’s world without being restricted to one mode of design. References Annan, E. (2014). Challenges Confronting the Beneficiaries of the Vodafone/ Uew Educational Fund for Future Women Leaders in Science & Technology in the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. International Journal Of Education And Research, 2(3), 1-8. Retrieved from http://www.ijern.com/journal/March-2014/46.pdf

ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 153 Asfar, N., & Zainuddin, Z. (2015). Secondary Students' Perceptions of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Use in Promoting Self Directed Learning in Malaysia. The Online Journal Of Distance Education And E-Learning, 3(4), 78. Retrieved from http://www.tojdel.net/pdf/v03i04/tojdel-volume03-i04-08.pdf Basheer Nomass, B. (2013). The Impact of Using Technology in Teaching English as a Second Language. ELLS, 3(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ells.v3n1p111 Baxter, P., & Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative Case Study Methodology: Study Design and Implementation for Novice Researchers. The Qualitative Report, 13(14), 544-559. Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR13-4/baxter.pdf Bearne, E., & Wolstencroft, H. (2007). Visual approaches to teaching writing. London: Paul Chapman. Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education. Birks, M., & Mills, J. (2015). Grounded theory. Los Angeles, Calif.: Sage. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com.my/books?id=G9xtBgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Boshrabadi, A. M., & Biria, R. The efficacy of MMA vs. Print-based texts for teaching reading comprehension skills to iranian high school third graders. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World. 5(1). 365-380. Retrieved from: http://www.academia.edu/9202933. Campbell, J. (1999). Student discipline and classroom management. Springfield, Ill.: C.C. Thomas Publisher. Carroll, J. (2011). From Encyclopaedias to Search Engines: Technological Change and its Impact on Literacy Learning. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years, 19(2), 27-34. Retrieved from http://www.alea.edu.au/documents/item/180 Cooper, J. (2011). Classroom teaching skills. Belmonte, CA: Brookes/Cole. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.my/books?id=KJOe3n9pK3wC&pg=PA91&dq=constructivist+theory+in+teaching+and+learning&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAGoVChMIs5qksOajxwIVUFSOCh3hDwIu#v=onepage&q=constructivist%20theory%20in%20teaching%20and%20learning&f=false Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies: Designing social futures. In The New London Group, Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures (1st ed., pp. 9-42). London: Roultledge. Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2000). Introduction: Multiliteracies: the beginnings of an idea. In B. Cope & M. Kalantzis, Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures (1st ed., pp. 4-8). London: Roultledge. Flood, J., Heath, S., & Lapp, D. (2008). Handbook of research on teaching literacy through the communicative and visual arts. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.my/books?id=cIx4CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA442&dq=students+diengagement+towards+print+based+texts&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAmoVChMIxvmwqpybxwIVhQWOCh2eEQ78#v=onepage&q=students%20diengagement%20towards%20print%20based%20texts&f=false Frost, T. (1999). The Everyday Life of a Household in Cyberspace. Presentation, Beijing, China. www.iso.org/iso/livelinkgetfile?llNodeId=21581&llVolId=-2000 Ganapathy, M. (2007). Using the Multiliteracies Approach to Promote Learner Engagement in an ESL Classroom: A Case Study in a Selected School in Penang (Post-Graduate). Universiti Sains Malaysia. Ganapathy, M. (2011). The Effects of th Multiliteracies Approaches on the Writing Performance of EFL Students in a Chinese School in Penang: Teacher and Student Perceptions (Ph.D). Universiti Sains Malaysia. Ganapathy, M. (2014). Using Multiliteracies to Engage Learners to Produce Learning. IJEEEE, 4(6). http://dx.doi.org/10.17706/ijeeee.2014.v4.355 Ghazali, S., Setia, R., Muthusamy, C., & Jusoff, K. (2009). ESL Students’ Attitude towards Texts and Teaching Methods Used in Literature Classes. English Language Teaching, 2(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v2n4p51 Gill, P., Stewart, K., Treasure, E., & Chadwick, B. (2008). Methods of data collection in qualitative research: interviews and focus groups. BDJ, 204(6), 291-295. doi:10.1038/bdj.2008.192 Gumbo, M. (2014). An Action Research Pilot Study on the Integration of Indigenous Technology in Technology Education. MJSS. doi:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n10p386 Gunderson, L. (2009). ESL (ELL) literacy instruction. New York: Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.my/books?id=nak3AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA239&dq=ESL+and+Literacy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAmoVChMI9eqxlZihxwIVx5COCh0syADC#v=onepage&q=ESL%20and%20Literacy&f=false Hagood, M. (2003). New Media and Online literacies: No Age Left Behind. Reading Research Quarterly, 38(3). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4151825 Jewitt, C. (2008). Multimodality and Literacy in School Classrooms. Review Of Research In Education, 32(1), 241-267. doi:10.3102/0091732x07310586 Kaur, S., & Ganapathy, M. (2014). Multiliteracies in Education: Concept and Focus. In S. Kaur & S. Abdul Manan, Contemporary Perspectives in English Language Studies: Linguistics and Literature (1st ed., pp. 152-167). Penang: Universiti Sains Malaysia Press.

ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 154 Kaur, S., & Wong, C. (2011). Transforming ESL Teaching by Embedding Infomration and Web Literacies into the Classroom. In A. Pandian, T. Chow & S. Mohamed Ismail, Curriculum Development, Materials Design and Methodologies: Trends and Issues (1st ed.). Penang: Universiti Sains Malaysia Press. Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2005). Learning by design. Melbourne, Aus.: Victorian Schools Innovation Commisstion. Kress, G. (2009). Multimodality. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis. Luan, L., & Wang, H. (2009). The Impact of Second Language Proficiency on Chinese ESL Students’ English Word Recognition. Asian Social Science, 5(1). doi:10.5539/ass.v5n1p37 Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission,. (2015). STATISTICAL BRIEF NUMBER SEVENTEEN: HAND PHONE USERS SURVEY 2014 (pp. 12-44). Selangor: Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission. Retrieved from http://www.skmm.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/pdf/Hand-Phone-User2014.pdf Manan, S. (2012). Linguistics, Literature and Culture. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Pub. Mango, O. (2015). Ipad Use and Student Engagement in the Classroom. The Turkish Online Journal Of Educational Technology, 14(1), 53-57. Retrieved from http://www.tojet.net/articles/v14i1/1417.pdf Manyasi, B. (2014). The Ethical Dilemma in Educational Research. Journal Of Education And Literature, 2(2), 68. Retrieved from http://www.rassweb.com/wp-content/uploads/PDF/JEL/Vol-2/Issue-2/Paper%204.pdf Marlowe, B., & Page, M. (1998). Creating and sustaining the constructivist classroom. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press. Martin, T. (2006). Qualifications in Education for TAFE lecturers in Western Australia: Background, Functions and Concerns (Ph.D). University of Western Australia. Retrieved from http://www.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/rtf_file/0010/99856/Martin_Theresa_EdD.rtf Md. Shah, P., & L. Empungan, J. (2014). ESL Teachers’ Attitudes towards Using ICT in Literature Lessons. IJELE, 3(1), 201. doi:10.5296/ijele.v3i1.7158 Mehrabi Boshrabadi, A., & Biria, R. (2014). The efficacy of MMA vs. print-based texts for teaching reading comprehension skills to Iranian high school third graders. International Journal Of Language Learning And Applied Linguistics World, 5(1), 365-380. Retrieved from http://www.ijllalw.org/finalversion5130.pdf Mikulecky, L., & Kirkley, J. (1998). Literacy Instruction for the 21st-Century Workplace. Peabody J. Of Educ., 73(3), 290-316. doi:10.1207/s15327930pje7303&4_14 Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2012). Preliminary Report: Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. Ministry of Education Malaysia. Mohd Ghani, M., Mahmood, F., Abdul Halim, H., & Rajindra, S. (2013). The Impact of Technology on Reading Texts Selection among Upper secondary ESL Students. International Journal Of Humanities Social Sciences And Education (IJHSSE) Volume, 1(3), 15. Retrieved from https //www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijhsse/v1-i3/3.pdf Neville, M. (2005). Innovation in Queensland Education: Multiliteracies in Action. In M. Kalantzis & B. Cope, Learning by Design (1st ed., pp. 231-256). Melbourne: Common Ground Publishing Pty Ltd. O'Rourke, M. (2005). Multiliteracies for 21st century schools. Australian National Schools Network, Faculty of Education, University of Technology, Sydney. Pathak, A & Intratat, C. (2012). Use of Semi-Structured Interviews to Investigate Teacher Perceptions of Student Collaboration. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, 8 (1), 1-10. Retrieved from www.melta.org.my Pathak, R. (2008). Methodology of educational research. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.my/books?id=OANf7tHNhwAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=purpose+of+research+in+education&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBmoVChMIz9XygY2qxwIVkBiOCh2TQwqi#v=onepage&q=purpose%20of%20research%20in%20education&f=false Reyes, S., & Vallone, T. (2008). Constructivist strategies for teaching English language students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Rush, L.S. (2003). Taking a broad view of literacy: Lessons from the Appalachian Trail thru-hiking community. Reading Online, 6(7). Retrieved from http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/lit_index.asp?HREF=rush/ Sankey, M., Birch, D., & Gardiner, M. (2010). Engaging students through multimodal learning environments: The journey continues. In Ascilite 2010 (pp. 852-861). Sydney: Ascilite. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/sydney10/procs/Sankey-full.pdf Siemens, G. (2014). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from http://www. itdl. org/journal/jan_05/article01. Htm Solvie, P., & Kloek, M. (2007). Using Technology Tools to Engage Students with Multiple Learning Styles in a Constructivist Learning Environment. Contemporary Issues In Technology And Teacher Education, 7(2), 7-27. Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/22811/

ALLS 7(2):143-155, 2016 155 Subramaniam, B. (2015). On the social media circuit. The Star. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Education/2014/01/05/On-the-social-media-circuit/ Tyner, K. (1998). Literacy in a digital world. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.my/books?id=Cc-QAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Vayaravasamy, P., & Abdullah, A.C. (2011). Students’ and Teachers’ Preferences of ESL Classroom Activities. In A. Pandian, T. Chow & S. Mohamed Ismail, Curriculum Development, Materials Design and Methodologies: Trends and Issues (1st ed.). Penang: Universiti Sains Malaysia Press. Yunus, M. M., Salehi, H., & John, D. S. A. (2013). Using Visual Aids as a Motivational Tool in Enhancing Students Interest in Reading Literary Texts. arXiv preprint arXiv:1305.6360. Walsh, M. (2010). Multimodal literacy: What does it mean for classroom practice?. Australian Journal Of Language And Literacy, 33(3), 211-239. Retrieved from https://www.alea.edu.au/documents/item/63 Wrigley, H., & Guth, G. (1992). Bringing literacy to life. San Mateo, CA: Aguirre International for the U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education.



Business Communication Needs of Japanese Companies in Malaysia

Yeoh Lee Su (Corresponding author) Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia


Tengku Sepora Tengku Mahadi Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh

Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.156 Received: 28/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.156 Accepted: 23/01/2016 Abstract Business relationship between Japan and Malaysia has developed very quickly in recent years. This has caused a dramatic increase in the need for individuals who possess language skills to function in Japanese businesses. In order to investigate the needs of our Malaysian graduates, a survey was conducted involving graduates of Japanese language minor program from a public university in Malaysia. The aims of the survey were to get an overall understanding of (1) the use of Japanese language at workplace where the Japanese language minor program’s graduates are employed; (2) identify problems faced in language use and in terms of Japanese business practices in workplace. The results indicated that the graduates use Japanese language to communicate with the employees of their workplace compared to outsiders. The findings also highlight that Japanese language listening and speaking skills are the most important skills needed by the graduates for their workplace success compared to reading and writing. Keyword: Japanese Companies, Business Japanese, Japanese Business Practices 1. Introduction Globalization of Japan’s industry rapidly escalated in the late 1980’s because of competition in the international market and international trade policies. With quick development of the Japanese economy, individuals in numerous nations experienced expanded chances to work together or work with the Japanese. Malaysia is not an exception. Japanese’s direct foreign investment (DFI) was a key to achieving in the succession economic growth of Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP) (1971-1990) (Wendy & Smith, 1994). In the 1970s, the quantity of Japanese subsidiaries and joint ventures in Malaysia expanded fundamentally (Imaoka, 1985). By 1979, about 43% of Japanese joint ventures in Malaysia were occupied with assembling, essentially in the hardware, wood items, and chemicals (Smith & Wendy, 1994;Wendy & Smith, 1994).

Japan has been Malaysia's principle exchange associate and in addition a noteworthy supplier of remote direct speculation and financial help (Furuoka, 2002). Respective relations between the two nations were further strengthened through the "Look East" strategy presented by Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahatir bin Mohamad in the beginning of the 1980s. Since the presentation of the “Look East” policy two decades earlier, economic and diplomatic relations as well as cultural exchanges between Malaysia and Japan have flourished. Todays, more Japanese organizations are deciding to put resources into Malaysia as they are pulled in by the nation's five “plus-points”. “The plus-points were the growing economy, political stability, free from natural disaster, good infrastructure such as water, electricity and gas supplies, as well as an English-speaking workforce”, said Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia Shigeru Nakamura to The Star newspaper on 20th January 2012. This is very important in creating more jobs and, subsequently, economic growth. Besides that, according to The Japan Times on 14 August 2012, increasing quantities of Japanese organizations have moved some of their base camp or key functions to Singapore, seeing the city-state as a key area where they can regulate another rush of interest in Southeast Asia especially in neighboring Malaysia. Spectators say the pattern quickened after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011 and awakened the Japanese organizations to the need to expand their operations to lessen future dangers (Rahil, 2012).


ALLS 7(2):156-162, 2016 157 2. Background and purpose of the study Nowadays, numerous countries have felt the need to educate graduates who are multilingual and multicultural in the push to compete in the worldwide society. In an undeniably reliant world, learning of foreign languages is seen not just as an included point of preference which has gotten to be vital in accessing foreign technology but also is systematically associated with one’s meaningful and constructive engagement in politics, security, worldwide exchange and education. So, to engage in the worldwide economy, one must be satisfactorily furnished with the target language, capacity, information, abilities, and dispositions to comprehend. Malaysia has recognized the significance of skill in foreign language with a specific end goal to create human capital that drives the national economy in the worldwide enclosure. As a multi-racial nation, Malaysia is also influenced by the worldwide industrialization pattern. Employment situation in Malaysia necessitates the need for graduates to gain employable aptitudes incorporating skill in a foreign language and foreign companies’ business knowledge. Globalization since 1990s constrained Malaysia's pioneers to hold onto globalization as a force that would allow Malaysia to be integrated into the rest of the world and boost its national economy (Omar, 1982). Reliably, in education sector, educational leaders have been stressing the need to encourage foreign language competency among students (Zeszotarski, 2001; Welles, 2004; Christian et al., 2005; Ainol et al., 2007). Business relationship between Japan and Malaysia having developed very quickly in recent years, has caused a significant uptrend in the need for individuals who possess language skills in business Japanese and who are knowledgeable with Japanese business practices. In order to fulfill the business communication needs of Japanese companies in Malaysia and also to be able to respond to the employment of Japanese language learners, there is a need to improve the curriculum of Japanese language minor programs and Japanese as a foreign language in Malaysian higher education institutions. In 2002, a survey (Yeoh, n.d.) was conducted to investigate the needs and opinions from the graduates who took the Japanese language as their minor program at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). The curriculum of the conventional Japanese minor program is an integrated Japanese language course divided into level 1 to 5. The results of the investigation showed that the graduates strongly seek business Japanese language; thus, the curriculum of Japanese minor program’s final level was changed to business Japanese language. To further investigate whether the new business Japanese language curriculum is beneficial to the graduates in their workplace, another survey was carried out by Yeoh (2015). The aims of the survey were to get an overall understanding of (1) the use of Japanese language at workplace where the Japanese language minor program’s graduates are employed; (2) identify problems faced in language use and in terms of Japanese business practices in workplace. 3. Rationale of the Study The quantity of Japanese subsidiaries or joint-ventures in Malaysia has altogether expanded. One of the reasons is business in Japan is declining particularly due to the decreasing and aging population. Japanese companies in Japan are under pressure to make the transformation into globally focused companies (Izumi, Ito & Ishihara, 2014). This has led many Japanese businesses to invest and start their operations in other countries especially Southeast Asian countries. Therefore, in new off-shore business in South East Asian, there is a dire need for capable local university graduates in terms of Japanese language and Japanese business knowledge for their businesses. As the result, more and more Japanese companies are approaching university graduates particularly in ASEAN countries to search for excellent new graduates (Izumu, Ito & Ishihara, 2014). Due to the reason mentioned above and as the result of globalization, workplace is more diversified in Malaysia. In 2014 April , the presence of Japanese companies in Malaysia, be it joint venture or wholly-owned by Japanese (termed Japanese Related Companies in Malaysia, JRCM) total 1412 companies (JETRO 2014). Malaysia is the second biggest host to Japanese companies in Southeast Asia after Thailand. Due to the increasing importance of international commerce to Malaysia’s economy, the concept of Japanese language and Japanese business knowledge has become a vital element to the success of Japanese Related Companies in Malaysia (JRCM) (ASCOJA 2013). Japanese employers and Malaysian employees work together and communicate with each other within these organizations. Organizational Communication is more complex than that in homogeneous organizations and cultural diversity is considered potentially problematic (Shuter & Wiseman, 1994).This is due to heterogeneous workplaces are more risky than homogeneous ones because differences often become sources of conflicts, misunderstanding and poor performance (Salk & Brannen,2000). Communication abilities are considered important in the Japanese subsidiaries or joint-ventures in Malaysia. Successful communication is crucial to the functioning of any organization. Information must be conveyed, received, understood and acted upon in a proper manner in order to maintain an organizational efficiency. In the diversity of the nature of business of multinational companies, Malaysians have to deal with foreign managers, employees, suppliers, customers, distributors in Japanese companies, whose social and communicative backgrounds differ significantly from theirs. Leaders in many professions now realize that fluency in a foreign language especially Japanese and multicultural sensitivity are essential in their fields if the Malaysia is to participate effectively in this global community. For these reasons, Malaysia needs to train many more professionals who can communicate effectively with foreigners and who are sensitive to cultural differences. Knowledge of foreign languages and familiarity with foreign companies’ business knowledge are a key to success (Ainol et al., 2007).

ALLS 7(2):156-162, 2016 158 As indicated by the National Higher Education Strategic Plan Beyond 2020 (The Ministry of Higher Education, 2007), “Proficiency in the third language is vital for developing human capital that drives the k-economy as well as gears the country towards competitive innovation in the international arena,” (p.62). Malaysian universities are supported “to provide learning opportunities for students to be proficient in a third language such as Mandarin, Tamil, Japanese, French or Spanish,” (p.66). Besides, the third language will allow graduates not just to become acquainted with the most recent innovation and data, additionally to get an added advantage in an increasingly multicultural and diverse work environment where more opportunities are opened to a workforce that is competent in several languages. The significance of foreign languages in a borderless world is more apparent when nation building is very dependent on the acquisition and transfer of foreign technology. In perspective of the expanding expectations for graduates to be proficient about a foreign language there is a need to conduct more research in this area particularly concerning what are the needs and requirement of the workplace. As of late, calls have been made for graduates to be capable in oral relational abilities with the goal that they can work adequately in the working environment. Oral communication covers a wide zone, going from formal presentation to participation in teams and meetings. The literature indicates obviously that oral communication is an imperative part of the working environment, and that Japanese speaking graduate employees require effective skills in this domain if they are to be fruitful in their Japanese business environment. In workplace with personnel of distinctive ages, sexes and national, social, and ethnic foundation, it is clear that, as employees’ communication is shaped by differing cultural values and norms, the outcome will be variation in preferred modes of interaction. Japanese speaking graduate employees would need to be furnished with an understanding of these distinctions in order to navigate difficulties that may arise. Remotely, the undeniably globalized nature of the business world effects on correspondence forms. With numerous associations now opening crosswise over national limits, the requirement for workers to have culturally diverse comprehension is underscored (Liu & Beamer, 1997). To abridge, oral communication is as essential to and as effective in the working environment as it is in the societal existence of people. Being context-dependent it is formed by component’s external and internal environments. Besides, fruitful correspondence relies upon the gatherings, sharing foundation information and presumptions, and miscommunication can come about if there is a mismatch in the speakers’ intent. Above all, Malaysian with Japanese language competence and Japanese business knowledge are in high demand in Japan Related Companies in Malaysia (JRCM). Cultivating students’ Japanese language competence and Japanese business knowledge, therefore, has become a major requirement for Japanese language education in South East Asian universities (Izumi, Ito & Ishihara, 2014). 4. Related Literature Reviews Currently, due to the activation of Japanese companies expanding in the Asia region, demand for individuals who possess Japanese language skills to function in Japanese businesses is increasing (Yoshikawa 2002). However, there is insufficient investigation about level of Japanese required in the actual business activities. In addition, teaching materials and teaching methods of business Japanese at overseas higher education institutions also have not been progressively developed. At present, the institutions in foreign countries especially in ASEAN are using text and video teaching materials that are designed merely for the situation of Japan (Harada 2004). Studies have revealed on the problems faced by foreign business people in conducting business activities with the Japanese in Japan (Shimuzu, 1995 & Kondo, 1998). According to Shimuzu (1995), foreign business people who possess the advance Japanese language proficiency pointed that "express an opinion" is particular problem faced. In Kondo’s investigation (1998), "unfair treatment", "non-efficiency of work", "differences of work practices ", and "difference of cultural habit" were the problems mentioned by the foreign business people. In addition, Nishio’s study (1995) showed the characteristic of the Japanese language education needed by the foreign business people who worked in Japan were diversification, efficiency, understanding of business communications, including business practices and honorific. These research in the Japan business scene is mostly intended for advanced Japanese language learners, but most of the Japanese language learners in foreign countries are at the beginner or intermediate levels. How these learners acquired the Japanese language and what are the problems they faced in foreign countries have not been investigated widely. Chin Prasat Suk (2005) conducted a research on business communication problem between the Japanese and Thais local business people. The findings showed that the feedback from Japanese and the Thais are roughly the same for the three factors, there are "interpretation ability," "mutual understanding of communication", "time management". Case study by Miyazoe (1997 & 2003) in the multi-language workplace in Hong Kong and the use of Japanese language survey of overseas business scene by Shimada and Shibukawa (1999), investigating Japanese companies of five Asian cities including Kuala Lumpur, showed that the Japanese companies had high expectations of the business communication toward the foreign Japanese speakers. However, focus of the surveys were more in the usage of Japanese language in business situation and not focused in Japanese business practices and culture. Since the existence and Japanese use in the Japanese related companies in oversea is different from the organization in Japan, the problems that occur in Japanese related companies in overseas is difference from the organization in Japan. The literature review showed that there are researches done among foreign business people in Asean countries. However, the research done in Malaysia is very minimal. Furthermore, in previous studies on the Japanese use among foreign business people, Malaysia workplace business Japanese language use was not mentioned. Therefore, there is a need to conduct the research that focus on Japanese related companies in Malaysia.

ALLS 7(2):156-162, 2016 159 5. The study 5.1 Objectives This research purpose is to find out the actual situation these graduates are facing. A survey was conducted to investigate 1) How Japanese is used in the workplace of the Japanese language minor program’s graduates?2) What kind of problems are faced in language use by the Japanese language minor program’s graduates? 3) What are the problem faced by the Japanese language minor program’s graduates in terms of Japanese business practices? 5.2 Survey Method The questionnaire was designed with the framework used by Shimada and Shibuya (1999) and Wendy Tiong (2010). The investigation was conducted through survey quantitative and qualitative with the graduates. The questionnaire consists of both close-ended and open-ended questions. The quantitative data, close-ended questions were to grasp the overview of the use of the Japanese language. The qualitative data, open-ended questions were to collect data regarding the problems faced by the graduates in the Japanese language use at the workplace and the problems faced by the Japanese language minor program’s graduates in terms of Japanese business culture at workplaces. Both of the questionnaire were in English. 5.3 Sample Thirty sets of questionnaires were sent out to the Japanese language minor program’s graduates who are working for Japanese related companies in Malaysia, be it joint venture or wholly-owned by Japanese (termed Japanese Related Companies in Malaysia, JRCM) and twenty one sets were returned. Though the numbers of the sample were small but the questionnaires returned were completely answered. 5.4 Survey period The questionnaire survey was from May 2015 to November 2015. 6. Finding and Discussion 6.1 Participants The participants of the survey were 21 of the Japanese language minor program’s graduates who are working for JRCM and using Japanese for business purposes. They were 30 to 33 years old. Two (9.5%) participants have passed Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N1, five (23.8%) of them have passed N2 and 14 of them have passed N3 (66.7%). The industries the companies belong to is manufacturing. 6.2 Data analysis Quantitative data analysis involved descriptive statistics. The qualitative data from the questionnaire was manually analyzed by the researcher. 6.3 Findings Japanese used at workplaces - Quantitative Findings Table 1. Speak or Listen to Japanese

Purpose % Greetings 91 Casual conversation with Japanese colleagues 74

Work conversation with Japanese colleagues 65 Interpretations for simple casual conversation 52 Participating in meeting 29

Table 2. Reading

Purpose % Reading office e-mails 92 Reading office memos 61 Reading business reports and letters 56

ALLS 7(2):156-162, 2016 160 Table 3. Writing

Purpose %

Writing office e-mails 57

Reading office memos 30 Reading business reports and letters 28

Table 1, 2 and 3 are the findings of the Japanese language used at workplaces in JRCM. For speaking or listening to Japanese, the most important use was ‘Greetings’ (91%), the second was ‘Casual conversation with Japanese colleagues’ (74%), the third was ‘Work conversation with Japanese colleagues’ (65%) and the fourth was ‘Interpretations for simple casual conversation’ (52%) and last was participating in meeting (29%). The findings show that the use of Japanese by the graduates are more with their colleagues rather than outsiders such as their clients or business partners. The results also show that the graduates are involved in ‘interpretations for simple casual conversation’. This implies that the graduates play the role to connect Japanese speakers and non-Japanese speakers the JRCM. For reading, the most popular purpose was ‘reading office e-mail’ (92%), second was ‘reading office memo’ (61%) and followed by ‘reading business reports and letters’ (56%). Table 2 and table 3 show that the opportunity for writing was followed by the same sequence as reading. However, for ‘reading office e-mail’ was 92% while only 57% for ‘writing office e-mail’. This is because reading skills of the graduates are better than their writing skills. Furthermore, this result shows that the reading ability is more important than writing ability for the graduates. a) Problems faced in language use at workplaces - Qualitative Findings The qualitative data involving open-ended questions were used to collect data regarding the problems faced by the graduates in the Japanese language use at the workplace. Seven (33.3%) graduates responded that they faced problems in using Japanese language at work in the open-ended question. Seven of them have obtained JLPT N1 and N2, while those responded “No” to the question “Did you encounter any problems in using Japanese language at work?” were those who obtained N3 in JLPT test (14 of the graduates , 66.7%). The results show that the graduates with a higher level of proficiency in Japanese language faced more problems compared to graduates with lower level of Japanese language proficiency. Out of seven of the graduates who obtained JLPT N1 and N2, six of them responded in the close-ended questionnaire that in their job, speaking is the most important skill that requires them to have Japanese language proficiency in. Furthermore, they are those involved in participating in meetings. This may imply that the graduates with the higher Japanese language proficiency handle more difficult tasks compared to the graduates with the lower of Japanese language proficiency and as a result they faced more problems in language use at workplaces. The open-ended questions also requested the graduates to describe the kind of problems they faced in using Japanese at work. The most frequently occurring response was business expression and business vocabulary, followed by honorific expression, technical terms and worried that an inappropriate words is used during conversation.

i) Business expression and business vocabulary ii) Honorific expression iii) Technical terms iv) Worried that an inappropriate word is used during conversation

The graduates describe that the main problem they faced is expressing themselves in workplace because business expression and honorific expression in Japanese are very difficult for them as foreigners and this make them worry that they might inappropriately use them. b) The problem faced by the Japanese language minor program’s graduates in terms of Japanese business practices at workplaces - Qualitative Findings The qualitative data involving open-ended questions were used to collect data regarding problems faced by the Japanese language minor program’s graduates in terms of Japanese business practices at workplaces. The most common problems the graduates expressed were difficulties with different working culture and the Japanese ways of expressing ideas. i) Different working culture. ii) Japanese way of expressing ideas The graduates commented that the different working culture and the Japanese way of thinking and behaviors were the most difficult problems they faced in workplace because Japanese tend to hide their real thoughts and feelings. Furthermore, they faced the difficulties in communication and clear conclusion of business discussion in the workplace because problem solving and decision making are processes that the Japanese take a long period of time to complete. 7. Discussion The results indicated that the graduates used Japanese language to communicate with the employees of their workplace compared to outsiders. The findings also highlight that Japanese language listening and speaking skills are the most

ALLS 7(2):156-162, 2016 161 important skills needed by the graduates for their workplace success compared to reading and writing. (Table 1, 2 and 3). However, for ‘reading office e-mail’ was 92% while only 57% for ‘writing office e-mail’. This is because reading skills of the graduates are better than their writing skills. Furthermore, this result shows that the reading ability is more important than writing ability for the graduates. The graduates describe that the main problems they faced in Japanese used is to express themselves in workplace because business expression and honorific expression in Japanese are very difficult for them as foreigner and this make them worry that they might inappropriately use it. However, the problems faced by the Japanese language minor program’s graduates in terms of Japanese business practices at workplaces were the difficulties in communication and provision of clear conclusion of business discussion in the workplace. This was due to different working culture and the Japanese way of expressing ideas indirectly. This study also provided an interesting results that the graduates with a higher level of proficiency in Japanese language faced more problems compared to graduates with lower level of Japanese language proficiency in their workplace. 8. Conclusion This paper provides a guidelines for the Japanese language teachers in teaching implication and the information regarding the competencies needed for the graduates to able them to work successfully in Japanese related companies in Malaysia. Furthermore, the study provides guidelines for the new graduates who are interested in working in Japanese related companies in Malaysia that they must prepare to cope with the problems they may have in working with Japanese employers. It is hoped that information presented in this paper will be beneficial for the graduates to perceive and learn the language and the Japanese business practices. References Omar. A.H. (1982). Language and Society in Malaysia. Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka: Kuala Lumpur. Zubairi, A.M., Sarudin, I. H., & Nordin, M. S. (2007). A Study of the effectiveness of Foreign Language Programs in Malaysia. Proceedings in the 32nd Annual Congress of the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia, Making a Difference: Challenges for Applied Linguistics, University of Wollongong, 1-3 July, 2007. Brannen, M.Y., Salk, J.E. (2000). Partnening Across Borders: Negotiating Organizational Culture in a German-Japanese Joint Venture. Human Relations, 53(4), 451-487. Carnevale, A.P., Gainer L.J., Meltzer A.S. (1990). Workplace basics: The essential skills employers want. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Chee, M.C. (2001). An Investigation into the Needs of Business Japanese of the University, Graduates and Local Business Communication in Hong Kong. The Journal of Japanese Language, 5, 31-42. Christian, P., & Rhodes, N. (2005). Fostering foreign language proficiency: What the US can learn from other nations, Phi Delta Kappan, 87(3), 226-228. Furuoka, F. (2002). Economic Relations Between Malaysia And Japan: Investment, Trade And Economic Assistance 1. Institute for Development Studies, 13(2), 130-147. Halliday, M.K.(1978). Language as social semiotic. London: Edward Arnold. Imaoka, H. (1985). Japanese management in Malaysia. Southeast Asian Studies 22(4), 339-356. Izumi, W., Ito, A., & Ishihara, E. (2014). What are the Problem with Business Japanese Competencies? A Study Based on Surveys of Business People Working in Japan-Related Workplace. Proceedings of CLaSIC 2014. Japan Foundation (2011). Objective and Histrory. Retrieved June 20, 2011. JATRO (2011), Japan External Trade Organization. Retrieved from http://www.jetro.go.jp/ Liu, D., Beamer, L.(1997) Multimedia as a teaching Tool in Business Communication Course Delivery. Business Communication Quarterly, 60(2), 51-66. Mellinger, W.M. (1992). Talk-as-work: the case of paramedic calls for emergency field orders. Current Research on Occupations and Professions, 7, 79-109. Muguda,Y.（2007）「ビジネス・コミュニケーションを中心とした中級向けのシラバス開発一日印ビジネス現場における日本語使用実態調査をもとに一『日本言語文化研究会論集』第3号，国際交流基金日本語国際センター・国立国語研究所政策研究大学院大学, 197－224. Ooi, C.K. (2013). ASCOJA towards the Cooperation and Development of ASEAN+Japan. Proceedings in the The 20th ASEAN Council of Japan Alumni (ASCOJA) Conference, ASCOJA Towards the Cooperation and Development of ASEAN & Japan, The International Conference Center (ICC), Hanoi, 6-8 September, 2013. Rahil, S. (2012, August 14). More Japanese firms relocating to Singapore. The Japan Times. Retrieved from http://www.japantimes.co.jp Shimada, M., & Shibukawa, S. (1999). Japanese language usage in Japanese companies in five Asian cities. Journal of Japanese Language Teaching, 103, 109-118.

ALLS 7(2):156-162, 2016 162 Shuter, R., Wiseman,R. L. (1994). Communication in multinational organizations: conceptual, theoretical and practical issues. CA: Sage Thousand Oaks. Smith, Wendy, A. (1994). A Japanese Factory in Malaysia: Ethnicity as a management ideology. In Sundaram, Jomo Kwame (Eds.), Japan and Malaysian development: in the shadow of the rising sun,154–181. Routledge. The Ministry of Higher Education. (2007). The National Higher Education Strategic Plan beyond 2020. The Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia Press. Welles, E. B. (2004). Foreign language enrollments in United States institutions of higher education, Fall 2004. ADFL Bulletin, 35, 73-95. Yeoh, L. S. (2011) 「マレーシアにおける日系企業で使われるビジネス日本語に関するニーズ調査」『異文化コミュニケーションのための日本語教育』１、高等教育出版社、1004-1005. Yeoh, L. S. (2011). Business Communication Needs of Japanese Companies in Malaysia: What is expected of University Graduates? Proceedings in 2011 Asian Literacy Conference in Conjunction with 7th Litcon & 4th ILLC, Language & Literacy in the Local and Global Contexts: Success Stories and Unfolding Narratives, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11-13 October, 2011. Yeoh, L.S., Tengku S.T.M., Manjet, K. (2015). Japanese Language and Japanese Business Knowledge Needs of Japanese Related Companies in Malaysia. Paper presented at the 6th International Language Learning Conference 2015. Zeszotarski, P. (2001). ERIC review: Issues in global education initiatives in the community college. Community College Review, 29, 65-72.



Dynamic Assessment of Incidental Vocabularies: A Case of Iranian ESP Learners

Sepideh Hanifi (Corresponding author)

Department of English Language, Faculty of Humanities, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran E-mail: [email protected]

Mahdi Nasiri


Hesamuddin Aliasin


Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.163 Received: 26/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.163 Accepted: 20/01/2016 Abstract Dynamic assessment (DA), stemmed from both Vygotsky’s (1978) learning theory and Feuerstein’s (1979) theory of mediated learning experiences, is an alternative to static assessment. It focuses on both instruction and assessment aiming at promoting learning through mediation. DA has been widely researched in different linguistic areas, but there is paucity of research on its practice in ESP contexts. Accordingly, this study investigated the effectiveness of DA on incidental vocabularies emerging in technical reading textbooks, written for electronic engineering students. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design. Due to sample selection problems, an intact group of 25 BA electronic students were selected from the University of Zanjan. A pre-test was administered to check whether they had previous knowledge of the target words, incidentally acquired during the reading activity. As for the instrument stage, DA procedures were utilized in order to individualize participants’ assessment. Following DA implementation, a post-test similar in content to pre-test, was administered to the same participants. The significance of DA for the enhancement of incidental vocabularies was to make participants aware of the strategies of identifying, evaluating and monitoring vocabularies (Nassaji, 2003) through mediation process. The results indicated that participants' incidental vocabulary learning promoted dramatically using DA, which employed structured hints for the mediation process. The results of this study can inform both teachers and learners to provide a step by step procedure to promote both teaching and assessment of ESP learners' vocabulary. Keywords: Dynamic Assessment, Incidental Vocabulary Learning, ESP Learners, ZPD, mediation 1. Introduction The emergence of Dynamic Assessment in EFL contexts is not a recent phenomenon. But, DA dealing with ZPD of learners is a relative term to be defined. There are numerous definitions for DA in the literature. Leunng (2007) defines dynamic assessment as a new approach to assessment which is based on dynamic interaction between the person who examine and the examinee. In this process, the examiner provides leading questions and prompts so as to mediate the examinee. Dynamic assessment, being a subdivision of formative assessment, is based on Vygotsky's socio-cultural principles and is an alternative to static assessment. As Lidz and Gindis (2003, p. 99) suggest, DA is an “approach to understanding individual differences and their implications for instruction that embeds intervention within the assessment procedure.” According to Haywood and Lidz (2007, p. 1) DA is “an interactive approach to conducting assessments… that focuses on the ability of the learner to respond to intervention.” In fact, DA focuses on interventions that ease the learning process (Lidz, 1991). DA is distinctly different from static assessments. The results of traditional assessment or non-dynamic assessment only reveals the abilities that have been already developed; however, the dynamic score and the analysis of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) makes it possible to find out about the abilities that have not developed yet, but can be developed in collaboration with a more knowledgeable person (Ajideh, Farrokhi, and Nourdad, 2012). English for Specific Purpose (ESP) courses have always felt the need for teaching specialized/technical vocabulary since 1960's, when it first emerged (Nito, 2004). It is important to note that vocabulary is the core of ESP courses; thus, teaching specialized vocabulary to ESP learners has been a concern throughout the history of ESP and language teaching. To this end, in this study, the attempt was made to recruit the instructional dimension of DA for ESP


ALLS 7(2):163-170, 2016 164 vocabulary acquisition. Since there are different layers of vocabulary acquisition, incidental vocabularies were chosen as the target of this study to be deeply scrutinized. Therefore, the following research question and its related hypothesis were formulated for present piece of research. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Dynamic Assessment 2.1.1 Theoretical basis of DA Dynamic assessment is theoretically based on two psychologists' work; it is based on Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory and zone of proximal development (ZPD) and Feuerstein's structural cognitive modifiability theory and mediated learning experience (MLE). Based on Vygotsky's (1978) definition, ZPD is the distance between a child’s actual developmental level, autonomous problem solving and the higher level of latent development, problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers. Tzuriel (2001) defines MLE as an interactional process in which parents manipulate adult-child interactions in order to trigger child development. 2.1.2 Dynamic vs. static assessment DA is an alternative to static assessment. The differences between the two types of assessment are in terms of their testing goals, orientation, context of testing, and interpretation of results (Carney and Cioffi, 1992). First, the goal of DA is assessment of change but SA evaluates static performance. Second, DA's orientation is learning process, while SA's orientation is end products. Third, the context of DA is dynamic, open and interactive; however, the context of SA is standardized, structured and formal. Fourth, DA interprets results subjectively and the peak performance is considered, but SA interprets results objectively and the average performance is considered. 2.1.3 Different approaches to DA There are two approaches toward DA, resulting from the two different interpretations of ZPD. The first interpretation is quantitative leading to interventionist DA and the second one is qualitative interpretation of ZPD, leading to interactionist DA. A preset list of prompts and feedback for each item is provided to examiners during the test administration in the interventionist approach. Lantolf and Poehner (2004a) believe that this approach is psychometric-oriented and is not done for the purpose of enhancing learning. Poehner (2008) defines interventionist DA as the model in which all hints and prompts are prearranged from the most explicit to the most implicit in which the mediator does not react to the learner’s needs, but rather s/he follows those highly scripted mediational forms (Hassaskhah and Javan Haghparast, 2012). Vygotsky’s second qualitative interpretation of ZDP brought about the second approach to DA called interactionist. Interactionist approach to DA puts emphasis on learning over assessment. Feuerstein, one of the leading advocates of interactionist DA, argues that if appropriate forms of interactions and instructions are provided, cognitive abilities can be developed (Poehner and Lantolf, 2005). In this approach, it is not the preordained prompts or hints that direct assessors’ reaction, rather s/he responds on the basis of the learners’ needs throughout the DA procedure. In this approach, the examiner cooperates with the learners so as to complete a specific task or test (Poehner, 2008). A difference between the two aforementioned approaches is that mediational hints of the interactionist approach are not scripted and thus, standardized. Therefore, it rests on the examiner’s preparation as well as his understanding of the learner’s ZPD, because the mediations are formulated in the face of observing learners’ needs (Lantolf and Poehner, 2004a). 2.1.4 Mediation According to Poehner (2008), Vygotsky and his colleagues developed what has come to be known alternatively as sociocultural theory, social historical theory, cultural psychology, and cultural historical psychology. The basic tenet of Vygotsky's theory is that human cognition is mediated socially through interaction with others and culturally through the use of cultural objects (Cole and Engestrom, 1993; Vygotsky, 1986; Wertsch, 1985). The basic idea is that engaging in activities that are mediated by others and by cultural objects paves the way for individuals to learn faster. Mediation in the case of L2 learning can adjust and modify learning actions that were first unfocused. Therefore, as Donato and MacCormick (1994) state mediation is the instrument of cognitive change and learning. Since responsiveness to mediation offers valuable insights into learners' future development, it is crucial for understanding cognitive ability. 2.1.5 Empirical works on DA In recent years DA has attracted the attention of many scholars in the world, and Iranian scholars are rot exceptions. For example, Mardani and Tavakoli (2011) investigated the effect of interactionist DA on 30 Iranian male students and after calculating their performance using t-test, concluded that students' performance had significant improvement after implementation of DA. In another paper written by Jafary, Nordin and Mohajeri (2012), the effect of dynamic assessment on learners’ syntactic knowledge of pre-university male learners was examined and compared with static assessment and it was concluded that DA outperformed SA in improving syntactic knowledge of learners. In their quasi-experimental research, Hassaskhah and Javan Haghparast (2012) compared the effect of the two main models of DA on the improvement of the writing abilities and attitudes of EFL learners and concluded that none of them can be given priority; just the situation in which they can be used is different. Birjandi, Estaji and Deyhim (2013) also conducted a research and explored the feasibility of development and implementation of dynamic assessment procedure in the areas of EFL reading comprehension and metacognitive awareness of reading strategy and suggested that DA is

ALLS 7(2):163-170, 2016 165 an effective tool to understand the learners’ abilities and to help them success in facing up to reading problems or difficulties. Ajideh and Nourdad (2013) wrote a qualitative paper and presented the advantages of applying DA for identifying the individual EFL learners' reading comprehension ability and proved that DA has a more detailed view over assessing abilities and is efficient in identifying the exact scope of ability for each person. Nirmalakhandan (2012) investigated a computer-based DA system and suggested that since the implementation of such systems, performance of the students has improved and these systems are preferred by students. Gillam, Pena and Miller (1991) conducted a research studying the role of narration and exposition in gaining literacy and proved that the information that is obtained from DA can be used to distinguish whether a child's low performance is due to her language difference or language impairment. In their quasi-experimental research, Beak and Kim (2003) used three types of concept achievement tests and concluded that DA-based instruction increases children's learning. Orikasa (2010) studied interactionist DA in an L2 context by tutoring L2 English oral communication and investigated how interactions between a mediator and a L1 Japanese student were negotiated. The results indicated that interactionist DA in the L2 context is effective in helping the learner overcome problems and perform better through negotiated interactions with the mediator. 2.2 ESP Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) has been researched from a long time ago (Dudly-Evans & St. John, 1998) and since the focus of research is upon English today, English for specific purposes (ESP) has gained ascendency in different fields (Dudly-Evans & St. John, 1998). "ESP has been referred to as applied ELT as the content and aim of any course is determined by the needs of a specific group of learners" (Dudly-Evans & St. John, 1998). Iran has not lagged behind from other countries and many researchers have conducted studies on ESP. Rajabi, Kiany, and Maftoon (2012) investigated the effects of an ESP in-service teacher training program on Iranian ESP practitioners’ beliefs and application of instructional tools and also students’ achievements. They found that the training program had an influential and beneficial role on the beliefs and practices of ESP teachers. Alibakhshi, Ghand Ali and Padiz (2011) endeavored to meticulously examine ESP teachers' roles in Iran to see the procedure they follow in their classroom is appropriate or not. The results indicated that Iranian ESP teachers do not teach English and they are not innovative in their teaching and learning. Amirian and Tavakoli (2009) also studied ESP textbooks offered to students at universities in Iran in terms of their language skills and components and investigated the extent to which these ESP courses have been efficacious in satisfying engineers’ job requirements. The results revealed that ESP courses offered in Iranian universities do not suffice to meet the job requirements of engineers. Sarani and Sahebi (2012) investigated ESP vocabulary learning taught within the paradigm of TBLT. Their findings showed that TBLT was effective in teaching technical vocabularies and could enhance ESP vocabulary learning. Although ESP has gained importance in Iran and has been under investigation by researchers, ESP is not in a good position in Iran, currently. Some believe that this situation is due to lack of untrained ESP teachers (Rajabi, Kiany, and Maftoon 2012). 2.3 Incidental vocabulary learning In acquiring any language, vocabulary learning is a crucial part and it appears inconceivable that vocabulary can be acquired only through explicit studying and teaching. There is a widely-held belief among teachers and researchers (e.g., Milton, 2009; Hulstijn, 2001) that most L2 vocabulary is acquired incidentally. 2.3.1 Strategies and knowledge sources and learning incidentally An important point about incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition is that the teacher does not direct the learner’s attention to the target words. For example, in Laufer (2006, p. 156), “participants were not told that the purpose of the experiment was vocabulary learning and that they would be tested on vocabulary”. However, the learner and not the teacher should decide to attend to the input or not. When the learner decides to do so, he can resort to two types of tools to infer the meaning of unknown vocabularies, that is, word guessing strategies and knowledge sources (Norzadeh & Khatib, 2012). A number of researchers (Nassaji, 2003, 2004) have conducted different studies to investigate these two different tools used when learning vocabulary incidentally. Nassaji (2003, 2004) identifies three types of word-guessing strategies, i.e. identifying, evaluating, and monitoring, and also five knowledge sources namely grammatical, morphological, world, first language, and discourse knowledge facilitating incidental vocabulary learning. It should be noted that, each strategy is further divided into subtypes and each knowledge source has a detailed explanation that are all beyond the scope of this paper. 2.3.2 Empirical studies on incidental vocabulary learning In a research by Zeeland and Schmitt (2013), L2 learners' acquisition of three vocabulary knowledge dimensions through listening was investigated and they found that learners start developing knowledge of a word long before they master the form-meaning link. The concept of incidental learning has been particularly important in the context of research on vocabulary acquisition, which is the core of ESP and therefore both notions will be discussed jointly incorporating DA. In the same line, a great number of research has been conducted in Iran on dynamic assessment of different general English linguistic areas including vocabulary learning, listening, reading and writing (e.g. Saeidi and Hosseinpour, 2013; Ajideh and Nourdad, 2013; Birjandi, Estaji, Deyhim, 2013; Mardani and Tavakoli, 2011). However, there is paucity of research on DA and ESP, together. To the best knowledge of researchers, there has not been any research on

ALLS 7(2):163-170, 2016 166 dynamic assessment of ESP vocabulary learning. Ample reasons were provided for the start of this work. Accordingly, having acknowledged the importance of vocabulary learning in ESP, this study investigated the effectiveness of DA on incidental vocabularies emerging in technical reading textbooks, written for electronic engineering students, incorporating the two concepts of DA and ESP. Therefore, the research question and the null hypothesis are formulated as follows: 1. Does dynamic assessment improve ESP learners’ incidental vocabulary learning? H0: Dynamic assessment does not improve ESP learners’ incidental vocabulary learning. 3. Method 3.1 Participants The participants of this project involved 25 undergraduate students of Electronic engineering studying in the University of Zanjan, during academic year of 2014-2015. The participants chosen had passed their ESP course. They were male and female students and all were native speakers of Persian. It should be noted that gender was not considered as a moderator variable. 3.2 Instruments and materials 3.2.1 The Proficiency test Preliminary English Test (PET) was used to homogenize the proficiency level of students. This test was composed of two parts: Reading and Writing. The reading part included five parts with 35 multiple-choice items providing simple written information. The writing section, on the other hand, consisted of three parts with 16 items that the students were asked to do sentence completion, to provide specific information, and to write a letter with the word limit of 100 words. It is important to note that the researchers used just two skills of the PET exam, i.e., writing and reading that were relevant to the purpose of the research. The listening section was not administered due to the impracticalities involved. 3.2.2 Vocabulary tests The textbook used in the University for ESP course was composed of twenty short passages on different issues in electronics as well as some exercises. The pre/posttest of the incidental vocabularies were extracted from the textbook, written by Manoochehr Haghani in 2013, published by the Organization for Researching and Composing University Textbooks in the Humanities (SAMT). 3.2.3 Reading passages Two passages were chosen from the book mentioned earlier in order to dynamically assess the incidental vocabularies of our intact group. These two passages were the same in terms of their readability and vocabulary profile. 3.3 Data collection After administrating the proficiency test and making the group homogenous, the following procedures were followed. The pre-test of vocabulary from the aforementioned book was administered to the participants. The scores on this test were recorded for further comparison with the results of the post-test. Once the pretest was administered, the researchers tried to go through the meditational steps. According to literature (see for example Poehner, 2008), mediation is the core in dynamic assessment studies. Therefore through some preordained hints, the researchers tried to dynamically assess every single item of the pretest, especially the ones in which participants might commit mistake. The fact of the matter is that the researchers started with those problematic items and through giving hints to them tried to prepare them for a better future performance on the type of vocabularies. An example of a set of hints for an item is provided in Figure 1.

