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Language Variation: A Case Study of Gender Differences in Wolof-French Codeswitching
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 4, July 2020
Pages:
122-127
Received:
30 April 2020
Accepted:
11 June 2020
Published:
20 June 2020
Abstract: Research on how gender affects language have been long documented by several studies in the world. In many of these works, mostly done in variationist sociolinguistics, it has been claimed that women and men are different in their speech from one another. The paper investigates gender variation in Wolof-French codeswitching. More specifically it examines how male and female codeswitching are different in terms of frequency, types and other linguistic forms. The conversations of twelve Wolof-French bilingual students and office workers are analysed in this study. Results from this study show that women codeswitch more frequently than men. The study also indicates that intra-sentential codeswitching is the mostly used type in men’s and women’s speech. It has also been shown that the French discourse marker “quoi” is far more used in men speech and constitutes then a linguistic feature that differentiates men and women language. However, even if both genders prefer intra-sentential types of codeswitching, women tend to use it more 61,44% of their speech against 56,66% for men. Men, on the other hand, produce more inter-sentential codeswitching instances than women 13,02% against 12,53%.
Abstract: Research on how gender affects language have been long documented by several studies in the world. In many of these works, mostly done in variationist sociolinguistics, it has been claimed that women and men are different in their speech from one another. The paper investigates gender variation in Wolof-French codeswitching. More specifically it ex...
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Developing Iraqi EFL School Students' Performance in Creative Writing Skills Through Focus Strategy
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 4, July 2020
Pages:
128-134
Received:
6 January 2020
Accepted:
17 January 2020
Published:
20 June 2020
Abstract: Research on how gender affects language have been long documented by several studies in the world. In many of these works, mostly done in variationist sociolinguistics, it has been claimed that women and men are different in their speech from one another. The paper investigates gender variation in Wolof-French codeswitching. More specifically it examines how male and female codeswitching are different in terms of frequency, types and other linguistic forms. The conversations of twelve Wolof-French bilingual students and office workers are analysed in this study. Results from this study show that women codeswitch more frequently than men. The study also indicates that intra-sentential codeswitching is the mostly used type in men’s and women’s speech. It has also been shown that the French discourse marker “quoi” is far more used in men speech and constitutes then a linguistic feature that differentiates men and women language. However, even if both genders prefer intra-sentential types of codeswitching, women tend to use it more 61,44% of their speech against 56,66% for men. Men, on the other hand, produce more inter-sentential codeswitching instances than women 13,02% against 12,53%.
Abstract: Research on how gender affects language have been long documented by several studies in the world. In many of these works, mostly done in variationist sociolinguistics, it has been claimed that women and men are different in their speech from one another. The paper investigates gender variation in Wolof-French codeswitching. More specifically it ex...
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Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck: A Postcolonial Feminist Reading
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 4, July 2020
Pages:
135-140
Received:
2 May 2020
Accepted:
10 June 2020
Published:
28 June 2020
Abstract: This research paper is focused on Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck, a collection of the stories from Nigeria, as a strong the postcolonial feminist voice. The writer presents the pains and pathos as well as the rebellion of the females in Nigeria and aboard. Western Colonialism has badly exploited the country and the people. The females have been the main victims of Nigeria at that time and later too. The patriarchy in the country has given much pain and suffering to Nigerian Women. They were victimized, dehumanized, and humiliated through different social institutions. They were also exploited by their close relatives who were patriarchal by nature. The writer says that the awareness among the people and especially on the women themselves has made the situation better. The females are able to resist any kind of inhuman treatment and severe tortures given by patriarchy and colonialism. As a qualitative research, the researcher used the text of Adichie as a primary source of data and analyzed with the theoretical tool of feminism and postcolonialism.
Abstract: This research paper is focused on Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck, a collection of the stories from Nigeria, as a strong the postcolonial feminist voice. The writer presents the pains and pathos as well as the rebellion of the females in Nigeria and aboard. Western Colonialism has badly exploited the country and the people. The females have be...
