Cross-dialectal variation in Arabic: Competing prestigious forms

1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan R. Abd-El-Jawad
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Standard Variety ◽  
Adequate Description ◽  
Sociolinguistic Variation ◽  
Dialectal Variation ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Arabic Sociolinguistics ◽  
Informal Settings ◽  
Spoken Arabic ◽  
Modern Standard

ABSTRACTMost researchers of Arabic sociolinguistics assume the existence of a sociolinguistic continuum with a local vernacular at the bottom and the standard variety at the top. Those researchers seem to equate the terms “prestige” and “standard”; consequently, they tend to consider Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) as the only prestige variety in all settings. This article presents evidence showing that if an adequate description of sociolinguistic variation of spoken Arabic is to be met, it is necessary to posit not only one standard speech variety, MSA, but also other prestigious local or regional varieties which act as local spoken standards competing with MSA in informal settings. It will be shown in the reported cases that in certain contexts speakers tend to switch from their local forms – though these latter may be identical to MSA – to other local features characteristic of other dominant social groups and that happen to be marked [–MSA], These local prestigious norms act like the standard spoken norms in informal settings. (Diglossic model, prestigious varieties, stereotypes, dominant social groups, competing standards, spoken Arabic).

The impact of phonemic and lexical distance on the phonological analysis of words and pseudowords in a diglossic context

2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 495-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELINOR SAIEGH–HADDAD
Keyword(s):  
Stimulus Word ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Lexical Status ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Target Phoneme ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Spoken Arabic ◽  
Modern Standard

The study examined the impact of the phonemic and lexical distance between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and a spoken Arabic vernacular (SAV) on phonological analysis among kindergarten (N=24) and first grade (N=42) native Arabic-speaking children. We tested the effect of the lexical status of the word (SAV, MSA, and pseudoword), as well as the linguistic affiliation of the target phoneme (SAV vs. MSA), on initial and final phoneme isolation. Results showed that, when words were composed of SAV phonemes only, the lexical status of the word did not affect phoneme isolation. However, when MSA and pseudowords encoded both SAV and MSA phonemes, kindergarteners found MSA words significantly more difficult to analyze. Comparing children's ability to isolate SAV versus MSA phonemes revealed that all children found MSA phonemes significantly more difficult to isolate. Kindergarteners found MSA phonemes that were embedded within MSA words even more difficult to isolate. Results underscore the role of the lexical status of the stimulus word, as well as the linguistic affiliation of the target phoneme in phonological analysis in a diglossic context.

Proficiency effects on L2 Arabic refusals

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Al Masaeed ◽  
Naoko Taguchi ◽  
Mohammed Tamimi
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Refusal Strategies ◽  
Spoken Arabic ◽  
Modern Standard

Abstract This study examined the relationship between L2 proficiency and (1) appropriateness of refusals, (2) use of refusal strategies, and (3) multidialectal practices in performing refusals in Arabic. Using a spoken discourse completion task (spoken DCT), data were collected from 45 learners of Arabic at three different proficiency levels and from 15 Arabic native speakers. The situations used in the spoken DCT varied in power and social distance (i.e., refusing a friend’s request to lend money, refusing a neighbor’s request to lend a car, and refusing a boss’s request to stay late to work extra hours). Findings generally revealed a positive relationship between proficiency and L2 Arabic learners’ appropriateness, use of refusal strategies, and multidialectal practices in their refusals. However, results showed that native speakers solely employed spoken Arabic (i.e., the dialect), while learners relied heavily on Modern Standard Arabic. Analysis of refusal strategies showed that native speakers tended to provide vague explanations in their refusals except when refusing the neighbor’s request, whereas the learners preferred to provide specific reasons for their refusals. Moreover, advanced-level learners were substantially verbose; as a result, their refusals could be perceived as lecturing or criticizing their interlocutor. This paper concludes with implications for researching and teaching L2 Arabic refusals with special attention to multidialectal practices.