Figure 1. An Example of a hint during DA

Permeability is ……………. a) The property of a magnetizable substance that determines the degree in which it modifies the magnetic flux in the region occupied by it in a magnetic field. b) The amount of energy that a valence needs to jump from the valence band to the conduction band. c) The intrinsic silicon crystal having enough energy for some valence electrons to jump in the conduction band. d) The conductivity of a semiconductor being drastically increased by the addition of impurities. e) The input signal voltage causing the gate-to-source voltage to swing above and below its Q-point value. H1: That is not the right answer. H2: That is not right either. Look at the use of this word in the following sentence: There is one class of materials-principally iron and its alloys with nickel, cobalt, and aluminum for which the relative permeability is very many times greater than that of free space. H3: That is not right either. Look at the following diagram which is a simplified comparison of permeabilities for: ferromagnets (μf), paramagnets (μp), free space (μ0) and diamagnets (μd)

H4: The correct answer was "a".

ALLS 7(2):163-170, 2016 167 The very nature of hints was as being giving hands to predict the right answer for the questions. Therefore, through activating the ZPD of the participants the same procedure, i.e. dynamic assessment of vocabulary items, continued. An important point to make is that, the procedure of dynamic assessment was done in group size. Once DA was conducted for all the items, the post-test of the vocabulary, extracted from the same book, was administered to the participants. The comparison of the pre and post tests for the sample group indicated whether DA was fruitful or not. 3.4 Data analysis In order to see the effect of DA on incidental vocabulary learning of Electronic students, participants took the post-test as said earlier. As was mentioned, it was after the pretests of vocabulary that participants were exposed to the target treatment (i.e. Dynamic assessment of incidental vocabularies) to experience the effect of DA on their ESP vocabulary learning. Once treatment was over, participants were given posttests for further treatment analysis. The nature of this work was quasi-experimental due to lack of control group within the study. Through a matched T-test the results of pre and post vocabulary tests were compared. 4. Results 4.1 Overview As noted earlier, in the study, the attempt was made to scrutinize the effect of dynamic assessment on the incidental-vocabulary learning of ESP students in Iran. As far as the limitations were concerned, an intact group was employed to undergo the coaching phases of DA. Hence, the statistical procedures were adopted in accordance with the design of the research. In other words, to make a clear comparison between the pre-test and post-test of vocabulary, a paired-T-test was used for the same participants. Details related to the statistical analysis are provided in the following lines. 4.2 Inferential statistics Paired sample t-test was used to analyze data collected from pre/post-test. It should be mentioned that, t-test was used since the normality of data was confirmed by Shapiro-Wilk statistical measures (p>.05) and the results are presented in Table 4.1. Table 1. Kolmogorov-Smirnov Normality test results

Kolmogorov-Smirnova Shapiro-Wilk Statistic Df Sig. Statistic Df Sig.

Pretest scores .183 24 .030 .959 24 .403 Posttest scores .176 24 .064 .947 24 .259 *. This is a lower bound of the true significance. a. Lilliefors Significance Correction

After ascertaining the normality of data, participants' mean scores obtained from pre/posttests were compared using paired sample t-test to determine whether there was a statistically significant mean difference between post/pretests. It is noteworthy that the scores obtained from the test were out of 20. The descriptive statistics are presented in Table 4.2. Table 2. Descriptive statistics of paired-sample t-test

Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

pretest scores 16.94 25 10.474 2.095 posttest scores 19.26 25 6.794 1.359

On the basis on Table 4.2, it can be seen that the mean scores had a significant increase after going through the mediational steps. Therefore, DA enhances ESP learners’ incidental vocabulary learning.

Table 3. Paired sample t-test

Paired Differences T Df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Std.

Deviation Std.

Error Mean


Difference Lower Upper

Pre vocabulary Post vocabulary

5.32000 1.90875 .38175 6.10789 4.53211 13.936 24 .000

ALLS 7(2):163-170, 2016 168 The results revealed that the difference between the pretest and the posttest was statistically significant [t (24) = 13.936, p < .05]. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected. It indicates that the treatment in the form of dynamic assessment and mediation after pretest has been effective in the vocabulary learning of ESP learners. Overall, DA proved to be significantly effective in vocabulary learning of ESP learners. One important point to make is that there are other ways of measuring the effectiveness of DA on different linguistic dimensions. One of these ways is to count the number of hints and make frequency tables to see how much of mediation was necessary for a particular item. Consequently, more detailed information can appear. But, in this piece of work, due to time restrictions, the comparison of vocabulary performances was focused. 5. Discussion and conclusion This study focused on alternative assessments, specifically dynamic assessment, targeting Iranian ESP learners' incidental vocabulary learning. It is clear that assessing learners’ performance constitutes a crucial part of English language courses. However, most ESP learners look at testing as something frightening and revolting; accordingly, the need for alternative types of assessment on ESP has always been tangible (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987). Static assessment, which is commonly used by teachers in ESP context, can be criticized by educational experts due to its ignorance of learners' potentialities, or technically put, ZPD. Considering the limitations of static assessment and taking into account new trends in language assessment, the present study aimed to touch upon the role of dynamic assessment in incidental vocabulary learning in ESP context. The analysis of the obtained data reveals that the difference between the performances of the participants, who received treatment in the form of mediation, was statistically significant. In other words, dynamic assessment could improve the vocabulary learning of ESP learners. The results of this study like many DA-based studies (see for example, Amirian and Tavakkoli, 2009; Rajabi, Kiani and Maftoon, 2012; Ajideh and Nourdad, 2013) proved to be significant for both language-learning and teaching. In fact no work, to date, has refuted the effectiveness of DA on different linguistic dimensions. This study is closer in content to what Saeidi and Hosseinpour (2013) conducted. In their study, the role of DA on vocabulary leaning in general English classes was emphasized. The results of their research demonstrated the positive impact of DA on students’ performance. But, the present study, by choosing ESP context, on the one hand, and focusing on incidental vocabularies, on the other, endeavored to provide a new context of research. Correspondingly, this work shed new lights on both testing arena and language teaching/learning. Therefore, mingling assessment and instruction can be beneficial for vocabulary learning of ESP learners. Process-oriented dynamic assessment can improve the vocabulary learning of ESP learners. The researchers firmly believe that adopting DA in ESP classes leads to more involvement of learners in the process of learning. It also increases learners’ motivation and reduces the nervousness of taking test. On the other hand, teachers can employ DA to gauge the learners’ understanding and awareness and identify the areas that learners need more help. In conclusion, this study coupled with other studies attested the positive part DA plays in language testing and learning. More studies are needed to concentrate on the attitude of participants on DA. Besides, the role of gender as a control variable should be given more heed. References Ajideh, P. & Nourdad, N. (2013). Dynamic Assessment Revealing Individual Differences in EFL Reading Comprehension Ability. International Journal of Social Sciences and Education, 3(2), 340-350. Ajideh, P., Farrokhi, F., & Nourdad, N, 2012. Dynamic assessment of EFL reading: revealing hidden aspects at different level. World Journal of Education, 2(4). Alibakhshi, G., Ghand Ali, H., & Padiz, D. (2011). Teaching and Testing ESP at Iranian Universities: A Critical View. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(6), 1346-1352. Amirian, Z. & Tavakoli, M. (2009). Reassessing the ESP courses offered to Engineering students in Iran. English for Specific Purposes, 8(23). Beak, S and Jin Kim, K. (2003). The effect of dynamic assessment based instruction on children's learning. Asia Pacific Education Review, 4(2), 189-198. Birjandi, P., Estaji, M. & Deyhim, T. (2013). The Impact of Dynamic Assessment on Reading Comprehension and Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategy Use in Iranian High School Learners. Iranian Journal of Language Testing, 3(2). Carney, J.J., & Cioffi, G. (1992). The dynamic assessment of reading abilities. International Journal of disability development and education, 39(2), 107-114. Cole, M., & Engestrom, Y. (1993). A cultural historical approach to distributed cognition. In Salomon, G. (Ed.). (1997). Distributed cognitions: Psychological and educational considerations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Donato, R. & MacCormick, D. (1994). A Sociocultural Perspective on Language Learning Strategies: The Role of Mediation. The modern Language Journal, 78(4), 453-464.

ALLS 7(2):163-170, 2016 169 Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ellis, R. (1999). Learning a Second Language through Interaction. Netherland: John Benjamins publishing. Gillam, R., Pena, E. & Miller, L. (1999). Dynamic assessment of narrative and expository discourse. Topics in Language Disorder, 20(1), 33. Hassaskhah, J. & Javan Haghparast, M. (2012). A comparative study of the impact of DA models on the writing ability and attitude of Iranian EFL learners. Buckingham Journal of Language & Linguistics, 5(38). Haywood, C. H. & Lidz, C. S, 2007. Dynamic assessment in practice: Clinical and educational applications. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Hulstijn, J. (2001). Intentional and incidental second language vocabulary learning: A reappraisal of elaboration, rehearsal and automaticity. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language acquisition instruction (pp. 258-286). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes: A learning-centered approach. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Jafary, M., Nordin, N. & Mohajeri, R. (2012). The Effect of Dynamic versus Static Assessment on Syntactic Development of Iranian College Preparatory EFL Learners. English Language Teaching, 5(7). Lantolf, J. P. & Poehner, M. E. (2004a). Dynamic assessment of L2 development: Bringing the past into the future. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 49- 72. Laufer, B. (2006). Comparing Focus on Form and Focus on FormS in second language vocabulary learning. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 63, 149-166. Leung, C. (2007). Dynamic assessment: Assessment for and as teaching? Language assessment quarterly: An International Journal, 4, 257-278. Lidz, C. & Gindis, B. (2003). Dynamic assessment of the evolving cognitive functions in children. In A. Kozulin, B. Gindis, V. Ageyev, & S. Miller (Eds.), Vygotsky's educational theory in cultural context (pp. 293-357), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Lidz, C. (1991). Practitioner's Guide to Dynamic Assessment. New York City: Guilford Press Mardani, M. & Tavakoli, M. (2011). Beyond Reading Comprehension: The Effect of Adding a Dynamic Assessment Component on EFL Reading Comprehension. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(3), 688-696. Milton, J. (2009). Measuring second language vocabulary acquisition. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Moslemi, F., Moinzadeh, A. & Dabaghi, A. (2011). ESP Needs Analysis of Iranian MA Students: A Case study of the University of Isfahan. English Language Teaching, 4(4), 121-128. Nassaji, H. (2003). L2 vocabulary learning from context: Strategies, knowledge sources and their relationship with success in L2 lexical inferencing. TESOL Quarterly, 37, 645-670. Nassaji, H. (2004). The Relationship between Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge and L2 Learners’ Lexical Inferencing Strategy Use and Success. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 61, 107-134. Nirmalakhandan N. (2012). Improving problem-solving skills of undergraduates through computerized dynamic assessment. Social and Behavioral Sciences, 83, 615 – 621. Nito, R. (2004). Vocabulary & ESP: Teaching Business Vocabulary. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/46984761/ESP. Nourzadeh, S., & Khatib, M. (2012). Incidental L2 Vocabulary Acquisition through Reading comprehension, Issues, Arguments and controversies. Journal of Academic and Applied Studies, 2(2), 1- 11. Orikasa, M. (2010). Interactionist Dynamic Assessment in L2 Learning: A Case Study of Tutoring L2 English Oral Communication. Retrieved from http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/20258 Poehner M. E. (2008). Dynamic Assessment: A Vygotskian approach to understanding and promoting L2 development, New York: Springers. Poehner, M. E. & Lantolf, J. P. (2005). Dynamic assessment in the language classroom. Language Teaching Research, 9(3), 233–265. Rajabi, P., Kiani, G. H. R. and Maftoon, P. (2012). ESP in-service teacher training programs: Dot they change Iranian teacher's beliefs, classroom practices and student's achievements? Iberica 24, 261-282. Saeidi, M. and Hosseinpour, A. (2013). The Effect of Dynamic Assessment as an Instructional Tool on Iranian EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Learning. Journal of basic and applied scientific research, 3(10), 421-429. Sarani, A. and Sahebi, L. (2012). The impact of task-based approach on vocabulary learning in ESP courses. English Language Teaching, 5(10), 118-128. Tzuriel, D. (2001). Dynamic assessment of young children. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press.

ALLS 7(2):163-170, 2016 170 Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MS: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Vygotsky, L. S. (1998). The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky. Vol. 6. Robert W. Rieber (Ed.). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press. Wertsch, J. V. (1985). Vygotsky and the social formation of mind. F. Smolucha (Ed.) and Trans. Cambridge, MS: Harvard University Press. Zeeland, H., Schmitt, N. (2013). Incidental vocabulary acquisition through L2 listening: A dimensions approach. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2013.07.012



Exploring the Writing Process of Indonesian EFL Students: The Effectiveness of Think-Aloud Protocol

Imelda Hermilinda Abas (Corresponding author)

Universiti Utara Malaysia, College of Arts and Sciences, 06010 Sintok, Kedah Malaysia E-mail: [email protected]

Noor Hashima Abd Aziz

Language Department, School of Education and Modern Languages, Universiti Utara Malaysia, College of Arts and Sciences, 06010 Sintok, Kedah Malaysia


Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.171 Received: 29/11/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.171 Accepted: 24/01/2016 Abstract The objectives of this study were to explore the writing process of the Indonesian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students and to find out the effectiveness of using think-aloud protocol to understand the writing process. The data were obtained from six proficient EFL students who were doing Postgraduate English Language Studies Program in Indonesia. The participants were selected based on the following criteria: had completed a minimum of two academic writing courses, had written a thesis in English, had taught English for more than two years and considered as proficient writers based on IELTS result. The finding of the study showed that all of the participants went through the following writing process: prewriting, planning, drafting, pausing, reading, revising, editing and publishing. In addition, the think-aloud protocol had different effects on the participants. Five of the participants admitted that the think-aloud protocol had a positive effect because it helped them in organizing their thoughts and ideas. However, only one participant found thinking aloud made her difficult to focus on the writing task due to the demand to verbalize and write at the same time. Keywords: think-aloud protocol, writing process, proficient writers, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) 1. Introduction In today’s global world, English is one of the most widely spoken languages and it has strengthened the social and economic exchange between people of different communities and cultures. English is used in education, media, sports and business. The English language skills can be categorized into two groups: listening and reading as the language input, and speaking and writing as the language output. Speaking and listening come naturally for second language (L2) or foreign language (FL) learners because the learners need to communicate using the target language. On the contrary, the language learners need someone to teach them how to write in the target language because it involves aspects such as types of writing, grammatical structure and writing strategies. In other words, the language learners know how to speak and listen in the target language easily and rather quickly than knowing how to write. Writing is a skill needed in education for professional success especially at the work place (Applebee, Langer, Mullis, Latham & Gentile, as cited in Hamman, 2005; Johannesen, 2001). A research done by Gardner and Nesi (2012) identified thirteen genres families in writing: case study, critique, design specification, empathy writing, essay, exercises, explanation, literature survey, methodology recount, narrative recount, problem question, proposal and research report (p. 188). Writing can be defined as “a way for students in all content areas to make meaning for themselves” (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987, p.5) and learning how to think and communicate in their particular domains (Herrington, 1985). According to De la Paz and Graham (2002), writing is regarded as a challenging task because it involves the composition of a variety of cognitive resources and problem solving activities. Moreover, writing is complicated and demands higher thinking abilities (Alhosani, 2008). Williams (2005) suggests two important basic principles that are closely related to L2 writing. Firstly, both linguistic competence and writing skill are required in learning to write well because they support each other and simultaneously help to improve the second language learners’ writing skills. Moreover, writing skill cannot be developed spontaneously in a short period of time. For instance, a native speaker or a second language learner who is competent in his/her language may not be competent in his/her ability to write. Secondly, second language learning is an extended process, for many L2 students it is a never-ending process. For most people, acquiring a second language is not the same as acquiring a first language (Williams, 2005). Children who live in an environment with plenty of language inputs and examples learn fast in acquiring their first language. In addition, the language is used in the children’s daily lives. On the contrary, children who do not have the chance of using L2 or FL in their daily lives would acquire them slower.


ALLS 7(2):171-178, 2016 172 Some aspects that have been associated with writing problems in second language or foreign languages are different cultural background (Imtiaz, 2003; McCharthy, 1992; Sadik, 2009), different textual patterns (McCharthy, 1992) and different writing approach (process and product of L2 writing) (Angelova, 1999). Among the problems related to the process and product of writing are language competence, first language writing competence, use of cohesive devices, metacognitive knowledge about writing task, writing strategies and writer’s personal characteristics. 2. Writing in English in Indonesia In Indonesia, English is taught as a foreign language. Although most of the students, especially those at tertiary level, have learnt English since primary school, they still find it difficult to express their ideas in English, particularly in academic writing. A study done by Sadik (2009) on Indonesian university students found that they were taught several steps of writing such as prewriting, planning, drafting, revising and editing. However, she discovered that the students still faced problems in writing such as limited knowledge of writing strategies, grammatical structure, and low interest in writing. She also discovered that the students were not aware that writing is a process and cannot be done instantly. Moreover, Mistar, Zuhairi and Parlindungan (2014) conducted a study on secondary school students and found that the knowledge of writing of the school students was very low. The students mostly used self-monitoring strategies which occurred only in the editing phase such as correcting mistakes by reading, rewriting, noticing mistakes and paying a great deal of attention to linguistic aspects of English learning. In addition, a study done by Setyono (2014) on the teaching of writing at the high school level found that the product-based approach of writing instruction was still being used by teachers in most school levels in Indonesia. The product-based approach is characterized by the linear model of instruction in which students are not given adequate time and opportunities to produce final products of writing through revising process. English as a Second Language (ESL) writing research has given more importance on the writing process in ESL writing (Silva & Matsuda, 2005). For example, a study conducted by Winer (1992) found that writing task using the process approach could change the students’ negative attitudes and behaviour towards writing. These findings inspired the researcher to: 1) explore the writing process of the Indonesian English as a Foreign Language students; 2) find out the effectiveness of using think-aloud protocol to understand the writing process. 3. Models of Writing Since 1980, research on composition study have widely opened the door for researchers to construct practical models of writing process. Among the most significant models of writing process were the ones by Flower and Hayes (1981) and Bereiter and Scardamalia (1987). There are three basic characteristics in Flower and Hayes’ writing process model. Firstly, it is structurally classified, with sub-process in each process except for the translating phase. For instance, planning includes developing ideas, goal-setting and organizing, and reviewing includes reading and editing. Secondly, it is organized separately, in that the three phases, namely, planning, translating and reviewing support the accomplishment of the written text and each process may take place in any order. For instance, a writer may compose without planning or may review without planning. Thirdly, these three phases connect and interact with the task environment and the writer’s long-term memory as important sources of information. The task environment, consists of the linguistics problems (that limit the alternative of logical coherence, argumentation, lexical and grammatical decisions), which is presented in the topic and the audience of the writing piece and the already produced text. Furthermore, a warehouse of knowledge of projected audience, the topic and plan for writing are described as the writer’s long term memory. However, Bereiter and Scardamalia’s (1987) model of writing comprises two main aspects, namely, knowledge telling strategy and knowledge transforming strategy. The model makes a distinction between proficient and novice writers, and the complexity of the task among skilled writers. Knowledge telling strategy refers to novice writers while the knowledge transforming strategy refers to proficient writers. Proficient writers employ significantly different and more sophisticated writing strategies than those of novice writers. Some proficient writers put more effort to solve the content problem and rhetorical problem in difficult writing task than some others. Grabe and Kaplan (1996) suggest that the concepts of knowledge telling and knowledge transformation as constructive concept in writing pedagogy and writing assessment. However, in the model there is no description or explanation on “how writers actually make the cognitive transition to a knowledge-transforming model … what occurs in the intervening stages and whether the process is the same for all learners” (Hyland, 2002, p. 28). On the other hand, Williams (2003) proposes an extended writing process model that is known as the phase model. The phase model comprises eight processes of writing: prewriting, planning, drafting, pausing, reading, revising, editing and publishing. Each process consists of different activities that are associated with effective writing and recursive nature of the writing process (Williams, 2003). The prewriting stage has various activities, such as discussion, outlining, freewriting, and journals that may support the writers in developing ideas. The planning stage is where we can see how the writers’ ideas integrate with the purpose of the paper. Next, at the drafting stage, the writers put together their ideas into a specific order. Pausing and reading stages occur simultaneously, signified by minutes of silence. Then, during the revising stage, the writers refine the organizations and expressions in their composition. Later, at the editing stage, the writers engage in sentence level concerns such as spelling, punctuation, and usage. Finally, during the publishing stage, the writers share their final composition with the public. However, not all writers experience the corresponding process or activities. What may work for one writer might not work for another. Williams (2003) proposes that all writers engage in these processes to some extent. What works

ALLS 7(2):171-178, 2016 173 successfully for some students may not work well for others, and what functions well for one assignment may not be compatible to another. Some writers combine various activities, while others use only one. Therefore, student writers should explore the writing strategies to identify what works best for them. Williams’ (2003) process model suggests that a finished composition is “the result of the complex interaction of activities that include several stages of development” (p. 106). Although, not every writing task moves across every stage, these stages of writing process indicate how writing successfully develops in general. Williams (2003) suggests that the writing process such as planning, drafting, and revising, has influential states. However, these processes are repeatedly modified which implies that, “students revise as they draft, they plan as they edit; and so forth” (p.120). The present study used Williams’s (2003) model of writing as a guide to conduct this research due to a few reasons: first, in the process-oriented classrooms, the focus is on the writing process; second, the instruction is top-down, not bottom-up, which means that the focus is on producing the entire papers but not on grammar or parts of the papers; third, the purpose of the process instruction is to modify the student writers’ behaviour in order to match with the good writers. 4. The Think Aloud Protocol as a Data Collection Technique This qualitative case study employed four data collection techniques: observations, interviews, think-aloud protocol, and writing samples. However, for this particular article, only the think-aloud protocol will be discussed. Think-aloud protocols have been widely used in the areas of psychology and cognitive science as a verbal-report method of generating concurrent verbalization (Yoshida, 2008). In addition, the think-aloud protocols have been applied in second language acquisition research to study the cognitive process involved in the use and acquisition of language. Reading, writing and testing are the major areas of Second Language Acquisition where the think-aloud protocols are applied. Yoshida (2008) stresses that the protocols provide information for the language acquisition researchers such as types of strategies utilized by students in interacting with L2 tasks and the types of process that are expected in a specific type of verbal reports. Pressley and Afflerbach (1995) point out that there are three advantages of the think-aloud protocol; (1) it supports investigation of data on cognitive processes and participants’ responses directly; (2) it offers access to the decision-making and reasoning processes underlying sophisticated cognition; and (3) it allows for cognitive processes and affective processes to be coded and analyzed. Furthermore, Raimes (1985) found that the protocol is capable of providing more information on the student writers than any other analysis of products or observation of the writing process. Thus, she claims that “think-aloud composing was simply too good a tool not to be used” (Raimes, 1985, p. 234) because it provides insights into the writers’ cognitive processes, their responses and thinking at particular stages of the writing process. Thinking-aloud protocols technique in writing research includes requesting the writer simply to think aloud as he or she writes (Hayes & Flower, 1986). The participants are required to say whatever that they are thinking, even irrelevant statements or opinions. The most important thing is that the participants should not try to analyze what they are doing. In this study, some procedures were used when doing the think-aloud protocol. Before commencing the think-aloud protocol, the technique was introduced to the participants. During the think-aloud process, the researcher actively participated in terms of explaining the instructions about the technique and kept reminding the participants to keep talking while performing the writing task. In addition, the participants were recorded using a video camera to think aloud as they composed, so that the resulting protocols can be analyzed. The protocol was conducted with each student at a time individually. Each participant was given sixty minutes to compose. The think-aloud protocol was conducted in one of the classrooms at the Language Center of Hasanuddin University, Indonesia. The class was equipped with a few desks, a big whiteboard, and air condition. Although the room was small, it was comfortable. The participants for this research were postgraduate students in Indonesia who were selected based on the following criteria: (1) they were considered to have enough skill in English writing, after completing two academic writing courses; (2) they had written an unpublished thesis during their undergraduate studies and they will write their Master thesis in English as a prerequisite to complete their master degree; (3) they had taught English for more than two years; (4) they were classified as proficient writers based on IELTS result. To decide on the proficient writers, a preliminary test of International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Writing task 2 was administered. IELTS was selected because it is a recognized international standardized test of English language proficiency for non-native English speakers. It is also commonly used at universities in Indonesia. Thus, the students are familiar with the test. The results of the writing tasks were collected and graded by the researcher and two inter-raters. The writing tasks were evaluated on six traits: Idea & Content, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Convention. Each trait was awarded 6 points. Therefore, the total score for each writing sample was 36 points. The purpose of grading the task was to determine the students’ level of writing proficiency in English. From the 80 students who did the preliminary writing tasks, the researcher found only seven students who obtained a score above 32. Thus, these students were categorized as proficient writers. However, from the seven students, only six were willing to participate in the study. Therefore, the participants of this study consisted of one male student, Erza (pseudonym) and five female students: Prita, Dani, Norma, Suka and Irza (pseudonyms). All were postgraduate full time students in their third semester at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences.

ALLS 7(2):171-178, 2016 174 5. Findings 5.1 The Writing Process The topic of the composition given to the participants was “Children below sixteen should not be allowed in public places after midnight”. The participants were required to write a composition by stating their opinion of agreeing or disagreeing with the issue, and providing reasons for their stand. Findings from the think-aloud protocol show that all of the participants went through the following process in writing their composition: prewriting, planning, drafting, pausing, reading, revising, editing and publishing (Williams, 2003). However, only Erza and Dani did not go through the planning stage after their prewriting stage. In general, pausing and reading occurred concurrently, as well as revising and editing. 5.1.1 Prewriting stage All the six participants of this research were engaged in this idea-generating activity i.e. prewriting to assist them in focusing on their writing task (Farrell, 2006). The activities that were identified at this stage were brainstorming, outlining, clustering, talk-write and freewriting. Norma and Erza performed the most number of prewriting activities among the participants. Erza prewrote his composition by using talk-write where he generated ideas by talk-write, which included brainstorming and organizing the paragraphs verbally (Williams, 2003). He spoke his ideas loudly. He spent about five minutes brainstorming his ideas before starting with the drafting stage. On the other hand, Norma prewrote by using freewriting that involves writing non-stop for five, ten or fifteen minutes (Williams, 2003). Freewriting aims to discover things to say about a topic rather than to plan the paper, involving writing nonstop for five, ten to fifteen minutes, generating ideas even if the writer cannot think of anything meaningful to say (William, 2003, p. 109). In Norma’s case, freewriting occurred recursively. At the prewriting stage, she wrote continuously the ideas that she had for the first paragraph. When she found good ideas she used them as the basis for her first paragraph. She would then start writing her first paragraph, and repeating the same process for the second and the third paragraphs. Conversely, Dani, Prita, Suka and Irza utilized brainstorming, outlining and clustering where they prewrote by drawing a kind of mapping sheet consisting of ideas they had. The mapping sheet consisted of outlines as the main ideas in each paragraph that were followed by four to five words related to each outline as the supporting details or examples. 5.1.2 Planning stage When the participants had finished the prewriting stage activities, they went over their prewriting work before starting their first draft. In this research, the planning stage is an extension of the prewriting stage where some of the activities were performed. At this stage, the participants checked the ideas generated previously during the prewriting activities to make sure they matched with the main topic. From the findings of the research, the researcher discovered that not all of the participants went through the planning stage in their composition process. For instance, when Dani and Erza had completed their prewriting activity, they immediately started drafting. This prompted the researcher to ask Erza and Dani why they skipped the planning stage. They replied that it was due to the limited time given. Erza chose to verbally construct and organize his ideas without writing them down, while Dani mostly relied on his brainstorming list. However, if there is no limited time given, such as doing a take home assignment, Erza would have done the prewriting stage in a different way, that is, he would brainstorm his ideas related to the topic, dismiss the words that are too difficult to include in his writing, classify the words that belong together, and choose which ones go first, second, and so on. At the planning stage, Prita and Suka used brainstorming list whereas Irza used mind mapping. Prita and Suka reviewed their brainstorming list to make sure that they included those ideas that they had during the prewriting. During the prewriting they wrote down their ideas and then classified them into groups that signify the paragraphs. However, Irza explained that when she finished her prewriting stage, she reviewed her ideas by mapping them on the sheet she wrote to make sure that she included all the ideas that she had. The four outlines that she made in the prewriting stage also functioned as a guide to organize her paragraphs. She planned by deciding which outline should be written as her first, second and third paragraph. Irza explained that the mind mapping was also used as her planning. Norma was found to use a unique planning activity. The planning stage overlapped with Norma’s prewriting stage when some of the activities were performed. Norma conducted freewriting as her prewriting activity. She rechecked her ideas to make sure they matched the topic. For example, the outline she made for the first paragraph consisted of major points that she wanted to address in the paper. On occasions, she would add some details to her ideas. In planning, she would think about the readers, the organization, and relate the topic to her knowledge and experience. 5.1.3 Drafting Stage The participants wrote their first draft as soon as they finished the prewriting or the planning stage. Generally, the participants knew exactly what they wanted to do at this stage. They transformed their ideas into sentences, and on some occasions, they copied what they had written previously during the prewriting stage by using linking words to join the sentences. After finishing the prewriting or the planning stage, all of the participants immediately started to write the introduction, body and conclusion paragraphs. Each paragraph consisted of a thesis statement with three to four supporting details. For instance, Erza started writing the introduction section by providing the definition of children in the Indonesian context, followed by his argumentation and supporting details, and the conclusion.

ALLS 7(2):171-178, 2016 175 At the drafting stage, many activities were performed. Pausing, reading, revising, and editing activities which occurred overlapped at this stage. When the researcher prompted a question on why these activities occurred at this stage, each participant gave different reasons. For example, Prita explained that the first paragraph should cover the general things of what the paper should be all about. When she noticed that her paragraph was too specific, she revised and generalized her ideas so that the readers could see what she wanted them to see in her paper. In addition, Irza said that during the drafting stage, she paused and read her work to search for spelling mistakes and to think about the correct word choice, linking words as well as to think about ways to elaborate her ideas. At the drafting stage, Dani paused and read her brainstorming ideas to stay on tract and to arrange her ideas. To sum up, Prita, Irza and Dani performed reading, revising and editing at the drafting stage. On the other hand, Norma performed freewriting that overlapped and recursively occurred at the drafting stage. When Norma finished her freewriting for the first paragraph, she wrote down her ideas and connected them together into sentences and paragraphs. Then, she read what she had written and continued to do freewriting for the second paragraph as well as the third paragraph. The freewriting activity occurred recursively throughout her writing. At this stage, the researcher noticed that only Norma, Suka and Dani wrote their second drafts. These drafts were error-free version. 5.1.4 Pausing Stage Pausing occurred frequently throughout the writing process. In general, pausing happened at two stages. The first pausing appeared at the drafting stage, indicated by moments of silence when the participants were examining what they had written, searching for correct word choices and ideas of what to write next, revising and editing the task. The second pausing appeared when the participants finished their drafts, indicated by silent moments of going through their writing aimed at editing and revising. 5.1.5 Reading Stage The reading stage was found to occur concurrently with the pausing stage. Reading was performed with the intention of going through what had been written so far, to make sure that all the ideas were covered in the writing, to add more ideas, and to look for errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation. Throughout the writing process, the participants were seen reading their writing task several times. When the researcher asked the aim of rereading the task, Erza explained that it was done to refresh what he wanted to write and to remind him not to go off the topic. For all the participants, reading was also used to check for cohesiveness of the sentences. Reading also occurred in Norma’s writing process. The first reading occurred at the prewriting stage when Norma finished her first paragraph. Norma explained that she would reread what she had written and connect all of her ideas to make sure that the ideas in the first paragraph were linked with the second and the third paragraphs. The second reading occurred when Norma finished writing each paragraph. She would go back and read the paragraph that she had just written. She explained that she reread the paragraphs to find errors, like vocabulary, plurals, agreement, tenses, and redundant words. Upon writing the second draft, Dani, Norma and Suka read again their drafts to make sure all the ideas they had were covered and to make sure that the second draft was error-free. Dani explained that on her second draft, although she wrote everything the way she wanted, she still needed to read and make sure all the ideas were coherent and to check for grammar and punctuation in order to make the second draft error-free. 5.1.6 Revising Stage Revising is a significant stage in the writing process. Revising involves making changes that enhance the match between plan and text (Williams, 2003). Revising includes reconsidering the arguments, reviewing the evidence, refining the purpose, reorganizing the presentation, and reviving stale prose. From the findings obtained through the think-aloud protocol, the researcher discovered that the revising stage occurred much earlier, mostly in the pausing and reading stage. At this stage, the participants would usually start with reading what they had written in order to make sure the text match with their plan. The revising stage also occurred concurrently with the editing stage. All of the six participants would read thoroughly the paragraphs they had written, checking if all the ideas were covered in their writing, deleting and adding some ideas, and making sure that the ideas were not redundant. Suka, Norma and Dani rewrote their paragraphs in their second draft to make sure they were readable and neat. However, for the second draft, they did not make any changes. 5.1.7 Editing Stage At this stage, the participants dealt with sentence level concerns such as spelling, punctuation and usage. From the findings, the participants seemed to focus on sentence correctness, and the goal was to write error free composition. The editing stage was done by rereading all the paragraphs by checking the punctuation, spelling and grammar errors, and paying attention to the sentence structure. As mentioned earlier, Suka, Norma and Dani rewrote their second draft to make sure it was error-free. However, for the second draft, they did not make any changes. From the findings and analysis, the researcher noted that Erza, Prita and Irza made very few errors. However, Irza seemed not to be bothered with capitalization of her text. In most sentences, she used small letters to begin her sentences. 5.1.8 Publishing Stage The writing samples of the participants were allowed to be published by simply handing it to the researcher and allowing her to make copies and publish them in her study. Whether their papers received low or high scores, the six

ALLS 7(2):171-178, 2016 176 participants realized that “writing is not just a finished product but also a process of discovering their own thoughts” (Farrell, 2006:72). The findings of this study are similar with Raimes (1985) where she found that in composing, experienced writers considered the purpose and audience, consult their own background knowledge, let their ideas develop, read back over what they have written to relate with their plan. This process is recursive in nature, a “cyclical process during which writers move back and forth on a continuum discovering, analysing and synthesizing ideas” (Hughey, Wormuth, Hartfiel & Jacobs, 1983, p.28). 5.2 The Effectiveness of the Think-Aloud Protocol Since the participants of the study were not familiar with the think-aloud protocol procedures, they were given time to practice before conducting the real protocol. From the findings, the researcher noted that the effect of thinking aloud was different to each participant. In this study, the think-aloud protocol has been found to be a good data collection technique to obtain verbalized reactions towards the task at hand, that is, writing a composition. The writing process was described by the participants while writing the composition assigned. For Erza, thinking aloud made him think harder about the topic before making his stand of agreeing or disagreeing with the topic of the composition. He explained that when he read the task, at first, he agreed with the topic that “Children below 16 years old shouldn’t be allowed in public places after midnight unless accompanied by adults”. However, after going through the thinking aloud procedure, Erza changed his mind about his stand. He stated that during the protocol, the more he listened to himself talking, the more he realized that his opinion was somehow selfish because he was thinking from adults or parents’ perspectives. Although Erza changed his opinion from agreeing to disagreeing with the task, the writing process he went through did not change. It can be concluded that verbalization through think-aloud protocol helped Erza to decide on his stand. Thus, the protocol made the cognitive process become observable. Similar result was also found in the research conducted by Amizura and Noor Hashima (2013), whereby the participant was asked to give verbal reports of his cognitive processes while reading two short stories. The participant’s cognitive processes during the progress of the reading tasks become observable by using think aloud protocol as a data collection technique. Prita admitted that thinking aloud helped her in her writing. Although the think-aloud protocol procedure was new to her, Prita discovered it helped her to plan. Similar findings were also found in Dani, Irza and Suka’s think-aloud while writing the task. In general, Dani and Suka were able to articulate what they thought while writing. However, they had to be reminded to keep on talking aloud while writing. The think-aloud protocol helped Dani to organize her writing. Dani found the procedure of the think aloud protocol used in writing to be quite different from the writing activities in the class due to the amount of attention she got in her writing. Thus, she could improve the focus of her writing. The overall procedures of Irza’s think-aloud went smoothly. For the most part, she was able to articulate her thoughts while writing although at times she had to be reminded to keep on talking while writing. The think-aloud procedure brought positive effect on Irza’s writing. She explained that the thinking aloud trained her to generate her ideas although normally it was difficult for her to do so. Thinking aloud allowed her to trace back what she thought about the topic because she could listen to herself while talking. Similar finding was found in Khatami, Heydariyan and Bagheri’s (2014) study, where they found that think aloud stimulated the students to employ cognitive process and supported them to access the background knowledge of the text. To conclude, Prita, Dani, Irza and Suka found think aloud strategy helped them to improve their writing ability. Although Suka performed well in the think aloud procedure, she did not feel comfortable being recorded and claimed that unintentional activity might happen because of her nervousness. On the contrary, Norma found the thinking-aloud procedure to bring a negative effect on her because it made her difficult to focus, presumably due to the demand of verbalization. She stated that it was hard to verbalize what she wanted to write. It was hard for her to focus on the writing task. This finding is similar to Ransdell’s study (1995) where she examined the effect of thinking-aloud protocols on college students’ narrative writing. The study was based on the theory proposed by Hayes and Flower (1983) where generating thinking-aloud protocols may lessen the ability to organize multiple writing subtasks, such as tracking the simultaneous subtasks of planning, generating text, and revising. Thus, the addition of generating think-aloud protocols verbally may be particularly challenging relative to cognitive tasks that demand fewer subtasks. The study found that the requirement of verbalization made the rate of the students’ writing to be slower. 6. Conclusion Findings of the study showed that all of the participants used the following writing process, which consisted of prewriting, planning, drafting, pausing, reading, revising, editing and publishing. This writing process was proposed by Williams (2003). The effect of the think-aloud protocol was different to each participant. In general, this could probably be due to his or her unfamiliarity with the process. Erza found the procedure made him change his stand about the topic of the composition after going through verbalization of the task. This happened unintentionally. To Prita, Dani, Irza and Suka, thinking aloud helped them in their writing in terms of arranging their ideas, staying focus and generating ideas easier. On the contrary, Norma found the thinking-aloud procedure brought negative effect on her because it made her difficult to focus, presumably due to the demand of verbalization.

ALLS 7(2):171-178, 2016 177 References Alhosani, N.M. (2008). Utilizing the writing process approach with English as a second language writers: A case study of five fifth grade of ESL Arab students (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertation and Theses (3341499). Amizura, H.M.R., & Noor Hashima, A.A. (2013). Of village bomoh and the lottery: Content schemata influence on second language reading. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 4(1), 42-50. DOI: 10.7575/aiac.alls.v.4n.1p.42 Angelova, M. (1999). An exploratory study of factors affecting the process and product of writing in English as a foreign language. Buffalo, NY: State University of New York. Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1987). The psychology of written composition. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. De La Paz, S., & Graham, S. (2002). Explicitly teaching strategies, skills, and knowledge: Writing instruction in middle school classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(4), 687-698. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-0663.94.4.687 Farrell, T.S.C. (2006). Succeeding with English language learners: A guide for beginning teachers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Flower, L. S., & Hayes, J. R. (1981). A cognitive process theory of writing. College Composition and Communication, 32, 365–387. DOI: 10.2307/356600 Gardner, S., & Nesi, H. (2012). A classification of genre families in university student writing. Applied Linguistics, 34(1), 25-52. DOI: 10.1093/applin/ams024 Grabe, W., & Kaplan, R. (1996). Theory and practice of writing. London: Longman. Hamman, L. (2005). Self-regulation in academic writing tasks. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 17(1), 15-26. DOI: 10.1093/applin/ams024 Hayes, J. R., & Flower, L. S. (1983). A cognitive model of the writing process in adults (Final Report). Retrieved from ERIC website: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED240608.pdf Hayes, J. R., & Flower, L. S. (1986). Writing research and the writer. American psychologist, 41(10), 1106. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.41.10.1106 Herrington, A. J. (1985). Writing in academic settings: A study of the contexts for writing in two college chemical engineering courses. Research in the Teaching of English, 331-361. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40171066 Hughey, J.B., Wormuth, D.R., Hartfiel, V.F., & Jacobs, H. (1983). Teaching ESL composition: Principles and techniques. Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers, Inc. Hyland, K. (2002). Genre: Language, context, and literacy. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 22, 113-135. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0267190502000065 Imtiaz, S. (2003). Cognitive processes in writing: Exploring the strategies used by second and foreign language learners of English [monograph]. Language in India, 3 (4 April, 2003). Retrieved from http:// languageinindia.com /april2003/cognitivewriting.html Johannesen, L.R. (2001). Teaching thinking and writing for a new century. English Journal, 90, 38-46. DOI: 10.2307/822054 Khatami, M., Heydariyan, Y., and Bagheri, V. (2014). Investigating the effect of think aloud strategy on reading comprehension ability among EFL university students. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World (IJLLALW), 5(1), 381-393. McCharthy, M. (1992). Discourse analysis for language teacher. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Mistar, J., Zuhairi, A., and Parlindungan, F. (2014). Strategies of learning English writing skill by Indonesian senior high school students. Arab World English Journal, 5(1), 290-303. Retrieved from: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/95382057 Pressley, M., & Afflerbach, P. (1995). Verbal protocols of reading: The nature of constructively responsive reading. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Raimes, A. (1985). What unskilled ESL students do as they write: A classroom study of composing. Tesol Quarterly, 19(2), 229-258. DOI: 10.2307/3586828 Ransdell, S. (1995). Generating thinking-aloud protocols: Impact on the narrative writing of college students. The American journal of Psychology, 108(1), 89-98. DOI: 10.2307/1423102 Sadik, A. (2009). Cognitive and metacognitive writing strategies and their relations to writing performance of EFL learners (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation). Makassar, Indonesia: Universitas Hasanuddin. Setyono, B. (2014). Approaches in teaching writing designed by high school English teachers in Indonesia. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research, 14(1), 477-494. Retrieved from http://gssrr.org/index.php?journal=JournalOfBasicAndApplied

ALLS 7(2):171-178, 2016 178 Silva, T., & Matsuda, P. K. (Eds.), (2005). On second language writing: Perspectives on the process of knowledge construction. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Williams, J. (2005). Teaching writing in second and foreign language classrooms. USA: McGraw Hill. Williams, J.D., (2003). Preparing to teach writing: Research, theory, and practice (3rd Ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Winer, L. (1992). Spinach to chocolate: Changing awareness and attitudes in ESL writing teachers. TESOL Quarterly, 26(1), 57-79. DOI: 10.2307/3587369 Yoshida, M. (2008). Think-aloud protocols and type of reading task: The issue of reactivity in L2 reading research. In Melissa Bowles, Rebecca Foote, Silvia Perpinan, & Rakesh Bhatt (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 2007 Second language Research Forum (pp. 199-209). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. Document #1745.



Age as an Affective Factor in Influencing Public Speaking Anxiety of English Language Learners at

Omar Al-Mukhtar University

Ahmed Gaibani (Corresponding author) Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Omar Al-Mukhtar University


Fadil Elmenfi Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Omar Al-Mukhtar University, P.O Box 82 Derna City - Libya


Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.179 Received: 02/12/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.179 Accepted: 25/01/2016 Abstract The study is to show how age factor can influence public speaking anxiety among English Language Learners at Omar Al-Mukhtar University. To indicate the influence of age factor a questionnaire was distributed to the participants of the study. As well as correlation was also undertaken to the data collected to investigate the influence of age factor on public speaking anxiety. Results of the study showed that, there is a negative significant influence of age differences on public speaking anxiety of English Language Learners at Omar Al-Mukhtar University. Keywords: Age, oral performance, English Language, speaking anxiety 1. Introduction Public speaking Anxiety is a type of shyness characterized by fear about communicating with people. Public speaking anxiety in foreign language learning derives from the personal knowledge that one will almost certainly have difficulty in speaking to others (Cubukcu, 2007). According to McCroskey’s (1978 ) definition, Speaking Anxiety is an individual’s level of fear associated with either real or anticipated communication with other persons. Horwitz, Horwitz. Cope (1986) submit the construct of communication apprehension to their conceptualization of foreign language anxiety. They think interpersonal interactions are the major emphasis in the English class. Public Speaking Anxiety has been shown to have negative effects on learner achievement in interaction-oriented classrooms, such as the foreign language classroom Feigenbaum, (2007). Thus, communication can have a debilitating effect on language learners, and can detrimentally contribute to the speaking anxiety from which students suffer. In a foreign language classroom, language learners’ oral tasks include not only learning a second language but also performing the language. A language classroom is an example of a situation where perceived evaluation could be very high (Feigenbaum, 2007). In this type of setting, students feel that the teacher is judging them on every word they say, and teacher corrections may instigate this feeling of being judged Pica, (1987).Thus, the foreign language classroom may not only provoke speaking anxiety, but may also enhance communication apprehension. Oral communication consists of two components: listening and speaking (Chan & Wu, 2004). Speaking is anxiety-provoking in foreign language. Young, (1986) find that most students are particularly anxious when they have to speak a foreign language in front of their class, Additionally Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope (1986, p.125) give a general definition of anxiety to be “the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the autonomic nervous system” . Public speaking anxiety, it is a problem for language learners. Foreign language learners usually have difficulty communicating with each other's. One factor to be considered in this study is the influence of age on public speaking anxiety. The choice of age as a factor is premised on the belief that older students of English language Department at Omar Al-Mukhtar University usually have lesser public speaking anxiety as compared to younger ones in the area of group discussion or oral presentation. On the other hand, it may be likely that younger ones perform better than the older ones in public speaking. 1.1 Problem Statement The current study focuses on the public speaking anxiety among English language Learners at Omar Al-Mukhtar University. Some studies have also been conducted on the public speaking anxiety using the second language such as English among the students. For example Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope (1986) noted that students who in particular have problem in group discussion or oral presentation have the possibility of finding it more problematic to speak in class where foreign language like English is being used and where their performance are being noted. In what follows,


ALLS 7(2):179-182, 2016 180 Horwitz et al., (1986) propounded the classroom international language anxiety that has been generally accepted in the subsequent studies on the issue of public speaking anxiety and foreign language such as English (Cheng, Horwitz, and Schallert, 1999; Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, and Daley, 1999; Wang and Ding, 2001; Yan and Wang, 2001). Their findings have shown that there is existence of anxiety and that there is greater involvement of anxiety with speaking using the English language as a targeted language. Horwitz (1995) noted that using the targeted language in public speaking somewhat provoke anxiety for most of the students. Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, and Daley (1999) established that the use of foreign language in public speaking leads to anxiety among the students and this has positive relationship with age. However, in spite of the contribution of the previous studies, not much is being said about the students at foreign universities. In addition, it appears that not much attention have been given to the examination of the likely role age factor plays in affecting public speaking anxiety. Therefore, the current study takes this into consideration and contributes in this aspect. 2. Previous studies Related to Anxiety and Demographic factor of Age Concerning age as a critical period hypothesis in which it has a great effects in learning a language be it first or second language. In the discussion of the the factors that cause public speaking anxiety previous studies consider age as one of the most influential factor that cause public speaking anxiety. Ten years ago in the study conducted by Onwuegbuzie, (1999) who looked for the association between learner variables and language anxiety in their 210 participants whose age ranged from 18 to 71, it was found that there was a positive and statistically significant correlation between anxiety and age. In the multiple regression analysis, age contributed to 4% of the prediction of foreign language anxiety. That is to say, this would indicate that in this investigation, the older the student is, the higher his/her anxiety level was likely to be. In another study which was conducted on the anxiety level of 29 Science students by Azizah et. al. (2007), it was found that those whose age is more than 40 years old were more likely to experience low level of anxiety compared to those whose age ranged from less than 30 to 36-40 years old. Therefore, it was concluded in the study that age plays an important role in determining the anxiety level of students. Chan & Wu, (2004) pointed out since speaking in the target language seems to be the most threatening aspect of foreign language learning, the current emphasis on the development of communicative competence poses particularly great difficulties for the anxious student. To ensure the success of English education in primary schools, foreign language anxiety is a significant issue which cannot be ignored. Xiuqin (2006) in his study on the responses of the learners’ attitude toward oral English language that they had being learning it for two years, in that case defined age as the period of devoted learning. It is then explained that anxiety is still exists among these learners, thus prevent them from taking opportunities in their language practice. Huberty (2004) considered anxiety as a cognitive developmental phases of the learners, making sure its relation with age, in terms of the acquisition order. In discussing anxiety on human development, it is confirmed that developmental pattern is dissimilarity according to age differences as the age increases, with a periodic developmental significances. The infancy and preschool is said to be of 7-9 months, and the time when infants practice much level of anxiety, where as the second developmental milestone is within 12-18 months, then the toddlers do recognize what is known as separation anxiety. Then is the age of school, when anxiety is said to be determined, and the middle childhood and younger reasoning is said to be developed with the anxiety. Children mostly by the age of 8 become more anxious of some specific identifiable objects and events like animals, the dark and imaginary figures. The assertion undoubtedly relates age with the experience of anxiety, though not specifically speaking anxiety. Blood et al. (2007) in the investigative study to discern who specifically stutter among the adolescents in the examination of the anxiety level reported that adolescents who stutter with an associated co-occurring disorders showed a higher level of anxiety than those adolescents whose stuttering has no co-occurring disorders, with a supportive result that anxiety and self-esteem were significantly correlated. This finding is in line with previous and current findings that show that stuttering is more prevalent among children compared to adolescents and with a stereotyped sight that their levels of anxiety correlate with the respective anxiety level, positing that age is a determining factor in the experience of anxiety. Ay (2010) investigated foreign language anxiety among young learners originally from Turkey with acute relationship with their personal language skill level. The findings showed that the foreign language anxiety that is experienced by the young students who are mostly adolescents is mostly deep due to their age significant, with a relation to their cognitive capability to overcome anxiety. Anyway, in spite of the contribution of the previous researches, there are not much studies being studied about English language learners at foreign universities. Furthermore, it is obviously that there is not much concentration in investigating of the probable factor of age in influencing public speaking anxiety. Then, this study takes it seriously in examining age as an effective factor that cause speaking anxiety. 3. Research Design This research is going to use the survey design. According to Creswell (2009) survey design are procedures in quantitative research in which you administer a survey or questionnaire to a small group of people (called the sample) to identify trends in attitudes, opinion, behaviors, or characteristics of a large group of people (called the population). As the researcher investigates the amount of anxiety among EFL Learners and to find out if there is any relationship between Age as an important factor and public speaking anxiety among those students in English learning, and whether there is difference in level of public speaking anxiety according to their age. This design was used by the researcher because survey design collects quantitative, numbered data using a questionnaire and statistical analyses to describe

ALLS 7(2):179-182, 2016 181 trends about responses to questions (Creswell, 2008). This design is also suitable for the researcher's questions in this study. 4. Age Distribution This part discusses the results of frequency to know the age distribution, of the participants of the study. Questionnaires were distributed to 120 English language students (respondents) at Omar Al-Mukhtar University and only 108 respondents returned the answered questionnaire. Therefore, only 108 students were investigated using the questionnaire technique. Table 4.1 Age Distribution Cumulative Frequency Percent Valid percent percent Valid below 25 years 21 19.419.4 19.4 25-34 years 66 61.1 61.1 80.6 35-44 years 16 14.8 95.4 45-54 years 5 4.6 4.6 100.0 Total 108 100.0 From the above table, most of the respondents, above average were from the age group 25-34 years and this amounted to 61.1% of the total population. About one fifth of the respondents were from the age group below 25 years and less than one fifth were from the age group 35-44 years. Few students who participated in the questionnaire were from the age group 45-54 years which represents 4.6% of the total population. 5. Correlation between Age and Public Speaking Anxiety To examine the influence of age differences among the students on public speaking anxiety, this study addresses correlation between the dependent and independent variables. The table 5.1 below shows the results of Correlation between public speaking anxiety and age. Table 5.1 Correlation Result between Age and Speaking Anxiety Dependent Variable Independent variable Public Speaking Anxiety Age Pearson Correlation -0.381*** Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 No of Respondents 108 *** indicates that correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) The result of the table above shows that there is negative impact of the correlation between age and public speaking anxiety, which suggests that the whole speaking anxiety go on the other way with age (Independent variable). The value of Pearson correlation is illustrated to be -0.38 implying that there is medium correlation between the two variables. Furthermore, the results indicate that r = 0.38, n=108, p< 0.05. Since, p=0.000 in the result is smaller than 0.05% it implies that age has significant influnce on public speaking anxiety. In other word, there is negative correlation between the two variables. Students with lower ages are said to have more anxiety when speaking in public. For this purpose, the study hypothesis that age differences have significant effect on public speaking anxiety. 6. Discussion and Conclusion This study discusses the research question in which examine the influence of age in influencing the existence of public speaking anxiety among English Language Learners at Omar Al-Mukhtar University. With regard to the research question: “Does age differences among the students have influence on the level of public speaking anxiety?” the results of correlation suggest that age differences among the students who study in English department at Omar Al-Mukhtar university have significant influence on public speaking anxiety. This indicates that differences in ages have significant impact on speaking anxiety. Also, it identifies that students with lower ages face more anxiety when speaking in public. These current results support the previous results obtained by Horwitz (1995); and Onwuegbuzie, Bailey, and Daley (1999). These previous studies also found significant negative association between age and public speaking anxiety. In support of the result, about 19.94% of the student with age below 25 years and 49.07% of students with the age 25 to 34 years supported the statement that their thoughts become confused when giving a speech. The percentage of students below 34 years who indicated that they experience anxiety when speaking publicly is 68.52% while only 31.48% do not experience anxiety. One most important factor according to the evidence suggested by the following results is the differences in age. Lower ages were found to be greatly associated with higher anxiety in speaking as compare to the higher age. Additionally, Learners faced difficulty in oral speaking. Some learners have the ability in understanding the language but they find it difficult to speak so they had a high level of speaking anxiety as well as they are afraid of making mistakes. Finally, the findings of this research article indicated that Learners with poor skills face anxiety in speaking English. Over all, it can be pointed out that Age factor is the most important motivating factor causing public speaking anxiety among others.