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Mechanics of Sociolinguistic Variation and Pragma-stylistic Inclination in the Qur'anic Discourse
Sami Al-Heeh,
Ghufran Ahmad
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 4, July 2020
Pages:
141-151
Received:
22 March 2020
Accepted:
19 June 2020
Published:
4 July 2020
Abstract: This paper explores the extent to which the Qur'anic discourse helps realize social variation from both a pragmatic and stylistic perspective. It theorizes that individuals coming from different functional and dysfunctional families often show a good degree of dissimilarities in their responses and behaviors. Thus, the paper aims to check whether these individual differences are reflected in the Noble Qur'an or not. It is also intended to examine mechanics of linguistic variability in the holy Script of Islam to mirror the various individual proclivities and tendencies. Data collection has been carried out through a concordance process in which certain key words in context (KWIC) related to kinship, such as brother, father, mother and clan, and family-resemblance categories, such as Jews, Christians, believers and Sabians, are listed in a corpus. The study applies a critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach to the data collected. Therefore, it builds on Van Dijk's (1998) model of critical analysis at the syntactic, semantic and schematic levels. It has been found that the Qur'anic discourse mirrors variation among individuals from a stylistic, pragmatic and socio-pragmatic perspectives. Mechanics of linguistic variation in performance has included mainly shifting language styles and functions, re-ordering the relevant arguments in harmony with the context under discussion, qualifying speech to tell the truth and (accordingly) to address norms of polite address, and selecting certain figures of speech that help ideas to flow easily and beautifully.
Abstract: This paper explores the extent to which the Qur'anic discourse helps realize social variation from both a pragmatic and stylistic perspective. It theorizes that individuals coming from different functional and dysfunctional families often show a good degree of dissimilarities in their responses and behaviors. Thus, the paper aims to check whether t...
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Continuation Task: A Critical Review and Directions for Future Research
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 4, July 2020
Pages:
152-157
Received:
7 July 2020
Accepted:
21 July 2020
Published:
28 July 2020
Abstract: Continuation task has witnessed a tremendous growth of research since it was firstly advanced by Wang, as an effective approach to L2 learning. The basic idea of continuation task is that learners should first read a given text with the end removed, then they should finish the continual writing in a logical and coherent way with imagination on the basis of the given text. In the process of continuation, learners need to not only fully understand the given text, but create new content, imitate and use the words and structures that appeared in the given text, thus producing interactive alignment effects, and improving the efficiency of learning foreign language. Researches on continuation tasks cover key issues regarding to the effectiveness on L2 learning and task-related or learner-related factors in continuation task that influence L2 learning. Since the number of researchers investigating the application of continuation task to L2 teaching and learning continues to grow, it is necessary to assess the current state of the researches in this area and establish future directions of investigation. This review aims to provide an overview of recent researches on continuation task and offer some suggestions for future researches.
Abstract: Continuation task has witnessed a tremendous growth of research since it was firstly advanced by Wang, as an effective approach to L2 learning. The basic idea of continuation task is that learners should first read a given text with the end removed, then they should finish the continual writing in a logical and coherent way with imagination on the ...
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Language Management in a Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the City of Maroua: Default Language Policy and Historical Factors
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 4, July 2020
Pages:
158-163
Received:
29 June 2020
Accepted:
13 July 2020
Published:
4 August 2020
Abstract: This paper looks into language management and factors affecting language use in a Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the city of Maroua. The methodology consists of observation followed by a pre-prepared questionnaire supplemented with personal interviews with church faithful and rulers. The approach used to analyse the data is the structural-functional approach propounded by Kouega (2008) and successfully applied to some Christian Churches and to Islam. The findings show that, contrary to previous works, this Seventh-Day Adventist Church adopts only a default language policy as its religious language management strategy. The use of Fulfulde and French as the two default languages was found to be motivated by the wish to follow a neutral policy due to cosmopolitanism of the polity but also to keep the historical tradition. This policy is in total contradiction with what obtains in Catholic masses whose language policies were deeply influenced by the resolutions Council Vatican II authorizing the use of vernaculars in religious services and in Protestant churches where the sociolinguistic identities of the worshipers matter in the choice of the language in which some activities should be conducted.