Are Iraqi women more prestige conscious than men? Sex differentiation in Baghdadi Arabic

1989 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farida Abu-Haidar
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Standard Variety ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
The Past ◽  
Iraqi Women ◽  
Dialectal Arabic ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Spoken Arabic ◽  
Literary Arabic ◽  
The Prestige

ABSTRACTInvestigators have found in Arabic-speaking communities that men's speech, and not women's, approximated the standard variety. More recent studies have challenged the assumption that prestige and standard spoken Arabic are one and the same. These studies have found that there are, in some Arab communities, prestige varieties of spoken Arabic which are not in the direction of standard Arabic, and that, contrary to what had been previously concluded, it is mostly women who speak the prestige dialects. This article, based on an investigation of the speech of a group of Baghdadi men and women, shows that in Baghdad the prestige variety of spoken Arabic is in the direction of the standard, and that women, more than men, tend to favor this variety. Using the findings of a previous research project in Baghdad, the article also draws attention to the fact that in the past, when Baghdadi women did not have the same access to standard Arabic as men, it was men, and not women, who spoke a dialect approximating the standard variety. (Standard literary Arabic, dialectal Arabic, linguistic prestige norms, style shifting)

scholarly journals How does Diglossia in Arabic affect the development of morphological knowledge throughout elementary schools?

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 736-749
Author(s):  
Riham Mutlak- Abu Dahud ◽  
Raphiq Ibrahim ◽  
Michal Shany
Keyword(s):  
Significant Interaction ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Linguistic Distance ◽  
Morphological Knowledge ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Knowledge Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Spoken Arabic ◽  
Modern Standard

The current study aimed to examine the impact of linguistic distance between spoken Arabic vernacular (SAV) and modern standard Arabic (MSA) on the development of morphological knowledge in the standard Arabic language throughout elementary school. 132 native Arab children (67 boys and 65 girls) from 2nd, 4th and 6th grade have participated in four morphological tasks. The study's results indicated that a significant advantage is ascribed to morphology in spoken Arabic over standard Arabic. This advantage was found beyond the type of task and along the grades examined in the study. In addition, it was found that with the advance in the level of grade, the gaps between the spoken language and the standard language is reduced only at the level of production. Furthermore, the findings showed that throughout the second, fourth and sixth grades, there is a significant advantage for the performance at the identification level over the performance at the production level. A significant interaction was also found in the gap between identification to production and at the level of grade concerning the literary language. The psycholinguistic implications are discussed in light of previous findings regarding morphological knowledge, type of words (cognate versus noncognate) and recognition versus production processes.

The effects of motivation on processing instruction in the acquisition of Modern Standard Arabic gender agreement

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-82
Author(s):  
Ayah Farhat ◽  
Alessandro Benati
Keyword(s):  
Academic Motivation ◽  
Processing Instruction ◽  
Gender Agreement ◽  
Modern Standard Arabic ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Modern Standard

The present study investigates the effects of motivation and processing instruction on the acquisition of Modern Standard Arabic gender agreement. The role of individual differences (e.g. age, gender, aptitude, language background and working memory) on the positive effects generated by processing instruction has been investigated in the last few years. However, no previous research has been conducted to measure the possible effects of motivation on L2 learners exposed to processing instruction. In addition, a reasonable question to be addressed within the processing instruction research framework is whether its positive effects can be generalised to the acquisition of Modern Standard Arabic. The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) and the Attitude Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) motivation questionnaires were used to capture different variables that influence motivation in order to create the two different groups (high and low motivated). In this experimental study, forty-one native English school-age learners (aged 8–11) were assigned to two groups: ‘the high motivated group’ (n = 29): and the ‘low motivated group’ (n = 12). Both groups received processing instruction, which lasted for three hours. Sentence-level interpretation and production tasks were used in a pre-test and post-test design to measure instructional effects. The learners were required to fill in gaps in both written and spoken mode for the activities. The study also included a delayed post-test administered to the two groups four weeks later. The results indicated that both groups improved equally from pre-test to post-test in all assessment measures and they both retained the positive effects of the training in the delayed posttests. Processing instruction was proved to be the main factor for the improvement in performance regardless of the learner’s level of motivation.

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