ALLS 7(2):179-182, 2016 182 References Ay S. (2010). Young adolescent students' foreign language anxiety in relation to language skills at different levels. The Journal of International Social Research, 3(11), 83-91. Blood E., G.W. Blood, I.M. Blood, K. Maloney, C. Meyer, C.D. (2007). Qualls Anxiety levels in adolescents who stutter, Journal of Communication Disorders, 40, 452–469 Chan, D. Y. C & Wu, G. C. (2004). A Study of Foreign Language Anxiety of EFL Elementary School Students in Taipei County. Journal of National Taipei Teachers College, 17(2), 287-320. Chairinkam, J. (2006). Using activities focused on communication strategies to enhance listening-speaking abilities and decrease anxiety of developing level students. Master Degree Thesis, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Cheng, Y., Horwitz, E. K., 8c Schallert, D. L. (1999). Language anxiety: Differentiating writing and speaking components. Language Learning, 49, 417-446. Clements, K., & Turpin, G. (1996). Physiological effects of public speaking assessed using a measure of palmar sweating. Journal of Psychophysiology, 10, 283-290. Hair, J.F., Black, W,C.,Babin, J.B., Anderson, R.E. (2009). Multivariate Data Analysis. (7thed). Hamilton, C. (2008). Making Friends with your Public Speaking Anxiety Monster. A paper presented at the 2009 National Association of Communication Centers Mini-Conference. Retrieved from http://speakingcenter.uncg.edu/resources/anxiety/Anxiety_Participants.pdf Huberty, T. J. (2004). Anxiety and anxiety disorders: Information for parents. Helping Children at Home and School II: Handouts for Families and Educators. Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists. Hodges, Ernest V. E.; Perry, David G (1999) Personal and interpersonal antecedents and consequences of victimization by peers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(4). Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 70, 125-132. Katz, L. (2000). Public Speaking Anxiety. Martin Counselling Center, University of Tennessee. Retrieved from http://www.lehigh.edu/~incso/PDFs/publicspeakinganxietypamphlet.pdf Kumar, R. (2011). Research Methodology, a step-by-step guide for beginners. SAGE Publication, Singapore. ISBN: 978-1-84920-300-5. Lader, Malcom H. (1975).The Nature of Clinical Anxiety in Modern Society. Lazarus R.S., & Folkman, S. (1986): Estrés y Procesos Cognitivos, Barcelona, Ediciones Martínez Roca. Matczak, A. (1985). The role of temperament in cognitive functioning: Reactivity and cognitive style. In J. Strelau (Ed.), Temperamental bases of behavior: Warsaw studies on individual differences, 116-140. McCroskey, J. C. (1997). Willingness to communicate, communication apprehension and self-perceived communication competence: Conceptualizations and perspectives. Mejías, H., Applebaum, R. L., Applebaum S. J. & Trotter, R. T. (1991).Oral communication apprehension and Hispanics: An exploration of oral communication apprehension among Mexican American students in Texas. In E. K. Horwitz& D. J. Young (eds.), Language Anxiety: From Theory and Research to Classroom Implications, 87-97. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Neuman, L.W. (2007). Basics of Social Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, 2ndEdition. Pearson International, USA. Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Bailey, P., & Daley, C. E. (1999). Factors associated with foreign language anxiety. Applied Psycholinguistics, 20, 217-239. Sarason, I. G. (1980).Introduction to the study of test anxiety. In I. G. Sarason (ed.), Test anxiety: Theory, research, and application (pp. 3-14). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Silvina, M. (2012). Bilingual background questionnaire for Spanish/English speakers. Tianjian, W. (2010). Speaking Anxiety: More of a Function of Personality than Language Achievement. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics (Bimonthly), 33(5), 95-109. Tobias, S. (1979). Anxiety research in educational psychology. Journal of Educational Psychology, 71(5), 573-582. Tobias, S. (1986). Anxiety and cognitive processing of instruction. In R. Schwarzer (Ed.), Self-related cognition in anxiety and motivation (pp. 35-54). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Thi Thu, T. (2012). A Review of Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope’s Theory of Foreign Language Anxiety and the Challenges to the Theory English Language Teaching, 5(1). Yan, X., & Wang, P. (2001).The impact of language anxiety on students' Mandarin learning in Hong Kong. Language Teaching and Research, 6, 1-7. Young, D. J. (1990). An investigation of students’ perspectives on anxiety and speaking. Foreign Language Annals, 23(6), 539-553. Young, D. J. (1991). Creating a low-anxiety classroom environment: What does language anxiety research suggest? The Modern Language Journal, 75(4), 426–439. Young, D. J. (1991b).The relationship between anxiety and foreign language oral proficiency ratings. In E. K. Horwitz and D. J. Young (eds.), Language anxiety: From theory and research to classroom implications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Young, D. J. (1992). Language anxiety from the foreign language specialist’s perspective: Interviews with Krashen, Omaggio Hadley, Terrell, and Rardin. Foreign Language Annals, 25(2), 157-172. Zhang, X. (2006). Speaking Skills and Anxiety. CELEA Journal, 29 (1), 34- 39.



Genitive Case-marked Subject in Modern Mongolian

Dalai Zayabaatar Department of Mongolian Language and linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, The School of Sciences, The National

University of Mongolia, Mongolia E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Vanchinsuren Dashdavaa

Faculty of Humanities, The School of Sciences, The National University of Mongolia, Mongolia E-mail: [email protected]

Dagvasumberel Enkhjargal (Corresponding author)

Department of European Studies Mongolia, Department of Mongolian Language and linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, The School of Sciences, The National University of Mongolia, Mongolia

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Tsulbaatar Onon Department of Asian Studies, Faculty of Humanities, The School of Sciences, The National University of Mongolia,

Mongolia E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.183 Received: 09/12/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.183 Accepted: 26/01/2016 The research paper was sponsored by National University of Mongolia. Abstract This paper presents peculiarities of the genitive case marked subject in Modern Mongolian. First, we argue that subordinate clauses with the genitive case-marked subject in Modern Mongolian are CP. Second, we provide an explanation for certain conditions of the genitive subject construction in Modern Mongolian (MM). Third, we attempt to show the genitive case marked subject is semantically restricted and information structurally marked in MM. Keywords: genitive subject, determining suffix, optionality, case alternation 1. Introduction In some languages, subjects are generally marked genitive in certain environments. Dagur (cf.Hale 2002; Martin 1961), Japanese (Bedell 1971; Hiraiwa 2000; Miyagawa 2011), Turkish (Kornfilt and Whitman 2012) Polynesian languages (Herd 2015), Slavic languages (Franks 2005; Robinson 2013). Dagur (1) [mini au -sen] mery -miny sain.

[1sGen buy-PERF] horse-1sGen good ‘The horse I bought is good.’ (Hale 2002: 109)

Japanese (2) [watasi-no katta] uma-wa ii. [I-Gen bought] horse-Top good ‘The horse I bought is good.’

Turkish (3) [ben-im al-dığ -ım] at iyi-dir [I-Gen buy-Factive Nominalizer-1.SG horse good-is 'The horse I bought is good.' (Jaklin Kornfilt.)

Hawaiian (4) Kāna mea i makemake ai i ia wā… 3ps.GEN thing T/A want RESPRN at that time

‘The thing that he wanted at that time…’ (Hawkins 2000:133) .


ALLS 7(2):183-191, 2016 184 2. Genitive Case-marked Subject in Modern Mongolian 2.1 Previous research Phenomena related to the genitive case marked subject of Modern Mongolian have been pointed out and investigated by scholars such as D.Tserenpil and R.Kullmann (2005:392), M.Mizuno (1995), Y.Munkh-Amgalan (2014:253) from a historical perspective. 2.2 D- licensing or C-licensing?

Cross-linguistically, there are two main analyses for the genitive case marking on subordinate subject. (i) The Determiner-licensing Hypothesis

The genitive on the subject is licensed by the D associated with the nominal head (Miyagawa 1993, Ochi 2001; based on Bedell 1972, Saito 1985);

(ii) The Complementizer-licensing Hypothesis The genitive is licensed by the “subjunctive” morphology of the V-C complex (Hiraiwa 2001), or the wh-agreement on C (Watanabe 1996), within the clause that contains the genitive subject.

In this paper we focus on the question of how the genitive case marker is assigned in these constructions in Modern Mongolian. Hale (2002:109) claims that relative clause in Dagur 1 has a structure of aspectual phrase, which is commonly found in prenominal modification. He argues that aspectual phrase is smaller in structure than CP and it allows nominal head which assigns the genitive case. (1) a.[[ʃini au-sen] mery -miny ] sain.

[[2sGEN buy-PERF] horse-2sGEN] good ‘The horse you bought is good.’ b. [[mini au-sen] biteg-miny ] adig sain. [[1sgGEN buy-PERF] book-1sGEN] very good ‘The book I bought is very good.’ (Hale, 2002:109)

Hale’s other reason for positing aspect instead of a full CP is that the verb does not have any agreement. According to Hale, agreement would not occur on the verbal inflection because there is no C to host the agreement to begin with . Also he argues that aspectual phrase in Dagur allows phi-feature on D to enter into agreement with the subject in the relative clause. Hale (2002:109) “In the relative clause, the verb itself lacks person/number agreement. If, as my exposition implies, the object relative clause involves agreement, then the putative agreement morphology is postponed and realized (as genitive pronominal agreement) on the head noun”. Against Hale’s proposal, we argue that subordinate clauses with the genitive case marked subject are CP, it is the nominalized form of C that assigns the genitive case marker on the subject and this C also enters into agreement with the subject. In other words, we argue against Hale’s proposal based on the following facts. First, subordinate verb carries agreement, it would occur on the verbal inflection as shown in (2). In (2.a) the subject “Dulma” of the relative clause is singular and the verb inflection carries agreement (phi-feature). In contrast, (2b) the subject oyutn-uud (students) is plural and the verb has plural inflection. (2.a) Singular: Dulmaagiin unshsan nom

DulmaaGEN readPAST book. Int: ‘The book that Dulma read.’

(2.b) Plural: Oyutnuudiin unshitsgaasan nom. StudentsGEN readPL.PAST book

‘The book that students read’ Second, Hale’s proposal of a relative clause with the genitive case marked subject is D-licensing in Mongolian is complicated to explain the following complement clause with the genitive case marked subject like (3). There is no head noun. (3) Bi [Dulmaa-giin zahidal bich-sen-iig] medsen “I know that Dulma wrote a letter”

1 He researches Mongolian under the name of Dagur. Dagur is one of the dialects of Mongolian languages. He proposes “In Dagur, the phi-feature probe merges at D, and presumably it is inherited by N. Hence, what we find in Dagur is D-licensing as opposed to C-licensing in Turkish” (Hale 2002).

ALLS 7(2):183-191, 2016 185 2.3 Determining Suffix in Modern Mongolian2 Mongolian is highly agglutinative, and both in morphology and syntax consistently head-final (SOV). Thus, morpheme order in the Mongolian sentences reflects both semantic and syntactic scope. Due to these peculiarities of Mongolian, semantic and syntactic interference between the categories can be observed directly. In Mongolian root and subordinate clauses, verbs exhibit a rich variety of suffixes for tense, some of which are demonstrated below: According to the conventional analysis of Sh.Luvsanvandan (1957) subordinate verb inflection categories in Modern Mongolian are classified in the following ways: (4) -san3 Gerundive (past simple)

-dag Gerundive (present simple) -j baigaa Gerundive (present continuous) -h Gerundive (future) Sh.Luvsanvandan (1957) Also D.Tserenpil and A.Kullmann (2005) call them Noun Determining Suffixes (NDS) and classify them as

shown below. (5) “san” –Past Tense NDS “dag” - Indefinite Present NDS “aa, ” –Progressive Present NDS “h” huits”, “maar”- Future NDS In accordance with our study, genitive case-marked construction in Modern Mongolian has the following common properties. (6) a. Subject bears the genitive case in this context

b. Subordinate verb inflections (suffix) are finite In light of these properties let’s take the following examples in MM. (7) a. Past: [Uchigdur min-ii av-san] nomuud end baina. [Yesterday I-GEN buy-PAST] book-PL here are. “The book that I bought (yesterday) are here” b. Present: [Unuudur min-ii av-ch baigaa] nomuud end baina. [Today I-GEN buy-PRESENT] book-PL here are. Int: “The book that I buy (today) are here” c. Future: [Margaash min-ii av-h] nomuud end baina. [Tomorrow I-GEN buy-FUTURE] book-PL here are. Int: “The book that I buy (tomorrow) are here. As mentioned in (7a,b,c,) these subordinate clauses are tensed. This is one of the crucial evidences against D-licencing, leading us to adopt the C-licensing approach. 2.4 Distribution of the Genitive Case-marked Subject in MM The aim of this section is to display the nature of the genitive case-marked subject in Modern Mongolian. In accordance with our study, the genitive case-marked subject can be contained in all types of clauses in Modern Mongolian as shown in (8-12) (8) Subject clause

[Chinii yavsan] chin onojee. [You -GEN go-PAST] TOP is right. “It is right that you left”

(9) Predicate Clause Mongol hel sain sursan ni [ta nariin hicheesniih] Mongolian language well learn-TOP [you -GEN is the fruit of your efforts] (That) you learned the Mongolian language well, [is the fruit of your efforts’

2 Recently, this kind of suffixes is called “Determining suffix” in Modern Mongolian “uilt ner-verbal noun” by the scholar (Sh.Luvsanvandan:1957, B.Byambadorj:2006, Y.Munkh-Amgalan:2014), “tsagt ner-noun which shows time” (B.Rinchen:1967, M.Bazarragchaa:1998), “uiliin todotgon holboh nuhtsul-verb determining suffix” (P.Byambasan:1987, Ts.Unurbayan:2004), “neriin todotgon holboh nuhtsul-noun determining suffix” (D.Tserenpil and A.Kullmann:2005), “baidlig ilerhiileh nuhtsul-aspect suffix” (Choi Dong-Guen:2008) 3 The morpheme “san “ has variants like ‘son” “san”’sen” depending on vowel harmony.

ALLS 7(2):183-191, 2016 186 (10) Object Clause

Tuunii irj chadahgui gedgiig bi medej baisan. [He-GEN come could- not ]COMP I knew. ‘I knew that he couldn’t come’

(11) Relative Clause [Bold-iin unsh-san] nom-iig bi avsan. [Bold-GEN read-PAST] book-ACC I take-PAST

‘I took the book that Bold read’ (12) Adverbial Clause

Bi uuniig [tanii helsneer] хийнэ. I this [youGEN sayPAST.DET.SUFF.instr.] doFUT I’ll do this the way you said it.

(13) Discourse level [Boldiin huugiin honi sain hariuldagiig] ee!4 BoldGEN sonGEN sheep well pasture (Exclamation). Int: “Bold’s son pastures his flock of sheep very well”!

2.5 Genitive Case in Modern Mongolian In this section we show that the distributions of the genitive case marker are quite complex and can’t be explained within morphosyntax. In Modern Mongolian, genitive case marker indicates various other relationships than possession as shown in (14-16). (14) a. Dorjiin baishin

Dorj-GEN house Dorj’s house [DP5 Dorj’s[N’ house]]

(14) b. Batiin nomiin orchuulga Bat-GEN book-GEN translation Bat’s translation of the book [DP Bat’s[ N’translation [DP of the book]]]

(14) c. Sum hiidiin suirel Monastery-GEN destruction The Monastery’s destruction [by the soldiers] [DP the monastry’s[N’ destruction [by the soldiers]

In (14a), “Dorj” is a possessor, in (14b) “Bat” is an agent, in (14c) “monastery” is a theme. Even though, these determiners have different theta-roles, they are typically used to modify and define nouns. In English, expressions containing determiners like “the” are said to have definite reference in that they refer entity which is assumed to be known to the hearer. In contrast, there are no definite and indefinite articles in Mongolian. Due to this functional parameter we suppose that the genitive case marker “iin” on the word “sum hiid” (monastery) in (14c) probably indicates the definiteness and specificity of its noun and the genitive case-marked word “sum hiidiin” (monastery) functions as a theme. More specifically, let’s take the Mongolian counterpart of English DP “The Monastery’s destruction by the soldiers”. This DP is not interpreted as DP in Mongolian as it is in English. In other words, this kind of DP is expressed by the relative clause which contains the genitive case marked subject as shown below (15). (15). [Tserguudiin nuraasan] sum hiid [soldiers-GEN destroy-PAST] monestary

“The Monastery’s destruction by the soldiers”

4 The interjection “ээ” in MM expresses exclamation “surprise and astonishment”. Scholars call the interjection “ээ” “sul ug-interjection” (Sh.Luvsanvandan:1957), “dagan chimeh ug-post-positional participle for” (P.Byambasan:1987, Ts.Unurbayan:2004) and “baimjit buteever-modal morpheme” (M.Bazarragchaa:1998). 5 In work before the mid 1980s structures like (14.a.b.c) would have been analysed as a noun phrase (NP). Since Abney (1987), they have been taken to have a the status of determiner phrase (DP).

ALLS 7(2):183-191, 2016 187 The above mentioned example shows us that the word “sum hiid” (monastery) is defined in this clause. Also it displays that the relation between relativization and definiteness has a significant role in analyzing the existence of genitive case marked subject in Mongolian. To make this discussion rather more concrete, let’s move to the next section. 2.6 Information structure and specificity Cross-linguistically, information structure can be realized through wide variety of linguistic mechanisms. In English information structure is expressed by pitch, intonation and clefts whereas in Mongolian it can be expressed by anaphora, topic marking affixes, specialized discourse particle and scrambling. In this section we claim that the genitive case marked subject indicates specificity and topicalization (see Rizzi 1997; Drubig 2003) under certain morpho-syntactic conditions, rather than indicating just a contrast to the subject. In other words, if the information is specific, the subject is genitive case-marked and if the information is generic, the subject is not genitive case- marked. (14a) Bold-iin huugiin saihan duuldagiig ee.

Bold-GEN son-GEN well sing (exclamation “ee”) Int: Wow, It is wonderful song that Bold’s son sang!

(14b) Ene huugiin saihan duuldagiig ee This son-GEN well sing Int: “Wow, It is wonderful song that this son sang!”

(14c) Huugiin saihan duuldagiig ee* Son-GEN well sing *

Int: Wow, It is wonderful song that the son sang! As mentioned above (14a) and (14b) are grammatical in that the genitive case marked subject coexists with the pronominal “Bold’ and the determiner ‘ene”(this) whereas (14c) is ungrammatical because of not containing the determiners like “ene”(“ this” in English). Also it is observed that it is ungrammatical if nominative case marked subject coexists with exclamation suffix as shown below (15a) whereas it is grammatical nominative case-marked subject does not coexist with exclamation suffix in (15b). (15a) Huu saihan duuldagiig ee* Son-NOM well sing* (15b) Huu saihan duuldag Son-NOM well sing-PRESENT SIMPLE The following evidence show us that genitive case is related to topicalization in that topic marker “min”6 coexist with the genitive case marked subject and it doesn’t coexists with the accusative and nominative case marked subject. (16) [Aav*/ iin/ iig/* min hiisen] emeeliig chi harav uu? [Aav-NOM*/-GEN/ACC* –TOP make-PAST] emeel-ACC you see-PAST- QUESt “Did you see the saddle that my father made” Also evidence in support of this claim comes from the following sentences. (17a) [Udur bur nuguu huuhdiin uilah] chimee

Everyday child -GEN cry-h noise The noise which (certain) child cries everyday

(17b) [Udur bur nuguu huuhed uilah] chimee Everyday child -NOM cry-h noise

The noise which (uncertain) a child cries everyday (17c) ) [Udur bur nuguu huuhdiig uilah] chimee*

Everyday child -ACC cry-h noise The noise which (certain) child cries everyday

Note that the choice of the genitive, accusative and nominative case-marked subjects leads to specific and nonspecific information respectively as shown in (17a.b.c). In the light of this (17.a.b.c), let’s look at the following subjects which are substituted by pronoun . (18a) [Udur bur tuunii uilah] chimee

Every day she-GEN cry-h noise The noise which (certain) he cries everyday

6 D. Tserenpil (2005) considers “min” in MM as a Case-bound particles which expresses topic meaning.

ALLS 7(2):183-191, 2016 188 (18b) [Udur bur ter uilah] chimee*

Everyday child -NOM cry-h noise The noise which (uncertain) he cries everyday

(18c) [Udur bur tuuniig uilah] chimee* Every day he -ACC cry-h noise The noise which (certain) child cries everyday As shown in (18a.b.c) only (18a) is grammatical whereas (18.b) and (18.c) are unavailable because of the

replaced pronoun “ter” (he/she). It means that pronoun is always assumed to be known to the addressees as illustrated below: (19) Definiteness Scale

Personal pronoun> proper pronoun> definite NP>indefinite NP (Klaus von Heusinger& Jacklin Kornfilt 2005). Having looked at these evidences that a genitive case marked subject refers to definiteness and specificity in

Modern Mongolian, we now turn to look at a rather different kind of operation. 3. Optionality in Case marking in Relative clauses 3.1 Japanese According to the previous literature Miyagawa (1989), in the Japanese relative clauses the genitive subject is possible, but the nominative case may occur instead. But in Mongolian only the genitive case is allowed.

a. 山田が/の買った]本 Yamada-GEN/NOM buy-PAST book “The book that Yamada bought”

CP (Banno:2013)

TP C[+N] [Nom/Gen,Adnom]

Subj T’

DPi-Nom/Gen vP T

VP v’ Vi-Adnominal

b. Mongolian: [Dulmaagiin hiisen] hool Dulmaa-NOM*/GEN do-PAST] food

“The food that Dulma cooked” In above mentioned environments, the subject that is usually marked by the nominative case marking can appear in the genitive case marking. In contrast, in the Mongolian relative clause, there is no optionality and only the genitive case marking is possible as shown in (b). 3.2 Case Alternation in Mongolian Complement Clauses The case marking optionality within the complement clauses in Modern Mongolian is reversal of the optionality in Japanese complement clauses. In Japanese complement clauses allow only nominative subject whereas in Mongolian complement clauses triple case alternation (nominative, accusative and genitive) is possible.

(12) Japanese [CP anata-ga /*no uti-de tabemono-o tukuru to] kiita. you NOM/*GEN home-at food-ACC cook C] heard. “(I) heard that you will cook food at home”

(13) Mongolian a. [Dulma hool hii-sen-iig] bi medsen [Dulma-NOM food cook-ACC] I know ‘I know that Dulma cooked at home’ b. [Dulma-giin hool hii-sen-iig] bi medsen [Dulma-GEN food cook-ACC] I know

ALLS 7(2):183-191, 2016 189 ‘I know that Dulma cooked at home’ c. [Dulma-g hool hii-sen-iig] bi medsen [Dulma-ACC food cook-AND-ACC] I know ‘I know that Dulma cooked food at home’

Except for the difference on the subject case markers, the patterns of verbal predicate within the complement clauses are identical as shown in (12a.b.c). This evidence leads us to conclude that subordinate clauses with the genitive case marked subject is C-licensing in Modern Mongolian. For our present purposes, however, nominative case marked subject as shown in (12) accusative case marked subject as illustrated in (12.c) are not immediately relevant, since they can be combined with ECM, DOM. 3.3 Distribution of Nominative, Genitive and Accusative Case-marked Subject D.Tserenpil and R.Kullmann, (2005:392), B. Purev-Ochir (2001:334) M.Mizuno (1995) research the distributions of case alternation. M.Mizuno (1995) formulates the case alternation in MM as shown in table. 1) N>G>A a.[Galt irsen ] gej unen uu? [Galt-NOM come-PAST] COMP true ?

Is it true that Galt come?

b.[Galt -iin irsen] gej unen uu? [Galt-GEN come-PAST ] COMP true ? c.[Galt-iig irsen ] gej unen uu? [Galt-ACC come-PAST ] COMP true ? 2) N>A>G a.[Dorj ene nom avsan iig ] bi saya medlee [Dorj-NOM this book –ACC] I just found

I’ve just found out that Dorj bought this book.

b.[Dorjiig ene nom avsan iig ] bi saya medlee [Dorj-ACC this book –ACC] I just found c.[Dorjiin ene nom avsan iig ] bi saya medlee [Dorj-GEN this book –ACC] I just found 3) G>N>A a.Minii irsen mashin iig chi harav uu? I-GEN come-PAST car-ACC you see-PAST?

Have you seen the car I came with?

b. Bi irsen mashin iig chi harav uu? I-NOMcome-PAST car-ACC you see-PAST? c.Namaig irsen mashin iig chi harav uu? I-ACC come-PAST car-ACC you see-PAST? 4) G>A>N a.[Chinii irseniig] bi saya medlee [You-GEN come-ACC] I just find-PAST

I’ve just found out that you came.

b.[Chamaig irseniig] bi saya medlee [You-ACC come-ACC] I just find-PAST c.[Chi irseniig] bi saya medlee [You-NOM come-ACC] I just find-PAST 5) A>N>G a.[Namaig irtel] chi huleej bai [I-ACC come-until] you wait keep.

Keep waiting, until I come!

b.[Bi irtel] chi huleej bai [I-NOM come-until] you wait keep c.[Minii irtel] chi huleej bai [I-GEN come-until] you wait keep

ALLS 7(2):183-191, 2016 190 6) A>G>N a.[Chamaig surguuli deer irseniig] bi saya medlee [You-ACC school at come] I just found

I’ve just found out that you came to school.

b.[Chinii surguuli deer irseniig] bi saya medlee [You-GEN school at come] I just found c. [Chi-NOM surguuli deer irseniig] bi saya medlee [You-ACC school at come] I just found In addition to this terminology, we can explain the distributions of case alternation in detail from a discourse perspective. 1. N>G>A As shown in table (1), this nominative case-marked subject indicates the meaning that “Galt is highlighted while in (b) the genitive case marked subject displays that the action “ come or not” is very important for the speaker. Also it represents familiar information and highlights overall sentence. However, there is not any obvious difference of meaning between the subordinate clause with the genitive case-marked subject and the subordinate clause with the accusative case-marked subject, Mongolian native speakers can tell easily the differences from a discourse perspective. As we seen in (c), the sentence is ungrammatical. Based on this observation, we propose the following terminology: N=G>A 2. N>A>G As illustrated in table (2.a) the nominative case-marked subject “Dorj” is highlighted whereas as shown in (2.b) the object “book” is highlighted from a semantic perspective. The sentence in table (2.c) indicates that overall activity is highlighted by the speaker. Thus we propose formulation N=A=G instead of preference ordering by Masanori (1995). 3.G>N>A As shown in table (3.a) the relative clause with the genitive case-marked subject “min-ii” is grammatical whereas the relative clause with the accusative case-marked subject in (3b) and the relative clause with the nominative case marked subject in (3c) are ungrammatical. Thus we suggest the following plausible formulation G>N>A instead of G>N=A. 4. G>A>N In terms of the clause in (4.a), overall activity of the agent is highlighted. The accusative-case-marked subject ” chamaig” (you-ACC) in (4b) is highlighted by the speaker. The sentence (4c) is not grammatical since it contains nominative case-marked subject “chi”(you). Thus , instead of G>A>N, we prefer G=A>N. 5. A>N>G Table (5) shows that only adverbial clause with the accusative case-marked subject is grammatical. Consequently, the expression A>N=G is convenient in terms of distributions. 6. A>G>N As explained in (1-4), only the accusative case-marked subject in (6a) is highlighted whereas overall complement clause with the genitive case-marked subject in (6b) is highlighted by the speaker. The complement clause (6c) is ungrammatical. So we proposed A=G>N. 4. Conclusion To sum up, first, we have maintained in this paper that clauses with genitive case-marked subject in Modern Mongolian are C-licensing. Also we show that relative clauses allow only genitive case -marking in Modern Mongolian whereas nominative and genitive case conversion is possible in Japanese relative clauses. Second, we attempt to explain distributions of all types of clauses with genitive case-marked subject in Modern Mongolian. And we show that genitive case-marked subject and verb with a determining suffix which has verbal properties coexist in Modern Mongolian. Finally, we provide an account for the distributions of the genitive case marked subject in connection to information structure and topicalization. In accordance with our study, the fact that genitive case marked subject of finite clause in Modern Mongolian correlates with specific reading of the overall clause. Moreover, adopting the proposal by Mizuno Masanori (1995), we provide more explanations in reference to information structure ( Lopez 2009, Bruel 2005). References In English and in Japanese Banno.O (2013). On Ga/No Conversion: A diachronic Corpus-based Study. 第4回コーパス日本語学ワークショップ予稿集, 国立国語研究所, 177-186.

ALLS 7(2):183-191, 2016 191 Blake. B.J. (2004) Case. Cambridge University Press Breul, C. (2005). Focus Structure in Generative Grammar. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Choi, D.G. (2008). Solongos ba Mongol helnii ugsiig aimaglah tuhai (Lexicology of Korean and Mongolian) Republic of Korea. Seoul. Journal of the Korean Association for Mongolian Studies, 8, 125-144 Aygen, G. (2007). Syntax and Semantics of Genitive Subject-Case in Turkic. California Linguistic Notes. Volume XXXII No. 2 Spring Smith, H. (2006). Restrictiveness in case theory. Cambridge Hiraiwa. K. (2000). On nominative-genitive conversion, in MIT working papers in linguistics 39: A few from Building E39. Cambridge, Mass. 66-125. Herd, J. (2004). Genitive relative constructions in Polynesian. Proceedings of the 2004 annual conference of the Canadian linguistic Association Luiz, L. (2009). Derivational Syntax for Information Structure. Oxford University Press Miyagawa, S. (2008). Genitive in Altaic, Proceedings of the Workshop on Altaic Formal Linguistics4, MIT Working papers in Linguistics Miyagawa, S. (2011). Genitive Subjects in Altaic and Specification of Phase. Lingua, 121, 1265-1282. Miyagawa, S. (2012) Case, Argument Structure, and Word Order, Leading Linguistics Series, Routledge. Mizuno, M. (1995). Preference Ordering of Subject Form in Modern Mongolian, Tokyo University Linguistic Papers, March Tserenpil, D., Kullman, A. (2005). Mongolian Grammar. Ulaanbaatar Watanabe, A. (1996). “A cross-linguistic perspective on Japanese nominative –genitive conversion and its implecations for Japanese syntax” In Current topics in English and Japanese. ed. Nakamura.M, Hitsuzi Shobo. 341-369.

In Mongolian Bazarragchaa, M. (1998). Hariyalahin tiin yalgalin utgig angilah ni (Classification of the genitive case), Ulaanbaatar, Gurvan Erdene University Bulletin, 2, 7-49 Bazarragchaa, M. (1999). Mongol helnii uiliin tiin yalgal (Verb Cases of Mongolian) Ulaanbaatar Byambadorj, B. (2006). Orchin tsagiin mongol helnii helber sudlal (Morphology of Modern Mongolian) Ulaanbaatar Byambasan, P. (1987). Uil ugiin todotgon holboh nuhtsul (Verbal determining suffix) Ulaanbaatar, Institute of Linguistic, Science Academy of Mongolia Bulletin Volume 4. 86-108 Luvsanvandan, Sh. (1957). Orchin tsagiin mongol hel (Modern Mongolian) Ulaanbaatar Mongol hel shinjleliin tailbar toli bichig (Encyclopedic dictionary of Mongolian linguistics) 2014: Ulaanbaatar, Munkh-Amgalan, Y. (2014). Orchin tsagiin mongol helnii helber sudlal (Morphology of Modern Mongolian) Ulaanbaatar Orchin tsagiin mongol hel (Modern Mongolian) 2004:Ulaanbaatar Purev-Ochir, B. (2001). Orchin tsagiin mongol helnii ӧgüülberzüi (Syntax of modern Mongolian) Ulaanbaatar Rinchen, B. (1967). Mongol bichgiin helnii zui (Mongolian Grammar) Ulaanbaatar Unurbayan. T. (2004). Orchin tsagiin mongol helnii helber sudlal (Morphology of Modern Mongolian) Ulaanbaatar



The Effect of Virtual Language Learning Method on Writing Ability of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

Hooshang Khoshsima

Department of Management and Humanities, Chabahar Maritime University, Chabahar, Iran E-mail: [email protected]

Fatemeh Sayadi (Corresponding author) Department of Management and Humanities, Chabahar Maritime University, Chabahar, Iran


Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.192 Received: 12/12/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.192 Accepted: 27/01/2016 Abstract This study aimed at investigating the effect of virtual language learning method on Iranian intermediate EFL learners writing ability. The study was conducted with 20 English Translation students at Chabahar Maritime University who were assigned into two groups, control and experimental, after ensuring of their homogeneity by administering a TOEFL proficiency. The participants of the experimental group received virtual learning i.e. sending PowerPoint through their e-mails. The participants of the experimental group did not have to attend the classes, however they had to study the PowerPoint and send the assigned task on the mentioned deadline. A writing posttest was administered to find the impacts of both methods. A paired sample t-test and an independent sample t-test were run to analyze the posttest scores using SPSS. The findings of the study indicated that both groups showed some improvements in terms of their writing ability since the obtained p value of both groups were 0.000 which is smaller than 0.05. However using virtual method appeared to be a more fruitful tool since the mean score of the experimental group (12.75) was much higher than the mean score of the control group (9.8). Keywords: writing ability; virtual learning; product approach; process approach; virtual environment 1. Introduction Being able to speak an international language is a must in 21th century. English, as an international language, is taught as the foreign language in Iran, and the students will learn this language in high school and through their academic courses. Writing is a means of communication and represents an essential function in academic environments and personal lives of human being. Messages, forms, invitations, letters, and instructions are types of writing that anyone might have to do at some time or other. People will learn how to speak by being exposed to the environment, but even native speakers of a language find it difficult to write accurately. As students cannot just “pick up” writing as they learn other skills in English as a foreign language classes, instructors have to teach writing skills (Raimes, 1983). Out of four fundamental language skills in the language learning process “competent writing is frequently accepted as being the last language skill to be acquired by native speakers of the language as well as for foreign/second language learners.” (Hamp and Heasley, 2006, p.36). Most students, both in their native language and in the second language, have received minimal or no instruction in learning how to write (Chastain, 1988). So, learning writing is an important goal both in the first and the second language. Bell and Burnaby (1984) assume that writing, as a complicated cognitive activity requires the writer to control different variables concurrently. These variables can include grammar, content, mechanics, and vocabulary. Writing effectively is a procedure, which takes time; moreover, it needs considerable practice and occasionally even proper instruction (Dastjerdi and Samian, 2011). The traditional approach for developing writing skill was first to teach language forms to the students. Later, teachers assigned composition topics with the assumption that the students had received sufficient preparation to turn in a satisfactory product (Chastain, 1988). Historically, there were two approaches for teaching writing skills namely, product, and process writing. In regular methods of teaching, the schedule is fixed and pre-decided, and traditional teaching tools are used. In many colleges around the world, writing is taught as a collaborative exchange between student and the teacher. The teacher assigns a writing task, the student produces one draft, the teacher provides a corrective feedback on it, and the student redrafts the text and submits it for the evaluation. However, rapid development of technology in the past 20 years has created a new dimension of teaching process, which is named virtual learning. The development of network technology has caused traditional methods to be replaced by the virtual-based methods. The flourishing of information technology and distance learning by mass communication has resulted in the development of new instrument and teaching methods for knowledge transfer (McKenzie, McRae, & Toia, 2010). Accompanied by the rapid development of multimedia systems and network technologies; the internet-


ALLS 7(2):192-202, 2016 193 based teachings, and e-learning methods, as a new paradigm in the field, have developed resulting in traditional teaching to also expand to the virtual learning environments (Wu, Kuo, Wu, and Wu, 2006). Besides, this virtual learning system has influenced teaching the four skills of English. Among these four skills writing seems to be the most difficult one. This opinion was supported by Langan (1987), and Gunning (1998) who stated that writing is both complex and more abstract than speaking. Parker (1993) confirms this statement when he assumed writing to be a torment to students. So, writing skill can have a new dimension of teaching by expansion of the virtual language learning. Teachers may use virtual methods to teach writing ability in order to see the different effects of regular and virtual methods on this ability. Since virtual methods are new in the field of teaching, there are few books about this field; the most reliable sources for virtual methods of writing are the articles, researches, and projects that have been published in this field. 1.1 statement of the problem Nowadays, being able to talk into a foreign language has become a vital goal in our lives. So, people have to learn the foreign language as well as they can, and be experts in four skills to communicate to other people around the world, and use language in their real lives. The conversational skills are being disregarded intensely in Iranian high schools whereas reading skill is considered more important (Khajavi & Abbasian, 2011). However, most of the Iranian students think that the most difficult skill is writing, and they find it difficult to write accurately and correctly after seven years of studying English. According to Mousavi and Kashefian-Naeeini (2011) the students believe that the root of these difficulties is basically not having sufficient practice in English writing while studying English. Despite the arrival of virtual language learning in the last few years, those teaching in Iranian high schools, institutes and even most of the colleges still use the regular method of teaching writing ability. Therefore, investigating the comparison of different methods of teaching writing skills, regular and virtual, seems unavoidable in order to find the effect of both methods on writing ability of students. 1.2 The purpose of the study The purpose of this study was to find the effectiveness of virtual learning system on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Additionally, this study aimed to find the effects of regular methods as well. All in all, the current study aims to provide experimental evidence about the fact that if virtual language learning can enhance intermediate writing skill in English more effectively than the regular method of teaching or not. This study can help teachers to find the more proper method of teaching writing. 1.3 Research questions Q1. Does virtual language learning method have a significant effect on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners? Q2. Do regular and virtual language-learning method have significantly different effects on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners? 1.4 Research hypotheses H01. Virtual learning method has no significant effect on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. H02. Regular and virtual language learning methods have similar effects on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. 2. Review of literature Writing as one of the four basic language skills, is given a unique significance. It is a valuable way for sharing one’s thoughts to other people. Writing not only helps people to encourage their self-respect, but also it’s a way of conveying one’s thoughts and feelings. An appropriate and a good writing can be comparable with that prim and proper person, since most of the time we write to make a good impression about ourselves, and a brilliant writing will create a good impression about its writer (Raimes, 1983). One can say writing is the most difficult skill for foreign language learners to master; according to Richards and Renandya (2002, p.43) “the difficulty lies not only in generating and organizing ideas, but also in translating these ideas into a readable text”. They state that the skills involved in writing are highly complex; second language writers have to pay attention to higher level skills of planning and organizing as well as lower level skills of spelling, punctuation, word choice, and so on. Richards (1990, p. 101) claims that “whereas the rules of speaking skills are acquired through conversation and do not need instruction, the rules of written discourse are largely learned through instruction and practice, which seems difficult to people”. Ramies (1983) states, there are different approaches toward teaching of writing that can lead people to safer ground both in planning writing courses and in helping teachers to plan writing. Both in virtual and regular methods of teaching writing these approaches can be used, although they are different in materials and activates, which are discussed as follows. 2.1 Regular methods of teaching writing Language teachers not only should be aware of the purpose of their students for learning, but also they should be able to prepare them to learn how to write appropriately. To find an appropriate approach to teach writing is not an easy task to accomplish. There isn’t just one way and method because teaching writing depends on the role and objectives of writing and what features of writing processes English teachers emphasize. As Raimes (1983) states there is no one answer for teachers to the question of how to teach writing in EFL and ESL classes, one may say that there are as many answers to

ALLS 7(2):192-202, 2016 194 how to teach writing as there are teaching styles and teachers or learners and learning environments. However, two of these skills have been more common in ESL and EFL classes, namely product approach and process approach. Teachers using the product approach normally give a pattern to students, and the students are told to imitate the given pattern. Actually the emphasis of this approach is on the product, which is a written text, most of the time and the processes each student goes through is not taken into account (Clark & Ivanic, 1997). This approach is mostly teacher-centered, as the teacher becomes the master of the models used (Brakus, Bernd, and Zhang, 2008). Arndt (1987) suggests that this approach is not only important because of the fact of imitation, but also for exploration and analysis. According to Mastuda (2003) product approach can be referred to as the current-traditional rhetoric, however, this approach suffers from some limitations and borders that made the experts to think about other approaches as well. The process approach as Hyland (2003) suggests has a major influence on realizing the nature of writing, and the way it can be taught. This approach can be called recursive and complex, and emphasize that writing is not a linear task. Therefore, the process approach indicates the significance of recursive procedure in writing, which includes prewriting, drafting, evaluating and revising (Williams, 1989). The teacher in a process-approach classroom becomes the facilitator. In such classrooms, writing is essentially learnt, not taught. Providing input or pattern for learners is perceived as unimportant, since the teacher’s task is only to facilitate the exercise of writing skills and draw out the learners’ capacity. Therefore, just opposite the product approach, process approach can be called learner-centered. 2.2 Virtual learning approaches The development of virtual learning revolution caused a new dimension in teaching. As Billings and Moursund state (1988) there was a revolution in teaching of writing and reading based on development of e-learning and virtual teaching. Well-designed presentation outlines and syllabus, along with the traditional college textbook and in some cases audio or videotapes are the way of delivery. In recent years, Internet has increased the speed of development in virtual learning and teaching, since Internet has made it possible to use on-line libraries, classrooms, conferences, and meetings. Choosing the most appropriate strategy for the instruction of virtual environment particularly depends on the dominant knowledge of virtual forms and styles (Christensen, 2009). Electronic mail: It is a text sent through a computer network to a specified individual or group. E-mail messages can also carry attached files. E-mail may be utilized as one method of asynchronous distance communication between faculty and students and among classmates to facilitate learning (Susan, 2002). Video and audio option: In which radios can be a part of educational system by wide spreading of the audio through broadcast and podcast. Video technology can be a part of virtual learning, too. Some of the countries, including our country, use pre-recorded television broadcast to spread the virtual learning. Some of the television channels were particularly designed to manifest and display these kinds of pre-recorded videos. Video technology also can include VHS tapes, DVDs, and streamed video from Skype, Teacher Tube, You Tube, Webcams, and Adobe Connect (Diecker, Lane, Allsopp, O'Brie, Kyg, & Butler, 2009). Interactive video games can be used as a teaching tool in higher education institutes as well (White, 2009). Podcasting is another category of virtual learning, which allows everyone to publish his or her files to the Internet (Robinson & Ritzko, 2009). Computers, tablets, and mobile devices: Computers, laptops, and tablets enjoy some applications, which are considered as important and critical tools of virtual interaction and communication such as PDF files, PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, and Images (Reeves, 1998). Recently, most of the mobile phones and smartphones can be used for interactive feedback, since they support the mentioned applications and programs (Tremblay, 2010). Social networks: Using some social networks, recently, has become wide spread all over the world. Most of the people join at least one of these social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Slide Wiki and so on. Students can post their thoughts, ideas, and feelings on these social networking through blogs, chats, clips, and conferences. Nowadays, using such networks as a means of communication has been increased and has created a new approach in virtual learning system. They are daily chats, conversions, interactions, and informational sharing between learners that are called hashtags (Pilgrim & Bledsoe, 2011; Curran & McCarroll, 2013; Murray & Waller, 2007). Fletcher and Atkinson (1972) performed one of the earliest studies related to virtual learning. Despite the fact that, Fletcher and Atkinson were among the pioneers of examining this new instrument, their results showed the effectiveness of virtual instruments. Cook (1985) found that the students who received computer-assisted writing showed better performance than those who did not. Avent and Harmon (1994) stated that the language learning achievement is more significant in students using computer-assisted language learning courseware than students using the traditional approaches. In another study, the researchers stated that using virtual learning environment does not guarantee effectiveness by its very nature, and it must integrate with rich pedagogical scenarios (Dillenbourg, Schneider, & Synteta, 2001). Al-Menei (2008) states that computer-assisted approach has a significant effect on EFL Saudi students’ writing ability in two major areas namely, paragraph writing and correcting grammar. However, he added that computer-assisted writing couldn’t improve all parts of writing skill. Although much of the literature emphasized the positive influence of virtual learning, some of the researchers showed the drawbacks of this instrument as well. As Brown (1996) investigated, students in virtual classrooms may experience feeling of isolation. Braine (1997) stated that the regular and traditional setting establishes more improvements in writing than using the network, but since technology has a rapid improvement the results may change if the same study