Abstract: This paper looks into language management and factors affecting language use in a Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the city of Maroua. The methodology consists of observation followed by a pre-prepared questionnaire supplemented with personal interviews with church faithful and rulers. The approach used to analyse the data is the structural-function...
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Vowel Hiatus Resolution Processes as Delimiters of Prosodic Domains in Kisa
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 4, July 2020
Pages:
164-173
Received:
6 July 2020
Accepted:
21 July 2020
Published:
10 August 2020
Abstract: In a language, certain phenomena are sensitive to specific prosodic domains. In a model of morphology syntax phonology interaction in which morphological and syntactic structure projects phonological domains belonging to a set hierarchy, each phonological process refers to a specific level of that hierarchy. Therefore, describing a phonological process generally requires specifying the domain within which it applies. In Kisa, a Bantu language spoken in Western Kenya, a sequence of two vowels with different qualities is unacceptable. The ill-formed sequence is repaired through at least one of the vowel processes: gliding, coalescence, raising, assimilation and deletion. These vowel processes involve vowels occurring at different morphological and syntactic boundaries and apply within different prosodic domains in Kisa. Using a qualitative descriptive design and basing on data generated by the author as a native speaker of Kisa, this study identifies and describes the boundaries at which and the prosodic domains in which the vowel processes stated above apply. The findings show that unacceptable vowel sequences occur both at morphological and syntactic boundaries in Kisa. The strategies used to repair the unwanted vowel sequences at each boundary differ depending on the combining vowels. Further, the findings of the study show that the vowel processes attested in the language apply in different domains.
Abstract: In a language, certain phenomena are sensitive to specific prosodic domains. In a model of morphology syntax phonology interaction in which morphological and syntactic structure projects phonological domains belonging to a set hierarchy, each phonological process refers to a specific level of that hierarchy. Therefore, describing a phonological pro...
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Exploring the Role of Cultural Teaching in EFL College Programs: An Introspective Study
Hamad Aldosari,
Ismail Alrefai
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 4, July 2020
Pages:
174-184
Received:
24 July 2020
Accepted:
10 August 2020
Published:
18 August 2020
Abstract: Culture-embedded teaching is integral to teaching foreign languages. In Saudi higher education, the cultural aspects of the target language is poorly integrated in foreign language education due to rigid doctrinaire ideologies. This study, using a survey research design, aimed to introspect the perceptions of EFL instructors about culture and literature teaching in EFL college programs, particularly in Saudi Arabia. The study also explored the perceptions and attitudes of EFL college English language instructors concerning the integration of culture in English language education programs. Utilizing a descriptive research methodology, the researchers made use of questionnaires and interviews to tap into the perceptions of faculty responsible for teaching English as a foreign language courses in the EFL program of the College of Languages and Translation, King Khalid University. The survey and interviews also examined the EFL teachers’ attitudes towards the integration of literature teaching in English education. The findings showed that EFL instructors were concerned with explicit teaching of cultural issues through literature as an excellent source of culture-laden material for foreign language learning. However, due to meagre literature teaching, the current program is short of presenting adequate culture content integration. Barriers perceived include over-use of indigenous cultural and Islamic themes that interfere with proper teaching of the target language. Findings also revealed that teachers entertained positive attitudes toward integrating culture in language education through using a variety of methods and techniques. Pedagogical implications advocate the importance of integrating culture into foreign language teaching courses, especially in the literature curriculum stream as well as integrating real-life conversational excerpts for teaching culturally-laden content in listening and speaking courses. Suggestions for further research topics on culture integration in ELT are presented eventually.
Abstract: Culture-embedded teaching is integral to teaching foreign languages. In Saudi higher education, the cultural aspects of the target language is poorly integrated in foreign language education due to rigid doctrinaire ideologies. This study, using a survey research design, aimed to introspect the perceptions of EFL instructors about culture and liter...
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