scholarly journals Language attitudes in Algeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamal Belmihoub
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Economic Opportunity ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Political Status ◽  
Item Questionnaire ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Modern Standard

Abstract This article examines language attitudes among Algerian first and second year engineering students at an Algerian university. A sample of 101 participants responded to a 51-item questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire showed a strong preference of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), English, and French by native speakers of Algerian Arabic (Derja). Native speakers of Tamazight (a Berber language) preferred MSA, English, French, and Tamazight. Participants were divided on many questions regarding MSA and Tamazight. It was also found that respondents favored English as a useful vehicle of economic opportunity and knowledge transfer. An overwhelming majority of respondents viewed multilingualism in Algeria positively. Interestingly, both Derja and Tamazight native speakers unanimously rejected promoting Derja to an official political status, and they indicated support for the teaching of English and French in school. Possible motives behind the attitudes are discussed and implications are suggested.

scholarly journals Pronunciation Problems among Palestinian English Major Students in Hebron University

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Modern Standard Arabic ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
English Major ◽  
Arabic And English ◽  
Modern Standard

The purpose of this research is to identify few common pronunciation mistakes among Palestinian English major students in Hebron University and the factors that cause these problems. The paper discusses selected phonetic and phonological problems related to specific consonants and vowels besides problems related to pronunciation of consonant sequences. The participants of this study were 120 English major students from Hebron University. The instruments used for collecting the data were a questionnaire and a recorded pronunciation test. In addition to the previous instruments, interviews were conducted with eight students and two instructors. The findings of the study revealed that Hebron University English major students have difficulties in pronouncing English consonants that are not part of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) such as [ŋ], [p], [ɫ], [ɹ], [ʒ], [tʃ] (though some consider [ŋ], [ɫ], [ʒ], [tʃ] as allophonic variants and are used in the different dialects of Arabic), problems in consonant clusters(epenthesis), silent letters, and vowels that have more than one pronunciation. During the interviews, the interviewees pointed various reasons for their errors and suggested some solutions to some of these pronunciation problems. Among the mispronunciation reasons mentioned are: interference from Arabic and the lack of correct models, exposure to native speakers, and practice. The researchers concluded that learners' errors are caused by several linguistic factors, such as the disparity between Arabic and English sound systems, the effect of spelling on pronunciation, the influence of the first language (L1) on the second language (L2), and English vowel inconsistency. Finally, ideas to overcome some of the pronunciation problems are suggested.

scholarly journals Competing Pressures in Diglossia: Avoiding Colloquial Elements in Writing Modern Standard Arabic

1970 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 146-168
Author(s):  
Alexander Magidow
Keyword(s):  
Avoidance Behavior ◽  
Regional Variation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Multiple Choice ◽  
Modern Standard Arabic ◽  
Negative Interference ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Positive Interference ◽  
Modern Standard

This article investigates speaker choice of variant lexemes and structures when writing in formal Modern Standard Arabic, using a multiple-choice survey that was distributed to 28 native speakers of Damascene Arabic. The study finds that speakers tend to avoid elements that are common in their local colloquial dia-lect, even if they are attested and permissible in Modern Standard Arabic, what might be called “negative interference.” However, in some cases interference from the colloquial form is so strong that speakers appear to be confused as to which form is correct (“positive interference”), and when given the choice, prefer to avoid problematic forms altogether. These results suggest that there are a number of competing pressures in diglossia, supplementing previous studies which have primarily found evidence of positive interference from the local dialects on Modern Standard Arabic. This study concludes that this avoidance behavior may explain the historical robustness of diglossia, as well as some of the regional variation that occurs in Modern Standard Arabic.

Motivation and attitudes of Israeli Druze schoolchildren toward L2 Hebrew compared to Modern Standard Arabic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 591-611
Author(s):  
Randa Khair Abbas ◽  
Vered Vaknin-Nusbaum
Keyword(s):  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Ninth Graders ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Older Students ◽  
Modern Standard Arabic ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
Modern Standard

Abstract The present study examines the extent to which sociohistorical and political contexts influence the language attitudes of Israeli-Druze students to Hebrew as L2 and to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in Arabic-speaking schools. It is a pioneer explorative research study that compares students’ attitudes toward diglossia and L2. Using the Foreign Languages Attitudes and Goals Survey (FLAGS), the attitudes of second, fifth, and ninth graders in two different Druze schools were assessed. The results indicate a positive attitude towards L2 Hebrew, not only for instrumental purposes but also for integration into Israel’s multicultural society. The positive attitude to L2 Hebrew is greater in older students, while the attitude to MSA becomes more negative among older students. Their low motivation to learn cultural heritage MSA may contribute to an understanding of how to teach it better or differently, as well as how to encourage future generations to learn it.

Morphosyntactic Transfer from a Spoken Heritage Dialect to the Standard Variety

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-233
Author(s):  
Reem Faraj
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
The Third ◽  
Third Person ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Third Person ◽  
Modern Standard

This study examines cases of morphosyntactic transfer from Syrian Arabic to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in the production of heritage speakers who are not only bilingual (L1 Syrian Arabic, L2 English), but also diglossic; Syrian Arabic is their heritage language (HL), and MSA is the form they learned in school. Two control groups, native speakers of Syrian Arabic and learners of MSA, were also included. The proposal presented here is that adolescent heritage speakers of Syrian Arabic have a more developed Syrian Arabic grammar, which results in- transfer to MSA, and that degree and duration of input-output and exposure to both varieties impact the type and number of non-target forms in the production of the studied heritage group. The goal is to find the extent of such transfer, how it is manifested, and whether it is also related to sentence and subject type or other factors. The focus of this study is verbs in SV and VS sentences in MSA, where the subject is a nominal DP and the verb is in the third person. The agreement patterns in VS and SV sentences are asymmetrical in MSA but they are not in Syrian Arabic. The SV order in MSA reflects different agreement patterns with both genders and all three numbers, whereas in Syrian Arabic there is one default non-singular verb form. In this paper I provide a formal account of the differences among the agreement patterns in MSA and Syrian Arabic within the Minimalist framework. Using this approach, a morphosyntactic transfer of agreement features from Syrian Arabic to MSA is argued to be a transfer of T0 features. The results demonstrate that errors in the MSA verb produced by the heritage speakers differ from those of MSA learners and that more than half of the heritage speakers’ errors are compatible with morphosyntactic agreement forms in Syrian Arabic. These findings provide evidence for transfer from Syrian Arabic to MSA. It is possible that when three linguistic systems are competing (L1, L2, and L3) and where L1 is the most dominant, L2 is less developed than L1 but more developed than L3, and L2 and L3 are typologically close, transfer takes place from L2 to L3. More research to address this question is needed. The study contributes to the understanding of agreement in heritage speakers’ production and the phenomenon of transfer in bilingual and diglossic situations.

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.

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.

Implementation of the Second-year course in an Engineering Professional Spine

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umar Iqbal ◽  
Deena Salem ◽  
David Strong
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Research University ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Employability Skills ◽  
First Year ◽  
Computer Engineering ◽  
Core Courses ◽  
Second Year ◽  
First Time ◽  
Academic Year

The objective of this paper is to document the experience of developing and implementing a second-year course in an engineering professional spine that was developed in a first-tier research university and relies on project-based core courses. The main objective of this spine is to develop the students’ cognitive and employability skills that will allow them to stand out from the crowd of other engineering graduates.The spine was developed and delivered for the first time in the academic year 2010-2011 for first-year general engineering students. In the year 2011-2012, those students joined different programs, and accordingly the second-year course was tailored to align with the different programs’ learning outcomes. This paper discusses the development and implementation of the course in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document