ALLS 7(2):192-202, 2016 195 is conducted at the present time. Russell (1999) suggested that there is generally no significant difference between technology-supported environments and traditional face-to-face instruction. Also there are researches that show students had some feelings of isolation, frustration, anxiety, and confusion (Hara & Kling, 2000), and even sometimes virtual-learning environments had reduced the interest of the students in the subject matter (Maki, Maki, Patterson, & Whittaker, 2000). Esmaili (2012) conducted a study with 70 participants in Iran and used Kumaravadivelu’s framework to use technology in writing classes. The results of his study state that technology is not a beneficial tool per se, and it should be used as a complementary tool for teachers. Nezam Hashemi (2014) stated, in a recent study, that teaching writing in virtual way is not significantly more effective than teaching it in actual conventional classes, and virtual classes turned out to be fruitful if used as an addition to the actual class to boost whatever in the class. 3. Methodology 3.1 Design of the study This is an experimental research in nature. Since random selection of the subjects was impossible for the researcher, so the researcher made use of intact groups; therefore, the design, which could fit, was quasi-experimental design with the help of pretest-posttest patterns. Two kinds of tests have been administered, which are a pretest and a posttest. The pretest included two parts, the first part was a proficiency test in order to prove the homogeneity of the students, and the second part is a writing test in order to check their writing ability. The participants were divided into two groups beforehand; they have been divided into two groups by rank ordering. The control group received traditional way of teaching writing, and the experimental group received virtual method. The participants of the experimental group had to have access to the network in order to accomplish their task. Both groups received the same topics, but by using different tools. The researcher wanted to work with both groups, but because of the limitations of the university the control group was in the hand of the related professor. The gender of students was not important in this research. So, the formula, which was applied as a pattern is as follows. G1 (Experimental) O1 X O2

G2 (Control) O3 O4

3.2 Participants An essential goal of this study was to understand the effects of regular and virtual language learning method on writing ability of Iranian Intermediate EFL learners. The study took place at Chabahar Maritime University, a large state university in Iran. The university offers various bachelors, masters, and doctoral program in several fields of study. Because of having no access to random selection of students, this available writing class was chosen. Twenty students of English Translation, studying at the department of humanities and management at Chabahar Maritime University, were present in that writing class. All of them were native speakers of Persian. They had comparable competence in English and most of them were student-teachers. Their ages varied from 18 to 22, 12 females and 6 males. All the students were studying academic English for one year and a half, and most of them taught English in language institutes or high schools. They all entered the B.A program in Fall 2013 and all of them have had passed 2-credit paragraph writing course. 3.3 INSTRUMENTS 3.3.1 TOEFL proficiency test In order to fulfill the requirements of an experimental study, all the subjects of the study must be homogenous. So, a pretest, namely a TOEFL test has been administered before the beginning of the study. This test was chosen from the book Longman Preparation Course for the TOEFL Test: The Paper Test (Phillips, 2004). All the students had to achieve the required score to participate in this study. This test includes three parts, listening, vocabulary, and grammar. 3.3.2 Writing pre and posttest After administration of the TOEFL proficiency test (Phillips, 2004), the researcher administered a writing test, again taken from the TOEFL test (Phillips, 2004). All the students were asked to participate in this test in order to check their writing skill ability. To gather the scores of this writing test, the scores were presented by the criterion of ESL Composition Profile (Jacobs, Zinkgraf, Wormouth, Hartfiel, & Hughey, 1981), which shows that the complete score of writing is 15 based on this criterion. After the students received the treatment of the study, the researcher administered a writing test, the same topic, to see whether the treatment had any effects on the students or not. 3.3.3 Instructional materials Since this study had two groups, the researcher used two different instructional materials. The first group received the traditional instruction and regular books. The experimental group received virtual materials, and in spite of many approaches and instruments virtual language learning has, the researcher decided to use Power Points for each lesson and deliver those lessons using network. So, the experimental group received virtual instruction, including network-based, and online instruction. Although the topics were similar due to using the book, Academic Writing Course (Jordan, 1999) for both groups but the tools and instruments of instruction were different. 3.4 Procedure At the beginning of the study a TOEFL proficiency test taken from TOEFL book (Phillips, 2004) was administered to submit the homogeneity of the students. The test included 60 reading items, 50 listening items, and 40 written expression and structure items. After scoring the papers, the homogeneity of the students had been submitted; since all

ALLS 7(2):192-202, 2016 196 the students scored 420 to 450 it can be said that all the students were at intermediate level. The researcher developed a writing test to measure the students’ writing ability before and after participating in the study. The participants were given a composition topic to write on in onset of the study. The test was developed depending on the general guidelines and curriculum outcomes for EFL learners, and it was corrected according to the ESL composition profile criteria for evaluating the composition (Jacobs, Zinkgraf, Wormouth, Hartfiel, and Hughey, 1981). A time limit of 40 minutes was instructed to students in both groups in order to follow TOEFL originality way of taking writing exam. Two raters, the researcher, and the related course professor, marked the scores of the students. The students were divided into two groups by rank ordering based on the scores of the TOEFL test each group included 10 students. The first group was called the control group, and the next group was called the experimental one. After the administration of the second pretest, writing skill test, the treatment of the classes had to be decided. There were two different instructions for the class, which each class received a different one while both groups had the same material, a book entitled Academic Writing Course written by Jordan (Jordan, 1999). The groups were taught by two different teachers due to academic limitations, however both groups received writing instruction for 13 weeks. Participants in both groups were given writing tasks to produce paragraph writing. The tasks in both groups focused on the same writing modes and grammatical points. The control group included 10 students. They received writing instruction for 13 weeks, one day a week, one hour and a half each writing class. The control group received regular classroom instruction and met in a regular classroom the entire time. The lessons adopted and modified for the regular classroom writing instruction were originally compiled by the teaching staff of the English department. These lessons, in the form of printed materials, were handouts designed mainly for traditional classroom instruction, these handouts were designed according to the book of Academic Writing Course (Jordan, 1999). The regular writing instruction lessons taught in the control group provided students with vocabulary, outline formats, and samples written passages to familiarize them with the content and organization for the writing assignments. Internet access was not a necessary option in this group. The experimental group included 10 students as well. Having an access to the Internet was a must in this group. In the experimental group the researcher chose to prepare PowerPoint for each lesson, again choosing the topics from the same material namely Academic Writing Course (Jordan, 1999). All the topics, grammar and even the use of vocabularies were just alike. However, the instruction was different for each group. Each week the researcher, prepared the PowerPoint of the same lesson as the control group, and sent it to the e-mails of the students of experimental group each Sunday. Sending the task on their e-mails, the researcher texted all the 10 students to remind them that they got their lesson on their e-mail. The message included the time of deadline for completing their tasks. The students had to download, read, and have their tasks done before the deadline, which was each Thursday. The experimental group received the instruction for 13 weeks as well; all the students could have asked their problems by sending their questions through the researcher’s e-mail. It goes without saying that all the students had to buy the paper version of the mentioned book, despite of getting the on-line version of each lesson, in order to share the same material with the control group. By the end of the study, all the students both experimental and control group were given a posttest. The posttest was chosen from the TOEFL book (Phillips, 2004). 4. Results and discussion The researcher used quasi-experimental design for this study. To find the appropriate answers to the research questions, and to figure out whether research hypotheses were to be accepted or rejected a set of statistical analyses needed to be done. The following sections illustrate the quantitative findings and provide answers to the research questions. Both the control and the experimental groups were given the same test before and after the study to measure the differences in the achievement of the students’ writing. As Field (2009) suggests that some features should be met before one decides to run parametric test, one of them is that the groups should have homogeneous variances. This assumption was fulfilled when the researcher administered a TOEFL test to all the students before put them into experimental and control groups. Table 4.1 Results of TOEFL Proficiency Test N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean TOEFL Scores 20 446.9000 7.28300 1.62853

All the students proved to be at the intermediate level, since the mean score of the TOEFL proficiency test of the students proved to be between 420 and 450. 4.1 Data analysis of the writing pretest Assigning all the students as intermediate learners, the researcher divided them into two groups, control and experimental groups. Since the main focus of this study was on the writing ability of the students, the test examined their writing ability and was chosen from Longman Preparation Course for TOEFL Test (Phillips, 2004). Administering the writing pretest and scoring the papers, the scores were analyzed by an independent samples t-test. The following tables will illustrate the data more accurately.

ALLS 7(2):192-202, 2016 197 Table 4.2 Group Statistics of Writing Pretest

Groups N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Scores Experimental 10 7.8000 1.33749 .42295 Control 10 7.9250 1.42424 .45039

Table 4.2 illustrates the statistics of both groups clearly. The first row of the table indicates the data related to the experimental group. As is obvious both groups include 10 students. The total score of the test was 15 based on the ESL composition profile criteria for evaluating the composition (Jacobs, Zinkgraf, Wormouth, Hartfiel, & Hughey, 1981). The mean score of the experimental group was 7.8000, and the mean score of the control group was 7.9250 as it is shown in Table 4.2 clearly. Although, the control group got the higher mean score, but the significance of the groups is not as much different as it seems.

Table 4.3 Independent Samples T-Test of Writing Skill

Levene's Test for Equality of

Variances t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Differenc

e

Std. Error

Difference


Difference

Lower Upper

Writing

Pretest

Equal variances assumed

.060 .809 -.202 18 .842 -.12500 .61785 -1.42305 1.17305

As Table 4.3 shows the p value is 0.842, and F = 0.060. Since the significance of this test is 0.842 and it is obviously higher than 0.05 that is to say (p = 0.842 >0.05), consequently it indicates that there is no significant difference between these two groups in terms of their writing ability. That is to say, both groups are homogenous, and they can go through the requirements of this study, in other terms these groups are comparable and ready to receive the treatments. 4.2 Data analysis for the research question one First question of this study dealt with the impact of virtual learning method on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. It was hypothesized that virtual learning system has no significant effects on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. The students participated in this group received a special treatment. In order to see whether this group has improved or not, and to see if virtual learning system is an effective factor; the researcher applied a paired samples t-test between the performance of the participants on the pretest and their performance on the post test. The following tables show the results of the paired samples t-test. Table 4.4 Group Statistics Paired sampless t-test of Experimental Group

Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Experimental Group Pretest 7.8000 10 1.33749 .42295

Posttest 12.8500 10 1.74881 .55302 The group statistics of paired samples t-test of the experimental group are shown in Table 4.4, and as it is obvious the mean score of the posttest (meanposttest =12.85) is higher than the mean score of the pretest (meanpretest =7.8). Table 4.5 Paired samples Test of Performance of Experimental Group on the Posttest and Pretest

Paired Differences

t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean


Difference Lower Upper

Control Group

Pretest - Posttest -5.05000 1.21221 .38333 -5.91716 -4.18284

-13.17

4 9 .000

ALLS 7(2):192-202, 2016 198 Results of the paired samples t-test of the experimental group, who received virtual learning method, are shown in the above table. The p value mentioned in this table is 0.000, which is lower than 0.05 (that is p = 0.000 < 0.05). The mentioned p value, which was lower than 0.05 indicates that there was a significant difference between the performance of students on their writing pretest and their performance on the same posttest. Consequently, the null hypothesis of the first question is rejected was well, and clearly the analysis of the paired samples t-test for the experimental group shows that virtual learning method, which was applied in this group was an effective factor in writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. 4.3 Data analysis for the research question two The concern of the second research question of this study was the comparison of the effects of regular and virtual learning method on writing ability of the Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Based on this question it was hypothesized that regular and virtual learning methods have a similar effect on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners, in other words they do not have different effects on the participants of this study. In order to either reject or accept this null hypothesis, the posttests of both groups were compared using the independent samples t-test as it is shown in the following tables. Table 4.6 Group statistics of Writing Posttest

Groups N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Posttest Experimental 10 12.7500 1.41912 .44876

Control 10 9.8000 1.29529 .40961

As the above table suggests the mean score of the experimental group is 12.75000, and the mean score of the control group is 9.8000, respectively. Based on the group statistics of the writing pretest, the mean score of the experimental group was 7.8000, and the mean score of the control group was 7.9250. Not to forget that both groups had 10 participants, and the experimental group received virtual learning method as their treatment through this study. Obviously, the mean score of both groups have improved as well. Although, in order to reject or accept the second research question’s hypothesis the researcher analyzed both groups mean scores to see which factor has the better effect on writing ability of the Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Since the experimental group got the higher mean score it seems that the virtual learning method has had much fruitful effect on writing ability of participants. However, to prove this more accurately the p and t value was checked as well, which is mentioned in the following table.

Table 4.7 Independent Samples t-test of Writing Posttest

Levene's Test for Equality of

Variances t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Differenc

e

Std. Error

Difference


Difference

Lower Upper W

riting Posttest

Equal variances assumed

.028 .868 4.855 18 .000 2.95000 .60759 1.67350 4.22650

The positive form of the t value is 4.855, which is bigger than 2. Besides, the significance level is 0.000, which is smaller than 0.05 (that is = p value 0.000 < 0.05). It can be summarized that the null hypothesis is rejected by the samples, and these groups do not have similar effects on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners, and there is a meaningful difference between the populations. 4.4 Discussion The main goal of this study was to investigate the impacts of virtual learning method and regular method of teaching writing on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. The first research question had to probe the effect of virtual learning method on the participants of experimental group, and as its hypothesis suggested virtual learning method has no significant effect on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. Considering the results obtained from the paired samples t-test of this group, the second null hypothesis is rejected. Since, the mean score of the posttest of the experimental group is much higher than their mean score on the pretest. Also the p value of the paired samples test was 0.000, which is smaller than 0.05 and it shows that there is a significant difference between the performance of the participants on the pretest and the posttest.

ALLS 7(2):192-202, 2016 199 Consequently, it can be said that virtual learning method is an effective factor on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners, and the null hypothesis is rejected. The second research question of this study dealt with the comparison of both methods. The null hypothesis of this question suggested that there is no significant difference between the effects of these methods. As it was proved, both groups were homogenous on the writing skill pretest and they were comparable. Since, both methods have shown some improvements on the posttest, the researcher used an independent samples t-test in order to reject or accept the null hypothesis of the research question. The p value of the independent samples t-test that was 0.000, which is lower than 0.05, shows that the difference between these groups is meaningful. Besides, based on the group statistics of this test it can be proved that the group, which underwent the treatment and received virtual learning method showed much more improvement. Based on the obtained data the mean score of the control group’s posttest, which is 9.800, is lower than the mean score of the experimental group’s posttest, which is 12.750. Therefore, the virtual language learning methods are more effective to boost the writing ability of the students Unfortunately, referring to the small size of the samples of the present study, the results obtained cannot be generalized to large populations, however there exist some researches that do not agree with the results of the present study. As Brown (1996) investigated, students in virtual classrooms may experience feeling of isolation. Braine (1997) stated that the regular and traditional setting establishes more improvements in writing than using the network. Russell (1999) suggested that there is generally no significant difference between technology supported environments and traditional face-to-face instruction. Also there are researches that show students had some feelings of isolation, frustration, anxiety, and confusion (Hara & Kling, 2000), and even sometimes virtual-learning environments had reduced the interest of the students in the subject matter (Maki, Maki, Patterson, & Whittaker, 2000). Sattar and Naharkhalaji (2013) investigated the role of E-mail activities in EFL writing classes. The results indicated that using e-mail as an independent method for teaching writing does not have a positive effect on the improvement of writing ability. They add that these new method can be used as a supplementary tool to traditional ways of teaching writing to have positive effects. Nezam Hashemi (2014) reported, in a recent study, that teaching writing in virtual way is not significantly more effective than teaching it in actual conventional classes, and virtual classes turned out to be fruitful if used as an addition to the actual class to boost whatever in the class. Despite these disagreements, the results of this study are in line with some previous researches as well. White (1994) reported that the performance of the students was much better in their experimental group after using technology for learning writing. Gousseva (1998) in her study stated that students attitude towards technology were usually positive because they could see different viewpoints and improve the skill of writing. Goldber, Russell, and Cook (2003) analyzed the effect of computers on student writing. Their analysis showed that on average, students who use computers to enhance their writing ability are not only more motivated, but also they produce better written work that is of greater length and higher quality. Al-Jamal and O’beidat (2004) probed the effect of computer chatting on developing tenth graders’ reading and writing skills. These researchers suggested that chatting techniques should be introduced as a major tool for teaching reading and writing skills based on the positive results their experimental group showed. Yang (2004) also found that the experimental group who underwent the treatment and received one of the methods of virtual learning had a better performance. Chou (2007) investigated the effects of web quest writing instruction program on EFL learners; performance, and the results showed that web quest instruction model was an effective model for enhancing students’ writing performance and provided a positive learning experience. Al-Menei (2008) Reported that the experimental group of his study largely benefited from using computers in learning writing, and his results showed that computer seemed to be a helpful instructional means in EFL writing assignments and tasks. Tushyeh and Farrah (2010) investigated the effect of using computer and technology on reading and writing ability of the students in Palestine. The results of their study showed the same results as the current study, which proves the positive effects of technology on writing ability of the students. However, their results showed that using computer-based methods would improve the self-confidence and motivation of students. Ghahari and Ameri-Golestan (2013) studied the effect of blended learning versus classroom learning techniques on Iranian EFL learners’ writing. The results of the study showed that the blended learning group significantly outperformed the ones in the classroom-learning group in their writing performance. Additionally, the results showed indicated that applying a blended teaching method can create a more desirable condition to enhance the EFL learners’ writing performance. Purceel, Buchnan, and Friedrich (2013) probed the impact of digital tools on students writing. The results showed that using internet and digital technologies generally facilitate personal expression and creativity, broadening the audience for their written material, and encouraging teens to write more often in more formats than may have been the case in prior generations. However, the results also showed that by using technologies the teachers have to better educate the students about some new issues like fair use and plagiarism. Ababneh and Lababneh (2013) explored the effect of using Internet on EFL elementary school students’, and the results showed that using Internet had a positive effect on Jordanian elementary students’ writing ability. Liu (2013) conducted a research on blended learning in a university EFL writing course, and the results showed that using virtual and blended learning will improve the student-student and students-teacher interactions. Moreover, the results showed that using blended learning would reduce or sometime eliminate communication anxiety, and help them become independent learners and improve their writing ability. Davoudi, Gorjian, and Pazhakh (2013) investigated the effect of post-task CALL approach on advanced Iranian learners’ writing accuracy. The results of their study showed that the group with the post-task CALL was more successful and using virtual methods have a positive effect on the participants of the study. Another study was conducted at the same year in the same country by Niazi and Pourgharib (2013). The study investigated the effect of

ALLS 7(2):192-202, 2016 200 using E-mail on enhancing Iranian intermediate EFL learners writing proficiency. The results were in line with the results of the current study and the participants of the experimental group showed positive improvements, and it was proved that using technology has great effects on the writing ability of the students. As Gooran and Hayati (2014) found out on their research, there is a significantly positive relationship between using email and students’ writing performance. 5. Conclusion and pedagogical implications The participants of this study underwent the treatment in order to deal with the two mentioned null hypotheses. So, one can say that despite timeworn nature of regular methods they are still effective and may improve the writing ability of the students. The first hypothesis assumed that virtual learning method has no effect on writing ability of the students. A paired samples t-test was used to compare the mean score of the experimental group posttest and pretest. The results showed that there was a meaningful difference between their performances, and that the experimental group writing ability has improved. So, the first null hypothesis was rejected. These results along side with using an independent samples t-test results for posttest of experimental group and their counterparts in control group rejected the second null hypothesis as well. It other words there was a meaningful difference between the impact of regular method and virtual method of teaching on writing ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. In addition, the mean score of the posttest of the experimental group is much higher than their counterparts in the control group, so it can be concluded that the virtual learning method has been much fruitful in this study. The present study suggests some pedagogical implication based on the results, which were obtained at the end of the study. Despite the fact that the population of the participants in this study was not that large, the results of this study can be applicable to teachers and instructors, students, institutions, and material designers. The results of this study are beneficial for teachers in many ways. So, they can choose which method is more applicable based on the circumstances of their classes. Using the results of this study namely, using the virtual learning method, which is based on distance learning, teachers can handle different classes at the same time. Students, especially shy ones, will be interested in using such a way of learning since they do not have to attend classes, and they can communicate with the related course teacher and other students. Some of the students who have to work at the same time can attend schools and universities, which have virtual learning environments to save money and time. The results can be applicable to institutions and universities, in a way that they can use the findings of this study to train instructors and teachers to teach writing courses via virtual methods. Material designers also can benefit from the findings to establish virtual materials as same as handbooks. They can prepare videos, 3D-envirments of old books, and even prepare the lessons in formats such as Power Points, documents, and PDFs. This study could offer some suggestions for further studies as well. The virtual method was used to teach writing in this study, so other researchers may investigate the effect of virtual learning on other skills, respectively. The gender of participants was not an important factor; therefore future studies may probe the effect of virtual learning on different genders and compare their results. References Ababneh, & Lababneh. (2013). The Effect of Using the Internet on EFL Elementary School Students’ Writing. Journal of Education and Practice. 4 (12). Al-Jamal, & O'beidat. (2004). The Effect of Computer Chatting on Developing Tenth Graders’ Reading and Writing Skills . Journal of Educational & Psychological Sciences. 12 (2) . Al-Menei, A. M. (2008). An Investigation of the Effect of Computer-assisted Writing Instruction on EFL Saudi Learners’ Ability. Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: King Saud University. Arndt, A. (1987). Six writers in search of texts: A protocol-based study of L1 and L2 writing. English Language Teaching Journal , 41 (1), 257-67. Avent, & Harmon, J. (1994). A study of language learning achievement differences between students using the traditional language laboratory and students using computer-assisted language learning courseware. Dissertation Abstract International . Badger, R., & White, G. (2000). A Process Genre approach to teaching Writing. ELT Journal , 2 (54), 153-160. Braine, 1. (1997). Beyond word processing:Networked computers in ESL writing classes. Computer and Composition , 14 (1), 45-58. Brakus, J. J., Bernd, S. H., & Zhang, S. (2008). Experiential Attributes and Consumer Judgments. Northampton: Edward Elgar. Bransford, Brown, & Cocking. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Brown, K. M. (1996). The Role of Internal and External Factors in Discontinuation of Off-Campus Students. Distance Education , 17 (1), 44-71. Curran, K., & McCarroll, N. (2013). Social Networking in Education. International Journal of Innovation in the Digital Economy, 4 (1).

ALLS 7(2):192-202, 2016 201 Chastain, K. (1988). Developing Second - Language Skills: Theory to Practice. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Chastain, K. (1988). Developing Second Language Skills. San Diego: Harcourt College. Chen, J. (1996). Computer generated error feedback and writing process. TESL-EJ,2,3. Chiu, Tsuo-lin, Hsien-chin, yeh, & Yuli. (2007). A study of web-based oral activities enhanced by automatic speech recognition for EFL college learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning , 20 (3), 209-233. Chou, T.-W. (2007). The Effects of the WebQuest Writing Instruction Program on EFL Learners' Writing Performance, Writing Apprehension, and Perception. TESL-EJ, 11 (3). Christakis, D., Meltzoff, & Zimmerman. (2007). Associations between Media Viewing and Language Development in Children Under Age 2 Years. Journal of Pediatrics 12 (4), 364-368. Christensen, C. (2009, April 20). Blended Learning Infographic. Retrieved from KNEWTON: http://www.knewton.com/blended-learning/ Clark, & Ivanic. (1997). Writing Processes and Practices. London: Routledge. Cook, J. (1985). Effects of computer-assisted instruction upon seventh grade students’ growth in writing performance. Nebraska, USA: Nebraska State University. Dastjerdi, V., & Samian, S. H. (2011). Quality of Iranian EFL Learners' Argumentative Essays: Cohesive devices in focus. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 14 (4). Davoudi, L., Gorjian, B., & Pazhakh, A. (2013). The Role of Post-task Call Approach in Teaching Writing Accuracy among Advanced EFL Learners.. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World , 4 (4). Diecker, L., Lane, Allsopp, O'Brie, Kyg, & Butler. (2009). Evaluating Video Models of Evidence-Based Instructional Practices to Enhance Teacher Learning. Teacher Education and Special Education , 32 (2), 180-196. Dillenbourg, P., Schneider, D., & Synteta, P. (2001). Virtual Learning Environments. Information & Communication Technologies in Education , 12 (4), 3-18. Doughty, C., & Pica, T. (1986). ‘Information-gap' tasks: Do they facilitate second language acquisition? TESOL Quarterly , 20 (2), 305-326. Esmaili, S. (2012). EFL Writing and Computer-Assisted Language Learning: Towards an Eclectic View and Far Beyond That. Iran: A master's thesis. Field, A. (2009). Discovering Statistic Using SPSS. Sage Publications Limited . Fletcher, J., & Atkinson, R. (1972). Evaluation of the Stanford CAI programm in initial reading. Journal of Educational Psychology , 63 (6), 597-602. Ghahari, & Ameri-Golestan. (2013). The Effect of Blended Learning vs. Classroom Learning Techniques on Iranian EFL Learners’ Writing . International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching & Research , 1 (3). Goldberg, Russell, & Cook. (2003). The Effect of Computers on Student Writing:- A Meta-Analysis of Studies from 1992 to 2002. The Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment , 2 (1). Gooran, M., & Hayati, M. (2014). Email and its Effects on Iranian EFL Learners’ Writing Ability. MEXTESOL Journal, 4 (12). Gousseva, J. (1998). Crossing Cultural and Spatial Boundaries: A Cyber composition Experience . The Internet TESL Journal , 4 (11). Gunning, T. (1998). Assessing and Correcting Reading and Writing Difficulties. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Iiyoshi, T., & Kumar, M. (2008). Opening up education: the collective advancement of education through open technology, open content, and open knowledge. Cambridge: Mass: MIT Press. Hamp, L., & Heasley, B. (2006). A Course in Written English for Academic Purposes. New York: Cambridge University Press. Hara, N., & Kling, R. (2000). Students Distress with a Web-Based Distance Education Course: An Ethnographic Study of Participants' Experiences. Information,Communication and Society, 3 (4), 557-579. Jacobs, H., Zinkgraf, S., Wormouth, D., Hartfiel, V., & Hughey, J. (1981). Testing ESl Compostion: A Practical Approach. Rowely: Newbury House. Jordan, R. (1999). Academic Writing Course (3rd Edition ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kashefian-Naeeini, S., & Mousavi, H. (2011). Academic Writing Problems of Iranian Post-Graduate Students at National University of Malaysia. European Journal of Social Sciences , 4 (23), 593-603. Khajavi, Y., & Abbasian, R. (2011). English Language Teaching, National Identity and Globalization in Iran: the Case of Public Schools. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, I 5 (10). Langan, J. (1987). College Writing Skills. New York: McGraw Hill.

ALLS 7(2):192-202, 2016 202 Maki, R., Maki, W., Patterson, M., & Whittaker, P. (2000). Evaluation of a Web-Based Introductory Psychology Course: Learning ans Satisfaction in On-line Versus Lecture Course. Behavior Research Methods, Insstruments, and Computers , 32 (2), 230-239. Maltby, A., & Mackie, S. (2008). Virtual learning environments – help or hindrance for the ‘disengaged’ student? ALT-J, Research in Learning Technology , 17 (1), 49-62. Mastuda, P. (2003). Process and Post-Process: A Discursive History. Journal of Second Language, 12 (4), 5-83. McKenzie, T., McRae, H., & Toia, R. (2010). ICT Tools Supporting Teacher Practice in Language Acquisition. Ubiquitous Learning . Moursund, D. (1988). Education Would Be Better If... Learning and Leading with Technology. Murray, K., & Waller, R. (2007). Social Networking Goes Abroad. Education Abroad 16 , 16 (1), 56-59. Myles, J. (2002). Second language writing and research: the writing process and error analysis in student texts. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language , 6 (2), 1-19. Nezam Hashemi, F. (2014). The Effect of Virtual vs. Actual Writing Instruction on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Essay Writing Performance in Islamic Azad University, Dubai Branch. International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature , 2 (1), 1-12. Niazi, F., & Pourgharib, B. (2013). International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences , 4 (11), 331-339. Oduol, S. (2012). Innovative applicat ions of Typography. Ancient African Typographic Symbols in Contemporary Publication Design, 12 (3), 2-10. Parker, S. (1993). The Craft of Writing. London: Paul Chapman Publishing. Pilgrim, J., & Bledsoe, C. (2011). Learning Through Facebook: A Potential Tool for Educators. Delta Kappa Gamma . Pincas, A. (1982). Writing in Eblish 1. London: Macmillan. Phillips, D. (2004). Longman Preparation Course for the TOEFL Test: The Paper Test. New York: Pearson ESL. Purceel, Buchnan, & Friedrich. (2013). The Impact of Digital Tools on Student Writing and How Writing is Taught in Schools. National writing project . Queen. (2009, January 11). www.encyclopediadramatica.se. Retrieved April 03, 2013, from https://forum.encyclopediadramatica.se/threads/completely-random-thread.13025/page-9 Russell, T. (1999). The No Significance Difference Phenomenon. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University Press. Raimes, A. (1983). Techniques in Teaching Writng. New York: Oxford University Press. Reeves, T. (1998). The Impact of Media and T echnology in Schools. Georhia: The Bertelsmann Foundation. Richards, C. (1990). The Lanaguage Teaching Matrix. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J., & Renandya, W. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching: an Anthology of Curent Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Robinson, & Ritzko. (2009). Pdcasts in Education: What, Why and How? Proceedings of the Academy of Educational Leadership , 14 (1), 38-45. Sattar, & Naharkhalaji. (2013). The Role of E-mail Activities in EFL Writing Classes. Schlager, M., fusco, J., & Schank, P. (1999). Evolution of an On-line Education Community of Practice. Building virtual communities: Learning and change in cyberspace . Susan, G. (2002). Theological Education on the Web: A Case Study in Formation for Ministry. Teaching Theology an Religion , 5 (4), 227-235. Tremblay, E. (2010). Educating the Mobile Generation – Using Personal Cell Phones as Audience Response Systems in Post-Secondary Science Teaching. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching , 29 (2), 217-227. Tushyeh , & Farrah. (2010). Enhancing the English Reading and Writing Skills of Palestinian English Majors by Using CALL. Hebron University Research Journal , 5 (2), 259-282. Williams, J. (1989). Preparing to Teach Writing. California: Wadsworth Publishing Co. White, S. (1994). The Effects of Computer-Assisted Instruction in Prewriting on the Prewriting on the Persuasive Writing of Tenth Grade Students. TX:University of Houston, MAI , 33 (04), 296- 315. Wu, P., Kuo, C., Wu, P., & Wu, T. H., T. (2006). Design a competence -based networked learning system: using sequence control as example (1st Edition ed.). (A. Méndez-Vilas, A. Solano Martín, & M. Gonzá, Eds.) Badajoz, Spain: FORMATEX. Yang, N. (2004). Using My Access in EFL Writing. The Proceedings of 2004 International Conference and Workshop on EFL and Applied Linguistics (pp. 550-564). Taipei: Ming Chuann University.



The Comorbidity between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children and Arabic

Speech Sound Disorder

Ruaa Osama Hariri English Language Institute, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia


Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.203 Received: 17/12/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.203 Accepted: 30/01/2016 Abstract Children with Attention-Deficiency/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) often have co-existing learning disabilities and developmental weaknesses or delays in some areas including speech (Rief, 2005). Seeing that phonological disorders include articulation errors and other forms of speech disorders, studies pertaining to children with ADHD symptoms who demonstrate signs of phonological disorders in their native Arabic language are lacking. The purpose of this study is to provide a description of Arabic language deficits and to present a theoretical model of potential associations between phonological language deficits and ADHD. Dodd and McCormack’s (1995) four subgroups classification of speech disorder and the phonological disorders pertaining to the Arabic language provided by a Saudi Institute for Speech and Hearing are examined within the theoretical framework. Since intervention may improve articulation and focuses a child’s attention on the sound structure of words, findings in this study are based on the assumption that children with ADHD may acquire phonology for their Arabic language in the same way, and following the same developmental stages as intelligible children. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses have proven that the ADHD group analyzed in this study had indeed failed to acquire most of their Arabic consonants as they should have. Keywords: speech sound disorder, attention-deficiency/hyperactive, developmental disorder, phonological disorder, language disorder/delay, language impairment 1. Introduction 1.1 Statement of the Problem In recent years, there has been an increasing awareness regarding Attention-Deficiency/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) amongst Saudi society, as parents of children with ADHD/ADD are now able to access a wider range of health information, generally now more available through the media and the internet. This greater openness has affected the cultural attitude towards early language intervention, which is demonstrated by the rising number of Saudis registering their children for visits with a speech-language pathologist. Moreover, several schools in Jeddah are adopting early intervention programs in order to offer help for children who suffer from behavior problems in addition to and regardless of language delay due to ADHD. Since early intervention may improve articulation and focuses a child’s attention on the sound structure of words, this study emphasizes on the fact that many children with ADHD are in need of help in the area of language, which is the first step in their academic education. Whether children with various ADHD designations are at a greater risk for language difficulties remained unanswered in several studies (Redmond et al., 2011). Recent literature has indicated that the term Speech Sound Disorder should be associated with ADHD, as it recognizes that the disorder may have antecedents in both articulatory and phonological domains (McGrath et al., 2008). The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of ADHD on speech sounds, through identifying which types of Arabic Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) are particular to children with ADHD in comparison to children of Typical Development. Through identifying both phonetic (articulation) and phonological disorders amongst both groups, this study seeks to discover whether children with ADHD acquire their Arabic consonants and phonology in the same way and following the same developmental stages as intelligible children. This sheds light upon Arabic SSD associated with ADHD as a first attempt in identifying speech symptoms for this disorder amongst the literature. 1.2. Importance of the Problem Recent literature has indicated that children with articulation and phonological disorders who are not identified and treated early may encounter academic, social and psychological difficulties. Since ADHD is claimed to be one of the most misunderstood, (Bender, 1997, cited in Lee, 2004) and one of the most controversial child medical diagnoses (Wolraich, 1999) it is momentously critical that Speech Sound Disorder caused by ADHD is identified. This study is an attempt to identify both articulation and phonological disorders amongst Arabic speaking children with ADHD.


ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 204 1.3 Literature Review A central theme of this literature review is the association between ADHD and Speech Sound Disorder (SSD). Speech Sound Disorder is an expressive language disorder that is said to be a characteristic of ADHD. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), is defined it as a neurobiological behavioral disorder characterized by chronic and developmentally inappropriate degrees of inattention, impulsivity, and in some cases hyperactivity (CHADD, 2001, cited in Rief, 2005). Under the umbrella term (ADHD), there are three types of disorders included: the predominantly inattentive type (ADD), the predominantly hyperactive/impulsive type (ADHD), and the combined type (ADHD/ADD). The final type has a significant amount of symptoms in all three core areas (inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity) and it is the most common type of ADHD, describes Rief (2005). Thomas Brown (2005) explains that the core problem in ADHD is not a lack of willpower, but chronic and often lifelong impairment of the executive functions of the brain. The concept of ‘executive functions’ refers to facets of the cognitive management functions of the brain, which most researchers agree that this term should be used to refer to brain circuits that prioritize, integrate, and regulate other cognitive functions. In terms of language, children with ADHD often have combined problems in listening, speaking, and pragmatics, and each of these communicative activities involves executive functions (Brown, 2005). According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2000) ADHD is considered the most common neurobehavioral disorder of childhood, and among the most prevalent chronic mental health conditions affecting 4-7 % of school aged children, approximately three times more boys than girls (Rief, 2005, p.4). Fewell & Deutscher (2002) affirm that the number of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is rising, and is now considered the most common neuropsychiatric syndrome in US school-age children, affecting approximately two million children. Currie & Stabile (2006) note that ADHD is diagnosed in more than half of all child mental health referrals. However, the main diagnostic criteria for this disorder are laid out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders according to the American Psychiatric Association (1994). It states that to be diagnosed with ADHD, a child must have six or more symptoms; have had symptoms by age 7; and be suffering impairment from the symptoms in two or more settings (usually home and school). Overall, diagnosis of ADHD is based solely on the observation of behaviors, conclude Currie & Stabile (2006). Rief, (2005) notes that it has been witnessed that children with ADHD often have co-existing learning disabilities and developmental weaknesses or delays in some areas, including speech/language, motor skills, reading skills, remembering numbers, and letter/sound association. The difficulties that children with ADHD face are amongst the list of possible warning signs of learning disabilities. The list has been outlined by the International Dyslexia Association (2003, cited in Rief, 2005) which include pronunciation problems, difficulty learning new words and following simple directions, difficulty rhyming words, difficulty in understanding questions, expressing wants and desires, and a lack of interest in storytelling. In terms of cognition, learning difficulties include for example, trouble memorizing the alphabet or days of the week. In terms of attention, children display high distractibility, impulsive behavior, hyperactivity, difficulty staying on task/changing activities, and constant repetition of an idea. According to Rief, (2005) many of these behaviors are also indicators of ADHD, as well as learning disabilities and some developmental disorders. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (1997), a greater percentage of children with ADHD are somewhat delayed in the onset of talking 6% - 35% than children without ADHD 2% - 5.5% (Hartough & Lambert, 1985; Szatmari, Offord, & Boyle, 1989). Also, students with ADHD are more likely than children without ADHD to have a diagnosis of language disorders (Cantwell, Baker, & Mattison, 1979, 1981; Love & Thompson, 1988; Trautman, Giddan, & Jurs, 1990, cited in ASHA, 1997). Furthermore, many professionals have inferred that children with ADHD also experience auditory perceptual difficulties (Keller, 1992; Willeford & Burleigh, 1985; Burd & Fisher, 1986, cited in ASHA, 1997). Several studies conducted in the 1980’s led to agreement consensus that speech-language impairment co-occurred with ADHD (Baker and Cantwell, 1992 cited in McGrath et al. (2008). However, advances in the definition of speech-language disorders have encourage renewed interest in the overlap of speech-language disorders and ADHD (Snowling et al. 2006, cited in McGrath et al., 2008). Camarata & Gibson (1999) note that since the actual nature of Expressive Language Disorder in children with ADHD in terms of semantic, morphological, syntactic, or pragmatic disorders has not been directly specified, they have presented a direct analysis of the potential interaction between ADHD subtypes and pragmatic language deficits. Their study argues that ELD and Mixed Receptive-Expressive Disorders are potentially related to pragmatic deficits in children with ADHD, which are defined as difficulties in the conversational aspects of language (Miller, 1981, cited in Camarata & Gibson, 1999). They also assert that ‘intelligibility’ within the pragmatic domain cannot be distinguished from the phonology domain. For example, if a child has phonological errors, such as sound substitution, and they are sufficient errors in his/her sound system that conversational exchange becomes hindered, then the phonological disorders have a negative impact on the pragmatic domain as well. Furthermore, Cohen et al. (2000) noticed in a number of study samples that a range of psychiatric disorders was represented amongst children with Language Impairment (LI), and the most frequent psychiatric diagnosis among children with LI was ADHD. In their study, the language, achievement, and cognitive processing characteristics of 166 psychiatrically referred 7-14 year-old children were examined in four groups: ADHD with and without LI, and other psychiatric diagnoses with and without LI. However, results indicated that children with LI were at the most

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 205 disadvantage, regardless of the nature of the psychiatric diagnosis. It suggested that children with ADHD have problems with working memory, as indicated by their below-average scores on their task, but they did not perform as poorly as children with LI. Also, in a study conducted by Redmond, Thompson, and Goldstein (2011), it was discovered that there is in fact a clear phenotypic boundary between Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and ADHD. This was based on the results of their study, which differentiates between SLI, ADHD, and Typical Development amongst 7-8 year old children. The term Specific Language Impairment is defined as difficulties in acquiring language in the absence of any other mental, sensory, motoric, emotional, or experiential deficits (Gillam et al., 2011). In their study, Redmond et al. (2011) measured tense marking, non-word repetition (percentage of phonemes correctly produced), sentence recall, and narrative measures accurately in each case. Variability in tense-marking performance was evident only in the SLI group, and children with ADHD performed better than children with SLI on sentence recall measures. Although their study did not find any evidence that children with ADHD (combined type) had particular difficulties in this study, it remained an open question whether children with various ADHD designations (predominately inattentive; predominately hyperactive–impulsive) are at greater risk for language difficulties. However, the McGrath et al. (2008) study focused on the comorbidity between ADHD symptoms and Speech Sound Disorder (SSD). Speech Sound Disorder is a developmental disorder characterized by speech production errors that significantly impact intelligibility (Shriberg, 2003, cited in McGrath et al., 2008, p. 151). For example, children with SSD may make age-inappropriate speech sound deletions (e.g., “do” for “dog”) and/or substitutions (e.g., “ti” for “see”). According to the American Psychiatric Association (2000), this disorder is referred to as a Phonological Disorder. Although the terms Phonological Disorder and SSD refer to the same constellation of clinical signs, the latter is currently preferred because it recognizes that the disorder may have antecedents in both articulatory (sensory motor) and phonological (cognitive-linguistic) domains. The term SSD has recently been adopted as the classification entity for this disorder by American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA). Cases of ADHD patients in Saudi Arabia were investigated in a study conducted by Al-Haidar (2003) at the child psychiatric clinic at King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh. Out of 416 case records, 106 (25.5%) patients were diagnosed with ADHD. The majority (93.4%) were Saudi nationals below the age of 19 who had been attending the child psychiatric clinic for ten years. The most common associated disorder was expressive language disorder, which constituted an average of (28.3%). Haidar (2003) noted that ADHD is quite strongly associated with a range of abnormalities in psychological and motor development according to Taylor, (1986), and the most typical abnormalities found are immature articulation and language delay (Reeves 1987). Because of the comorbidity between ADHD and Speech Sound Disorder, speech-language pathologists (SLP) and audiologists must be aware of current perspectives on ADHD in order to function effectively in working with patients with ADHD. According to ASHA (1997), speech-language pathologists and audiologists are increasingly involved with students with ADHD. They are often among the first to evaluate children and youth suspected of having ADHD because of the co-occurrence of ADHD with language learning disabilities and central auditory processing disorders. 1.4 Hypotheses and Research Design The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of ADHD on speech sounds, through identifying which types of Arabic SSD are particular to children with ADHD in comparison to children of Typical Development. Through identifying both phonetic (articulation) and phonological disorders amongst both groups, this study seeks to discover if children with ADHD acquire their Arabic consonants and phonology in the same way and following the same developmental stages as intelligible children. Accordingly, this study will serve to shed light upon Arabic Speech Sound Disorders as a development in identifying the speech symptoms caused by ADHD. The research questions are, therefore, as follows:

1. Do children with ADHD acquire their Arabic consonants in the same way and following the same developmental stages as children of TD?

2. How are the articulation errors and phonological processes amongst the ADHD group and TD group both similar and different?

3. Which of the three subtypes of ADHD are related to Arabic Speech Sound Disorder?

1.5 Significance and Originality Most of the studies tackling the correlation between ADHD and language disorders were conducted in relation to the English language and none have been conducted in relation to the Arabic language. This study is an attempt to fill this gap through identifying Arabic Speech Sound Disorder amongst children with ADHD symptoms, and thus represents the first examination of the performances of children with ADHD on the Arabic articulation and phonological markers of disrupted language development. Therefore, the significance of this study lies in the scarcity of studies that have dealt with this language-behavior relationship between Arabic Speech Sound Disorder and ADHD. The importance of identifying the normal progression of Arabic phonemic acquisition and distinguishing it from disordered/delayed phonological development is highlighted for the first time in Amayreh’s (2003) study. The consonant inventory of formal Arabic consists of 8 stops: /b/, /d/, /t/, /k/, /q/, /ʔ/, /d/, /t/, 13 fricatives: /f/, /ð/, /Ɵ/, /z/, /s/, /ʃ/, /ʁ/, /x/, /ʕ/, /ħ/, /h/, /ð/, /s/, 1 affricate: /dʒ/, two nasals /m/, /n/, 1 liquid (lateral approximant): /l/ , a tap/trill /r/ɾ/, and

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 206 two glides /w/, /j/. Attention should be drawn to the emphatic consonant phonemes which except for /q/ are written with an underline: /d/, /t/, /s/, and /ð/ as each has a non-emphatic cognate. Three other consonants /ɾ/, /x/, and /ʁ/ may be emphatic in certain phonetic environments. The age at which children acquire their consonants in many languages is usually earlier than Arabic, which Amayreh (2003) confirms is usually completed at a later age (8;4). In comparison between English, German, and Arabic, the last consonant acquisition is usually earlier in the former languages than in that of Arabic consonant acquisition. In his study results, Amayreh (2003) points out that the consonants /d/, /q/, /z/, /ʕ/ were acquired by the ages of 6;6 - 7;4 and by 7;8 - 8;4; the /t/ was acquired. However, the sounds /ð/, /Ɵ/, /ð/, /s/, and /dʒ/ were not even acquired by the eldest children (8;4) although they were produced using some acceptable forms. 2. Method According to Davis & Bedore (2008, cited in Gillam et al., 2011), describing an articulation and phonological development as disordered or delayed is based on a comparison of the child’s speech to the articulation and phonological patterns of children of a comparable age who are developing normally. Thus, the data for children with ADHD is compared to that of children without ADHD for the purpose of identifying articulation and phonological developmental conditions for each subject. The data was analyzed following two procedures: 1) Identifying speech sound disorder according to Amayreh’s (2003) classification of Arabic consonant acquisition 2) Identifying Arabic phonological disorders To identify the normal progression of phoneme learning and distinguish it from disordered, a rationale is provided through the use of Amayreh’s (2003) classification of Arabic consonant acquisition for normal developing children. A checklist of common phonological disorders pertaining to the Arabic language, provided by a Saudi institute for speech and hearing therapy is examined within the methodology. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses are examined within the theoretical framework which includes both phonetic and phonological science. The subjects were a total of 20 children of different Arabic nationalities and within the age category of 5-7 years that had been residing in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The ADHD group included 10 children that were enrolled for speech-language therapy at the Institute. A control group consisting of 10 children with Typical Development (TD) was used to compare both similar and distinctive articulation and phonological disorders with the ADHD group. Profiles were collected for children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) enrolled at the institute for speech-language therapy. The ADHD sample group included 10 children aged (5 – 7) years, with 8 boys and 2 girls, from different Arab nationalities (5 Egyptians, 1 Jordanian, 3 Saudis, and 1 Yemeni). All had been consecutively referred to an institute for speech and hearing for articulation assessment and speech therapy. Of the 10 children with ADHD, five of them had the combined type (ADHD/ADD), two had the predominantly hyperactive/impulsive type (ADHD), and three had the predominantly inattentive type (ADD). The ADHD patients chosen for this study did not exhibit aggressive behavior, although several had behavioral issues (such as hyperactivity) which made it difficult for the researcher to test them as they had trouble sitting patiently and following orders with someone other than the speech-language pathologist (SLP). Therefore, due to difficulties in handling these children at the institute for speech assessment, and in order to ease the data gathering process, it was decided that the SLP would be the ones to test the children at the institute, using the their specific articulation test. The researcher was then able to obtain the data via DVD recorded sessions for each child. The articulation test results were also marked out for pronunciation errors by the pathologist, and delivered to the researcher for further revision and analysis. 2.1 Measures The children with ADHD in this study had received recommendations for facilitation of receptive and expressive language skills using a family based language stimulation program provided by a Saudi institute for speech and hearing. They had also been assessed through several examinations prior to this study and the information in each patient record file was reviewed for the purpose of categorizing the ADHD patients under the same group of similar characteristics. Therefore, the information that was obtained from each patient file included all of the following: Summary of the child’s medical history obtained by questioning the parents, Oral Speech Mechanism Screening Examination (OSMSE-R), Articulation Test, Language Evaluation Protocol (Expressive/Receptive language), Behavior Protocol Checklist & Recommendations (Attention) (Hyperactivity) (Impulsivity), and Hearing Screening. The entire ADHD group of participants for this study had ADHD symptoms in addition to an articulation/phonological disorder. They had all demonstrated normal hearing acuity during an audiometric (hearing) screening and achieved a nonverbal IQ standard score of over 70. All of the ADHD patients had results in their language evaluation protocol as moderate receptive language delay and severe expressive language delay. It should be noted that 8 out of the 10 ADHD patients in this study had been taking prescribed behavioral medication prior to and during the period of their assessment and treatment at the Institute. Children with mild or severe mental retardation, hearing impairment, or who had autistic features had been excluded from the study. It must be noted that the portion from which the subjects in the ADHD group were selected for this study had articulation/phonological disorders, in addition to language delay/disorder. In order to avoid the effect of behavioral developmental disorders other than ADHD/ADD, patients with autistic features (PDD) were excluded from this study.

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 207 TD Subjects The Typical Development (TD) group included a total of 10 children ages (5 – 7) years old, including 7 boys and 3 girls from a Saudi Preschool. The subjects were also from various Arab nationalities (2 Egyptians, 2 Sudanese, 5 Saudis, and 1 Syrian). They were all identified by the school’s teachers as children with intelligible speech (regardless of their behavior issues) which had required them to be placed in this particular school for behavioral modification only. Each child that was included in the TD group had an academic profile which revealed Typical Development without previous speech-language therapy intervention. Therefore, the TD group was a suitable control group for the comparison needed with children of ADHD. The Articulation Test Although the participants spoke different colloquial forms of Arabic, the Arabic formal version of the language used in the articulation test was Educated Spoken Arabic (ESA), which is the form that is taught in schools. The data was extracted from previous DVD recordings from speech sessions for children with ADHD during their assessment by a speech-language pathologist. The remainder of the data for the TD group was extracted from voice recordings of 10 participants during their individual assessment sessions with the researcher while using the same articulation test, which uses 38 pictures in a book to elicit 50 words for all 28 Arabic consonants occurring in all three positions (initial, medial, and final). Most of the consonants were used in at least all three positions, while others occurred more frequently amongst all 50 words. For the purpose of identifying Arabic phonemes, the researcher utilizes the Arabic phonemic inventory according to IPA guidelines which has been adopted by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. The data for the phonological processes was written inside tables, which includes examples of the children speech sound errors that are a transcription and translation of the words used in the articulation test. 2.2 Method of Analysis Both Phonetic and Phonological science as a framework approach in the assessment of the ADHD group and TD group, through identifying which types of Arabic SSD are most common amongst all subjects. The study of linguistic tools uses Phonetics for identifying articulation disorders and Phonology for identifying phonemic disorders. These tools are portrayed as a mechanism of interactional dominance by the speech pathologist profession, which have also been utilized in the data collection and analysis. The analysis tables include transcriptions and translations of some of the Arabic speech sound errors during the children’s assessment test. The first procedure was in identifying children’s Arabic Articulation Disorders according to Amayreh’s (2003) study, which indicates that the acquisition of Arabic consonants is divided into 3 stages: early - intermediate - late. The consonant inventory of formal Arabic consists of 8 stops: /b/,/d/, /t/, /k/, /q/, /ʔ/, /d/, /t/, 13 fricatives: /f/, /ð/, /Ɵ/, /z/, /s/, /ʃ/, /ʁ/, /x/, /ʕ/, /ħ/, /h/, /ð/, /s/, 1 affricate: /dʒ/, two nasals /m/, /n/, 1 liquid: /l/ , a tap/trill /r/ɾ/, and 2glides /w/, /j/. According to Amayreh and Dyson (1998), the consonants which fall under the early stage of acquisition (2-3;10 years) were in the following order: /n/, /w/, /m/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /ħ/, /b/, /d/, and /l/. Those that go under the intermediate age group (4-6;4 years) were in the following order: /x/, /s/, /ʃ/,/h/,/r/ /ʁ/, and /j/. Finally, those classified as late consonants (6;6-8;4 years) were in the following order: /t/, /d/, /q/,/ʔ/, /ð/, /Ɵ/, /ð/, /z/, /s/, /ʕ/, and /dʒ/ (Amayreh, 2003). Therefore, consonant acquisition amongst both groups in this study was based on a comparison with the acquisition of Arabic consonants as identified by Amayreh (2003). The second step in the analysis was to identify children’s Arabic Phonological Disorders according to the checklist of Arabic Phonological Processes/Disorders prepared by the institute. The phonological disorders included in the checklist specified four major processes:

• Omissions (deletions): Certain sounds are not produced or entire syllables may be deleted. e.g., /djk/ is pronounced as /di/ (rooster).

• Substitutions (replacement): One or more sounds are substituted for another. e.g. /ðifir/ is pronounced as /ðifil/ ‘nail’.

• Additions (or insertions): an extra sound or sounds are added to the intended word. e.g. /ʕuʃ/ pronounced as /ʕuʃb/ ‘nest’

• Distortions: Sounds are changed slightly so that the intended sound may be recognized but would sound wrong, or may not sound like any sound in the language. e.g. lisping: /sa:ʕa/ pronounced as /Ɵa:ʕa/ (clock).

Under these four major types of phonological processes, the JISH checklist of common Arabic phonological processes was used for the purpose of identifying which Arabic phonological disorders are specific to children with and without ADHD. Therefore, the Arabic Phonological Processes/Disorders identified by JISH include some of the following processes: Devoicing; Deletion (initial-medial-final); Assimilation; Replacement; Metathesis; Glottal Replacement/Addition; De-emphasization; Epenthesis; Apicalization; Migration; De-nasalization; Stopping of Fricatives; Fronting; Backing of Stops or Fricatives; Fricatives Replacing Stops; Stops Replacing Fricatives; and Sound Preference Substitution. 3. Results In order to answer the research questions data was analyzed after it had been collected through the JISH Articulation Test that both groups of children had undertaken. The test had elicited fifty Arabic words from all twenty children. The test for each group had been analyzed separately, and then compared and contrasted. It was important to identify the

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 208 phonemic acquisition of the Arabic consonants amongst the Typical Development group in order to distinguish it from the disordered phonological development produced by children with ADHD. 3.1 Articulation Disorders for the Typical Development Group The first group to be analyzed was the Typical Development group (TD) , which included 10 children. Their speech was considered intelligible with minor errors due to their incomplete acquisition of all the Arabic consonants. For the purpose of identifying articulation and phonological developmental conditions for each participant, the data was analyzed by using the scientific mechanism of Phonetics for all 28 Arabic consonants. Figure 1 bellow summarizes information for the percentages of the easiest and most difficult Arabic consonants, ranging from the easiest beginning on the left side. Note: due to the Excel sheet limitations, the emphatic symbols which were underlined have been replaced with different symbol in each figure; e.g. /s/ → /sˁ/.

Figure 1. Range of acquired Arabic consonants amongst TD group

Starting with the left side are the 100% correctly pronounced consonants which are the following: /t/ , /f/ , /h/ , /n/ , /m/ , /b/ , /d/ , /d/ , /t/ , /x/ , /l/ , /w/ , /j/ , /k/ , /ʕ/ and /ʔ/. The Arabic sounds which had been replaced by other sounds were the following: /dʒ/, /z/, /q/, /ð/, /Ɵ/, /z/, /s/, /s/, /ʃ/, /r/ /ʁ/, and /ħ/. Several consonants occurred more frequently than others on the test and therefore resulted in varied total numbers amongst the consonants.

It was noticed from the analysis that the sounds which had been altered and replaced with near sounds, de-emphasized, or deleted were considered quite normal for the TD groups which was (5–7) years. According to Amayreh’s (2003) classification for the acquisition of the Arabic consonants, these sounds fall under the intermediate and late consonants. Although some of the intermediate and late consonants had been already acquired by all children such as /t/, /ʕ/, /x/, /j/, /h/ and /d/, 12 other sounds were amongst the errors which these children had problems pronouncing, such as /dʒ/, /z/, /q/, /ð/, /Ɵ/, /z/, /s/, /s/, /ʃ/,/r/ /ʁ/, and /ħ/.

The only sound that was considered deviant from Amayreh’s age division was the pharyngeal fricative /ħ/, which is considered amongst the early sounds which should have been acquired by age 3; 6. Those that are included in the intermediate stage (4- 6;4) in Amayreh’s study were in the following order: /x/, /s/, /ʃ/, /h/, /r/ /ʁ/, and /j/. Therefore, this group had acquired most of their Arabic consonants quite well, correctly pronouncing 16 consonants 100% accurately with sound changes occurring in 12 sounds. Figure 2 bellow demonstrates the highest percentage of sound errors amongst the TD group.

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 209

Figure 2. Most common sound errors amongst TD group

3.2 Articulation Disorders for the ADHD Group The second group to be analyzed was that of children with ADHD, which was comprised of 10 children. Their speech was considered highly unintelligible with major sound errors. This group had trouble pronouncing almost all of the Arabic consonants. Figure 3 summarizes the information for the percentages of the easiest and most difficult Arabic consonants, ranging between the easiest from the left side to the most difficult which reaches all the way to the end of the right side of the chart.

Figure 3. Range of acquired Arabic consonants amongst ADHD group

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 210 Starting with the left side are the mostly frequently correctly pronounced consonants, of which 98% – 83%) were the following six, in order from easiest: /j/, /m/, /ʔ/, /t/, /l/, and /w/. However, the most difficult sounds (25% -7%) were the following six; in order from the least difficult: /s/, /ð/, /dʒ/, /Ɵ/, /q/, and /ð/. The rest of the 16 consonants were in the middle range, as they were considered to be quite difficult (73% -30%) in the following order: /t/, /b/, /d/, /n/, /k/, /x/, /f/, /r/, /h/, /ʃ/, /ħ/, /ʕ/, /s/, /z/, /ʁ/, and /d/. All of the Arabic sounds had been replaced by other sounds in each attempt, as shown in the pie chart below (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Most common sound errors amongst the ADHD group

It was noticed from the analysis that the sounds which had been altered and replaced with near sounds, de-emphasized, or deleted were considered irregular for the groups which were within the age (5 – 7) years. According to Amayreh’s (2003) classification for the acquisition of the Arabic consonants, the only sound which deviates from his classification was the glottal stop /ʔ/ which was placed as a late consonant. It was noticed that the glottal stop /ʔ/ was frequently pronounced and used as a replacement for most of the difficult sounds, regardless of several deleted occurrences and one replacement. The sounds that were produced with less effort were amongst the supposed early/intermediate stage in Amayreh’s study, and were the following: /j/, /m/, /ʔ/, /t/, /l/, /w/. The ADHD group did not have difficulty pronouncing these sounds as the other sounds. The following chart demonstrates the results of both groups (ADHD and TD) in an effort to distinguish the differences in pronouncing of all 28 Arabic consonants:

Figure 5. Range of simplest and most difficult consonants amongst both Groups

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 211 Based on Amayreh’s study (2003), the ADHD group had indeed not acquired most of their Arabic consonants as they should have. Also, in comparison with the TD group, stark differences stand out. The total number of correctly pronounced consonants amongst the TD group was 1443, and 895 for the ADHD group. The total number of changed consonants amongst the TD group was 57, and 244 for the ADHD group. However, 327 from a total of 1510 sound attempts were not pronounced at all amongst the ADHD group while the TD group did not demonstrate any non-pronounced sounds. The non-pronounced sounds were particular to the ADHD group, and were mostly of the following: /r/, /d/, /n/, /q/, /f/, /s/, /s/, /ð/, /ð/ and /dʒ/. 3.3 Analysis and findings for the Phonological Disorders of Arabic consonants After having analyzed the articulation disorders amongst both groups, we now turn to the second step in our analysis method, which is identifying the phonological processes and most common types of phonemic errors according to the JISH checklist of Arabic phonological processes/disorders. This section will provide tables to describe each type of phonological processes with examples. 3.4 Phonological Disorders for the Typical Development Group The total number of types of phonological disorders amongst the Typical Development group was 11, which is considered appropriate due the difficultly of the Arabic fricatives. As Amayreh (2003) mentions, this is common in dialects, as there is a tendency for dialects to move towards less marked forms. Therefore, most of the late consonants: /t/, /d/, /q/,/ʔ/, /ð/, /Ɵ/, /ð/, /z/, /s/, /ʕ/, and /dʒ/, are more marked than their common replacements so that a ‘voiced’ is replaced with a ‘voiceless’, as in example (1) in the table; a fricative is replaced with a stop as in the example in (4), and an affricate is replaced with a fricative, as in the examples in (3). Emphatic sounds are replaced with non-emphatic sounds (a consonant of no secondary articulation) as in the examples in (2). Therefore, these phonological errors are due to the fact that this age group has not yet acquired all of their Arabic consonants, which are beyond their age level. The following table demonstrates types of phonological processes amongst the TD group with examples: Table 1. Phonological Processes for TD group

Eg. Number

Type of Phonological Disorder Examples Translation

1 Devoicing: voiced sound is replaced with voiceless; /d/→ [t], /ʁ/ → [x]

e.g.1: /durdʒ/ pronounced as /turʒ/ e.g.2: /samʁ/ pronounced as /samx/

Drawer Glue

2 De-emphasization: emphatic sounds become non-emphatic; /ð/→ [d], /s/ → [s],

e.g.1: /ðifir/ pronounced as /difir/ e.g.2:/ʔasfar/ pronounced as /ʔasfar/

Finger nail

Yellow 3 De-affrication: An affricate is

replaced with an fricative; /dʒ/ → [z,ð]

e.g.1: /durdʒ/ pronounced as /durz/ e.g.2:/dʒaras/pronounced as /ðaraƟ/

Drawer

Bell 4 Stopping of fricatives: stop replaces

fricative /d/ → [z] e.g. /zuhu:r/ pronounced as /duhu:r/ Flowers

5 Deletion: Final consonant deletion; /ʁ/ → [Ø] Middle consonant deletion; /r/ → [Ø]

e.g.1: /samʁ/ pronounced as /sam/ e.g.2:/ʔarnab/pronounced as /ʔanab/

Glue

Rabbit

6 Insertion: adding a stop at word ending; Ø →[b]

e.g. /ʕuʃ/ pronounced as /ʕuʃb/

Nest

7 Backing of fricatives: alveolar fricative replaces dental fricative; /s/ →[Ɵ]

e.g. /muƟallaƟ/ pronounced as /musallas/ Triangle

8 Fronting of fricatives: Dental fricative replaces alveolar fricative; /ð/ →[z]

e.g. /ʔazraq/ pronounced as /ʔaðraq/ Blue

9 Sound Preference Substitution: lateral is used to replace trill; /r/ →[l]

e.g. /zuhu:r/ pronounced as / /zuhu:l/ Flower

10 De-emphasization: Velar stop replaces uvular emphatic stop; /k/ →[q]

e.g. /baqara/ pronounced as /bakara/ Cow

11 Stopping of fricatives: Alveolar stop replaces dental fricative; /ð/ →[d]

/ðura/ pronounced as/dura/ Corn

Figure 6 bellow demonstrates information regarding the types and number of phonological processes amongst all 10 children of Typical Development. The most common types of phonological disorders, in order from greatest number of occurrences to the least amount, were: Fronting of fricatives and De-emphasization (10) - stopping of fricatives (9) - devoicing and deletion (7) - de-affrication (5) - sound preference substitution (3) - and insertion (2).

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 212

Figure 6. Types of Phonological Processes amongst children of TD

3.5 Phonological Disorders for the ADHD Group

The data has shown some similarities in terms of the types of phonological disorders between both groups, as in the examples found in (19-23 in Table 1) for the words; Corn, Triangle, Ear, Nest, and Rabbit. However, it was frequently and significantly noticed that more than one phonological process would occur in an attempt to pronounce a word by the ADHD group. The total number of types of phonological processes amongst the ADHD group was 20, which is almost double the amount of errors in the TD group. In the following table, we can see three processes occurring at once in example (1), with the word /naðða:ra/ which was pronounced as /ʔada:la/, by one child and as /ʔatta:ja/ by another. In both occurrences, there was initial glottal replacement of the nasal sound, stopping of a fricative, and trill /r/ replacement with a lateral /l/ or glide /j/.

Other occurrences with two or more processes can be seen in Table 2 in examples (2-5), (9-11) and (13, 15, 17). As a comparison between both groups, the word ‘flower’ was pronounced differently by both groups. It was noticed that in the TD, that the Arabic word for ‘flower’, /zuhu:r/ was pronounced as /zuhu:l/ with a Lateral /l/ replacing the Till /r/. However, in the ADHD group, the same word ‘flower’ was pronounced as /ðuhū/ with two phonological errors instead of one: fronting of the fricative /z/ and final consonant deletion of the trill /r/. Also, in example (12) the word ‘blue’ /ʔazraq/ was pronounced as /ʔaðrak/, with two processes as well in the ADHD group. The same word was pronounced as/ʔaðraq/ in the TD group with only one error (see Table 1, example 8). Also, several syllables (vowel + consonant) were deleted, as in the example with word ‘comb’ in (14, Table 2), in which /muʃuṯ/ was pronounced as /mut/.

Table 2. Phonological Processes for ADHD group

Eg. Number

Type of Phonological Disorder Examples Translation

1 1. Stopping of fricatives; /ð/ → [d,t] 2. Initial Glottal Replacement; /n/ → [ʔ] 3.Trill replacement; /r/ → [l,j,ʔ]

/naðða:rə/ pronounced as /ʔada:la/ or /ʔtta:ja/ or /ʔada:ʔa/

Eye Glasses

2 1. Denazalization: Stop replaces nasal; /m/→[b] 2. Backing of fricatives: Alveolar replaces labiodentals; /f/→[s]

/mufta:ħ/ pronounced as /busta:ħ/ or /bufta:ħ/

Key

3 1. Denazalization; /m/→[b] 2. Replacement; /ʁ/→[r]

/samʁ/ pronounced as /sabr/

Glue

4 1.Fronting of fricatives: dental fricative replaces alveolar; /z/ →[ð] 2.Final sound deletion; /r/→ [Ø]

/zuhu:r/ pronounced as /ðuhu:/ Flowers

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 213 5 1.De-emphasization: emphatic stop

becomes non-emphatic; /ḏ/ →[d,t] 2.Medial consonant deletion; /d/ →[Ø] 3. Glottal Replacement; /ʕ/ →[ʔ]

/ḏufḏaʕ/ pronounced as /dufaʔ/ or /tuftaʕ/

Frog

6 Medial syllable deletion: /ud/ →[Ø]

/ʔuðun/ pronounced as /ʔun/ Ear

7 De-emphasization: emphatic sound becomes non-emphatic; /t/→[t]

/batta/ pronounced as /bata/ Duck

8 De-affrication: an affricate is reduced to a stop; /dʒ/→ [d]

/ridʒil/ pronounced as /ridil/ Leg

9 1.Stop replaces fricative and bilabial stop; /s/ →[t ,b] 2. Final word deletion; /ʕ/ →[Ø]

/ʔusbaʕ/ pronounced as /ʔutta/ Finger

10 1.Initial Glottal replacement; /k/ →/ʔ/ 2. Medial sound deletion; /r/→[Ø] 3. Stopping of fricatives; /s/→ [t]

/kursi/ pronounced as /ʔuti/ Chair

11 Distortion: Change in sound quality of the sounds; /s, ð, z/ →[s˳, ð˳, z˳]

/ʁass˳a:la/ /z˳ara:fa/ /z˳uhu:r/ /lað˳ið˳/

Washing-Machine Giraffe Flowers

Delicious 12 1.De-emphasization;

/q/ →[k] 2.Fronting of fricatives: dental fricative replaces alveolar; /z/ →[ð]

/ʔazraq/ pronounced as/ʔaðrak/ Blue

13 1.Stopping of fricatives: stop replaces fricative; /ð/→[d] 2.Final word deletion; /n/ →[Ø] 3. vowel replacement; /u/→ [i]

/ʔuðun/ pronounced as /ʔidi/ Ear

14 Deletion: Middle syllable deletion; /uʃ/ →[Ø]

/muʃuṯ/ pronounced as /mut/

Comb

15 1.De-affrication; /dʒ/ → [d] 2.Middle consonant deletion; /r/→[Ø]

/durdʒ/ pronounced as /dud/ Drawer

16 Sound Preference Substitution: lateral replaces trill; /r/ → [l]

/ridʒil/ pronounced as /lidʒil/

Leg

17 1.Initial glottal replacement; /x/ → [ʔ] 2. Sound Preference Substitution: lateral replaces trill; /r/ → [l]

/xarūf/ pronounced as /ʔalūf/ Sheep

18 Final syllable Replacement: /aʔ/ →[l]

/dawa:ʔ/ pronounced as /dawal/ Medicine

19 Stopping of fricatives: stop replaces fricative; /ð/ →[d]

/ðura/Pronounced as /dura/ Corn

20 Baking of fricatives: alveolar fricative replaces Dental fricative; /Ɵ/ →[s]

/muƟallaƟ/Pronounced as /musallas/ Triangle

21 Stopping of fricatives: Stop replaces fricative; /ð/ →[d]

/ʔuðun/ Pronounced as /ʔudun/ Ear

22 Insertion: adding a stop at word endings; [Ø] → /b/

/ʕuʃ/ pronounced as /ʕuʃb/

Nest

23 Assimilation: nasal sound /n/ is repeated and replaces nearest sound which is /r/; /r/→[n]

/ʔarnab/ pronounced as /ʔannab/ Rabbit

24 1.Metathesis: syllable switch; /ði/ → [f] 2. lateral replaces trill; /r/ → [l]

/ðifir/ pronounced as /fiðil/ Fingernail

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 214 Although many of the error patterns observed in the pronunciation of children with ADHD were also noticed amongst normal children, other error patterns were indeed specific to children with the disorder. Therefore, the stages of Arabic consonant acquisition for ADHD development are different from those of TD group. It was discovered that the ADHD group demonstrated a significant number of Arabic phonological processes that were distinctive from the TD group. These phonological processes included frequent errors such Stopping/Backing of Fricative; Initial/Glottal Stop Replacement; Medial Consonant Deletion; Lateral Replacement; Distortion; Metathesis and Assimilation, as displayed in Figure 7 bellow.

Figure 7. Types of Phonological Processes amongst children with ADHD

4. Discussion The importance of identifying the normal progression of phoneme learning and distinguishing it from disordered or delayed phonological development was emphasized by Amayreh (2003). The data has been found to support this statement, as the implications of Amayreh’s (2003) study results were used as an important reference point in this current study, which is the diagnosis of articulatory and phonological disorders amongst children with language disorders. Amayreh (2003) stated that in order for a child with intelligibility problems (such as one with ADHD) to have appropriate treatment for Speed Sound Disorder at a clinic or speech institute, they will need to be compared with children who speak similar dialects. Therefore, children of a similar background and age have been included in this study in order to provide an adequate comparison in terms of Arabic speech sound acquisition amongst two groups of children (TD and ADHD). Furthermore, Amayreh (2003) suggested that once a child’s errors are identified and remediated after being assessed, further analysis and attention to the production of the Educated Spoken Arabic (ESA) forms may be needed to develop phonological awareness for reading. Within the findings of this study, it was recognized that children with ADHD have articulation difficulties with most of the Arabic consonants, and produce almost three times the number of phonological errors as compared to children of Typical Development. One of the research questions this study was based on is how the articulation and phonological errors amongst the ADHD group and TD group are both similar and different. Regardless of the similarities in terms of types of phonological processes between both groups (particularly with the Arabic fricatives), it was discovered that more than one phonological process would occur in an attempt to pronounce a single word within the ADHD group. In fact, that same group produced almost twice as many phonological errors as the TD group (21 for ADHD, and 11 for TD). Therefore, the stages of Arabic consonant acquisition for ADHD Development are different from those of Typical Development.

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 215 Amayreh (2003) suggested that children between the ages (6-8) years who do not produce the /ʕ/, /t/, or /z/ (sounds with no dialectal variants) would need to be assisted in mastering these consonants for the sake of communication. For that reason, and based on the results of this study, children with ADHD are precisely the kind of children this advice is applicable to, since they not only have problems producing ESA, but also in producing dialectal variants as well. Thus, speech-language intervention is necessary for the purpose of helping children with ADHD acquire their local Arabic dialectal form. Again, speech-language intervention is required for the purpose of making the transition to the standard form, in order to be able read and spell Arabic words correctly. This research also sought out to find out if children with ADHD acquire their Arabic consonants and phonology in the same way and following the same developmental stages as children with TD. It was discovered that the ADHD group had indeed failed to acquire most of their Arabic consonants as they should have, and according to the developmental stages distinguished in Amayreh’s study (2003). Also, through the comparison with the TD group, dramatic differences emerged regarding the number of Arabic consonants that had not been acquired by the age of 6. According to Amayreh’s (2003) study results, the consonants /d/, /q/, /z/, /ʕ/ should have been acquired by the ages of 6;6- 7;4, but they had not been acquired amongst the ADHD group. Even some sounds that are from the earlier stage (2-3) were not being produced correctly by the same group, such as the sounds /k/, /ħ/, /f/, /b/, /m/ and /d/. The sounds which belonged to the intermediate group (such as /x/, /r/, and /ʃ/) had still not been acquired by all the children. The sounds, which this group had used to replace other sounds, were the following: /ʔ/, /t/, /s/, and /d/. For example, the alveolar stop [d] replaced /ð/ and /dʒ/, and the [t] replaced /s/, /d/, /ʃ/, and /Ɵ/. The easiest fricative [s] replaced the sounds /f/, /dʒ/, /Ɵ/ and /z/. Finally, the glottal stop [ʔ], which the children had the least problem with, was used to replace most sounds such as /dʒ/, /ʕ/, /m/, /q/, /ʁ/, /Ɵ/, /m/, /n/, /z/ and /d/. Although many of the error patterns observed in the children with ADHD were also produced by the other normal children, some error patterns were indeed specific to children with ADHD. Therefore, the developmental stages of Arabic consonant acquisition for children with ADHD are different from those of Typical Development. Figure 8 bellow demonstrates the most common sound substitutions amongst the ADHD group:

Figure 8. Common sound substitutions amongst children with ADHD

The TD group had acquired most of their Arabic consonants quite well, correctly pronouncing 16 consonants 100% accurately with minor changes occurring amongst 12 sounds only. The rest of the 16 consonants were in the middle range, as they were considered quite difficult (73% - 30%) in the following order: /t/, /b/, /d/, /n/, /k/, /x/, /f/, /r/, /h/, /ʃ/, /ħ/, /ʕ/, /s/, /z/, /ʁ/, and /d/. Some of the common phonological errors found in Amayreh’s study included the following: De-emphasization of emphatic sounds: /t,d/→ [t,d] , /q/→ [k,g,ʔ], /ð/→ [ð,d], /s/→ [s], De-affrication: /dʒ/→ [ʒ], and Devoicing: /ʕ/ →[ħ], which were also part of the phonological processes within the TD group included in this study. However, additional phonological errors emerged amongst the participants including: Fronting/Stopping of fricatives, Deletion and Insertion, although they were not very common. These additional processes were amongst the most common types of Arabic phonological processes identified in the checklist of Arabic phonological processes/disorders by the Saudi Institute. One the other hand, more Arabic phonological processes were identified amongst the ADHD group which included: Stopping/Baking/Fronting of fricatives; Glottal stop replacement (initial position); Medial/Final consonant deletion; Assimilation; Lateral replacement; Denazalization; Distortion; Insertion and Metathesis. Other sound errors included: Backing/Fronting of stops; Vowel replacement, Initial consonant deletion. These additional processes were very common amongst the ADHD group and have been also identified in the JISH Checklist as common Arabic phonological processes/disorders.

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 216 Based on the comparison between the ADHD and TD group, it was noticed that the children with ADHD had evident articulation and phonological disorders, as the number of errors produced by this group exceeded the acceptable number of Arabic consonant sound changes for their age. Also, through comparison with the TD group, dramatic differences emerged in the number of Arabic consonants that had not been acquired by the age of 6. Furthermore, it was also discovered that the ADHD group demonstrated a significant number of Arabic phonological processes that were distinctive from the TD group. This study has therefore proven the comorbidity between two kinds of disorders: firstly, a psychiatric type, since Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is described as one of the most common psychiatric disorders in children. The second disorder is a linguistic type, since both articulation and phonological disorders have been investigated. Thus, the comorbidity between psychiatry/psychology and linguistics has once again been proven to be interrelated. 4.1 ADHD Labels and SSD As mentioned in the literature review, ADHD includes three types of disorders: the predominantly inattentive type (ADD); the predominantly hyperactive/impulsive type (ADHD), and the combined type (ADHD/ADD). In the Redmond et al., (2011) study it was noted that they had not found any evidence that children with ADHD (combined type) had particular difficulties, and it remained an open question whether or not children with various ADHD designations are at greater risk for language difficulties. Furthermore, it was hypothesized in the McGrath et al. study (2008) that the inattentive symptoms of ADHD could be strongly associated with language difficulties more than the hyperactive/impulsive type. This hypothesis has been tested to answer the final research question and prove which of the three subtypes of ADHD is directly related to Arabic Speech Sound Disorders amongst participants who are receiving speech therapy. The findings of this study have confirmed that all three types of ADHD can indeed affect a child’s speech intelligibility. Of the 10 participants in this study with ADHD, five of them had the combined type ADHD/ADD, three had ADD, and two had ADHD. Only two participants had the Predominantly Hyperactive/Impulsive type (ADHD), and for that reason did not exhibit as much SSD as the other children with Predominantly Inattentive type (ADD) or Combined Type (ADHD/ADD). Those that had inattentive symptoms were a total of 8 children, and thus demonstrated more SSD than the other two. These results, by and large, agree with the McGrath et al. study (2008) regarding how the inattentive symptoms of ADHD could be strongly associated with language difficulties more than the hyperactive/impulsive type. Figure 8 bellow demonstrates the ratio of the ADHD participants used in this study:

Figure 8. ADD/ADHD participant ration

4.2 ADHD and Language Intervention Camarata & Gibson (1999) were the first to introduce pragmatic deficits in relation to children with ADHD, and noted that intelligibility within the pragmatic domain cannot be distinguished from the phonological domain, because phonological disorders have a negative impact on the pragmatic domain as well. Given this high potential for pragmatic deficits in children with ADHD and the potential for disruptions in language learning processes, clinical evaluation of pragmatic skills would appear necessary, as asserted by Camarata & Gibson (1999). This assumption is the initial argument from which this study seeks to emphasize regarding the negative effect that ADHD could have on a child’s language if early intervention is neglected. One of the hyperactive ADHD subjects in this study had been recently discharged from the institute at age of 6, after receiving two years of speech therapy. He was called back to be retested for this study using the articulation test, and produced several phonological errors which included: Devoicing, Stopping, Insertion, and Distortion. The DVD recorded session was observed by the researcher for the purpose of detecting progress. When the child had begun receiving speech therapy at the age of four, he had very limited expressive language including many phonological errors. Regardless of his hyperactive behavior, he had progressed quite well in terms of speech intelligibility. However,

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 217 it was noticed by the researcher that he did not surpass his peers while being tested with other children of the same age during his final session at the institute. Based on this study, significant phonological disorders have been detected amongst children with ADHD. Thus, one could argue that early intervention for these deficits should be a priority. Because of the comorbidity between ADHD and Speech Sound Disorder, speech-language pathologists (SLP) and audiologists must be aware of current perspectives on ADHD to facilitate effectively when working with patients with ADHD. According to the ASHA report (1997), SLP are often among the first to evaluate children and youth suspected of having ADHD due to the co-occurrence of ADHD with language learning disabilities and central auditory processing disorders. 5. Recommendations for Further Studies This study may be limited in terms of size and number of participants. Although the findings have significantly shed light upon Arabic articulation and phonological disorders, other language areas also need to be investigated as well. This paper has been limited to subjects with ADHD syndromes; however, there are similar learning disorders that are also in need of investigation. Further research should investigate the effect of ADHD on other Arabic language areas, including syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and reading. The effect of ADHD on the academic performance of adolescents in schools should also be considered in future studies. In conclusion, it would be of immense value to have these findings verified in the future through applying them to data on a larger scale. Furthermore, this study highly recommends that schools permit research students to allow them access to student’s records, in order to be able to identify and estimate more accurately the number of children in Saudi society with learning disorders due to ADHD, Autism Spectrum, and other mental disorders. Acknowledgments I am indebted to the people who supported me in this project. I would like to thank Professor Afnan Hussein Fatani, who made this project possible with her support and guidance. I am also grateful to the Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing (JISH) Director, Mrs. Sultana Alireza-Zahid (CED) for allowing me to conduct this study at the Institute. References Amayreh, M. M. (2003). Completion of the consonant inventory of Arabic. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 46, 517-529. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1997). Roles of audiologists and speech- language pathologists working with persons with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. [Technical Report]. Retrieved from: www.asha.org/policy Brown, T. E. (2005). Attention Deficit Disorder. USA: Yale University Press. 1-205 Camarata, S., & Gibson, T. (1999). Pragmatic language deficits in attention–deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 5, 207 -214. Cook et al. (1995). Association of attention-deficit disorder and the dopamine transporter gene. American Journal of Human Genetics, 56(4). Cohen at al. (2000). The interference between ADHD and language impairment: An examination of language, achievement, and cognitive processing. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41(3), 353-362. CHADD. (2011). Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD). Retrieved from: http://www.chadd.org/ Currie, J., & Stabile, M. (2006). Child mental health and human capital accumulation: The case of ADHD. Journal of Health Economics, 25, 1094-1118. Retrieved from: www.sciencedirect.com Gillam et al. (2011). Communication sciences and disorders; from science to clinical practice. (2nd ed.). Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. 6-114. Haidar, F. (2003) Co-morbidity and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Saudi Arabia. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 9(5, 6), 988-995. Holm et al., (1999). Identification and differential diagnosis of phonological disorder in bilingual children. Language Testing, 16(3), 271-293. Retrieved from: http://www.sagepublications.com/ Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing. Retrieved from: http://www.jish.org/Autism.html Lee, D. (2004). Testing executive function models of adhd and its comorbid conditions: a latent variable approach. Ph. D. dissertation. Retrieved from:http://txspace.di.tamu.edu/bitstream /handle/1969.1/2801/etd-tamu-2004B-SPSY Lee.pdf?sequence=1 Fewell, R., & Deutscher, B., (2002). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Very Young Children: Early Signs and Interventions. Infants and Young Children, 14(3), 24-32. Matthews, P. H. (2007). Oxford concise dictionary of linguistics. New York: Oxford University

ALLS 7(2):203-218, 2016 218 McIntosh, B., & Dodd, B. (2008). Evaluation of Core Vocabulary intervention for treatment of inconsistent phonological disorder: Three treatment case studies. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 25(1), 09-30. Retrieved from: http://www.sagepublications.com/ McGrath et al. (2008). Children with Comorbid Speech Sound Disorder and Specific Language Impairment are at Increased Risk for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 151-163 Rief, S. (2005). How to Reach and Teach Children with ADD/ADHD. (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint. 3-64. Redmond, S., Thompson, H., & Goldstein, S. (2011). Psycholinguistic profiling differentiates specific language impairment from typical development and from attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Speech, language, and hearing research, 54, 99-117. Wolraich, M. (1999). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: The most studied and yet most controversial diagnosis. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 5(3), 163-168. .



Exploring Expansion and Reduction Strategies in Two English Translations of Masnavi

Atefeh Abbasi

Department of Foreign Languages, Isfahan (Khorasgan) branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran E-mail: [email protected]

Mansour Koosha (Corresponding author)

Department of Foreign Languages, Isfahan (Khorasgan) branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran E-mail: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.219 Received: 23/12/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.219 Accepted: 01/02/2016 Abstract The present study aimed to investigate the frequency of the use of two semantic adjustment strategies; namely, expansion and reduction, in the two English translations of book one of Masnavi. For this purpose, 300 lines of Masnavi by Rumi (2014) along its two corresponding English translations by Nicholson (2004) and Whinfield (2001) were critically analyzed based on Nida and Taber's (2003) theoretical framework. Based on the outcomes of the present study, both translators applied the expansion strategy more than the reduction because poems in Masnavi were so condensed and the writer of Masnavi applied classic words which were not understandable to the target language readers. Therefore, both translators used expansion strategy to explicate what was implied in the source text and to make a natural and a comprehensible translation to the target text readers. Keywords: Semantic Adjustment Strategies, Expansion, Reduction, Masnavi 1. Introduction Translation consists of complicated challenges that any translator has to face in all texts, especially in literature; one of them is the problem of translating poetry. Translators use various strategies for translating poetry to keep the content of source text. Manafi Anari (2004) introduces two types of adjustment strategies: semantic and structural. For preserving the content of the source text and maintaining its intended meaning, semantic adjustment strategies are used in translating text (Nida & Taber, 2003). Semantic adjustment strategies are classified into different areas. Expansion and reduction are subcategories of the semantic adjustment strategies (Manafi Anari, 2009). In translating poetry the translators are faced with some words in the source language which are untranslatable due to the differences between language systems and cultural points of view, a crucial matter that the current study has investigated. There are some words in the source text which a translator maybe cannot find any equivalence for them; moreover, the translator is translating for readers with different cultural and historical backgrounds (Klaudy, 2009, cited in Shirinzadeh & Tengku Mahadi, 2014). To solve these problems, the translators use semantic adjustment strategies in their translations to have an intelligible, natural, and comprehensible translation in their language (Nida & Taber, 2003). This study is one of the pioneer studies that are intended to answer the question of the extent to which the translators use expansion and reduction strategies in the English translation of Masnavi and whether using expansion and reduction in poetry translation will distort the meaning of the original poetry. Masnavi is an extensive Persian literary work written by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi , who is one of the best Persian Sufi saints and poets that his poems and thoughts have attracted many scholars' attention all over the world and his works have translated into different languages, especially European languages, either completely or selectively (Ebrahimi & Lesan Toosi, 2013). Also, it is one of the most valuable and the most significant works of both Sufism and Persian literature (Savabi Esfahani, 2014). Masnavi consists of six books of poetry and many translators have translated it from Persian into English, but for the first time British Scholars translated it from Persian into English in 1881-1934 (Karimnia, Ebrahimzade & Jafari, 2012). The translation of Masnavi from Persian to English started with Redhouse in 1881, later other translators like Whinfield in 1887, Wilson in 1910, Nicholson in 1926, and Arberry in 1993 created their own translations (Karimnia, Ebrahimzade & Jafari, 2012). The first full translation of all six books of Masnavi was done by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson in 1926-1934 (Karimnia, Ebrahimzade & Jafari, 2012). 2. Literature Review Poetry translation is an important topic of translation studies; therefore, some scholars such as Connolly (2007, p.170) writes that, "The translation of poetry is generally held to be the most difficult demanding and possibly rewarding form of translation". It is worth to say that poetry has a distinctive characteristic which is different from culture to culture


ALLS 7(2):219-225, 2016 220 and genre to genre, so for translating poetry both form and content must be preserved; moreover, form and content cannot be separated (Cudden 1976, cited in Niknasab & Pishbin, 2011). There are various methods and theories for poetry translation in the translation studies. Lefevere (1975, cited in Bassnett, 2002) explains seven different strategies for translating poetry: 1. Phonemic translation: Reproducing the source language sound in the target language and creating a suitable paraphrase of the sense are related to this method. Lefevere (1975, cited in Bassnet, 2002) mentions that although this method is related to the translation of onomatopoeia, but the result is not satisfactory. 2. Literal translation: This method pays close attention to word for word translation and it eliminates the sense and syntax of the original. 3. Metrical translation: The main criterion is producing the source language meter. 4. Poetry into prose: Lefevere (1975, cited in Bassnett, 2002) expresses that this method ruins the sense, communicative value and syntax of the source language text, but literal or metrical types of translation are retained. 5. Rhymed translation: Reproducing the meter and rhyme is in this method. 6. Blank verse translation: By selecting an appropriate structure, some restrictions are related to the translator. But the greater accuracy and a higher degree of literalness are regarded as the result. 7. Interpretation: Lefevere (1975) defines versions in the way that the form is changed, but material of source language is retained. He mentions the matter of imitation when the translator creates his own poem (cited in Bassnett, 2002). To keep the meaning of texts and to make the translation natural and more comprehensible in the target language, it is essential to create many semantic and structural adjustments. Manafi Anari (2004, p.17) writes that, “A translator may often be obliged to transform the form in order to preserve the content, though it will be much better ... in a form resembling that of the source language”. Thus, the translator may apply semantic adjustment strategies to carry the original content, but the stylistic meanings may be loosed. The lack of an appropriate and meaningful equivalence in the languages makes the translators to use semantic adjustment strategies (Kolahi & Goodarzi, 2010). One of the interesting aspects of translating texts from the source language to the target language is related to the length of a text in the source language which will expand or contract when the text is translated to the target language. The content of the source language may be changed in length and the number of words will be changed when the translators render the source language text to the target language text, so these differences known as text expansion and text contraction (Kolahi & Goodarzi, 2010). Expansion and reduction are subcategories of semantic adjustment strategies (Manafi Anari, 2009). Solhju (cited in Kolahi & Goodarzi, 2010) expresses that in translating a text, adding to the text or contracting it is sometimes essential. Adding or contracting is known as expansion and reduction. Nida and Taber (2003) believe that expansion happens when semantic constituent is distributed over a number of various words. Expansion adjustment is considered as translating one word in the source language by several words in the target language (Nida & Taber, 2003). There are two types of expansion according to Nida and Taber's (2003, p. 166) categorization: "syntactic (or formal) expansions and lexical (or semantic)". Nida and Taber (2003, p. 167) argue that "there are three kinds of lexical expansions: (1) classifiers, (2) descriptive equivalence, and (3) semantic restructuring". In the following, they are discussed. 1. "Classifiers are relatively common and can be used whenever a borrowed word needs some semantic redundancy attached to it, so that the reader will be able to understand at least something about its form and/ or function" (Nida & Taber, p. 167). 2. Descriptive equivalence takes place when the length of the words in the target text is changed and words are expanded in the target texts. The length of the words in the target text is more than the original text, so using the number of lexical elements for explaining the function and the form of the event and the object are essential (Nida & Taber, 2003). 3. Semantic restructuring happens when some expressions in the original text are so condensed which need considerable expansion in the target language. To create a dynamic equivalence in the target language, the translator sometimes needs to reduce some expressions in the process of translation. As Nida and Taber (2003, P. 168) point out," reductions are not as numerous as the expansions, nor are they so frequent. And as a result, they are not so important structurally. However, it is just as important to employ the proper reductions as it is to introduce the proper expansions, for both expansions and reductions are based on the same fundamental principles of reproducing the closest natural equivalent." It is worth to mention that, reduction takes place when several words of the source language are translated into fewer words in the target language (Nida & Taber, 2003). During the process of reduction the translator encounters many words which convey the meaning of a phrase in the original text, so s/he deletes one of the few words (Manafi Anari, 2009). According to Nida and Taber (2003, p.168), there are seven primary types of reduction: 1. ''Simplification of doublets''. In this type of reduction, the words with the same meaning are reduced to a single word, e.g.," answering, he said, "becomes" he answered"; 2.'' Reduction of repetitions'' is a kind of reduction for reducing repeated words, e.g., "verily, verily," must in some languages be reduced to one "verily" for repetition does not convey the same meaning;

ALLS 7(2):219-225, 2016 221 3. ''Omission of specification of participants'', e.g., reduction of the occurrences of a participant frequently used as the subject of so many sentences;' 4. ''Loss of conjunctions, when hypotactic structures are reduced to practice ones. Hypotaxis means 'the use of subordinate clauses''. Parataxis is 'the placing of the related clause', one after another, without using connecting words. 5. ''Reduction of formulas ''e.g. using 'to' instead of 'to the extent of' in 'to his capacity'. Reduction of fixed phrase to a shorten one. 6. ''Using more extensive ellipses than those commonly used. While some languages need expansion of possible ellipsis; some languages prefer more extensive ellipsis than occurs in the source language texts". 7."Simplification of highly repetitious style often associated with stateliness of form and importance of theme." This research was motivated by the following question:

• Do Nicholson and Whinfeild use different semantic adjustment strategies for translating Masnavi into English? 3. Method For the purpose of this study, Book 1 out of the 6 books of Masnavi by Maulana Jalalu-D-Din Muhammad Balkhi (2014) along with its two English translations, one by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson (2004), and the other one by Edward Henry Whinfield (2001) which both of them were famous translators and authors were selected as the corpus of the study. The unit of analysis was Masnavi's verses. More specifically, these books were used: 1. Masnavi by Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi (2014) 2. The Mathnawi of Jalaluddin Rumi by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson (2004) 3. Masnavi i ma'niavi:Teaching of Rumi. The spiritual couplets of Maulana Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi by Edward Henry Whinfield (2001) 3.1 Theoretical Framework Because the purpose of this study was to explore expansion and reduction strategies, Nida and Taber's (2003) lexical expansion and reduction strategies could be useful in discussing the extent to which whether the translators have applied these strategies in their translations. Moreover, Nida and Taber (2003) classify expansion and reduction into different subcategories and this classification is useful in translating poetry. 3.2 Procedures To account for semantic adjustment strategies in the body of the translated text, data were collected based on three main materials, one Persian original text with its two English translations. After finding different English translations of Masnavi's poem, the researchers tried their best to compare the original poems to their English translations, following generally three steps: 1. Reading each original Persian poem critically and focusing on each line. In every line the researchers paid attention to the word's English equivalence to find out whether the translator could catch the meaning of the whole line or not. 2. Checking each line’s translation in English version regarding the application of Nida and Taber's (2003) lexical expansion and reduction strategies. In the number of cases in which more than one strategy was identified, all the applied strategies were considered and their frequencies were counted. 3. Calculating the frequency of expansion and reduction strategies and representing conclusions. In this step the researchers considered three types of frequencies to arrive at the final result. First of all, they calculated the frequency counts of expansion and reduction strategies of all the poems. Then, the researchers calculated the frequency counts of expansion and reduction strategies by each translator and finally they calculated the frequency counts of each used strategy for all 300 lines. 4. Data Analysis and Discussion After applying Nida and Taber's (2003) lexical expansion and reduction strategies as the corpus of the present study, following results were obtained. Three figures below illustrate the extent to which each translator has utilized these strategies in his translations.

1

60

39

1

37

62

0

20

40

60

80

Classifiers DescriptiveEquivalence

SemanticRestructuring

Nicholson

Whinfield

Figure 1. Expansion types used by Nicholson and Whinfield

ALLS 7(2):219-225, 2016 222 As Figure 1 shown, it is observed that both translators have applied ''Descriptive equivalence'' and '' Semantic restructuring'' more than other types of expansion. Both translators have used a small number of "Classifiers". As result reveals, Nicholson has used ''Descriptive equivalence'' more than Whinfield and "Semantic restructuring" applied by Whinfield is more than Nicholson.

714

79

2.5 2.5 2.510.5

82

010

2030

405060

708090

Simplificationof doublets

Reduction ofrepetitions

Omission ofspecification

of participants

Loss ofconjunctions

Using moreextensiveellipses

Nicholson

Whinfield

Figure 2. Reduction types used by Nicholson and Whinfield

As illustrated in Figure 2, Nicholson has applied three strategies of reduction, including ''Reduction of repetitions'','' Loss of conjunctions'', and ''Using more extensive ellipses''. On the other hand, Whinfield has applied five strategies of reduction. Concerning the number of reductions, both translators have used a high percentage of ellipses and this indicates that both of them have omitted the source text words. No use of "Reduction of formulas" and "Simplification of highly repetitious style'' was detected by the translators in the selected corpus of the study. The following chart shows overall usage of expansion and reduction strategies by the two translators.

Figure 3. The distribution of the total expansion and reduction strategies

As Figure 3 is demonstrated, both translators have used a high percentage of expansion. As the results show, Nicholson has applied expansion strategy more than Whinfield and reduction strategy has been used more in Whinfield's translation. Generally, three hundred verses were analyzed, but, here in this section, some examples of expansion and reduction strategies extracted from Masnavi are discussed. It is worth to say that, "Reduction of formulas" and "Simplification of highly repetitious style", the fifth and seventh sub-category of reduction strategy, were not observed in this study. 4.1 Lexical expansion In the following, some examples for the observed types of lexical expansion and reduction strategies have been given.

ALLS 7(2):219-225, 2016 223 4.1.1 Classifiers ST: امید نخلاندر آ در سایھ ی [ændær][ȁ][dær][sȁyeh][ye][nækhle][omid] TT1: Come into the shade of the palm-tree of hope. TT2: But seek refuge under the palm-trees of the 'Truth'. By using this type of expansion, the translators have used "palm-tree" for "نخل"/Nakhl/ to make explicit what was implicit in the target text. The translators have mentioned that "نخل"/Nakhl/ is a kind of tree growing in the warm climates which is not understandable to the target text readers. Therefore, by using this type of expansion the target text readers will understand the meaning of "نخل"/Nakhl/ and they will know "نخل" /Nakhl/is a kind of tree. 4.1.2 Descriptive Equivalence ST: عالی طوافروح او سیمرغ بس [ruhe][u][simorghe][bæs][ȁli][tævȁf] TT1: His spirit is the Simurgh that circles exceedingly high TT2: His spirit is as a soaring on high In the above example, it can be seen that both translators have used expansion strategy. Nicholson has applied" Circles exceedingly high" for the Persian word" عالی طواف"/ ȁli tævȁf /and Whinfield has applied" Soaring on high". Therefore, both translators have applied several words in the target text instead of that condensed word of the original text to clarify the meaning of the word to the target text readers. 4.1.3 Semantic Restructuring ST: معنی را رھی رعونموسی و ف ظاھر آن ره دارد و این بی رھی [Musȁ][væ][feroun][mæni][rȁ][ræhi] [zȁhər][ȁn][ræh][dȁræd][o][in][bi][ræhi] TT1: Moses and Pharaoh were servants of reality, Outwardly the former keeps the way, while the latter has lost the way. TT2: Verily, both Moses and Pharaoh walked in the right way, Though seemingly the one did so, and the other not. The meaning of " "معنی را رھی / mæni rȁ ræhi /is implied in the source text, so the translators have used semantic restructuring strategy."Reality" and "the right way" are the implied meaning of this phrase which the original author has intended. Both translators have understood the implied meaning of this phrase and have expanded it by restructuring it in the target text. Moreover, they have explicated the implied meaning. Nicholson has used" servants of reality" and Whinfield has used" walked in the right way" for this phrase. Thus, the translators have made clear what was ambiguous to the target text readers. In this example, both translators transfer the meaning of the source text to the target text as accurately as possible. 4.2 Lexical Reduction 4.2.1 Simplification of Doublets ST: گنج زر کرد ویران خانھ بھر [kærd][virȁn][khȁne][bæhre][gænje][zær] TT1: Ruined the house for the sake of the golden treasure TT2: Has destroyed its house to find the hidden treasure In this type of reduction, Whinfield has utilized "Treasure" for" گنج زر"/ gænje zær/ and has reduced it, whereas Nicholson has translated it into "the golden treasure" and has not used any reduction. In this example, while the source text writer has used two words in the original text which was " گنج زر" / gænje zær/, but the translator has reduced these two words to one word in the target text. 4.2.2 Reduction of Repetitions ST: حیلھ کرد انسان و حیلھ اش دام بود [hile][kærd][ensȁn][væ][hile][æsh][dȁm][bud] TT1: Man devised, and his device was snare TT2: Man plans a stratagem and thereby snares himself The source text author has repeated the Persian word" حیلھ"/ hile /two times in the original text, but the second translator has omitted one of these words in his translation .Therefore, the length of the text has changed in the target language. In this example, Nicholson has translated " حیلھ"/hile/ two times based on the intention of the original text author, but Whinfield has used one word instead of two words and he has utilized" plans a stratagem" for " حیلھ" / hile/.

ALLS 7(2):219-225, 2016 224 Thus, by reducing these words in the target text the translation was shorten than the original, also the beauty of the source text has not transferred in the target text. 4.2.3 Omission of Specification of Participants ST: آن حس زتخریب بدن صحتاین حس زمعموری تن صحت [sehhæte][in][hes][ze][mæmurie][tæn]

[sehhæte][ȁn][hes][ze][tækhribe][bædæn] TT1: The health of the former arises from the flourishing state of the body; The health of the latter arises from the ruin of the body. TT2: The health of the former arises from tending the body, That of the latter from mortifying the flesh. The application of "Omission of specification of participants" is evident in this translation. In this type of reduction, the second translator has omitted the subject of the second hemistiches. The subject of the first and the second hemistiches was "The health", but Whinfield has omitted the subject of the second hemistiches. In fact, he has not translated this word in the second hemistiches. The original text author has used "صحت"/ sehhæt/ in the first and the second hemistiches for the beauty and rhythm of the poem, but Whinfield has omitted it in the target text and he has reduced the beauty of the Persian poem in the target text. 4.2.4 Loss of Conjunctions ST: بھ ھر دستی نشاید داد دست پس چون بسی ابلیس آدم روی ھست [ chun][bæsi][eblisə][ȁdæm][ruy][hæst] [pæs][be][hær][dæsti][næshȁyæd][dȁd][dæst] TT1: Since there is many a devil that has the face of Adam It is not well to give your hand to every hand TT2: As there are many demon's with men's faces It is wrong to join hand with every one In the above example, the translators have omitted the subordinate clause in the target text while the source text author has applied it in the source text. Subordinate clause is used in the languages for connecting the texts. In this translation, the translators have connected two hemistiches one after another without using any connecting words. Both translators have omitted "Then" for "پس"/ pæs /in the source text. 4.2.5 Using More Extensive Ellipses than Those Commonly Used ST: از لگدکوب جان ھمھ روز خیال [jȁn][hæme][ruz][æz][lægadkube][khiyȁl] TT1: All day long from the buffets of imagination TT2: Then our souls are a prey to divers him. By using this type of expansion, the meaning and the beauty of the source text have reduced in the target text, so the target text readers have not understood the real meaning of the poem in the target language. Both translators have utilized this type of expansion in their translations. In the first translation, Nicholson has omitted "جان" in his translation and in the second translation, Whinfield has omitted" روز" / ruz/. The outcomes of the present research findings were in accordance with Manafi Anari (2011) which studied the frequency of lexical expansion, reduction, and correspondence in the four English translations of some poems of Hafeiz. Manafi Anari analyzed English translations of Hafiz based on Nida and Taber's (1969) lexical expansion and reduction strategies. In his article, he asserted that lexical expansion has been the most frequently strategy used and the lexical reduction as the least one. The results of this study were consistent with those of Shirinzadeh and Tengku Mahadi (2014) who investigated using expansion strategies in making untranslatable areas of poetry translatable: Sa’di’s Bustan as a case in point. They selected Sa'di's Bustan which was translated by Clarke as the corpus of the study and analyzed one hundred verses of his poetry. The study showed that the translator used expansion wherein he made some semantic and structural adjustments in his translation to make those untranslatable parts translatable and create a natural, intelligible and understandable translation in the target language. The results of the present study and this article have been similar in the way that in both research the most frequently used expansion strategy were descriptive equivalence and semantic restructuring and classifiers as the least frequently used strategy. 5. Conclusion One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that, both translators have used expansion strategy more than reduction, however; expansion strategy was more frequent in Nicholson's translation, while Whinfield has used more reduction strategy in contrast with Nicholson. Moreover, Nicholson has used more "Descriptive equivalence"; whereas, Whinfield has employed more "Semantic restructuring" in the translation of Masnavi. According to the seven strategies which were mentioned by Lefevere (1975, cited in Bassnett, 2002), the researchers

ALLS 7(2):219-225, 2016 225 came to the point that Nicholson has used literal translation that this method pays close attention to the word for word translation, so Nicholson has expanded and has described the source language words which were unfamiliar to the target language readers to make the translation of poem intelligible and natural for them and he has used less reduction to preserve the meaning and beauty of Persian poem. On the other hand, based on Lefevere's (1975, cited in Bassnett, 2002) strategies, Whinfield has used an interpretation strategy that in this method the form is changed, but material of the source language is retained. Therefore, Whinfield has applied semantic restructuring in the way that he has changed the form of the Persian poem and has interpreted its meaning to make a readable translation to the target language reader, but he has used more reduction in his translation that this feature reduces the beauty of Persian poem. Both translators have used expansion strategy to express the meaning of the source language in the target language because Masnavi's lines were so condensed and the writer of Masnavi has applied classic words which were not understandable to the target text reader, so it needed expansion strategy. Thus, translating classic poems requires a deep lexical and cultural knowledge of the source language and the target language, it means that the translator needs to be familiar with not only the vocabulary of the source language, but also he must be aware of the culture of the source language to transfer both the meaning and the beauty of the poem from the source language to the target language. The research has also shown that both translators have applied different types of reduction, but" Using more extensive ellipses than those commonly used" was more than other types of reduction, so using this type of reduction reduces the beauty and the meaning of the source poem in the target language. As a result, because some parts of the poems are untranslatable, so the impact of translated poem and creating the same feeling on the target reader is not similar to the source reader because the linguistic system, socio-cultural standards, and poetical characteristics of two languages are different. Considering the results of the present study and other studies in the field, it can be concluded that the translators attempted to translate as clear as possible and they have explicated what was implied in the source text, also they have clarified the meaning of the source text to the target readers by using expansion strategy. The other point was that translators have tended to have their translations explicit free of any obscurity, and comprehensible for the readers.

References Balkhi, J. M. (2014). Masnavi. Tehran: Adine Sabz Bassnett, S. (2002). Translation studies. London and New York: Routledge. Connolly, D. (2007). Poetry translation. In M. Baker (Ed.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (pp. 170-176). New York: Routledge. Ebrahimi, Sh. & Lesan Toosi, F. (2013). A Comparative analysis of lexical collocations in Molavi’s Mathnavi and its translation. International Journal of English and Education, 2(2), 62-73.nternational Journal and Education Karimnia, A. & Ebrahimzade, M. & Jafari, Z. (2012). Mawlana and the west: with special reference to translation. Journal of Linguistics and Translation. Retrieved from http:// www.elixirjournal.org Kolahi, Sh. & Goodarzi, M. (2010). Comparing the use of semantic adjustment strategies in versed and free-verse styles of the English translations of Hafez poetry. JELS Journal, 1(3), 91-112. Manafi Anari, S. (2004). An approach to English translation of Islamic texts. Tehran: SAMT. Manafi Anari, S. (2009). A study of Islamic texts in English translation (II).Tehran: SAMT. Manafi Anari, S. (2011). Expansion, reduction, and correspondence in English translations of the poems of Hafiz. Journal of Translation Studies, 9(35), 87-100. Nicholson, R. A. (2004). The Mathnawi of Jalaluddin Rumi. Retrieved from http:// drive.google.com/file/d/0B2GU1ZyPbqVlU3prMUMzM0s4b1k/edit?pli=1 Nida, E. A. & Taber, C.R. (2003). The theory and practice of translation. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Niknasab, L., & Pishbin, E. (2011). On the translation of poetry: A look at Sohrab Sepehri's traveler. SKASE Journal of Translation and Interpretation, 5(1), 2-23. Savabi Esfahani, A. (2014). Malysty mini analysis short story of Masnavi: The first three offices. Visi Journal Akademik, 6, 15-25. Shirinzadeh, A., & Tengku Mahadi, T.S. (2014). Using expansion strategies in making untranslatable areas of poetry translatable: Sa’di’s Bustan as a case in point. English Language Teaching, 7(8), 39-52. doi:10.5539/elt.v7n8p39 Whinfield, E.H. (2001). Masnavi i ma'niavi: Teaching of Rumi. The spiritual couplets of Maulana Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi. Retrieved from http:// www.omphaloSkepsis.com/Library/masnavi.pdf



Comparison of English Language Rhythm and Kalhori Kurdish Language Rhythm

Nafiseh Taghva (Corresponding author)

Department of Linguistics and Foreign Languages, Payamenoor University,19395- 4679,Tehran,I.R.Iran E-mail: [email protected]

Vahideh Abolhasani Zadeh

Shahid Bahonar, University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran E-mail: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.226 Received: 20/12/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.226 Accepted: 03/02/2016 Abstract Investigating on quantitative features of languages rhythm is a recent issue that attracts the attention of linguists. Interval-based method is a method of studying the rhythmic quantitative features of languages. This method use Pairwise Variability Index (PVI) to consider the variability of vocalic duration and inter-vocalic duration of sentences which leads to classification of languages rhythm into stress-timed languages and syllable-timed ones. This study aims to consider the rhythm of British English and Kalhori Kurdish, which is spoken in some part of west of Iran, based on interval-based method. In order to reach this aim the duration variability of vocalic interval and inter-vocalic interval of English and Kalhori Kurdish are measured by PVI. Afterward the outcomes of this study were compared to the existed results of other languages. The results of this research demonstrated that the rhythmic quantitative features of these two languages are placed among stress-timed languages. Keywords: Rhythm, interval-based method, syllable-timed, stress-timed 1. Introduction Heartbeats, waves of the sea and birds songs are natural phenomenon that are benefited from rhythm. The word rhythm is originated from the Latin word "ǫƲɵμóҫ" derived from the verb "ǫɛɩ" which means "to flow". Plato (The Laws, book II: 93) defined rhythm as order in movement. Languages are among natural phenomenon which includes rhythm. Patel (2010) stated: "Rhythm is a systematic patterning of sound in terms of timing, accent and grouping. Both speech and music are characterized by systematic, temporal, accentual and phrasal patterning." In the present paper the acoustic-phonetic basis of English rhythm and Kalhori Kurdish rhythm are investigated. Kurdish language is a branch of Indo-European languages which is spoken in vast area of Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Saria and even some parts of Middle East. Kalhori Kurdish is a subcategory of Kurdi in southern area of Kurdish language that is spoken in west part of Iran (Gudarzi, 2003). The first attempts of studying rhythm began by the hypothesis of relation between rhythm and duration. Lloyd James (1940) had studied rhythm of some languages by comparing their prosodic differences. He said that the same elements repeated at the same regular intervals of time. Pike (1945) named these intervals as 'syllable-timed' and 'stress-timed'. Abercrombie (1967) presented the theory of Isochrony and claimed that inter-stress intervals were the same in stress-timed languages but in syllable-timed ones inter-syllabic intervals were the same. Subsequent research added another type to this classification as Mora timed languages in which morae are said to be near-equal in duration (Ladefoged, 1975). However, later work (Bolinger, 1965; Wenk, Wiolland, 1982; Manrique & Signorini, 1983) presented counter arguments against the theory of Isochrones. Hense the Theory of Isocrony was violated. On the other hand, Dauer (1983) demonstrated some phonetic and phonological differences between stress-timed languages and syllable-timed languages. Not only he stated that syllables variety were greater in stress-timed languages than syllable-timed ones, but also he showed that unstressed syllables had vowel reduction in stress-timed languages. Besides, Dauer (1987) hypothesized a continuum in which stress-timed languages were placed on one end and syllable-timed languages on the other end. This idea was supported by Nespor (1990), Bertoncini (1989), and Dasher and Bolinger (1982). Ramus et al. (1999) presented three factors of rhythm, the proportion of vocalic intervals in the sentence (%V), the standard deviation of vocalic intervals within a sentence (ΔV) and the standard deviation of consonantal intervals within a sentence (ΔC). Their findings suggested that as more syllable types show more variability in the number of consonant and more duration variability of syllable that cause more ΔC and less %V, there is a negative relationship between ΔC and %V.


ALLS 7(2):226-230, 2016 227 After Ramus researches some other attempts have done to measure the duration of speech. One of them leaded to the introduction of Pairwise variability Index, PVI (Grabe & Low, 2002). Ladefoged and Johnson (2011: 252) accepted four procedures to calculate PVI:

1) Identification of the interval which should be measured (vocalic interval or intervocalic interval) 2) Calculation of duration difference between each pair of adjacent intervals in the utterance 3) Division of each result by the mean duration of each pair 4) Setting up the average ratio of each pair

Grabe and Low (2002) confirmed that vocalic nPVI, normalized Pairwise Variability Index, and intervocalic rPVI , raw Pairwise Variability Index, is a better criterion to determine the rhythmic class of languages than vocalic nPVI alone. Their findings indicated that vowel durational variability is greater in stress-timed languages such as German and English than in syllable-timed languages such as French and Spanish. Therefore the logic of PVI is that languages can be classified in accordance to the vocalic durational intervals, intervocalic durational intervals and the contrast of these successive durations (Ramus et al., 1999 and Grabe & Low, 2002).

(1)

Where m is the number of vocalic intervals in an utterance and dk is the duration of the kth interval.

(2)

Where m is the number of intervocalic intervals in an utterance and dk is the duration of the kth interval. Table 1. PVI of different languages (derived from Grabe & Low.2002)

Language nPVI rPVI Thai 65.8 56.5 Dutch 65.5 57.4 German 59.7 55.3 British English 57.2 64.1 Tamil 55.8 70.2 Malay 53.6 66.3 Greek 48.7 59.6 Welsh 48.2 54.7 Rumanian 46.9 47.6 Polish 46.6 79.1 Catalan 44.6 67.8 French 43.5 50.4 Japanese 40.9 62.5 Luxembourg 37.7 55.4 Spanish 29.7 55.7 Mandarin 27 52

PVI have been studied by many linguists during the last decades which can approve the efficiency of this measurement in analyzing the acoustic rhythmic features of languages (Dellwo, 2006; White & Mattys, 2007; Nolan & Asu, 2009; Patel, 2010). Tilsen and Arvaniti (2013) called this method as "Interval-based" method. Although many works have been done on phonetic and phenology of Kurdish language (such as Karimi Dustan, 2003 and Fatahi, 2013), none of them have considered the quantitative rhythmic features of this language. 2. Method In order to investigate the rhythmic features of English and Kurdish, and in order to compare them with other languages, this study use the interval-based method to measure specific aspects of rhythmic dimensions. Hence, this

ALLS 7(2):226-230, 2016 228 research was used Grabe andLow's (2002) method by calculating vocalic nPVI and intervocalic rPVI of these two languages. Therefore, 4 native speakers of English read 40 simple declarative English sentences in a silent room. These sentences were analyzed using the software Praat. Then text grids will be made for each sentence in a way that the boundaries of each vowel and consonant were determined. Afterward, the durational variability of vowels and consonants were measured by nPVI and rPVI. Subsequently, all these procedures were done for 40 declarative Kalhori Kurdish sentences which were read by 4 native speakers of this language. An example of a simple declarative English sentence TextGrid is presented in Figure 1 and an example of a simple declarative Kurdish sentence TextGrid is presented in Figure 2.

Figure 1. An example of a Textgrid for a simple declarative English sentence

(I had another argument with my boss yesterday)

Figure 2. An example of a Textgrid for a simple declarative English sentence

/eiwan jeki we sharjele ilame/. Ivan is one of the biggest city of Ilam 3. Results The results of the study by calculating vocalic nPVI and inter-vocalic rPVI of 40 simple declarative English sentences (nPVI: 57.88 and rPVI: 67) demonstrated that British English is placed among stress-timed languages. Besides, vocalic nPVI and inter-vocalic rPVI of 40 simple declarative Kalhori Kurdish sentences (nPVI: 54 and rPVI: 52.88) put the the rhythmic features of this language among stress-timed languages, too. Figure 3 indicates the nPVI of these two languages and compares them to the existed nPVI of some other languages derived from Ladefoged & Johnson, 2011:253).

ALLS 7(2):226-230, 2016 229

Figure 3. Comparison of English and Kurdish nPVI with other languages nPVI derived from Ladefoged &Johnson, 2011:253)

As you can observe in Figure 4, though the nPVI of these two languages are not differ so much their rPVI are not the same.

Figure 4. Comparison of English and Kurdish PVI with other languages PVI (derived from Grabe & Low, 2002)

4. Discussion & Conclusion The speech rhythm study is a recent endeavor in linguistics in spite of long history study of rhythm in poetry (Patel, 2010:118). As language, within the human mind, perform interpretive operation by changing complex acoustic sequences into separate elements and organizing them into hierarchical structures to convey rich meanings, the study of speech rhythm can be beneficial for different scientists such as biologists, poets, composers, linguists and musicians. This study is an attempt to identify the rhythmic class of English and Kalhori Kurdish. In order to reach this aim the rhythmic features of English and Kalhori Kurdish were measured (Table 2) and then they were compared to other languages existed rhythmic features. The results of this study show that the rhythm of English and Kurdish are placed in the stress-timed languages category.

ALLS 7(2):226-230, 2016 230 Table 2. Rhythmic features of English and Kalhori Kurdish

Rhythmic features English Kalhori Kurdish

Vocalic nPVI 57.88 54.22

Inter-vocalic rPVI 67 52.88

Science Kalhori Kurdish is spoken in some west part of Iran and Iran is country with different languages, investigating on rhythmic features of these languages can be a good idea for further researches. Recently, nPVI is used to compare language and music rhythm that have presented the trace of language rhythm of a culture on instrumental music rhythm of that culture (Patel, 2010: 130-179). Hence, studying the nPVI of Kurdish music can help the better understanding of this claim. Acknowledgements We acknowledge the native speakers of British English and Kalhori Kurdish who read the sentences of this study. References Abercrombie, D. (1967). Elements of General Phonetics. Chicago: Aldine. Bertinetto, P. M. (1989). Reflections on the Dichotomy ‘Stress’ vs. ‘Syllable Timing’. Rev. Phonet, Appl, 91-93, 99–129. Bolinger, D.L. (1965). Forms of English: Accent, Morpheme, Order. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Dasher, R. & Bolinger, D. (1982). On pre-accentual lengthening. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 12, 58-69. Dauer, R.M. (1983). Stress-timing and syllable-timing re-analysed. Journal of Phonetics 11, 51-62. Dauer, R. M. (1987). Phonetic and Phonological Components of Language Rhythm. In Proceedings of the 11th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences. Tallinn, 447–449. Dellwo, V. (2006). Rhythm and Speech Rate: A Variation Coefficient for DeltaC. In Language and Language-Processing: Proceedings of the 38th Linguistics Colloquium. Piliscsaba 2003, edited by P. Karnowski and I.Szigeti (Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main), 231–241. Fatahi, M. (2013). Glides in Kalhori Kurdish. In proceedings of the 8th Conference on Linguistics. Tehran: Allame Tabatabai University, 616-630. Gudarzi, E. (2003). Kalhor tribe in Mashrutiat era. Kermanshah: Kermanshah, 32. Grabe, E., & Low, E. L. (2002). Durational Variability in Speech and the Rhythm Class Hypothesis. In C. Gussenhoven & N. Warner, Laboratory phonology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 515–546. Karimi Dustan, Q. (2003). Syllable structure in Kurdish.The journal of Humanities in Mashhad University, 35, 235-248. Ladefoged, P. (1975). A Course in Phonetics. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Ladefoged, P., & Johnson, K. A., (2011). Course in Phonetics (6th ed.). Wadsworth: Boston, 252-253. Lloyd James, A. (1940). Speech Signals in Telephony. London: Pitman and Sons, 16–27. Manrique, A.M.B. & Signorini, A. (1983). Segmental reduction in Spanish. Journal of Phonetics, 11, 117-128. Nespor, M. (1990). On the Rhythm Parameter in Phonology. In I. M. Roca, Logical issues in language acquisition. Dordrecht: Foris, 157-175. Nolan, F., & Asu, E. L. (2009). The Pairwise Variability Index and Coexisting Rhythms in language. Phonetica, 66, 64–77. Patel A, D. (2010). Music, Language, and the Brain. New York: Oxford University Press. Pike, K. L. (1945). The Intonation of American English. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Plato. The Laws. book II, 93. Ramus, F., Nespor, M., and Mehler, J. (1999). Correlates of linguistic rhythm in the speech signal. Cognition, 75, 265–292. Tilsen, S., & Arvaniti, A. (2013). Speech rhythm analysis with decomposition of the amplitude envelope: Characterizing Rhythmic Patterns within and across Languages. Acoustical Society of America. Wenk, B. & Wioland, F. (1982). Is French really syllable-timed? Journal of Phonetics, 10, 193-216. White, L., & Mattys, S. L. (2007). Calibrating Rhythm: First Language and Second Language Studies. J. Phonetics, 35, 501–522.



An Evaluation of the Second Intermediate Saudi English Language Textbook from the Teachers' Point of View

Reem BinObaid

College of Education, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia E-mail: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.231 Received: 17/12/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.231 Accepted: 05/02/2016 Abstract The study evaluates the quality of the second intermediate grade English language textbook for Saudi girls' schools "from the teachers point of view" which was introduced at the intermediate stage by the Ministry of Education in 2004. This research project evaluates a new textbook that is considered to be the foundation stone in the English language program in Saudi Arabia. A survey questionnaire was used in this study to elicit the perspectives of 50 English language teachers and the population is about 220 teachers in Riyadh Educational Zone about the textbook in question. The questionnaire consisted of 23 items grouped under 5 main categories that are listed as: CB objectives, content, language style, skills, technical aspect and appearance of the CB. The data was subjected to analysis through descriptive statistics. The analysis of the results used several statistical methods which are as follows: Cronbach's alpha, means, percentage, chi square and standard deviations. The findings were generally in favor of the textbook except for the language style and some other sub-items. Out of 23 items in the questionnaire, only 4 items had arithmetic means less than 3.50 (the average). The category that had the highest mean was the one on technical aspects, while the category that had the lowest mean was the one on language style. Keywords: Evaluation, textbook, content, curriculum and syllabus, goals and objectives, materials evaluation 1. Introduction 1.1 Background of the Study The English language is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a "world language", the lingua franca of the modern era. Graddol (2000) states that English Language "is the main language of books, newspapers, airports and air traffic control, international business and academic references, science technology, diplomacy, sport, international competitions and advertising". Therefore, since the English language today has become the world language, it is now an international language for communication. As the language has spread, the number of users of English has grown toward a probable two billion Crystal (1985). The spread of the language across cultures, the emergence of varieties of English and the growing differences between them and the communication among people around the world, has become a huge influence on the teaching of the language for both native and non-native speakers. These facts raise the need for an awareness of the status of English today by teachers or anyone concerned about TESOL. In fact, learning English or any other subject involves three main participants: the teacher, the textbook and the student. Any input provided by the textbook and the teacher, the two main players in this educational process, would not succeed if the third part was unable or unwilling to accept or receive that knowledge. One of the most important components of curriculum is the textbook which provides a clear framework from which teachers and learners may know where they are going and what is coming next. Ur (2006:184) mentions that "the textbook is the cheapest way of providing learning material for each learner; alternatives, such as kits, sets of photocopied papers or computer software, likely to be more expensive relative to the amount of material provided". Harmer (1991:257) also believes that “textbooks supply attractive, interesting and lively materials which may not be produced by teachers”. “Although the textbook is not the only tool for the teaching and learning process, it is still a significant impact for achieving the language learning objectives. Since teachers find it difficult to develop their own classroom materials, have limited time and lie under external pressure that restricts their ability, it gives more emphasis on the use and utility of the textbook to compensate the loss of authentic materials” {cited in Almazloum and Qeshta (2009:2)}. From this point the author focuses on the importance of textbook evaluation, (Ansary and Babaii, 2002) state that "evaluation process covers different fields of the curriculum; mostly the content represented by the textbook". However, looking at the Saudi Arabian context, one can notice that the country is in transition socially, economically and politically. Because of this, the role that teaching English plays in Saudi Arabia may be ambiguous for many Saudis or it may be that the learners have a clear idea of why they are studying English but course designers do not. This implies that in order to keep up with the quick rate of changes in Saudi Arabia, evaluations of Saudi textbooks should


ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 232 be a priority for teaching English in schools. It is obvious that in Saudi Arabia, learning English occurs as part of the normal school curriculum. Typically, English is learned either to pass exams as a necessary part of one's education or for career progression while working for an organization or business with an international focus. Regarding for curricula in Saudi Arabia, there are several research results such as Thinker (2000) and Al-Zuhairi (2008) indicating that the achievement of Saudi students in English is low and one of the most important causes of this is the textbooks taught in intermediate and secondary schools. As teachers who are concerned about the learning situation noticed that the English curriculum in Saudi schools has difficulties for both teachers and learners, going from this point we consider the importance of evaluation of Saudi English textbook. In this study the author evaluates the Second Grade Intermediate English Course Book in Saudi Arabia from teachers' point of view, " Say It in English" , which was implemented in 2005 by the Ministry of Education in Riyadh. This teachers' evaluation is significant because it reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the text book, determines how well the textbook meets the standards of a good textbook and provides guidance and feedback for the chosen textbook. This study sheds light on the teachers and their effect on evaluation of the English textbook because they are the most important element in achieving learning. Jolly and Bolitho (1998), cited in Li (2004) remark that "teachers understand their own learners best because they understand their needs and their preferred learning styles" (pp. 18-19). Students are also well positioned to know their own learning styles and their curricular needs. The main reason for embarking on this type of study lies in the fact that the contents of English textbooks have a significant association with the learning of the students. The content of English textbook must not contain errors because these errors once imbibed by the student as the correct ones will have adverse effects on his/her learning. The study will be concluded by the author's view toward teachers' evaluations via text book from the author’s experience in teaching English at Saudi schools. 1.2 Problem Statement Teaching the English curriculum “Say It In English" for second intermediate grade has been taught in Saudi Arabia since (2003-2004).Therefore, the author has taught this CB for ten years and it was noticed that many teachers complained numerous problems in dealing with this textbook. Some of them believed that this textbook is beyond students' level. Furthermore, the researcher noticed that many students were not able to use the language properly and this may be due to the nature of the textbook. That is why the author in this study evaluates the selected CB from teachers' point of view to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of this CB to come up with suggestions and recommendations that can be beneficial in developing the selected CB. Accordingly, the author hopes that the result of this study will help in future studies and researches which are interested in the same field. 1.3 Purpose of the Study Since 2003-2004, the Saudi English Second Grade Intermediate CB has not been formally evaluated. Therefore, it was worthwhile to carry out this evaluation. For teachers, while predictive evaluation precedes the implementation of a CB, a retrospective evaluation examines materials that have actually been used. Al-Saif (2005) maintained that while textbooks are central to how EFL teaching is done in Saudi Arabia, there is much need for an evaluation of their content and to investigate the role of teachers in teaching practice and methodology. Material evaluation aims: Ø Identify the strengths in the Second Intermediate Saudi English Language Textbook from the teachers' point of

view in CB objectives, content, language style, skills, technical aspect and appearance of the CB. Ø Identify the weaknesses in the Second Intermediate Saudi English Language Textbook from the teachers' point

of view in CB objectives, content, language style, skills, technical aspect and appearance of the CB. 1.4 Theoretical Framework Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Saudi Arabia: In 1927, the first primary and secondary schools were established in Saudi Arabia. In the same year, both English and French languages were introduced at the secondary level, but with no specific syllabus. In 1953, the intermediate level was introduced and a specific syllabus for teaching English was established for both intermediate and secondary levels{Al-Subahi (1988)}. This syllabus was imported from Egypt, but did not go with some Saudi learners’ customs and needs. In addition, other factors such as the poverty of the country and the high levels of illiteracy contributed to the slow progress in learning {Al-Sadan (2000)}. 1.4.1 The Educational Policy of Saudi Arabia The conference sponsored by the government of Saudi Arabia in 1958 marked a new era in the history of educational organization in the country as regional educational offices were established for the first time to supervise education in their local districts. In 1970, the basis of educational policy was established in order to help students to learn in a correct and comprehensive manner. Four stages for the educational system in Saudi Arabia were established by the Ministry of Education: kindergarten, primary, intermediate and secondary. The students usually start their education at the age of six and spend six years in the primary stage and three years each for the intermediate and secondary stages Khafaji (2004). The purpose of education involves that the Islamic belief is planted and spread, and that students are raised with Muslim values, teachings and ideals. The students are equipped with skills and knowledge which allow them to contribute beneficially to the development of Saudi Arabian society economically, socially and culturally, having been fully prepared to become a useful member in the building of his community (Ministry of Education, 1970, Article 28).

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 233 1.4.2 The Educational Policy for Teaching English The importance of the implication of learning English in Saudi schools is obvious in the Minister of Education’s address to the English language teachers written in Arabic on the second page of all elementary, intermediate and secondary course books. Teachers are encouraged to do the following: to prepare the students to use English, which has become one of the most widely used languages in the world, for the continuation of the Muslims’ role in human civilization through gaining knowledge in arts and science written in this language. This can be done without promoting morals and customs which are contradictory to our religious beliefs (Ministry of Education, General Directorate of Curricula, 2002). The general objectives of teaching English in Saudi Arabia according to the new curriculum document published in 2001 are:

Students should be able to: Ø develop their intellectual, personal and professional abilities. Ø acquire basic language skills in order to communicate with English language speakers. Ø acquire the linguistic competence necessarily required in various life situations. Ø acquire the linguistic competence required in different professions. Ø develop their awareness in communicating using English. Ø develop positive attitudes towards learning English. Ø develop the linguistic competence that enables them to be aware of the cultural, economic and social issues of

their society in order to contribute in giving solutions. Ø develop the linguistic competence that enables them, in the future, to present and explain the Islamic concepts

and issues and participate in spreading Islam. Ø develop the linguistic competence that enables them, in the future, to present the culture and civilization of

their nation. Ø benefit from English speaking nations, in order to enhance the concepts of international cooperation that

develop understanding and respect of cultural differences among nations. Ø acquire the linguistic bases that enable them to participate in transferring the scientific and technological

advances of other nations to their nation. Ø develop the linguistic basis that enables them to present and explain the Islamic concepts and issues and

participate in the dissemination of them {Al-Hajailan (2005)}. The objectives listed above aim to enhance the understanding of English-speaking cultures and bridge these cultures with the Islamic culture of Saudi Arabia. In addition, they aim to equip Saudi students with the English skills they might need for academic and commercial purposes.

1.4.3 The Curriculum of Teaching English at Saudi Schools Al-Hajailan (2005) states "English was taught at the elementary stage from 1348 to 1361 H and was stopped for undeclared reasons"(p. 2). In 2004, English was introduced to the elementary stage again but to sixth grade only. The number of periods was reduced to two periods a week, while English is being taught four times a week at intermediate stages. The general objectives of teaching English language for the second intermediate stage that the author is going to evaluate in this study, as stated in the student's book, are listed below. The pupils should be able to:

• Repeat some phrases and sentences in English which are useful to understand and absorb the content. • Read and write simple sentences and numbers in English. • Spell some of the words and use punctuation properly. • Configure a list of words and phrases. • Recognize some of the rules of the English language and the correct usage.

At the end of the year, students will be able to : • Greet people and produce themselves. • Provide knowledge of family and friends. • Talk about family and relatives. • Talk about school. • Question and give information. • Give a description of someone. • Ask someone on the phone. • Question about the price of something. • Be able to write simple sentences about self, family, friendship, and place of residence.

And appreciate the importance of English language as an international language of communication for introducing Islam. Furthermore, appreciate the importance of the English language as an international language of communication to benefit from the achievements of other cultures in accordance with Islam (Al-Mofarreh, et al, 2005, p. A). 1.4.4 Materials Evaluation Materials evaluation is the systematic appraisal of the value of materials in relation to their objectives and to the objectives of the learners using them. Evaluation can be pre-use and therefore focused on predictions of potential value.

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 234 It can be whilst-use and therefore focused on awareness and description of what the learners are actually doing whilst the materials are being used. And it can be post-use and therefore focused on analysis of what happened as a result of using the materials" {Tomlinson (1998, p. xi)}. 1.4.5 Defining Materials Evaluation The term evaluation has been defined as a variety of processes in the field of applied linguistics. Lynch (1996) defines evaluation as “the systematic attempt to gather information in order to make judgments or decisions” (p. 2). As for materials evaluation as a field of study, Carter and Nunan define it as “the process of measuring the value of learning materials”. This can be predictive pre-use evaluation, ongoing whilst-use evaluation or retrospective post-use evaluation (p. 223). Harmer (2001) stated a distinction between evaluation and assessment. He confirmed that “the assessment of a course book is an out-of-class judgment as to how well a new book will perform in class. Course book evaluation, on the other hand, is a judgment on how well a book has performed in fact” (p. 301). In addition to text materials McGrath (2002) contends that “materials could include regalia: real objects such as a pencil, a chair or a bag and representations such as a drawing, a photograph of a person, house or scene” (p. 7) . 1.4.6 The importance of Materials evaluation There is abundance of academic literature on the design, selection, adoption and evaluation of English language textbooks. Some have maintained that the design of the material should be primarily informed by L2 acquisition and teaching theory, while others have maintained the imperatives of implementing socio-culturally sensitive designs as would embrace and utilize pre-existing L1 linguistic characteristics and experiences. Through a review of selections from recent scholarships on the topic raised, contemporary pedagogical debates and academic opinions on the issues of L2 textbook design, selection, adoption and evaluation shall be presented. Bruder (1978) suggests the use of a checklist of eight criteria: level, objectives, style, language, age, time, convictions and competency. He claims that these criteria should be considered from the viewpoints of teachers and students. Williams (1983) argues for the design and application of a more systemic evaluative approach. Recognizing that the inherently complex nature of L2 teaching material evaluation has spawned various evaluation paradigms, Williams (1983) believes that the design and implementation of a single, comprehensive assessment framework would allow for both more consistent evaluation standards and impose optimal design criteria upon textbook designers. He proposes an evaluative scheme which assesses the effectiveness of the material from pedagogical, linguistic, general and technical perspectives. Textbooks should, therefore, be evaluated on their inclusion of general linguistic instructions and rules, their simplified presentation of linguistic techniques, such as grammatical and syntactical rules, their embrace of practice material, as in reading passages, which both teach language, as in vocabulary and grammar, and can function to guide students’ writing skills and, lastly, on their provision of phonetics guides {Williams (1983)}. Cunningsworth (1984) discussed the principles and criteria for course analysis. The criteria he recommended are discussed under the following headings: language content, selection and gradation of language items, presentation and practice of new language items, developing language skills and communicative abilities, supporting materials motivation and the learner, conclusions and overall evaluation. At the end of his book, he provided a checklist that should be used in course evaluation. Tu'eimah (1985) planned three different tools: a tool for language teaching textbook evaluation, a tool for language teaching textbook analysis, and a tool for measuring language teaching textbook readability. The analysis tool consists of fifteen categories. These are the book’s physical make up, the nature of the course, pre-preparation studies, the language of the book, method of teaching, language skills, grammar, vocabulary, linguistic drills, assessment and evaluation, cultural content, aids and activities, individualized learning, the teacher’s manual and others. The evaluation tool consists of eight categories: pre-preparation studies, language content, language skills, methods of teaching, drills and evaluation, aids, physical make up, and overall impression. Finally, Tu'eimah (1985) suggests the use of cloze tests for measuring readability. He provides an example of how to use cloze tests in order to measure the readability of language teaching textbooks. 1.5 Context of the Study According to information technician center in the Ministry of education "2014”, the number of female intermediate schools in Riyadh is 210 school , and 664 female intermediate English teachers in all regions in Riyadh which means there are about 223 second intermediate English teachers. The study sample consisted of fifty (50) English language female teachers of the English textbook “Say it in English" for second intermediate grade in Riyadh who were asked to answer the questionnaire carefully prepared by the researcher and it was distributed among female English teachers at intermediate schools for all different regions in Riyadh for evaluation purposes. This sample was selected randomly. The study population consists of female teachers of English textbook "Say It In English" scheduled for the second intermediate grade in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher is going to prepare a questionnaire to assess the dimensions of the English text book of the second intermediate grade in SA.

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 235 1.6 Significance of the Study This study might: 1. Help the curriculum planners and designers to reveal the points of strength of "Say It In English" to be reinforced and the points of weakness to be avoided and treated in the future. 2. Help the administrators at the Ministry of Education to develop new textbooks that satisfy the students' needs. 3. Help teachers to address deficiencies in this textbook through the proposed supplementary activities. 1.7 Research Questions

• What are the strengths in the Second Intermediate Saudi English language textbook in CB objectives, content, language style, skills and technical aspects and appearance of the CB from the teachers' point of view?

• What are the weaknesses in the Second Intermediate Saudi English language textbook in CB objectives, content, language style, skills and technical aspect and appearance of the CB from the teachers' point of view?

1.8 Limitations • This study was concerned only with evaluating the Saudi Second Grade Intermediate English CB, "Say It In

English", which was implemented in 2005 from teachers' points of view. • This study has a limited number of participants who are female English teachers of second intermediate grade

in Riyadh. • English second grade intermediate teachers from different regions in Riyadh are participating in answering the

questionnaire in this study. 2. Literature Review Textbooks have a significant role in the process of innovation. According to Hutchinson and Torres(1994), the significance of the textbook evaluation becomes more vivid in periods of change. Besides being a fundamental teaching tool in regular English teaching and learning contexts, textbooks may act as go-betweens and possible agents for change during educational innovation because of many reasons. Firstly, textbooks act as a tool for teacher and learner training, secondly, textbooks provide a picture of how the renewal will look and lastly, they provide the psychological support to instructors. Besides, evaluation of the English language curriculum has become very crucial in all EFL contexts. This has coincided with the efforts of the educational authorities to produce native-like speakers of English in places where English is not the native language. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always been engaged in improving the English language teaching programs at all levels for several years. Therefore, this study is an attempt to enhance these efforts by evaluating "Say It In English" the textbook for second intermediate grade based on input from teachers. So in the literature review it will be presented several topics related to material evaluation. The theoretical literature review "syllabus evaluation rationale" investigated the studies contributing to the theory of textbook evaluation, while the Syllabus Evaluation in the Global Context and in the Saudi context literature review, introduced a summary of research studies on EFL textbook evaluation, with greater emphasis on those studies that evaluated Saudi English CBs. The literature on theoretical studies reviewed some evaluation criteria and checklists developed by various researchers and writers to check the suitability of English language textbooks. This review guided the construction of the overall skeleton of this study: the research questions, the Textbook Evaluation Tool (TET), the procedures of analysis, etc. In addition, types of material evaluation were presented (predictive evaluation, summative evaluation, retrospective evaluation, etc.). In light of reviewed literature, it is evident that CB evaluation is necessary if proper materials are introduced and better methods are followed. 2.1 Reasons for Textbook Evaluation The evaluation of textbooks seeks to identify any weaknesses and strengths of textbooks and helping in the selection process of a textbook with the scope to minimize the negative effects and maximize the positive ones. Textbook evaluation, according to Cunningsworth (1995), would involve the careful selection of materials examining whether they reflect the needs of the learners, the aims, methods and values of a specific teaching program. Textbook evaluation helps the teachers move beyond impressionistic assessments and it further facilitates them to acquire useful, accurate, systematic and contextual insights into the overall nature of textbook materials {Cunningsworth(1995) and Ellis(1997)}. Through the evaluation of a textbook, teachers know the content of the book, its strengths and weaknesses which will help them to adapt it to suit the course aims, learners' needs and teachers' beliefs. As Littlejohn (1998) observes, textbook evaluation serves the purpose of examining whether the methodology and content of the materials are appropriate for a particular language teaching context. The evaluation would test out the claims materials make for themselves: whether they truly develop autonomy, whether they truly involve problem solving and if they indeed are learner centered. 2.2 Types of Syllabus Evaluation Rod Ellis (1997) differentiates between two types of materials evaluation: a predictive evaluation and a retrospective evaluation. A predictive evaluation is designed to construct a decision regarding what materials to use, while a retrospective evaluation is designed to examine materials that have actually been used. It also serves "as a means of testing the validity of a predictive evaluation, and may point to ways in which the predictive instruments can be improved for future use" {Ellis (1997, p. 37)}. He argues that instructors often run into the mission of selecting the

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 236 materials that they will use. In other words, the teachers need to accomplish a predicative evaluation of the materials that they have in hand in order to decide which materials suit their purposes the best. Moreover, just the once they use these materials, they require to carry out further evaluation to identify whether these materials were workable or not. This is what is called the retrospective evaluation {Ellis (1997: 36)}. Rea-Dickens(1994) cited in Li(2004) summarizes three kinds of evaluation: (1) per-use evaluation which can be done prior to the use of a CB for the purpose of checking the construct validity and the match with needs; (2) in-use evaluation; and (3) post-use evaluation, measured in terms of learners’ performance. She advocates giving more attention to in-use and post-use evaluation. Other studies claim that the notion that curriculum reform is a very complex exercise {Fullan and Miles(1992),Anderson(1995) and Gamoran(1997)} connected to all aspects of teaching and learning curriculum reforms have important benefits, but they must occur in concert with other social changes to have a significant and long lasting effect. Klein (1994) argues that reforms constantly fail to reach the desired outcomes because they neglect the social issues that surround each school or district. Taba-Tyler (1962) cited in Pierson and Friederichs (1980) argues that a CB evaluation determines the extent to which the curriculum objectives are met. Low (1989) cited in Kim (2001, p.136) claims that teaching materials are "one of the major determinants of what (is) taught in language teaching programmes". Al-Hajailan (1999) explains that while formative evaluation is carried out during the implementation process, summative evaluation can only be conducted at the end of the process. Sharp (1990, p.133) argues that although classical evaluation procedures may work well, there is an inherent dependence on the "course/ program objectives being or having been clearly stated", regardless of whether or not they were achieved. Sharp calls for the use of an "illuminative evaluation" of courses where there is less concern with prediction and measurements and more concern with description and interpretation. Nevertheless, this paper is a kind of the retrospective evaluation. A retrospective evaluation provides teachers with information regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the used syllabus as it is in this study, since the textbooks in Saudi public schools are not produced by the EFL instructors themselves. 2.3 Syllabus Evaluation Rationale Since the textbook is regarded as the observable spirit of any English language teaching program. It is the foundation for how much linguistic input the students will get in the classroom {O’Neill (2008)}. Richards (2011) argues that in some contexts, textbooks may supply the ground for the content of the lessons, and the type of linguistic practice the learners engage in. In other contexts, textbooks may be matching to the teacher’s instruction. For students, textbooks may be the core source of contact they have with the language apart from input given by the instructor {Cowling (2007)}. Furthermore, textbooks may serve as a kind of training to the teachers by giving them ideas on how to teach lessons. Williams (1983) suggests a material evaluation scheme which accounts for language teaching assumptions as well as the linguistic and the pedagogical components associated with these assumptions. The assumptions on which the scheme is based are: (1) An up-to date methodology of second language teaching, (2) Needs of learners, (3) Guidance for non-native speakers of English, and (4) Relevance to socio-cultural environment. He proposes an EFL/ESL textbook evaluation questionnaire, which includes 7 criteria in 28 categories: general, speech, grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing and technical. While the first criteria, general, "embrace global considerations of methodology, the needs of the learner, the teacher and the community" {Williams (1983, p. 352)}, the technical criteria are concerned with "the quality of editing and publishing; the availability of supplementary material; cost and durability of the text; authenticity of language and style of the writer, etc." (pp. 352-353). Williams maintains that such a checklist is not exhaustive and teachers "can evolve their own sets of criteria for different educational levels or language teaching situations" (p. 353). He also argues that the validity of certain criteria can be certified by seeking the judgments of other teachers or linguists. Fillmore's; Andrade (1990) proposed guidelines for evaluating ESL basic textbooks for adults. The proposed 50-item checklist is divided into the following categories: adult appeal, individual differences, motivation and attitudes, educational background, social context, presentation/practice, and linguistic/social/ discourse/strategic competence. Many scholars offer checklists based on generalizable criteria. These detailed checklists use a variety of methods to assess how well a particular textbook measures up to certain standards. Farr and Tulley cited in Chambliss (1994) reviewed 70 checklists of English Language Textbooks and found that the number of criteria on the checklists ranged from 42 to 180 items. Skierso (1991) suggests a different framework for textbook analysis. She explains that the first step of material evaluation is to collect information about students' background, the course syllabus, and the learning context. Skierso then divides materials into five subsections: bibliographical data, aims and goals, subject matter, vocabulary and structures, and layout and physical makeup. Cunningsworth (1995) presents a checklist of evaluation criteria for English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) teaching material. The category of language content addresses how language form, language functions, and patterns of communicative interaction are organized. Garinger (2001) echoes Hartley's (1992) claims that three content areas need to be addressed when evaluating a textbook's content: teaching objectives, depth and breadth of material, and whether the textbook needs to be supplemented or not. This is consistent with the evaluation criteria suggested by Cunningsworth (1995).

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 237 Ranalli (2002) evaluated the New Headway Upper-Intermediate course book (CB) according to Cunningsworth’s (1995) four general guidelines, with particular emphasis on the syllabus and methodology used. The guidelines are as follows: (1) course books should correspond to learners' needs; (2) course books should reflect the uses (present and future) which learners will make of the language; (3) course books should take account of students’ needs as learners and should facilitate their learning processes, without dogmatically imposing a rigid method; and (4) course books should have a clear role as a support for learning. Xu (2004) developed a predictive textbook evaluation questionnaire which is based on a sufficient number of practice activities that fit all parts of the learning process, many activities on a similar theme or topic, follow-up questions for all readings, contemporariness of the curricular content, activities which promote communication, and activities that meet the needs of multi-level classes. Stein and others (2001) argue that material evaluation should include not only screening criteria, but also a comprehensive content analysis, such as content organization; the presence of explicit, generalizable strategies; opportunities for scaffolded instruction; the strategic integration of skills and concepts; and judicious review. 2.4 Syllabus Evaluation in the Global Context Mehrdad (2012) evaluated the general English course at Islamic Azad University of Hamedan, Iran. The examiner used a questionnaire to study the students' conceptions of good learning of English expressed in terms of their own wants and lacks. The findings of the study emphasized on the students' improving according to the course syllabus in different ways. The mass of the students expressed their need to increase their vocabulary and strengthen their grammar. In addition, Zarei & Khalessi (2011) investigated cultural density in the internationally distributed textbooks (IDTs) of English Language, i.e., Interchange Series. The results of the study showed that textbooks are artifacts which are strongly focused in cultural assumptions and biases. Kontozi (2010) conducted a study "Analysis and Evaluation of English 6th Grade textbook used in Greek public Schools". The study investigated the suitability of the textbook used for 6th Grade primary EFL learners of Greek state schools. The results of the study suggested that the strengths of the book could be identified in areas of organization, thematic content and inclusion of all the language skills. However, the problematic areas related to authentic language, integration of skills, nature of tasks and materials for assessment. Furthermore, Thein (2006) conducted a study to evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of the textbooks used for teaching English to religious studies students at Myanmar Institute of Technology. He collected data by using questionnaires, interviews, and classroom observations from teachers and learners. The study explored the degree to which teachers and learners’ outlook counterpart the objectives of the program in developing students' communicative skills and critical thinking. The results discovered that textbooks used in the program were not suitable for reasons including: the textbooks did not provide to attain the needs and wants of both teachers and learners, they were not efficient to support students' critical thinking and they were not efficient in developing the students' communicative skills for everyday life situations. Thein (2006) suggested that textbooks must be localized to meet teachers and learners' needs. He also emphasized upon the importance of adapting activities that encourage collaborative learning, natural and empirical interactions to help young people think critically. Kirkgöz (2009) evaluated three English textbooks (Texture, Time for English, and Trip 1) taught to grade four classes in primary schools under the Turkish Ministry of National Education. For this purpose, he planned the questionnaire based on the curriculum objectives and the guidelines given by other researchers. The findings of the study revealed that students generally settled that each textbook was colorful, explained via using pictures with interesting characters, drawings, and were appropriate to their own level. All of these factors facilitate learning of English and create entertaining. Teachers also stated that the books encourage student-centered learning helping them to take an active part in the learning progression through a diversity of activities. 2.5 Syllabus Evaluation in the Saudi Context The author shedding light on some Saudi researchers are the most knowledgeable about the societies in which they live. They evaluate Saudi textbooks according to students' level and students' needs in their own culture and society. Al-Hajailan (2003) echoes Jarvis and Adams' (1979; p.53) remarks that curriculum evaluation "involves all the components related to curriculum", i.e. educational objectives, the content, the teaching strategies, and the evaluation techniques. He also states that materials should be analyzed descriptively before starting the evaluation process. Al-Saif (2005) conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the textbook English for Saudi Arabia which is taught in the 6th grade in Saudi elementary schools. The purpose of the study is to examine the strengths and the weaknesses of the textbook with particular emphasis on its suitability to teachers, social contexts and young learners. He uses quantitative study. The sample of the study consisted of 144 male and 149 female English teachers, supervisors and trainers who participated in training elementary stage English teachers. The questionnaires contained 93 specific criteria in 12 categories: rationales, objectives, language skills, teaching aids, vocabulary, grammar, content, methodology, the Workbook, the Teacher's Manual, assessment techniques and general aspects of the textbook. With regard to teachers' opinions, the results of the study showed that the delivery of data was not conclusive. It determined that the textbook

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 238 was only "moderately adequate" and that it required constant and cyclical evaluation based on the changing circumstances of the program. Al-Saif (2005) argues that this finding "suggests some indecisiveness on the part of the evaluators" (p. 62), caused by their limited training and their experience of the textbook. This shows that besides the level of curriculum implementation, teacher professional development is a major factor in any successful textbook evaluation. Madkhali (2005) proposes an alternate syllabus design for the one currently taught at the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The objectives for this new design are based on the findings of needs analyses at two settings: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) at the IPA, and English for job purposes at the Saudi private sector department (PSD). Madkhali uses multi-modal approach to data collection that includes questionnaires, four focus groups: (IPA alumni, IPA English language teachers, and teachers-students in the PSD), and interviews with different populations: students, managers, employees, etc. The researcher uses descriptive statistics and t-test to analyze the quantitative data, and content analysis for the interpretation of the qualitative data. Using a 5-Likert scale questionnaire, the results show that EAP students face difficulties in three English language skills: reading, writing and speaking. Similarly, the perceptions of PSD students were that to a certain degree they face difficulties in the four language skills. Based on the needs found, the researcher advises teaching two business courses: Business Correspondence and Business Communication. In addition, the researcher proposes an alternate design for the current program at the IPA's English Language Center which should focus on General English, rather than English for Specific Purposes. Alamri (2008) evaluated quality of a sixth grade English language textbook for Saudi boys' schools which was introduced at elementary stage by the Ministry of Education in 2004. This research project evaluates a new textbook that is measured as the basic part in the English language program in Saudi Arabia. A survey questionnaire was used in this study to draw the perspectives of 93 English language teachers and 11 supervisors in the Riyadh Educational Zone about the textbook in question. Findings focus on some of the teaching methods and some other sub-items. The results also discovered that although the criteria such as general appearance, design and illustration, topic suitability, skills development and flexibility are satisfied by the book but still they need to be improved. Khafaji (2004) evaluated the materials used to teach English to the secondary level in Saudi public high schools. He discussed general educational policy of the Kingdom and a specific policy for teaching English. The outcomes of this study concluded that the materials have failed to supply students with a sufficient source of motivating and academically purposeful material to achieve the aims and objectives set for the students’ learning process. The study also exposed that the Audio-Lingual approach, which is the fundamental approach in teaching the materials, has been a factor in preventing the capabilities of accomplishing aims and objectives of learning the language. Al-Sowat (2012) "Evaluation of an English book (Say it in English) scheduled for first grade average in Saudi Arabia , designed to evaluate English book for first grade average from the teachers' point of view in the province of Taif . The study also examined the statistical differences between the views of teachers depending on the "type, years of experience and the interaction between gender and years of experience." The outcomes showed that the degree calendar English book for first grade average was good for three criteria evaluation and weak for six evaluation criteria and in general, the evaluation degree of public books was weak. Many activities and supplementary materials were invented to support the book such as audio-visual materials and tests, and language laboratories and stories. The results also showed that there were statistically major differences between the views of teachers in favor of the return parameters to their types. Also, it showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the views of participants in the research that are due to experience or to the interaction between experience and kind. Habtoor (2012) conducted a study to evaluate First Class: English for Tourism, as an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) textbook taught to the sophomore students of Tourism and Archaeology at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study revealed the opinions of the teachers on the textbook regarding its components, its practicality, its activities, the language type, the subject, the content, the four major language skills, the sub-skills of grammar and vocabulary and how they are offered. It also investigated the suitability of the book regarding the learners’ level and their needs. The results revealed that the textbook matches the teachers’ expectations about their students' progression in learning in the Saudi Arabian context. In addition the results showed that there was a harmony among the teachers on the suitability of the textbook. Al-Yousef (2007) evaluated the third grade intermediate English Course Book in Saudi Arabia implemented in 2005 by the Ministry of Education. His study conducted with a total sample of 184: 96 male and female teachers and supervisors in Saudi Arabia, as well as 88 male students who were using the 2005 English CB. The study revealed that the teachers, supervisors and the students evaluated the course book as moderately adequate. Both the quantitative and the qualitative findings have shown that the content and the visuals of the textbook were among the categories that gained the most support, while gradation and recycling and supplementary material were the most poorly rated categories. Al-Jaser (1989) compared boys' and girls' First Secondary-level English Textbooks. He reported that such textbooks should be customized in the light of students' gender, level, and needs. Ereksoussy (1993) conducted an evaluation of the girls' First Grade Intermediate English textbook. She evaluated the objectives, the content selection, practice activities and assessment models.

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 239 2.6 The author point of view From my experience as an English teacher for all the grades at Saudis schools: ü There are many factors affecting the evaluation of English CBs which are: content, teaching methods,

appropriateness to the learners' level, learner's needs, learners' proficiency, learners' differences, learners' environment and learners' culture. That is why the author mentioned some Saudi studies for evaluation English text books at Saudi schools.

ü The author believes that the teacher is the anchor stone in the learning process. Of course, we cannot ignore the learner and the way he studies the textbook but the teacher plays a great role in evaluation and sometimes in designing English textbook. The author thinks that the emphasis should be on the importance of teachers in understanding and catering to the students' needs, interests and abilities. The rationale behind the methodology is that students will be more engaged and enthusiastic about the curriculum if it is adjusted to their preferences.

ü This study agrees with most of the studies in that " those who are responsible for evaluation are teachers" , while other studies focus on some other elements such as supervisors or students. That is why the questionnaire is distributed among teachers.

The author agrees with the scholars in the importance of evaluation of the CB but what is new with this study is to evaluate the selected CB from teachers' point of view. 3. Research Methodology This chapter focuses on the research methodology, principle approaches to research methodology, the participants of the study, data gathering, data analysis and the research procedure. It also provides the structure of the questionnaire and ways of text analysis. 3.1 Research Design This study aimed at evaluating the second intermediate grade English language course book for Saudi girls’ schools "Say It In English", which was published in 2005 by the Ministry of Education, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The term CB was used here to refer (inclusively) to the Pupil's Book, the Workbook, the Supplementary Material and the Teacher's Manual of the series. Materials evaluation has an important value for the development and administration of language-learning programmes" {(McGrath, 2001, p. 1)}. One of the main reasons for materials evaluation according to Cunningsworth (1995) is "to identify particular strengths and weaknesses in course books already in use, so that optimum use can be made of their strong points, whilst their weaker areas can be strengthened through adoption or by substituting materials from other books" (p. 14). For the reasons above, a survey of this study was conducted to elicit the views of a representative number of English language teachers in the Riyadh Educational Zone about the second intermediate grade English textbook for Saudi schools. The research is concentrated on answering the following research questions:

• What are the strengths in the Intermediate Saudi English language text book in CB objectives, content, language style, skills and technical aspects and appearance of the CB from the teachers' point of view?

• What are the weaknesses in the Intermediate Saudi English language text book in CB objectives, content, language style, skills and technical aspect and appearance of the CB from the teachers' point of view?

3.2 Setting This study is a descriptive quantitative study, which seeks to evaluate the English textbook of second intermediate grade "Say It In English" in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from teachers' point of view to cover the purpose of the study. The research took place in most of the intermediate girls' schools in Riyadh via distributing a questionnaire randomly to evaluate second intermediate English course book " Say It In English " from the teachers' point of view. 3.3 Participants According to the technical information center in the Ministry of Education "2014", the number of female intermediate schools in Riyadh is 210 school , and 664 female intermediate English teachers in all regions in Riyadh, that's mean 220 second Intermediate teachers in Riyadh. The study sample " participants" consists of (50) English language female teachers for second intermediate grade in Riyadh to answer a questionnaire carefully prepared by the researcher which is distributed among female English teachers at intermediate schools for all different regions in Riyadh , to evaluate second intermediate English textbooks according to the teachers' opinions. This sample has been selected randomly. 3.4 Procedure The survey "questionnaire" will be distributed among second intermediate English teachers at Riyadh intermediate schools. This questionnaire consists of five dimensions which are: objectives, content, language style, skills and technical aspect of the course book. Also, each dimension has multiple statements. The total of 23 statements will be answered by second intermediate teachers in Riyadh. The data will be collected and analyzed to evaluate the second intermediate English course book from teachers' point of view. 3.5 Data Collection To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher prepared a questionnaire to assess the dimensions of the English text book of second intermediate grade in SA. The teachers' responses to the questionnaire statements were collected and analyzed in terms of frequency and percentage of responses. The researcher used the program Statistical Package

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 240 for Social Sciences, version 16.0 (SPSS) in the analysis of the results which used several statistical methods which are as follows: Cronbach's alpha, mean, percentage, chi-square and standard deviations. The SPSS was used to analyze the quantitative data collected for this study. The data were initially entered into an excel spreadsheet using variable labels and values and including each participant. Each participant was assigned a unique identification number for anonymity. The excel file was imported into SPSS and a master data file was built. This master data file was stripped of all participants to ensure the confidentiality of each participant. 3.6 Reliability of the Study Tool and Validity 3.6.1 Validity of Experts It is the general appearance or the external image of the test in terms of vocabulary, how to formulate it and the extent of its clarity. Also, it indicates how valid it is and the appropriateness of the test for its purpose. The questionnaire which was used in this study will be presented to experts "specialists" in the Department of Curriculum Faculties of Education at King Saud University and Princess Noura University in order to identify the extent to which the questionnaire is affiliated to its dimensions, clarity and suitability to its purpose. They will also be asked to edit, delete and increase as necessary. 3.6.2 The Stability of the Tool The stability of the questionnaire will be calculated using Cronbach’s alpha to measure reliability of the study. The author distributed the questionnaire among a small sample of "8 English teachers" from second intermediate Saudi schools in Riyadh to examine how valid is the tool. Generally speaking, a strong reliability coefficient ranges from about 0.65 to 0.95. Alpha coefficients of 0.70 or higher were considered acceptable {DeVellis (1991)}. The results show that Cronbach’s alpha is 0, 83. Therefore, the questionnaire is valid to be applied on the sample of the study. 4. Results and Discussion 4.1 The Results of Data Analysis Focused main objective of this study to determine: 1. What are the strengths in the Intermediate Saudi English language text book in CB objectives, content, language

style, skills and technical aspects and appearance of the CB from the teachers' point of view? 2. What are the weaknesses in the Intermediate Saudi English language text book in CB objectives, content, language

style, skills and technical aspect and appearance of the CB from the teachers' point of view? To achieve the goals of the study an approval scale was designed according to the five grades as follows: 1. Number (5) refers to: Strongly agree. 2. Number (4) refers to: Agree. 3. Number (3) refers to: Neither agree nor disagree. 4. Number (2) refers to: Disagree. 5. Number (1) refers to: Strongly disagree. To determine the level of assessment of the study, sample items in the questionnaire were considered as follows:

- The Mean (Greater than 1.00 but less than 1.80) : Strongly disagree(S.D.) - The Mean (Greater than 1.80 but less than 2.60) : Disagree(D.A) - The Mean (Greater than 2.60 but less than 3.40): Neither agree nor disagree (N). - The Mean (Greater than 3.40 but less than 4.20: Agree (A). - The Mean (Greater than 4.20 but less than 5.00: Strongly agree (S.A).

4.2 Statistical Treatments To answer the questions of the study, the researcher entered the data to SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences), then makes the necessary statistical analysis. Also, the researcher calculated as arithmetic averages(mean), standard deviations, frequencies and percentages for each item, uses Chi - square and determines the degree of approval for each item of the scale categorized as follows : (Strongly agree, agree, Neither agree nor disagree, Disagree, or Strongly disagree. 4.3 The Results of Items of the Questionnaire and the Study Questions The researcher calculates frequencies, percentages, averages, standard deviations, estimates, chi-square and ranks to study sample responses. Table No. (1) shows the values of the frequencies ,percentages, averages, standard deviations, estimates , chi - square and ranks responses of study sample items: Objectives.

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 241 Table 1. Student responses to paragraphs related to the field: Objectives # Paragraphs Responses Means Std. Chi –

Square Sig. Rate Rank

Strongly disagree

Disagree Neither agree nor disagree

Agree Strongly agree

1 Textbook objectives are clear and accurate to be applied.

F - 4 7 30 9 3.88 0.80 33.68 0.0* A 2 % - 8.0 14.0 60.0 18.0

2 Objectives are realistic.

F - 3 6 34 7 3.90 0.71 50.0 0.0* A 1 % - 6.0 12.0 68.0 14.0

3 Objectives of the material are suitable for students' level.

F - 10 7 25 8 3.62 0.99 17.0 0.001* A 3 % - 20.0 14.0 50.0 16.0

4 Objectives can be achieved within the specific time that has been limited.

F - 15 7 21 7 3.40 1.07 11.12 0.01* A 4 % - 30.0 14.0 42.0 14.0

Overall performance 3.70 0.89 Agree * Means statistically significant at the level of significance (0.05 = α). Notes from the results table (1) earlier mentioned that the values of Means of the items of the first branch ranged between (3.40 - 3.90), while the values of standard deviations ranged between (0.59 - 1.07). Notes from the results presented by the table (1) that all the chi - square values for all the items have been statistically significant at the level of (α = 0.05). Which illustrates the contrast the views of the members of the study sample on these items. This means that the true observation does not correspond with the expected observation.

The following order of the items of the first branch arranged from high to low, as follows: 1. The first rank of item (2), which states: I Objectives are realistic, with mean (3.90) , standard deviation (0.71),

and agree of appreciation. 2. The second rank of item (1), which states: Textbook objectives are clear and accurate to be applied, with mean

(3.88), standard deviation (0.80), and agree of appreciation. 3. The third rank of item (3), which states: Objectives of the material are suitable for students' level, with mean

(3.62), standard deviation (0.99), and agree of appreciation. 4. The fourth rank of item (4), which states: Objectives can be achieved within the specific time that has been

limited, with mean (3.40), standard deviation (1.07), and agree of appreciation. The means for Overall performance (3.70) with a standard deviation (0.89), and agree of appreciation. Table No. (2) shows the values of the frequencies ,percentages, averages, standard deviations, estimates and ranks responses of study sample items: Content. Table 2. Student responses to paragraphs related to the field: Content # Paragraphs Responses Means Std. Chi -


Strongly disagree

Disagree Neither agree nor

disagree


1 The content of the book is appropriate

with the principles of Islam and our

culture.

F - 3 4 25 18 4.16 0.82 27.92 0.0* A 1 % - 6.0 8.0 50.0 36.0

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 242 2 The content

of the book covers all language

skills.

F - 7 5 29 9 3.80 0.90 29.68 0.0* A 3 % - 14.0 10.0 58.0 18.0

3 The topics of the content meet the students' needs.

F - 15 12 14 9 3.34 1.10 1.68 0.64 N 6 % - 30.0 24.0 28.0 18.0

4 The content of the book

includes authentic real-life

situations.

F - 8 9 20 13 3.76 1.02 7.12 0.07 A 4 % - 16.0 18.0 40.0 26.0

5 The content of the book is suitable for the students' cognitive ,

affective and psychomotor

level.

F - 12 12 22 4 3.36 0.94 13.04 0.005* N 5 % - 24.0 24.0 44.0 8.0

6 The content is free from grammatical

errors.

F - 2 7 33 8 3.94 0.68 46.48 0.0* A 2 % - 4.0 14.0 66.0 16.0

Overall performance 3.73 0.91 Agree * Means statistically significant at the level of significance (0.05 = α). Notes from the results table (2) earlier mentioned that the values of Means of the items of the second branch ranged between (3.34 - 4.16), while the values of standard deviations ranged between (0.68 - 1.10).

Notes from the results presented by the table (2) that the chi - square values for the items (1, 2, 5, and 6) have been statistically significant at the level of (α = 0.05). Which illustrates the contrast the views of the members of the study sample on these items. This means that the true observation does not correspond with the expected observation, but the chi - square values for the items (3and 4) have not been statistically significant at the level of (α = 0.05).

The following order of the items of the second branch arranged from high to low, as follows:

1. The first rank of item (1), which states: The content of the book is appropriate with the principles of Islam and our culture, with mean (4.16), standard deviation (0.82), and agree of appreciation.

2. The second rank of item (6), which states: The content is free from grammatical errors, with mean (3.94), standard deviation (0.68), and agree of appreciation.

3. The third rank of item (2), which states: The content of the book covers all language skills, with mean (3.80), standard deviation (0.90), and agree of appreciation.

4. The fourth rank of item (4), which states: The content of the book includes authentic real-life situations, with mean (3.76), standard deviation (1.02), and agree of appreciation.

5. The fifth rank of item (5), which states: The content of the book is suitable for the students' cognitive, affective and psychomotor level, with mean (3.36) , standard deviation (0.94), and neutral of appreciation.

6. The sixth rank of item (3), which states: The topics of the content meet the students' needs, with mean (3.34), standard deviation (1.10), and neutral of appreciation.

The means for Overall performance (3.74) with a standard deviation (0.91), and agree of appreciation.

Table No. (3) shows the values of the frequencies ,percentages, averages, standard deviations, estimates and ranks responses of study sample items: Language Style.

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 243 Table 3. Student responses to paragraphs related to the field: Language Style

# Paragraphs Responses Means

Std. Chi – Squar

e

Sig. Rate Rank Strongly

disagree Disagree Neither agree

nor disagree Agree Strongly

agree 1 The language used

in the text book is realistic.

F - 2 3 37 8 4.02 0.62 65.68 0.0* A 1 % - 4.0 6.0 74.0 16.0

2 The text book focuses on the use

of language.

F - 10 7 28 5 3.56 0.93 26.64 0.0* A 3 % - 20.0 14.0 56.0 10.0

3 The language used is suitable for the

students' level.

F - 15 8 22 5 3.34 1.02 13.84 0.003* N 4 % - 30.0 16.0 44.0 10.0

4 The language in the text book is easy

for learners to understand.

F - 11 4 25 10 3.68 1.04 18.96 0.0* A 2 % - 22.0 8.0 50.0 20.0

Overall performance 3.65 0.90 Agree * Means statistically significant at the level of significance (0.05 = α). Notes from the results table (3) earlier mentioned that the values of Means of the items of the third branch ranged between (3.34 - 4.02), while the values of standard deviations ranged between (0.62 - 1.04). Notes from the results presented by the table (3) that all the chi - square values for all the items have been statistically significant at the level of (α = 0.05). Which illustrates the contrast the views of the members of the study sample on these items. This means that the true observation does not correspond with the expected observation. The following order of the items of the third branch arranged from high to low, as follows:

1. The first rank of item (1), which states: The language used in the text book is realistic, with mean (4.02), standard deviation (0.62), and agree of appreciation.

2. The second rank of item (4), which states: The language in the text book is easy for learners to understand, with mean (3.68), standard deviation (1.04), and agree of appreciation.

3. The third rank of item (2), which states: The text book focuses on the use of language, with mean (3.80), standard deviation (0.93), and agree of appreciation.

4. The fourth rank of item (3), which states: The language used is suitable for the students' level, with mean (3.34), standard deviation (1.02), and neutral of appreciation.

The means for Overall performance (3.65) with a standard deviation (0.90), and agree of appreciation. Table No. (4) shows the values of the frequencies, percentages, averages, standard deviations, estimates and ranks responses of study sample items: Language Skills. Table 4. Student responses to paragraphs related to the field: Language Skills

# Paragraphs Responses Means Std. Chi – Square

Sig. Rate Rank Strongly disagree

Disagree Neither agree nor disagree


1 The four language skills are covered in the text book.

F - 3 7 30 10 3.94 0.77 34.64 0.0* A 1 % - 6.0 14.0 60.0 20.0

2 The content of the book develops

higher skills such as creative

thinking and problem-solving.

F 1 10 10 23 6 3.46 1.01 26.60 0.0* A 3 % 2.0 20.0 20.0 46.0 12.0

3 The text book activities provide (authentic) real life situations.

F - 8 8 25 9 3.70 0.95 16.72 0.001* A 2 % - 16.0 16.0 50.0 18.0

Overall performance 3.70 0.91 Agree * Means statistically significant at the level of significance (0.05 = α).

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 244 Notes from the results table (4) earlier mentioned that the values of Means of the items of the fourth branch ranged between (3.46 - 3.94), while the values of standard deviations ranged between (0.77 - 1.01). Notes from the results presented by the table (4) that all the chi - square values for all the items have been statistically significant at the level of (α = 0.05). Which illustrates the contrast the views of the members of the study sample on these items. This means that the true observation does not correspond with the expected observation. The following order of the items of the fourth branch arranged from high to low, as follows:

1. The first rank of item (1), which states: The four language skills are covered in the text book., with mean (3.94) , standard deviation (0.77), and agree of appreciation.

2. The second rank of item (3), which states: The text book activities provide (authentic) real life situations, with mean (3.70), standard deviation (0.95), and agree of appreciation.

3. The third rank of item (2), which states: The content of the book develops higher skills such as creative thinking and problem-solving., with mean (3.46), standard deviation (1.01), and agree of appreciation.

The means for Overall performance (3.70) with a standard deviation (0.91), and agree of appreciation. Table No. (5) shows the values of the frequencies, percentages, averages, standard deviations, estimates and ranks responses of study sample items: Technical Aspect. Table 5. Student responses to paragraphs related to the field: Technical Aspect # Paragraphs Responses Means Std. Chi –


Strongly disagree

Disagree Neither agree nor

disagree


1 The headlines and sub-titles are organized

well.

F - 3 6 24 17 4.10 0.84 22.80 0.0* A 2

% - 6.0 12.0 48.0 34.0

2 The units are organized well and

show sequence.

F - 6 5 26 13 3.92 0.92 22.48 0.0* A 5

% - 12.0 10.0 52.0 26.0

3 The book contains

pictures and schedules

which help Students to understand

written texts.

F - 4 5 27 14 4.02 0.84 27.28 0.0* A 3

% - 8.0 10.0 54.0 28.0

4 Text book Instructions

are written in simple and

clear language.

F - 4 3 34 9 3.96 0.75 50.96 0.0* A 4

% - 8.0 6.0 68.0 18.0

5 Text book appearance is attractive and

nice.

F - 8 7 17 18 3.90 1.07 8.08 0.04* A 6

% - 16.0 14.0 34.0 36.0

6 The text book has a high quality of printing.

F - 4 1 23 22 4.26 0.85 32.40 0.0* SA 1

% - 8.0 2.0 46.0 44.0

Overall performance 4.03 1.07 Agree

* Means statistically significant at the level of significance (0.05 = α).

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 245 Notes from the results table (5) earlier mentioned that the values of Means of the items of the fifth branch ranged between (3.90 - 4.26), while the values of standard deviations ranged between (0.75 - 1.07). Notes from the results presented by the table (5) that all the chi - square values for all the items have been statistically significant at the level of (α = 0.05). Which illustrates the contrast the views of the members of the study sample on these items. This means that the true observation does not correspond with the expected observation.

The following order of the items of the fifth branch arranged from high to low, as follows: 1. The first rank of item (6), which states: The text book has a high quality of printing, with mean (4.26),

standard deviation (0.85), and strong agree of appreciation. 2. The second rank of item (1), which states: The headlines and sub-titles are organized well., with mean

(4.10), standard deviation (0.84), and agree of appreciation. 3. The third rank of item (3), which states: The book contains pictures and schedules which help Students to

understand written texts., with mean (4.02) , standard deviation (0.84), and agree of appreciation. 4. The fourth rank of item (4), which states: Text book Instructions are written in simple and clear language,

with mean (3.96), standard deviation (0.75), and agree of appreciation. 5. The fifth rank of item (2), which states: The units are organized well and show sequence, with mean

(3.92), standard deviation (0.92), and agree of appreciation. 6. The sixth rank of item (5), which states: Text book appearance is attractive and nice, with mean (3.90),

standard deviation (1.07), and agree of appreciation. The means for Overall performance (4.03) with a standard deviation (1.07), and agree of appreciation. 5. Conclusion This chapter consists of four sections: summary, conclusion, recommendations and suggestions. First, the summary presents an overall account for all parts of the research. Second, the conclusion presents the study's findings in light of the researcher’s hypotheses. Third, it provides recommendations for modifying the textbook at hand and finally, it ends with suggestions for future research. 5.1 Summary of the Study The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of the Second Intermediate Grade English Language Textbook for Saudi girls' Schools “Say It In English “from the teachers' point of view. The research is concentrated on answering the following research questions:

• What are the strengths in the Intermediate Saudi English language text book in CB objectives, content, language style, skills and technical aspects and appearance of the CB from the teachers' point of view?

• What are the weaknesses in the Intermediate Saudi English language text book in CB objectives, content, language style, skills and technical aspect and appearance of the CB from the teachers' point of view?

A survey questionnaire was used in this study to elicit the perspectives about the textbook from 50 English language female teachers in Riyadh Educational Zone. The questionnaire consisted of 23 items grouped under 5 main categories: objectives, content, language style, language skills and technical aspect of the CB. The data were subjected to analysis through descriptive statistics. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher prepared a questionnaire to assess the dimensions of the English text book of second intermediate grade in SA. The teachers' responses to the questionnaire statements were collected and analyzed in terms of frequency and percentage of responses. The researcher used the program Statistical Package for Social Sciences in analyzing data. The findings of this research study revealed important points related to the characteristics of a good textbook. The findings were generally in favour of the textbook except for the language style and some other sub-items. Out of 23 items in the questionnaire, only 4 items had arithmetic means less than 3.50 (the average). The category that had the highest mean was the one on technical aspects, while the category that had the lowest mean was the one on language style. 5.2 Conclusion and Discussion Based on the results obtained from the statistical analysis, the following conclusions are drawn: 1. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding the objectives covered. In addition, objectives are clear, realistic, suitable to the students' level and accurate to be applied. Also, objectives can be achieved within the specific, limited time. According to a very high percentage of the participants, all the objectives are covered, presented and graded in a satisfactory manner. 2. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding the content that is appropriate with the principles of Islam and our culture. However, the textbook failed to express positive views of the topics of the content that meet the students' needs according to almost half of the participants. 3. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding the languages content as it covers all language skills. However, the content regarding its suitability for the students' cognitive, affective and psychomotor level, does not satisfy the participants' expectations.

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 246 4. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding the activities content as it includes authentic real-life situations. 5. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding a content that is free from grammatical errors. 6. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding the language used in as much as it is realistic. However, according to the majority of the participants, the language style is not suitable for the students' level. 7. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding the focus on the use of language. In addition, the language is easy for learners to understand. 8. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding language skills. Four language skills are covered and the content of the book develops higher skills such as creative thinking and problem-solving. In addition, its activities provide (authentic) real life situations. 9. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding its technical aspect. However, an appropriate glossary should be added. 10. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding its high quality of printing and its attractive appearance. However, the units must be better organized to show a sequence that can stimulate students' creativity. 11. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding its pictures and schedules which help students to understand written texts. 12. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding the headings and sub-titles which are organized well. 13. It satisfies teachers’ expectations regarding the instructions that are written in a simple and clear language. However, more illustrations that can stimulate students' critical thinking are required. 5.3 Recommendations Based on the results obtained from this study, the following points are recommended: Ø Compose topics that can provoke students' critical thinking, encourage them to create their ideas and generate

higher thinking. Ø Insert a context that can express positive views of ethnic origins, occupations, age groups, social groups and

disability. Ø Add an appropriate glossary at the end of the textbook for the benefit of both teachers and students. Ø Urge students to acquire a simplified monolingual dictionary (e.g. Frisby’s Longman's Pocket English

Dictionary) and/or a bilingual pocket dictionary (e.g.Balabki’s Almawrid Alqareeb). Longman's Pocket English Dictionary contains illustrations and simplified definitions of words. Students will be motivated to use the dictionary since this will be their first experience in dictionary use.

Ø Replace the listening material with a better one that is well recorded, more authentic and accompanied with background information, questions and activities.

Ø Allow some flexibility through practicing language freely, formally and informally so students can practice various degrees of language such as giving directions, greetings, short telephone exchanges, polite requests and formal invitations.

Ø Include information about the inner lives of the characters used in the book as this can allow students to discuss the characters' personalities, behaviors, problems, attitudes and ways of thinking. In addition, these characters can be examples for the students in their real lives.

Ø It was clear from the research results that the textbook fails to satisfy the teachers' expectations regarding the suitability of the language used at the students' level. These language and learning styles should be updated and student-centered approaches should be used to engage students affectively through excitement, fun and emotion. Communicative approaches that can allow various activities are highly recommended to encourage students to use language effectively.

Ø Vary learning and language styles. The textbook emphasizes analytical learning that depends mainly on practice and memorization and does not take into account the fact that some students may prefer an experiential learning style.

Ø Add communicative exercises and activities such as group and pair work, games, puzzles and role play, as these can help students carry out their communicative tasks in real life.

Ø Encourage students to make PowerPoint presentations, which contain animated pictures of the CB's content. 5.4 Suggestions for Further Studies ü An extension of this study is required to evaluate the English language textbooks recently introduced at the

Saudi intermediate schools. ü A content analysis study for the same textbook evaluated in this study is needed as it may uncover more

valuable results. ü A further study might be conducted to investigate the whole program for teaching English as a foreign

language in Saudi Arabia. ü Empirical evaluative studies to evaluate the English textbooks in Saudi girls' schools are also suggested. ü Finally, the recommendations given here will be worth the work done by students, teachers, supervisors and

the researcher if they help to improve current and future language learning success of Saudi pupils.

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 247 References Alamri, A. (2008). An Evaluation of the Sixth Grade English Language Textbook for Saudi Boys' Schools. Thesis Submitted to the Department of English Language in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Master Degree of Arts in Applied Linguistics at the College of Arts at King Saud University. Al-Hajailan, T. (2003). Teaching English in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh: Aldar Alsawtia for Publishing and Distribution. Al-Jaser, A. M. (1989). An analysis of the English language textbooks taught at the first year boy and girls' secondary schools: a comparative study. Unpublished MA dissertation, King Saud University, Riyadh. Al-Mofarreh, et al. (2005) English for Saudi Arabia: Sixth Grade Elementary. Riyadh: Ministry of Education. Al-Sadan, I. A. (2000) Educational assessment in Saudi Arabian schools. Unpublished PhD thesis, Cardiff University. Al-Subahi, A. A. O. (1989) A Communicative-Functional English Curriculum For Intermediate School in Saudi Arabia: a model for English syllabus design and implementation. Unpublished PhD thesis, Department of Education, University of Edinburgh. Al-Saif, A. (2005). An evaluation of the TEFL textbook for the 6th elementary class in Saudi Arabia. Unpublished MA thesis, 78 pages. Essex University, UK. Al-Sowat, H. (2012), An evaluation of English language Textbook "say it in English" for first year Intermediate Grade in Saudi Arabia. Journal of studies in curriculum and supervision, 3(2). Alshumaimeri, Y (2001), Saudi Students’ Perceptions of Their Textbook: English for Saudi Arabia, (EFSA), Secondary Year One : Needs Analysis. Al-Yousef, H.S. (2007). An evaluation of the third grade intermediate English textbook in Saudi Arabia. Retrieved: December 1, 2012. From the World Wide Web: http://repository.ksu.edu.sa/jspui/bitstream/123456789/8767/1/An%20evaluation%20of%20the%20third%20grade%20intermediate.pdf Anderson, R.D. (1995). Curriculum Reforms. Dilemmas and Promise. Phi Delta Kappan 77 (1), 33–36. Chambers, F. (1997). Seeking consensus in textbook evaluation. ELT Journal. 51(1). Chambliss, M.J. (1994). Evaluating the quality of textbooks for diverse learners. Remedial and Special Education, 15, 348-362. Cowling, J. (2007). Needs analysis: Planning a syllabus for a series of intensive workplace courses at a leading Japanese company. English for Specific Purposes 26, 426–442. Cunningsworth, A. (1984). Evaluating and selecting EFL teaching materials. Oxford: Heinemann Educational. Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing Your Course Book, Max Hueber Verlag. Ellis, R. (1997). The empirical evaluation of teaching materials. ELT Journal, 51(1), 36-42. Eliss , R. (2005), Principles of instructed Language Learning. System 33, 209-224.[1,4] Ereksoussy, M. (1993). Evaluating the English language textbook studied in the first year at girls' intermediate schools in Saudi Arabia. Unpublished MA dissertation, King Saud University, Riyadh. Flutter, J. (2007). Teacher development and pupil voice. The Curriculum Journal 18, no. 3: 343–54. Fullan, M., Miles, M.B. (1992). Getting reform right: what works and what doesn’t. Phi Delta Kappan 73 (10), 744–752. Gamoran, A. (1997). Curriculum change as a reform strategy: lessons from the United States and Scotland. Teacher College Records 98(4), 608–628. Garinger, D. (2001). Textbook evaluation. TEFL Web Journal. Retrieved from: http://www.teflweb-j.org/v1n1/garinger.html Habtoor, H.A. (2012). English for Specific Purpose Textbook in EFL Milieu: An Instructor’s Perspective Evaluation. International Journal of Linguistics, 4(3). Hutchinson, T., & Torres, E. (1994). The textbook as agent of change. ELT Journal, 48(4), 315-328. Jackson, J. (2005). An Inter-university, Cross-disciplinary Analysis of Business Education: Perceptions of Business Faculty in Hong Kong. English for Specific Purposes, 24(3), 293-306. Khafaji, A. (2004). An evaluation of the materials used for teaching English to the second secondary level in male public high school in Saudi Arabia. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Exeter. Exeter, UK. Kirkgöz, Y. (2009). Evaluating the English Text Books for Young Learners of English at Turkish Primary Education. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 1, 79-83. Klein, M.F. (1994). The toll for curriculum reforms. Peabody Journal of Education 69(3), 19–34. Mabdkhali, H. (2005). A language curriculum model: A case study in Saudi Arabia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Ball State University, Muncie Indiana. Retrieved January 22, 2006, from http://www.bsu.edu/libraries/virtualpress/student/dissertations/pdfs/M33_2005MadkhaliHusamM.html McGrath, I. (2002). Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Mehrdad, A. (2012). A subjective needs assessment of EGP students. Social and Behavioral Sciences. 31,546 – 554. Mertens, D.M. (2005). Research and evaluation in education and psychology. 2nd Edition. California: Sage Publications Inc. O’Neill, R. (2008). Why use textbooks? ELT Journal, 36, 2, 104-111. Ranalli,J ,M. (2002), Comaring Scoring Procedures on a Cloze Test, Retrieved on Nov. 23.2005: http/ www.cels.bham.ac.uk/ recourses /essays / Ranalli5.pdf Richards, J. C. (2011). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sheldon, L.E. (1988). Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials. ELT Journal, 42(4), 237-246.

ALLS 7(2):231-248, 2016 248 Skierso, A. (1991), Text Book Selection and Evaluation, In M Celce-Murcia (Ed) Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (pp.432-453). Boston: Heinle and Heinle. Thein, N. (2006) Evaluating the suitability and effectiveness of three English course books at Myanmar Institute of Technology. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Thailand. Thailand. Williams, P., M.Williams, C. Guray, A. Bertram, R. Brenton, and A. McCormack. (1994). Perceived barriers to implementing a new integrated curriculum. Curriculum Perspectives, 14(1), 17–23. Zarei, G. & Khalessi, M. (2011). Cultural load in English language textbooks: an analysis of interchange series. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 15, 294–301. Appendix

No Dimensions And Subtitles Strongly agree

Agree Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

Objectives

1 Textbook objectives are clear and accurate to be applied.

2 Objectives are realistic.

3 Objectives of the material are suitable for students' level.

4 Objectives can be achieved within the specific time that has been limited.

Content

1 The content of the book is appropriate with the principles of Islam and our culture.

2 The content of the book covers all language skills.

3 The topics of the content meet the students' needs.

4 The content of the book includes authentic real-life situations.

5 The content of the book is suitable for the students' cognitive, affective and psychomotor level.

6 The content is free from grammatical errors.

Language Style

1 The language used in the text book is realistic.

2 The text book focuses on the use of language.

3 The language used is suitable for the students' level.

4 The language in the text book is easy for learners to understand.

Language Skills

1 The four language skills are covered in the text book.

2 The content of the book develops higher skills such as creative thinking and problem-solving.

3 The text book activities provide (authentic) real life situations.

Technical Aspect

1 The headlines and sub-titles are organized well.

2 The units are organized well and show sequence.

3 The book contains pictures and schedules which help Students to understand written texts.

4 Text book Instructions are written in simple and clear language.

5 Text book appearance is attractive and nice.

6 The text book has a high quality of printing.



Insight into the Attitudes of Speakers of Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic towards their Dialect

Sameeha D. Alahmadi

Northumbria University, UK Newcastle City Campus, 2 Ellison Pl, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK


Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.249 Received: 26/12/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.249 Accepted: 08/02/2016 Abstract The current study mainly aims to examine the attitudes of speakers of Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic (UMHA) towards their dialect, which is spoken in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It also investigates whether the participants’ age, sex and educational level have any impact on their perception of their dialect. To this end, I designed a 5-point-Likert-scale questionnaire, requiring participants to rate their attitudes towards their dialect. I asked 80 participants, whose first language is UMHA, to fill out the questionnaire. On the basis of the three independent variables, namely, age, sex and educational level, the participants were divided into three groups: old and young speakers, male and female speakers and educated and uneducated speakers. The results reveal that in general, all the groups (young and old, male and female, and educated and uneducated participants) have a sense of responsibility towards their dialect, making their attitudes towards their dialect positive. However, differences exist between the three groups. For instance, old speakers tend to express their pride of their dialect more than young speakers. The same pattern is observed in male and female groups. The results show that females may feel embarrassed to provide answers that may imply that they are not proud of their own dialect, since the majority of women in the Arab world, in general, are under more pressure to conform to the overt norms of the society than males. Therefore, I argue that most Arab women may not have the same freedom to express their opinions and feelings about various issues. Based on the results, the study concludes with some recommendations for further research. Keywords: sociolinguistics, language attitudes, dialectology, social variables, Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic 1. Introduction Language is the main tool used by humans for communication; it is a prominent social force whose function is not a mere transfer of information. That is, language can give insight into both personal and social aspects of its speakers (Obiols 2002). For instance, interlocutors can make judgements about each other, relating to personality, social status, educational background, etc. through observing the addressee’s dialect, vocabulary, intonation, among other aspects. Attitude is defined by Ryan and Giles (1982: 7) as “any affective, cognitive or behavioural index of evaluative reactions toward different language varieties or speakers”. For Obiols (2002), attitude is a mental reaction towards a particular thing that functions as a link between opinion and behaviour. Examining speakers’ attitudes towards their language or dialect is of great significance in the field of sociolinguistics (Williams et al. 1976; Romaine 1980; Dittmar and Schlobinski 1988; Preston 2002; Wardhaugh 2002; among others). Speakers’ attitudes towards their language or dialect can give insight into: (1) speakers’ linguistic behaviour; (2) the language/dialect they choose speak in multilingual or various speech communities; (3) language/dialect prestige; and (4) language/dialect loyalty (Obiols 2002). In this area, various studies have attempted to examine speakers’ attitudes towards their language/dialect. However, little attention has been given to speakers’ attitudes towards Arabic in general, and Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic (UMHA) in particular. The current study aims to bridge this gap; specifically, it aims to examine the attitudes of speakers of UMHA towards their dialect and determine whether social variables such as age, sex and educational level affect the speakers’ perception of their dialect. 2. Previous research on language attitudes The tendency to investigate speakers’ attitudes towards their language or speech variety has started as early as the 1930s. The first study to be conducted in this area was carried out by none other than Thomas Hatherley Pear (1931). In his study, Pear examined whether the speaker’s voice is able to generate enough cues to carry out a reliable personality evaluation. The results of his study revealed that the judgements of personality are not reliant on any accurate reflection of personality hidden in the voice of the speaker, rather the judgments had the tendency to stereotype speaker’s personality in terms of the sound of his/her voice (Pear 1931: 30). Since Pear’s study, research of speakers’ perception and attitudes towards their language or speech variety has begun to take momentum (McClelland 1961; Baker 1976; Migunda Attyang 2007; Leong 2014; among others). Studies addressing language attitudes have demonstrated that the status of a particular language or speech variety relies on the attitudes of individuals towards its characteristics, uses,


ALLS 7(2):249-256, 2016 250 cultural aspects, such as songs and proverbs (see Zibin and Altakhaineh 2014). According to Baker (1976), there are two factors related to language attitude in sociolinguistic research, namely, instrumental and integrated orientation. The former refers to a self-oriented and individualistic attitude to language that has a cognitive overlap with the individual’s need for achievement (McClelland 1961). On the other hand, the latter is socially and interpersonally oriented; this type of attitudes arises from a need for affiliation (Baker 1976). However, such attitudes are not constant; they may change gradually overtime for various reasons. These types of attitudes are referred to in the course of the discussion. In one study that focused on speakers’ attitudes towards their language, Migunda Attyang (2007) investigated speakers’ perceptions of Sheng, a stigmatised hybrid speech variety spoken in Nairobi as well as other urban areas of Kenya. Migunda Attyang (2007) focused on speakers’ beliefs concerning Sheng’s structure, function and its use by different age groups and different social-economic-status individuals. She discovered that when the participants were given both positive and negative statements regarding Sheng, negative statements prevailed in comparison with the positive ones. What was interesting about her results was that young speakers were the ones whose responses were most negative. Young speakers were keener on speaking a speech variety that is not stigmatised in their community and in other communities as well. In another recent study, Leong (2014) examined speakers’ attitudes towards Mandarin, in light of the Singapore Government’s campaign in 1979 to persuade dialect speakers to abandon their Chinese dialects in favor of Mandarin. The sample of the study consisted of 126 dialect speakers. Leong (2014) elicited the data through a self-administered survey, which was designed to determine dialect speakers’ attitudes towards the use of Mandarin in various domains. The results of the study demonstrated that despite the fact that dialect speakers have abandoned their original dialects, started using Mandarin and agreed on the continuation of the Mandarin campaign launched by the Singapore government, they conceived of Mandarin as having a lower status and importance compared to English. The reason for this change is that English has become a dominant language in Singapore; it is mainly associated with social identity and modernity. Thus, speakers’ choice of the language/dialect they prefer to speak is, arguably, related to affiliation and language prestige. Alahmadi (2015: 38) indicated that Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic (UMHA), a dialect of Arabic spoken in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, has been greatly influenced by other languages through language contact. Mecca is regarded as a holy city to Muslims around the globe; millions of Muslims travel to Mecca every year to fulfil one of the pillars of Islam, namely, pilgrimage. As a result of communicating with Muslims, who stay in Mecca for religious purposes, an abundance of loan words from various languages, such as Turkish, Persian, Urdu, Italian, Spanish and many more found their way into UMHA. The lexical diversity of UMHA has transformed it into a unique variety of Arabic. Hence, one may argue that examining speakers’ attitudes towards UMHA can provide insight into the speakers’ cognitive and linguistic behaviour. To the best of my knowledge, so far such a study has not been undertaken. Thus, the current study is motivated by this suggestion. In particular, this study seeks answers to the following research questions:

1) What are speakers of UMHA attitudes towards their dialect? 2) Do the participants’ age, sex and educational level have an impact on their attitudes towards UMHA?

3. Methodology 3.1 The participants This study involved 80 speakers of Urban Meccan Hijazi Arabic, who live in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. They were all born in Mecca and have not lived in another country for more than three months (see Alahmadi 2015). The participants were selected randomly from a population, reflecting the three independent variables, i.e. age, sex and educational level. According to Meyerhoff et al. (2015), in a simple random sampling, all individuals can be chosen to participate in the study equally. Thus, this technique reduces human bias and ensures that the selected sample represents the population, i.e. residents in Mecca. The participants were divided into three groups based on the three independent variables: 35 young speakers (20-45 years old) and 45 old speakers (46-70+ years old) based on age, 40 male speakers and 40 female speakers based on sex and 30 uneducated speakers and 50 educated speakers based on educational level (see Alahmadi 2015). These three social variables have proven their influence on various aspects related to linguistic behaviour (see Eckert 1989; Altakhaineh and Rahrouh 2015) and social behaviour (see Tagliamonte 2006; Migunda Attyang 2007; among others). 3.2 Instrument In order to provide accurate answers to the two research questions, I designed a 26-item questionnaire (see Appendix 1). Questionnaires have been widely used as a data elicitation tool in the field of sociolinguistics, since they can elicit a substantial amount of data in a short time as well as provide insight into individuals’ linguistic and social behaviour, especially in certain social situations. They also demonstrate speakers’ attitudes towards various issues related to language and society (Meyerhoff et al. 2015: 71). The questionnaire employed in the current study is divided into two sections: section 1 was devoted to collecting general information about the participants, i.e. their age, sex, educational level, occupation, etc. this section is important, because it provides the necessary information about the participants which may influence their attitudes towards UMHA. Section 2 is a 5-point-Likert-scale questionnaire, containing questions about the participants’ attitudes towards their dialect, and whether they want to preserve it and use it continuously. This may give an idea about their opinions and feelings towards their mother tongue and whether the previously-mentioned social variables contribute to their answers. Other studies have utilised this data elicitation tool to

ALLS 7(2):249-256, 2016 251 test other aspects of linguistic behaviour (see Altakhaineh and Zibin 2014). It should be noted that participation in this study was completely voluntary; the participants who chose to take part in the study signed a consent form. With respect to data collection, I distributed the questionnaire to residents of Mecca, who were in the streets at the time of data collection. This may show that the selection of the participants was indeed random. I also kept my distance from the participants at the time of data collection to lessen the effect of the observer’s paradox (1972: 92). 4. Results and discussion This section reports on the participants’ results on section 2 that deals with their attitudes towards their dialect (see Appendix 1). Starting with the first two groups, i.e. young and old participants, the results showed that their results were similar on some questions but not on others. For example, when asked to express their agreement or disagreement on the question: Young people in Mecca speak the dialect as well as old people, 86% of young speakers and 93% of the old speakers answered: disagree. The two age groups provided similar answers, but for different reasons. Possibly, the young speakers provided such as answer, because they believe that being old means that someone had lived for a longer time, and thus had wider experience. Therefore, they indicated that old people speak UMHA better than them. Young people may also measure one’s knowledge of his/her dialect by how many old words he/she knows. Being unable to know the meaning of some old words in UMHA may make them believe that they do not know the dialect as well as the old speakers do. From another perspective, the old speakers may have indicated that the young speakers do not know the dialect as well as they do, because they may believe that young speakers are more eager to learn other languages, such as English. Thus, young people may not be as interested as they are in preserving the dialect (cf. Migunda Attyang 2007). Additionally, the older participants indicated that they do not understand many words young people use these days. They indicated that many words used by young people these days either come from other languages or are coined by them. Therefore, the old participants may believe that young participants are not as interested as they are in recording and preserving the dialect. The following table presents the answers of the two groups on some questions. Table 1. The participants who answered agree or strongly agree on some items

No. The item in the questionnaire Younger older 1. We should keep speaking Meccan Hijazi Arabic

everywhere not only in Mecca. 97% 98%

2. We should use Meccan Hijazi orthography to preserve Meccan songs, proverbs, etc.

91% 96%

3. If there was no Meccan Hijazi dialect in use, there would be no Meccan Hijazi culture.

94% 100%

4. I think being a speaker of Meccan Hijazi dialect is better than being a speaker of any other dialect.

86% 96%

5. I think we should have TV programmes in Meccan Hijazi dialect.

80% 98%

Total mean of answers 90% 98% Table 1 shows that a big number of both the older (98%) and the younger participants (90%) agree on using and preserving UMHA in their daily conversation as well as start writing it. These answers could be due to two reasons; firstly, even though young people may want to learn English and other European languages so that, they can be perceived as prestigious (see Baker 1976) they still want to use UMHA. For instance, on the questions: • If you want to marry, you would prefer your spouse to be a Meccan Hijazi speaker. • If your children want to marry, you would prefer his/her spouse to be a Meccan Hijazi speaker. 83% and 89% of the young participants answered agree or strongly agree, respectively. This may show that they have positive attitudes towards their dialect, mainly, since it expresses their uniqueness, affiliation and solidarity (cf. Baker 1976; Leong 2014). For instance, it has been observed that many young and old speakers attempt to preserve the dialect by continue using UMHA proverbs. Also, instead of using MSA in writing, many young people use UMHA in writing, as it has been noticed in the social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook. These results may show that many old and young people alike have the desire to use and preserve their dialect. Secondly, it can be argued that some participants, especially young participants, may have felt embarrassed to provide answers that may imply that they are not proud of their own dialect. They may have felt worried about being perceived as people who love other languages and cultures more than they love their own. Even though they have not revealed their identities, they may have still felt worried and embarrassed about expressing their true feelings. In the Arab culture in general, most people worry about what others think. They fear that if people think that they are deviating from the norms that are prevalent in the society, they would be considered outcasts and no one would speak to them. This applies mainly to women, which takes us to the answers provided by males and females.

ALLS 7(2):249-256, 2016 252 The results reveal that the answers provided by both males and females, regarding their attitudes towards their dialect have some similarities and differences. For instance, on the question: I think that males speak Meccan Hijazi Arabic better than females. The male and female answers were as follows: • Female: 75% answered disagree or strongly disagree • Male: 88% answered agree or strongly agree 75% of the female participants may have disagreed, because they may think that they are the ones who stay at home most of the time. Hence, most of their communication is done with other women, who also live in Mecca and who speak UMHA. They have their own dense networks, which consist of local Meccan women. Most women in Mecca are housewives; thus, they spend most of their time at home. In contrast, men spend most of their time outside the house working. Due to pilgrimage, men communicate with many nationalities. Therefore, according to women, men’s dialect may get affected by the languages spoken by the pilgrims. Also, women may believe that they speak the dialect better than the men, since they are the ones who take care of the children and teach them how to speak. In the Arab society in general, it is the responsibility of women to take care of the children and see to their needs. The men’s job is to go to work and provide for the family. Thus, teaching children their mother tongue may be regarded as a sufficient reason for the women to claim that they speak UMHA better than men. On the other hand, 88% of the men agree that they speak the dialect better than the females, because they may believe that females want to speak like women in Jeddah, a coastal city in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, women may not speak UMHA as well as they do. Some Meccan young women may believe that speaking the dialect spoken by young women in Jeddah may make others perceive them as prestigious (cf. McClelland 1961 and Leong 2014). Therefore, many men believe that they can speak the dialect better than Meccan women, since the latter’s dialect may have been influenced by the dialect spoken in Jeddah, while theirs have not. In contrast, for them, working all day in Mecca means that they have more opportunities to speak the dialect more than women. With regard to their attitudes towards their dialect, the following table shows some of their answers: Table 2. The participants who answered agree or strongly agree on some items

No. The item in the questionnaire Male Female 1. We should keep speaking Meccan Hijazi Arabic



93% 85%


95% 93%


80% 85%


75% 80%

Total mean of answers 87% 86% Table 2 demonstrates that both the male (87%) and the female (86%) participants expressed their desire to use and preserve UMHA. Both male and females participants may have provided such answers because they wanted to show their pride of speaking UMHA, the dialect spoken in the holy city. Another reason could be that they felt embarrassed; they did not want others to think that they do not care about their dialect. In particular, the majority of women in the Arab world, in general, are under more pressure to conform to the overt norms of the society. They may not have the same liberty which men enjoy. Therefore, they may not have the same freedom to express their opinions and feelings about various issues. Finally, the educated and the uneducated participants provided similar answers on some items on the questionnaire and different answers on others. For example, on the question: I think that education plays a role in how well someone speaks Meccan Hijazi Arabic, the participants’ answers were as follows: • Educated: 90% answered agree or strongly agree • Uneducated: 40% answered disagree or strongly disagree 90% of the educated participants indicated that education plays an important role in how well someone speaks UMHA. It could be because they may believe that having a university degree may enable the person to know the structure, the vocabulary and the pronunciation of the words and phrases of a certain language or dialect better than someone who is not educated. For them, such knowledge may enhance their understanding of their own dialect and, in turn improve the way they speak it. According to them, studying MSA at the university may enhance the individual’s understanding of his/her own dialect, since MSA is the origin of all Arabic spoken dialects. They have also indicated that education helps the person to know the best ways to record and preserve the language. This means that they may have the ability to

ALLS 7(2):249-256, 2016 253 prevent the death of their dialect in the future. However, someone who had not had the chance to be taught at the university may lack such valuable skills in their opinion. Contrarily, 40% of the uneducated participants disagreed on the fact that education plays an important role in how well someone speaks UMHA. They may think that education does not contribute to the individual’s knowledge of his/her dialect, because it is the everyday practice that counts. For instance, some of them indicated that both educated and uneducated people learn the dialect from infancy. Thus, both types of people are able to speak the dialect fluently. Other participants indicated that they may even know the dialect better than the educated participants because of the nature of some the jobs they occupy, i.e. taxi drivers, tailors, mechanics, etc. Occupying these jobs may help them know the local dialect spoken in the streets, the one which they call “the true Meccan Hijazi Arabic”. They have even developed special words and styles of speaking the dialect which other members of the community may not know. Thus, they may consider themselves as the authentic source of the dialect. The following table presents the participants’ answers on some items on the questionnaire that are related to their attitudes towards their dialect Table 3. The participants who answered agree or strongly agree on some items

No. The item in the questionnaire Educated Uneducated 1. We should keep speaking Meccan Hijazi Arabic



92% 80%


96% 93%


94% 83%


84% 80%

Total mean of answers 91% 85% Table 3 demonstrates that both the educated (91%) and the uneducated (85%) participants expressed their desire to use and preserve UMHA. in general, one may observe that all the groups (old and young, male and female, educated and uneducated) have a sense of responsibility towards their dialect. This makes their attitudes towards their dialect positive. 5. Conclusion and recommendations This study has examined the attitudes of speakers of UMHA towards their dialect. It also investigated whether social variables such as age, sex and educational level had any impact on the participants’ attitudes towards UMHA. To this end, I designed a 5-point-Likert-scale questionnaire that included questions about the participants’ attitudes towards their dialect and gave it to 80 speakers of UMHA, residing in Mecca. The results showed that in general, all the groups (old and young, male and female, and educated and uneducated) have a sense of responsibility towards their dialect. This makes their attitudes towards their dialect positive. Two main reasons were proposed for this attitude; firstly, the participants possibly regarded their dialect as a representative of their identity; it expresses their uniqueness, affiliation and solidarity. For instance, it has been noticed that many young and old speakers attempt to preserve the dialect by continue using UMHA proverbs. Additionally, instead of using MSA in writing, many young people use UMHA, as observed in the social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook. These results may show that many old and young people alike have the desire to use and preserve their dialect. Secondly, I argued that some participants, especially young participants, may have felt embarrassed to provide answers that may imply that they are not proud of their own dialect. In the Arab culture in general, many individuals worry about what others think. They fear that if people think that they are deviating from the norms that are prevalent in the society, they would be considered outcasts and no one would speak to them. The same behaviour is observed in women, particularly; I argued that the majority of women in the Arab world, in general, are under more pressure to conform to the overt norms of the society than males. They may not have the same liberty which men enjoy. Therefore, they may not have the same freedom to express their opinions and feelings about various issues. Finally, both the educated and the uneducated participants expressed their desire to use and preserve UMHA. The uneducated participants maintained that they are the ones who speak the true UMHA because of the nature of some the jobs they occupy, i.e. taxi drivers, tailors, mechanics, etc. These jobs help them be more familiar with the local dialect spoken in the streets of Mecca. Based on these results, it is recommended that more studies need to be conducted to test speakers’ attitudes towards their language or dialect in order to give insight into their linguistic and social behaviour.

ALLS 7(2):249-256, 2016 254 References Alahmadi, S. D. (2015). Loanwords in the Urban Meccan Hijazi Dialect: An Analysis of Lexical Variation according to Speakers’ Sex, Age and Education. International Journal of English Linguistics, 5(6), 34-58. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v5n6p34. Altakhaineh, A., and Rahrouh, H. (2015). The Use of Euphemistic Expressions by Arab EFL Learners: Evidence from Al Ain University of Science and Technology. International Journal of English Linguistics, 5(1), 14-21. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v5n1p14. Altakhaineh, A., and Zibin, A. (2014). Perception of Culturally Loaded Words by Arab EFL Learners. International Journal of Linguistics, 6 (3), 1-22. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v6i3.4922. Baker, C. (1976). Attitudes and language. Cleveland: Multilingual Matters. Dittmar, N., and Schlobinski, P. (1988). The Sociolinguistics of Urban Vernaculars: Case Studies and Their Evaluation. Berlin: De Gruyter. Eckert, P. (1989). The Whole Woman: Sex and Gender Differences in Variation. Language Variation and Change, 1, 245-267. Labov, W. (1972). Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Leong, N. C. (2014). A Study of Attitudes towards the Speak Mandarin Campaign in Singapore. Intercultural Communication Studies, 23(3), 53-65. McClelland, D. (1961). The achieving society. London: Free Press. Meyerhoff, M., Schleef, E., and Mackenzie, L. (2015). Doing sociolinguistics: A practical guide to data collection and analysis. London: Routledge. Migunda-Attyang, J. (2007). Attitudes towards Sheng: An Emerging Language in Nairobi. Chemichemi. International Journal of the School of Social Sciences, 4(1), 29-43. Obiols, M. (2002). The Matched Guise Technique: A Critical Approximation to a Classic Test for Formal Measurement of Language Attitudes. Noves SL. Revista de Sociolinguistica, 1, 1-6. Pear, T. (1931). Voice and personality. London: Wiley. Preston, D. R. (2002). Language with an attitude. In J. Chambers, N. Schilling-Estes and P. Trudgill (Eds.) Handbook of language Variation and Change (pp. 40- 66). Oxford: Blackwell. Romaine, S. (1980). Stylistic Variation and Evaluative Reactions to Speech: Problems in the Investigation of Linguistic Attitudes in Scotland. Language and Speech, 23, 213-232. Ryan, E. B., and Giles, H. (1982). Attitudes towards language variation. London: Edward Arnold. Tagliamonte, S. (2006). Analysing sociolinguistic variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wardhaugh, R. (2002). An introduction to sociolinguistics. 4th ed. Oxford: Blackwell. Williams, F. N. (1976). Explorations of the Linguistic Attitudes of Teachers. Rowley: Newbury House Publishers Inc., Massachusetts. Zibin, A., and Altakhaineh, A. (2014). Informativity of Arabic Proverbs in Context: An Insight into Palestinian Discourse. International Journal of Linguistics, 6(1), 67-83. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/ijl.v6i1.4857. Appendix 1 The Questionnaire Section 1: Background information 1. Age:

a) 20-35 b) 36-45 c) 46-70 d) 70+ 2. Sex:

a) male b) female 3. Place of birth:_____________. 4. Education:

a) None b) Primary school c) Secondary school d) University degree e) Higher education 5. Occupation:

a) Student b) Labourer c) Housewife d) Government employee e) Other: ________

ALLS 7(2):249-256, 2016 255 6. Place of work/study:

a) Home b) Mecca city c) Another city in Saudi Arabia d) Outside the country 7. Have you ever lived outside Mecca city area?

a) Yes b) No 8. If yes, how long?___________. 9. Why did you go there?

a) Travel b) Study c) Work d) Trade e) Other reasons: _____________ 10. Have you ever lived for more than a month outside Mecca city area?

a) Yes b) No 11. Do you want to work/study in places outside Mecca city?

a) Yes b) No Section 2: Attitudes towards Urban Meccan Hijazi dialect: Answer the following questions: 12. Young people in Mecca speak the dialect as well as old people: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 13. I prefer if Meccan Hijazi dialect has a written form: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 14. We should keep speaking Meccan Hijazi Arabic everywhere not only in Mecca: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 15. We should use Meccan Hijazi orthography to preserve Meccan songs, proverbs, etc.: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 16. If there was no Meccan Hijazi dialect in use, there would be no Meccan Hijazi culture. 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 17. People in Mecca always want to speak Meccan Hijazi dialect: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 18. When the dialect has more and more foreign words in it, it may not be considered pure. 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 19. I think being a speaker of Meccan Hijazi dialect is better than being a speaker of any other dialect. 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 20. If you want to marry, you would prefer your spouse to be a Meccan Hijazi speaker: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 21. If your children want to marry, you would prefer his/her spouse to be a Meccan Hijazi speaker: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 22. I think we should have TV programmes in Meccan Hijazi dialect: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree

ALLS 7(2):249-256, 2016 256 23. If there was, I would watch them: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 24. I speak the dialect with someone I don’t know, and I cannot tell if they are Meccan or not: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 25. I think that males speak Meccan Hijazi Arabic better than females: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree 26. I think that education plays a role in how well someone speaks Meccan Hijazi Arabic: 1- Strongly disagree 2-Disagree 3-Nuetral 4-Agree 5- Strongly agree



Thematic Structure in Barack Obama’s Press Conference: A Systemic Functional Grammar Study

Heri Kuswoyo

Higher School of Foreign Language, Teknokrat College, Indonesia E-mail: [email protected]

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.257 Received: 23/12/2015 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.7n.2p.257 Accepted: 10/02/2016 Abstract This article looks into the theme – rheme pattern of presidential press conference that can be employed by speakers to organize the text in order to have a texture. Since a message should be conveyed in clause contextually and co-textually. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to analyze and describe the theme-rheme pattern employed in President Barack Obama’s press conferences. The collected data are taken from Barack Obama’s speeches in his press conferences on January 14th and October 8th 2013. The collected data are analyzed based on the theory of Systemic Functional Grammar put forward by Halliday. The method and technique used in this study are an analytic descriptive. This descriptive research finds (1) two kinds of theme-rheme pattern; namely; simple theme-rheme patterns and multiple theme-rheme patterns. The simple theme-rheme patterns contain constant theme pattern, linear theme or zig-zag pattern, and derived theme-rheme pattern, and the multiple ones contain combination of constant theme and constant rheme, combination of constant and linear theme, combination of split and constant themes and another pattern is proposed by the researcher himself, namely derived rheme. The findings show that (2) the combination of constant and linear theme patterns is distributed most in both press conferences. In the contrary, combination of constant and split theme is only found once. To sum up, thematic structure can be used in developing of a text and making the message easily to be understood. Besides, it also can be used to have an effective communication to achieve specifiable goals. Keywords: Thematic Structure, Press Conference, Systemic Functional Grammar 1. Introduction As human beings, we always communicate. We use language as one of the devices to convey message that we want to share. Halliday (1994) states that language could be interpreted as a system of meaning. It means when people use language, their language acts to produce or construct meaning. Furthermore, Bloor & Bloor (2004) argue that the ways in which people use language are classified into three; (1) language is used to organize, understand and express our perceptions of the world and of our consciousness. It is known as ideational meaning; (2) language is used to enable us to participate in communicative acts with other people, to take roles and to express and understand feelings, attitude and judgments. It is known as interpersonal meaning; (3) language is used to relate what is said (written) to the rest of the text and to other linguistic events. This involves the use of language to organize the text itself and to make language contextually and co-textually relevant. It is realized in lexico-grammar through thematic structure that is known as textual meaning. Thematic structure in English is the idea represented by the constituent at the starting point of the clause. In simple term, a clause begins with a realization of the theme. After that, it is followed by the realization of the rheme, which can be explained as being the rest of the message. Table 1. Realizations of Theme and Rheme

He is a smart boy

Theme Rheme

The example above shows that “He” refers to person that is talked about and “is a smart boy” as the rest of the clause. In addition, it talks about the theme (or it gives us more information about the theme). According to the three systems of meaning above, the researcher is interested in discussing language function as textual meaning, especially the thematic structure in President’s public activities that is Barack Obama’s press conference. The reason why the researcher chooses the presidential press conference as the data source is because even there are many other researchers who have examined under a variety of labeling including, speech, campaign, debate, etc. Yet, it is very few studies that have explored presidential press conference. Fraser in Okulska and Cap (2010) also mentions that


ALLS 7(2):257-267, 2016 258 the framework of the presidential press conferences involves an aspect which is important to be analyzed since it is one of the most important vehicles by which presidents communicate to the media and public. Regarding the issue, the researcher is interested in how the information is structured in English clause by President Barack Obama. Another point that makes the researcher is interested in discussing this issue is from the framework of presidential press conference itself because Soha (2003) mentions that Press conferences give the media direct access to the president and allow members of the mass media to ask specific questions and receive immediate responses from the president. It means that the message that the president delivered will be conveyed to the society. Completely the president must organize the texts in his speeches well. In other words, he should think about how the mass media (reporters or journalists) can get his messages and their point easily. To answer the phenomenon above, the researcher applies Systemic Functional Grammar approach. It is on the foundation of work by the social semiotic linguist, Halliday. He (1985) views language as a resource for making meaning. These grammars attempt to describe language in actual use and focus on texts and their contexts. It can be said that this approach is very important since it can describe and interpret language in actual use and make a meaning resource. In addition, this approach highlights a key aspect. That is “context of situation”. Halliday (1989) in Consorte (1999) states that the context of situation consists of three components which serve to interpret the social context in which meanings are being exchanged: the field, the tenor, and the mode of discourse. The field refers to what is happening, the tenor to the participants involved in the action, their statuses and roles, whereas the mode of discourse refers to how the language is being used and functioning in the overall situation. To conclude, this study becomes important since the researcher expects that this study will be useful not only to enhance speaking but also writing activities, So that the texture aspect of writing or speaking can be achieved by both the writer (or speaker) and reader (or listener). Based on that explanation, the present researcher takes “Thematic Structure in Barack Obama’s Press Conference: A Systemic Functional Grammar Study as the title of this research. 2. Previous Studies As the researcher read and comprehended, there are several studies that identified a number of thematic structure issues, such as Sade (2007) in Pakistan Journal of social sciences. In her article, she examined the thematic progression in Cristian tracts written in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the study showed that the simple linear and constant thematic progression patterns are prominent in this discourse. Another study proposed Pamungkas (2009) in his thesis, “ Tema pada slogan Iklan Berbahasa Inggris di media Cetak”. He investigated psychological subject as the theme and rheme of the slogan,and the meaning of slogans based on field, tenor, mode and the theme and rheme of the slogans. Then, the result showed that psychological subject always exists in a clause especially in slogan as the data of the research but not for logical and grammatical ones. Also, Sari (2009) in her thesis entitle “ theme in the english declarative Clause” explored the types of subjects functioning as theme in the english declarative clause. The study indicated that there were some kinds of subject fuctioning as theme. They were psychological subject, grammatical subject, and logical subject. Further, the position of theme in a declarative clause could be filled by the conflation or combination of these three subjects. Another piece of previous research was a thesis by linda (2012) entitled “ Thematic Progression in Children Stories: A Systemic Functional Grammar Analysis”. This study not only discussed the types of thematic progression found in children’s story texts but also described how children’s story texts described how children’s story texts are structured as message from the perspective of thematic progression. The last piece of previous research was delivered by Sujatna (2013) in her article, “Thematic Progression of the sundanese Female Writers”. This article has been published in International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Lingustic World, Volume 4 (4), December 2013; 382. This study showed that 27 % the sundanese female writers use simple thematic progression and 73% use multiple thematic progressions. There are three typesbof simple thematic progression: linear theme (9%), constant rheme (9%), and constant theme (9%). The multiple thematic progression have three different types; two element thematic progression (36,50%), three element thematic progression (18,25%), and four thematic progression (18,25%). Regarding all pieces of theprevious studies above, most of them have discussed the same issue that is thematic structure; yet this study differs from them. It is said so, since this study will not only discuss the theme-rheme pattern but also investigate the element of theme and their functions. 3. Systemic Functional Grammar Approach There are many theories of language (grammar) such as traditional grammar, formal grammar, transformational grammar, functional grammar, etc., that we have already known. When they are used will be depended on our perspectives. As Gerot & Wignell (1994: 4) stated that grammars are validated by their usefulness in describing and explaining the phenomenon called language. For example, traditional grammar divorced from meaning and use. And it focuses on the rules for producing the correct sentences. Besides, Deterding & Poedjosoedarmo (2001:104) mention that it analyzes and describes well-formed English sentences. Moreover, Sujatna (2013:2) argued that this approach concerns on the form of grammatical structures and their relationship to one another rather than their meanings or their use in different contexts. Conversely, in this study, the researcher will apply Systemic Functional Grammar. From its perspective, grammar is as the resource of meaning and concerns with its use. Gerot & Wignell (1994: 6) say, “Functional grammars view language as a resource for making meaning.” These grammars attempt to describe language in actual use and so focus on texts and their contexts. Furthermore, they are not only concerned with structure but also with how those structures construct meaning. Along the same Bloor & Bloor (2004:2) states that for SFL, a

ALLS 7(2):257-267, 2016 259 language is a system of meanings. In other words, when people use language, their language acts produce or more technically, construct meaning. Briefly, it can be described with two following examples:

(1) Time flies like an arrow (2) Tim told of a tragic Table 2. Analysis of clause based on traditional and formal grammar

Time flies like an arrow Noun Verb Prepositional phrase

Tim told of a tragic case

Table 3. Analysis of clause based on functional grammar

Time flies like an arrow

Participant: Actor

Process: Material

Circumstance: Manner

Tim told of a tragic case

Participant: Sayer

Process: Process

Circumstance: Matter

(Gerot & Wignell, 1994:6)

These two examples above show how traditional or formal grammar and systemic functional grammar analyze a clause. Besides, Gerot & Wignell (1994: 6) emphasize on functional grammar labels element of the clause in terms of the function each are playing in that clause rather than by word class. Halliday in Deterding & Poedjosoedarmo (2011:106) looks at the clause as representing simultaneously three different types of meaning. These refer to experiential, interpersonal and textual meaning. Thus, the researcher applies this kind of approach since it can help and answer the problem formulations. Along this line, Eggins (1994:2) states that Systemic Functional Linguistic is an approach which helps linguists to analyze and explain how meanings are made in everyday linguistic interactions. 3.1 Thematic Structure In the background of the study, the researcher has explained that he will only focus on the textual meaning which organizes the text itself. Regarding its function, Halliday (1994:37) states that textual meaning looks at how we structure information in English, what we put where and why. Furthermore, Deterding and Poedjosoedarmo (2001:106) point out that textual meaning is expressed by thematic structure (the identity of theme, what we are talking about, and rheme, what we are saying about it). In addition (Bloor & Bloor, 2004) defines that thematic structure operates at the level of clause and all full clauses have thematic structure. Also, Halliday (1994:37) stated that Prague school of linguists use the term ‘Theme’ as the label for this function. The theme is the element which serves as the point of departure of the message; it is that which the clause is concerned. The reminder of the message, the part in which the theme is developed, is called in Prague school terminology the rheme, for example: Table 4. Theme–Rheme structure

(3) The duke (4) My aunt (5) That teapot

has given my aunt that teapot has been given that teapot by the duke the duke has given to my aunt

Theme Rheme

According to the example above, the theme can be identified as that element which comes in first position in the clause. Moreover, Bloor & Bloor (2004:71) mention that theme in English is to think of it as the idea represented by the constituent at the starting point of the clause. Therefore, the duke, my aunt and that teapot are the theme of those clauses. 3.2 Theme –Rheme Patterns Since a message should be conveyed in clause contextually and co-textually, a text should have a texture or the quality of being a text. As Bloor& Bloor (2004:84) state that a stretch of language which is coherence and makes sense is said to have a texture. Thus, In order to reach that goal, the clause must tight each other as what Hasan mentions in Sujatna (2013)”Cohesive devices help a text hang together, or be cohesive, that means they contribute to what Hasan terms a text’s unity of texture.” Further, Theme-Rheme patterns or thematic progression can be called as schematic structure or method of development of a text. Hasan in Paltridge (2000:140) says,

ALLS 7(2):257-267, 2016 260 “The notions of theme and rheme are also employed in the examination of thematic progression, or method of development of a text. Thematic progression refers to the way in which the theme of a clause may pick up, or repeat, a meaning from a preceding theme or rheme.”

By conducting this study, we will know what the Theme-Rheme patterns employed by President Barack Obama. Regarding their types, Deterding & Poedjosoedarmo (2001) and Bloor and Bloor (2004) classify the Theme-Rheme patterns which occur in English texts into four. They are constant theme pattern, linear theme pattern (zig-zag pattern), split rheme pattern, and derived themes. These patterns can be explained in details, as follows: 3.2.1 Constant Theme Pattern In this type, the topic for the paragraph is introduced as the theme of the first clause. The theme of one clause is shared as the theme of the clauses following it. This type also presents the reader with the given information acts as the themes throughout the clauses while rheme presents new information which is not further discussed in the following clauses. This pattern can be drawn as follows:

Theme 1 Rheme 1

Theme 2 Rheme 2

Theme 3 Rheme 3

Theme 4 Rheme 4

Figure 1. Constant Theme pattern

An example of a text which has such a structure is found below: Noam Chomsky, author of Aspects of the Theory of syntax, revolutionized linguistics. He also happens to be well-known for his political views. In fact, he is better-known to laymen for his political views than he is for his revolutionary linguistic ideas (Deterding & Poedjosoedarmo, 2001: 127)

The theme of the whole clauses of the passage above shares the same thing i.e. Noam Chomsky it is repeated by the pronoun “He” throughout the paragraph. In addition, the topic of every clause sometimes is found in the rheme, as Deterding & Poedjosoedarmo (2001) states that this kind of pattern can occur in a text such as advertisement, like the following:

Everybody loves Boogie Burgers. Children love Boogie Burgers. Teenagers love Boogie Burgers. Parents love Boogie Burgers. Grandparents love Boogie Burgers.

A diagram of this structure is a follows:

Theme 1 Rheme 1

Theme 2 Rheme 2

Theme 3 Rheme 3

Theme 4 Rheme 4

Theme 5 Rheme 5

Figure 2. Constant Theme pattern

According to the text above, it indicates that it has same rheme throughout with different themes such as everybody, children, teenagers, parents, and grandparents. Besides, the topic of every clause can be found in rhemes. That is Boogie Burgers. Thus, this patten is called as constant rheme.

ALLS 7(2):257-267, 2016 261 3.2.2 Linear Theme Pattern

The second type is linear theme pattern. In this type the idea introduced in the rheme of each clauses or the rheme becomes the theme of the next utterance. In another words, the rheme of one clause is taken up as the theme of the subsequent clause. In addition, Eggins (2004:324) called it as zig-zag pattern. She states that in this pattern, an element which is introduced in the rheme in clause 1 gets promoted to become the theme of clause 2. This type of pattern It is represented graphically bellow:

Theme 1 Rheme 1 Theme 2 Rheme 2 Theme 3 Rheme 3 Theme 4 Rheme 4

Figure 3. Linear Theme pattern

An example of this can be seen in the text bellow: The museum is located in the centre of town near the square. This square is a common destination of tourist buses. The buses, all belonging to the island Tour Bus Company, are driven by the tour guides. These guides get off at each stop with the passengers and explain the sights to them. (Deterding & Poedjosoedarmo, 2001: 128)

It explains that the theme element of the first utterance “the square” becomes the theme of subsequent utterance through the use of “this square”. In this pattern, the thing presented as new information in the preceding clause becomes the given information in the subsequent clause which makes the subsequent clause always presents new information. 3.2.3 Split Rheme Pattern In cases of complex text structure, the thematic patterns can be combined and manifested in the organization of the text. This type is a combination of both constant and linear patterns. It occurs when the rheme of a clause has two or more components, each of which is taken in turn as the theme of a subsequent clause. It can be represented in the pattern as follow:

Theme 1 Rheme 1 Theme 2 Rheme 2 Theme 3 Rheme 3 Theme 4 Rheme 4

Figure 4. Split Rheme pattern An example of split rheme can be seen bellow:

The fuels of the body are carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. These are taken in the diets……Carbohydrates are the principle source of energy in most diets….Fats make up the second largest source of energy in most diets….Proteins are essential for the growth and rebuilding of tissue. (Patpong, 2013:194)

According to the example above, the body fuels are composed of three sources of energy: carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Each of them is given thematic status one by one in subsequent clauses. 3.2.4 Derive Themes Bloor and Bloor (2004: 91) mention that the term derived theme is used to describe expressions in the position of theme which are cohesively linked in meaning, but not necessarily in form, to a topic which has been stated earlier in the text. To sum up, the theme of a clause is not stated explicitly in the theme –rheme of the previous clause by the form, but it relates in meaning to the theme or rheme of the previous clause. It is represented graphically bellow: (T)

Theme 1 Rheme 1 Theme 2 Rheme 2 Theme 3 Rheme 3 Figure 5. Derive Themes

ALLS 7(2):257-267, 2016 262 It represents an example of the derived progression below

New Jersey is flat along coast and southern portion; the northern-western region is mountainous. The coastal climate is mild, but there is considerable cold mountain area during the winter months. Summers are fairly hot….. (Sopyan, 2011:111)

The example above explains that each theme of the clauses is not mentioned explicitly in the Theme-Rheme of the previous clause. In addition, the themes are derived from a bigger part that is New Jersey which has its own characteristics, such as the climate, the season, etc. then, all characteristics are mentioned in the subsequent clauses. And the themes of the following clauses are related to the theme of their previous clause in meaning. 4. Method Methodology is the main point of the research. As argued by Djajasudarma (2010:1),”kejelasan suatu penelitian dan keilmiahannya dapat dilihat dari metodologinya”. It means that the research is categorized as scientific or it has a clear or sharp methodology. Thus, the researcher knows how to solve the research problem systematically. In addition, Perry (2005: 48) states that the methodology sections tell us about who studied, what was studied and how the information was collected and analyzed. Furthermore, Kothari (2004:8) adds that it is necessary for the researcher to know not only the research methods or techniques but also the methodology. Thus, the method of research should be concerned with two aspects; they are the method and technique of data collecting and the method and technique of data analysis. 4.1 The Method and Technique of Data Collecting Perry (2005:52) says “this subsection explains in detail how the information is collected for the purpose of a research study”. It means that in the collecting data, the researcher deals with the ways or procedures. The researcher uses several steps in collecting the data, namely: (1) downloading the video. In this step, the researcher downloades the video of President Barack Obama’s Press Conference on January, 14th 2013 and October, 8th 2013 through keepvid in http://keepvid.com/. (2) searching the transcript. In this step, the researcher looks for the transcript of the Barack Obama’s utterances at his Press Conferences which were downloaded from www.politico.com and http://articles.washingtonpost.com. After that, (3) watching and listening the video while reading the transcript for the entire paragraphs Then (4) classifying the data based on the theories used and finally (5) drawing some conclusions based on the analysis. 4.2 The Method and Technique of Data Analysis The method and study technique used in this study is analytic descriptive where the data taken are analyzed and then described based on the findings. According to Sudaryanto (1990:62), “istilah deskriptif itu menyarankan bahwa penelitian yang dilakukakan semata-mata hanya berdasarkan pada fakta yang ada atau fenomena yang memang secara empiris hidup pada penutur-penuturnya”. Thus, in this study, the researcher aims to analyze and describe the phenomenon of thematic structure in Presidential press conferences by using Systemic Functional Grammar approach. In addition, the researcher only analyzes two parts of the President Barack Obama’s Press conference in 2013 that delivered on January 14th and October 8th 2013. Totally, there are 57 Paragraphs. In details, the first press conference consists of 22 paragraphs and the second press conference consists of 35 paragraphs. 4.3 Data Source The data are needed in conducting a research, since it is as the evidence of the research and the evidence will be convincing the accuracy of the result of the research (Perry, 2005). Then, the data analyzed in this study were taken from the video of President Barack Osama’s speeches which have been transcribed into written texts. In addition, the speeches delivered at his press conferences on January 14th and October 8th 2013 were downloaded from www.politico.com and http://articles.washingtonpost.com. 5. Results and Discussion In this chapter, the research findings are presented according to the problem formulations. They are guided by three research questions regarding the theme-rheme patterns or thematic progression, the element of themes and their functions in Barack Obama’s press conferences. This research is done in order to analyze the thematic choices made by a language user that can help to make a text coherent. It is considered as a significant part in language since it organizes the text as a message. Furthermore, the selected texts to be analyzed are taken from Barack Obama’s press conferences that appeared on January, 14th and October 8th 2013 and they are accessible on http://www.politico.com and http://articles.washingtonpost.com. In addition, there are fifty seven (57) paraghraphs and three hundred and thirty eight (338) clauses taken as the data in this research. The first press conference consists of 121 clauses while the second one consists of 217 clauses. The findings are also based on the theory and the appropriate approach that has been applied, that is systemic functional grammar. The following sections deal with the detail explanation of the research conducted. 5.1 Constant Theme Pattern This type of pattern identifies that the theme of one clause is shared as the theme of the clauses following it. It means that the theme of the whole clauses in a passage mentions the same thing and it is taken up from the theme of the previous clause. It can be illustrated in the following data:

ALLS 7(2):257-267, 2016 263 Data 1 (36/21)

We’ve got to create more jobs. We've got to boost the wages of those who have work. We’ve got to reach for energy independence. We've got to reform our immigration system. We’ve got to give our children the best education possible, and we’ve got to do everything we can to protect them from the horrors of gun violence.

(The text is adapted from News conference on the debt ceiling, fiscal battles and gun control, 2013) The data (1) above shows that the theme in the subsequent clauses are taken from the theme of the previous clause that is We, as it can be seen in the clause (108) In other words, this pattern focuses only on topic in the paragraph, for example the above paragraph is talking about We throughout the paragraph and it becomes the focus of paragraph. In details, the clause (108) establishes a theme We with the rest as rheme. Then the theme We of clause 109 remains the same theme until clause 113. It implies that Barack Obama as a speaker has tried to keep a text focused or cohesive by reiterating the element We. The data of constant theme-rheme pattern also can be seen as follow: Data 2 (37/20)

So let’s finish this debate. Let’s give our businesses and the world. The certainty that our economy and our reputation are still second to none. We pay our bills. We handle our business. And then we can move on — because America has a lot to do.

(The text is adapted from News conference on the debt ceiling, fiscal battles and gun control, 2013) The data presented above also shows the constant theme pattern because the same themes are repeated at the beginning of successive sentences. In details, the theme of clause (101) let’s is maintained in clause (102) as let’s. Then the theme of clause (103) the certainty that our economy and our reputation refers to the previous clause let’s; besides, the theme of clause (103) shares the same elements in clause (105), (106), and (107). In this data, although the theme in clause (106) is different; but all refer to the same topic We. The third data sample can be illustrated as follow: Data 3 (38/23)

Good afternoon, everybody. I am eager to take your questions, so I’ll try to be brief at the top. (The text is adapted from President Obama’s News Conference on the shutdown and debt limit, 2013)

Based on the data (3) above, the paragraph consists of three clauses. Regarding the theory of systemic functional grammar, the clause (122) can not be analyzed since good afternoon is categorized as minor clause. In this case, the text can be called as constant theme pattern since the element of clause (123) does not change for the next clause. In other words, the speaker still keeps a text focused or cohesive by reiterating the element I. the next sample data can be seen as follows: Data 4 (39/2)

(The text is adapted from News conference on the debt ceiling, fiscal battles and gun control, 2013)

The theme of clause 3, I thought It, is shared in the clause 4 as as my first term. In another word, the word as my first term in clause 4 captures the intended meaning in clause 3. But the different pattern is observed in the following clause, which is in the clause 5, clause 6 and clause 7. On the contrary, the topic moves constantly to their rheme. So this pattern is called as constant theme –rheme pattern.

Data 5 (40/8) So we've made progress. We are moving towards our ultimate goal of getting to a $4 trillion reduction. And there will be more deficit reduction when Congress decides what to do about the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts that have been pushed off until next month.


According to the explanation above, the part of clauses of the passage above shares the same theme which is We. It can be seen in the clause 28 and 29. In the other hand, the topic of clauses also found in the rheme constatntly. It means that the pattern is began by constant theme and followed by constant rheme. Thus, it called as the theme-rheme pattern. The following sub-sections deal with the element of ideational theme, interpersonal theme and textual theme and their functions within theme-rheme patterns in Barack Obama’s press conferences. 5.2 Linear Theme-Rheme (zig-zag pattern) The second type of theme-rheme pattern that used by Barack Obama in his press conferences is Linear theme-rheme or zig-zag pattern. As mentioned earlier, in this kinds of pattern, the rheme of one clause is taken up as the theme of the

I thought it might make sense to take some questions this week, as my first term comes to an end. It’s been a busy and productive four years. And I expect the same for the next four years. I intend to carry out the agenda that I campaigned on — an agenda for new jobs, new opportunity, and new security for the middle class.

ALLS 7(2):257-267, 2016 264 subsequent clause. In another words, an idea introduced in the rheme of each sentence becomes the theme of the following sentence. Further, this kinds of patterns found in both press conferences. The data can be seen in the following text.

Data 6 (41/34)

Except somewhere along the way, House Republicans decided. They wouldn't appoint people to the committee to try to negotiate, and 19 times they've rejected that. So even after all that, the Democrats in the Senate still passed a budget that effectively reflects Republican priorities at Republican budget levels just to keep the government open, and the House Republicans couldn't do that either

(The text is adapted from President Obama’s News conference on the shutdown and debt limit, 2013)

Based on the data (6) above, the text can be categorized in the linear theme-rheme or zig-zag pattern since the element that is introduced in the rheme in clause 189 gets promoted to become the theme of clause 190. In this case, they, standing in place of house republicans. Then, the rheme of the third clause is taken up from the clause 190. Furthermore, the rheme portion of clause 192 (the democrats in the Senate still passed a budget that effectively reflects republican priorities at republican budget levels just to keep the government open) becomes the theme of the following sentence, that is (And the house republicans). Taking a look at the theme –rheme pattern, the text above can be called as linear theme-rheme or zig-zag pattern. Data 7 (42/14)

These are bills that have already been racked up and we need to pay them. So while I’m willing to compromise and find common ground over how to reduce our deficits, America cannot afford another debate with this Congress about whether or not they should pay the bills they’ve already racked up. If congressional Republicans refuse to pay America’s bills on time, Social Security checks and veterans’ benefits will be delayed.

(The text is adapted from News conference on the debt ceiling, fiscal battles and gun control,2013) In relation to data (7), this pattern indicates the theme and rheme come alternately. It shows that the theme-rheme pattern is linear theme-rheme or zig-zag pattern. It can be seen in the text above which consists of six clauses. In details, the data shows that the first theme becomes the second rheme and then, the second rheme becomes the third theme so the fourth theme becomes the fifth rheme. after that, the element that is introduced in the rheme in clause 64 gets promoted to become the theme of clause 65. It views that, refuse to pay America’s bills on time, standing in place of Social Security checks and veterans’ benefits.

Data 8 (43/57) So with that, let me take a couple of questions. And I will start with Julie Pace of AP

(The text is adapted from President Obama’s News conference on the shutdown and debt limit, 2013)

In accordance with the data (5) above, the text can be categorized in the linear theme-rheme or zig-zag pattern since the element that is introduced in the rheme in clause 337 gets promoted to become the theme of clause 338. It means that let me, standing in place of and I. regarding the theme-rheme pattern above, it can be called as zig-zag pattern or linear theme-rheme. Data 9 (44/3)

Right now, our economy is growing, and our businesses are creating new jobs, so we are poised for a good year if we make smart decisions and sound investments — and as long as Washington politics don’t get in the way of America’s progress.

(The text is adapted from News conference on the debt ceiling, fiscal battles and gun control, 2013) Based on the data (9) above, the starting point is begun by linear theme –rheme then, moves to be constant. In details, the rheme of clause (8) our economy is growing becomes the theme of the immediately succeeding clause. Thus it called as linear theme pattern while the same themes are repeated constantly at the clause (9) to (13). So that it is called as constant theme. Here, the main topic of the text wholly (We) even though the data shows that in the rheme of clause (8) and (10) are seen Our. According to the previous explanation, it can be concluded that in this paragraph can be called as the combination of linear theme-rheme and constant theme pattern. we shall now turn to another data.

Data 10 (45/10) Now, I’ve said I’m open to making modest adjustments to programs like Medicare to protect them for future generations. I’ve also said that we need more revenue through tax reform by closing loopholes in our tax code for the wealthiest Americans. If we combine a balanced package of

ALLS 7(2):257-267, 2016 265 savings from spending on health care and revenues from closing loopholes, we can solve the deficit issue without sacrificing our investments in things like education that are going to help us grow.


In data (10) above, the paragraph consists of six clauses. Furthermore, the pattern is began by constant and followed by linear theme-rheme or zig-zag pattern. It is proven by the clause (35) which shares constantly to the following clauses. These are clause (36) and (37). It shows that the theme of clause (35) Now I keeps a text focused to the next theme of clause (36) I and clause (37) I. It indicates that Barack Obama still keep the consistency of repetition as an effective way to create the cohesion. Then, the speaker tries to change the topic in clause (37). It shows that an element I which is introduced in the rheme in clause (37) gets promoted to become the theme of clause (38), that is We. Thus, the linear pattern is identified. Next, the third data is explained. 5.3 Combination of split rheme and Constant theme pattern The fourth type of theme-rheme pattern that is found in this research is the combination of split and constant theme-rheme. and this pattern is only found the second press conference. As it is pointed earlier, the split rheme pattern occurs when the rheme of a clause has two components, each of which is taken turn as the theme of subsequent clause. While in constant theme-rheme, the same theme is repeated at the beginning of successive sentences. The data can be seen in the following paragraph.

Data 11 (49/49) And as I said, this one isn't even about deficits or spending or budgets. Our deficits are falling at the fastest pace in 60 years. The budget that the Senate passed is at republican spending levels. It's their budget that democrats were willing to put votes on just to make sure the government was open while negotiations took place for a longer-term budget.

(The text is adapted from President Obama’s News conference on the shutdown and debt limit, 2013) According to the data (8) above, clause (288) has two co-ordinated components in its rheme, indicated by the word both: (1) deficits or spending and (2) budgets. Further, the first, referring to deficits or spending, is taken up as theme of clause (289) our deficits. The second, referring to budgets, is taken up as ideational theme (thematic equative) of clause (290) the budget that the Senate passed. And the findings show that the constant theme-rheme pattern can be identified in clause (290) to clause (292). Here, the word the budget that the Senate passed is shared by the same theme in the following clause, which is it in clause (291) and continued to the clause (292). 5.4 Derived Theme As it is pointed out earlier, this pattern is used to describe expressions in theme position which are cohesively linked in meaning, but not necessarily in form, to a topic which has been stated earlier in the text. In other words, each clause has different topic but they are derived from the same overriding theme or overall theme of a paragraph or text. In this research, the present writer finds four derived themes which exist only in the second press conference. The data can be seen as follows: Data 13 (50/46)

Now, the good news is over the past 3 ½ years, our business have created 7 ½ million new jobs. Our housing market is healing; we’ve cut the deficit in half. (President Obama’s News conference on the shutdown and debt limit, 2013)

According to data above, the themes chosen by Barack Obama relate closely to the overall topic of clauses. Further, the subordinate themes in clause (270) our housing market and (271) we are derived from the hypertheme the good news. From this data, the speaker wants to tell us about the good news that they have had over the past 3 ½ years hence he describes the hypertheme the good news to the following clauses by linking cohesively in meaning our house market and We but they are not in form. Data 14 (51/47)

Since I took office, the deficit is coming down faster than any time in the last 50 years. America is poised to become the number one energy producer in the world this year. This year, for the first time in a very long time, we’re producing more oil than we’re importing. (President Obama’s News conference on the shutdown and debt limit, 2013)

In relation to data 17 above, the themes chosen by Barack Obama also relate closely to the overall topic of clauses. Further, the subordinate themes in clause (273) the deficit (274) America and We are derived from the hypertheme I. From this data, Barack Obama wants to tell us about the good changes that he has done for America that relates to the deficit that has come down faster, America is poised to become the number one energy producer in the world and we or American people are producing more oil than importing. Therefore he describes the hypertheme I to the following clauses by linking cohesively in meaning but they are not in form.

ALLS 7(2):257-267, 2016 266 In this pattern, the present writer finds the uncommon one that used by Barack Obama. It is called as derived rheme. Further, derived rheme differs from Bloor and Bloor’s derived theme. As it pointed earlier, derived theme is a pattern where the topics of each clause are individually different, but all derived from the same overriding theme, or overall theme of a paragraph or text. In contrast, it is called as derived rheme since the subsequent sub-rhemes are derived from a superordinate item in Rheme position. The following texts are the samples of this pattern taken from the data. 6. Conclusions and Suggestion 6.1 Conclusions According to the previous analysis, the researcher concludes some findings:

1. There are five kinds of theme-rheme or thematic progression found in Barack Obama’s press conference on January 14th and October 8th 2013. They are constant theme pattern, linear theme or zig-zag pattern, combination of constant and linear theme, combination of split and constant themes and derived theme and

2. Another pattern is proposed by the researcher himself, namely derived rheme. Since it differs from Bloor and Bloor’s derived theme. Derived theme is a pattern where the topics of each clause are individually different, but all derived from the same overriding theme, or overall theme of a paragraph or text. In contrast, it is called as derived rheme since the subsequent sub-rhemes are derived from a superordinate item in Rheme position.

3. Further, combination of constant and linear theme patterns are distributed most in both press conferences. While the combination between split theme and constant theme is only found in the second press conference.

4. Barack Obama uses all elements of ideational theme except predicator. These elements function to be marked theme, unmarked theme.

5. Barack Obama only uses one kind of element of interpersonal theme, that is modal adjunct (I though, ironically and even). And the function is to express the speaker’s judgment regarding the content of the message.

6. The last, among three kinds of elements of textual theme, structural conjunction and continuative are found. In details, structural conjunction (and, so,) function to bind the clause and (when, if, while, since) function to link the clause. In addition, they signal the types of interdependent relation (enhancing and extending) while continuative (now) function to continue an idea or signal a new move is beginning.

6.2 Suggestion The knowledge of theme -rheme pattern can be used by speakers to develop the message in their speeches. Not only a president who can applied it but also it can be used by a teacher, lecture, etc. it is said so since it can help the speaker to use well structured patterns to ensure the consistency and the coherence of their texts. These types of analysis can be carried out in another spoken genre such as lectures, conversation, debate, speech etc. besides, it can be applied to another genre, for example autentic sources like magazine, newspaper, novel etc. the focus will be able to explore whether there is any corelation or not between perceive coherence and theme –rheme pattern or themtic progression. References Anderson, Ingela. (2005). American Political Rhetoric: Extended Essay. Lulea University of Technology Bloor, T. & Bloor, M. (2004). The Functional Analysis of English (Second Edition). USA: Oxford University Press. Butt, D., Fahey, R.,Freez, S., Spinks, S. & Yallop, C. (2000). Using Functional Grammar: An Explorer's Guide. Sidney, Australia: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, Macquarie University. Consorte, C. (1999). Thematic Structure and Simultaneous Interpretation Some Experiental Evidence. “The interpreters’s Newsletter”, Pp. 99-124. Trieste: Edizioni Universita di Triste. Deterding, D. & Poedjosoedarmo, G. (2001). The Grammar of English. Singapore: Prentice Hall. Djajasudarma, Fatimah T. (2010). Metode Linguistik: Ancangan Metode Penelitian dan Kajian. Bandung: PT. Refika Aditama. Ebrahimi & Khedri .(2012).The Importance of Thematic Structure in Student’s Writing Cohesion. Language in India. Vol. 12: 64-78. Eggins, Suzzane. (1994). An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics. Great Britain: MPG books Ltd. Gerot, L.& Wignell, (1995). Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Sydney: Gerd Stabler. Halliday, M.A.K. (1985). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold. Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar: Second Edition. New York: Edward Arnold. Halliday, M.A.K. & Matthiessen, Christian M.I.M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar, 3rd Edition, London, Arnold. Kothari, C.K. (2004). Research Methodology: Methods & Techniques (Second Revised Edition). New Delhi: New Age International Publisher. Kuypers, Jim A.(2009). Rhetorical Critisim. United Kingdom: Lexington Books Linda. (2012). Thematic Progression in Children Story: A Systemic Functional Grammar Analysis. Thesis; Unpublished. Bandung: Universitas Padjadjaran. Lock, Graham. (1996). Functional English Grammar. New York: Cambridge University Press. Maggie, L. (2007). Language and Politics: Use and Abuse of Language in Political Rhetoric. Dissertation. Hong Kong; University of Hong Kong.

ALLS 7(2):257-267, 2016 267 Martin, J.R., Matthiessen, Christian M.I.M., Painter, C., (1997). Working with Functional Grammar, London: Edward Arnold. Okulska, U. & Cap, P. (2010). Perspective in Politics and Discourse. USA: John Benjamin Publishing. Paltridge, B. (2000). Making Sense of Discourse Analysis. Queensland: GerdStabler. Pamungkas, Kasno .(2009). Tema pada Slogan Iklan berbahasa Inggris diMedia Cetak. Thesis; unpublished. Bandung; Universitas Padjadjaran. Patpong, P. (2013). Thematic Progression of Thai Song Dam Folktales. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society,6 , 189-215. Perry, Fred L. (2005). Research in Applied Linguistics: Becoming a Discerning Consumer. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. Sade, O.C. (2007). Thematic Progression in Christian Written Discourse in Nigeria. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 4(1) Pp. 64-68. Sari, Puspita. (2009). Theme in the English Declarative Clause. Thesis; Unpublished. Bandung: Universitas Padjadjaran. Soha, M.E. (2003). Presidential Press Conference Over Time. American Journal of Political Science, 47(2),348-353. Sopyan, T. (2011). Thematic Progression in Indonesian Travel. Jurnal Ilmu Sastra, 6(1),100-129 Sudaryanto. (1990). Aneka Konsep Kedataan Lingual dalam Linguistik. Yogyakarta: Duta Wacana Press Sujatna, E.T. (2013). Understanding Systemic Functional Linguistics. Bandung: Unpad Press. Sujatna, E.T.(2013). Thematic Progression of The Sundanese Female Writers. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World, 4(4), 382-389. Teich, Elke. (1999). Systemic Functional Grammar in Natural Language Generation. London: Cassel.