scholarly journals Inscribing Difference: Code-Switching and the Metonymic Gap in Post-Colonial Literatures

2021 ◽  
pp. 169-188
Author(s):  
Katalin Egri Ku-Mesu
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Cultural Difference ◽  
English Language ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Common Method ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Switching Material

In their seminal work The Empire Writes Back Ashcroft et al. (1989) identify code-switching between two or more codes in post-colonial literary texts as ‘the most common method of inscribing alterity’ (p.72). Ashcroft (2001) further develops the idea of installing cultural distinctiveness in the text and posits that, together with a wide range of other linguistic devices (e.g. neologisms, ethno-rhythmic prose), the use of code-switching – whether between the variants of the same language or between languages – has a metonymic function to inscribe cultural difference. In this chapter, I will examine the hybrid nature of post-colonial literary texts through the concepts of nativisation (Kachru, 1982a, 1982b, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1995) and indigenisation (Zabus, 1991, 2007). I will then focus on code-switching, adopting Myers-Scotton’s (1993) approach of matrix language vs. embedded language and considering that ‘EL [embedded language] material of any size, from a single morpheme or lexeme to several constituents, may be regarded as CS [code-switching] material’ (p.5). I will analyse examples of code-switching taken from modern Ghanaian English-language novels and short stories, and I will argue that a synecdochic relationship exists between the code-switched embedded language and the culture it originates from. I will contend that it is along the metonymic gap thus created by language variance that readers can be expected to be divided. I will briefly examine the types of authorial assistance that can be provided in order to make the text accessible to the reader, and I will illustrate, in Sperber and Wilson’s (1995) relevance theoretical framework, how different groups of readers cope with code-switched language left in the texts untranslated and/or unexplained. I will argue that by withdrawing assistance from the reader, the author makes it manifest that he concedes ‘the importance of meanibility’ (Ashcroft, 2001, p.76) and opts for the inscription of difference. I will conclude that the metonymic gap is not a simple bi-polar concept between coloniser and colonised culture but a multi-layered entity where the readers’ position in relation to the gap is indicative of their ability to interpret code-switched language unaided. Full appreciation of the writer’s meanings is shown by those readers who share both the writer’s cultural and linguistic experience. Other readers may be able to cross the metonymic gap to various degrees, but for them code-switched language will be the symbol of the writer’s difference of experience.

scholarly journals Effects of Digital Short Stories on the Development of Listening Skills: An Action Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 65-84
Author(s):  
Zeynep Çetin Köroğlu
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Listening Skills

Literary texts can be used to improve language learners' skills such as reading, writing, speaking and listening because these texts contain rich vocabulary, complex grammar structures, interesting plot and most importantly imagination of the author. However, using literature for language teaching purposes is a controversial issue among scholars. While some researchers think positively, others have negative views on the subject. Learners' needs and way of using literary texts are the main concerns of literature use in language pedagogy. In this context, the present research aimed to find out whether digital short stories can improve language learners' listening skills. The purpose of this study was to figure out student teachers' perceptions of digital short stories’ implementation into language classrooms. Specifically, the current research aimed to investigate whether digital short stories are useful to develop language learners' listening skills in English. The research is action research in design. The study used pre-test and post-test, a written structured interview to collect data and it included both quantitative and qualitative components. The interview consisted of six open-ended questions. Achievement tests and t-test were used to analyze quantitative data. On the other hand, content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The data were collected in 2016-2017 academic years, Bayburt University. Participants were prep class students of English language teaching department of Bayburt University. In the treatment process, digital short stories were used for eight weeks, which were written by various famous American authors and voice recorded by various American natives. Additionally, weekly worksheets and handouts were prepared by the researcher. Results showed that digital short stories provide satisfactory content, supports vocabulary learning, improves language learners’ listening skills, helps participants to gain familiarity with complex grammar structures and makes students more familiar with different cultures. Furthermore, participants are satisfied with digital short stories and they think these digital stories are useful to improve their listening skills.

scholarly journals THE URDUNIZATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THREE SHORT STORIES FORM SHORT STORY COLLECTION, “IN OTHER ROOMS, OTHER WONDERS”

2021 ◽  
pp. 09-13
Author(s):  
Qurat- Ul-Aine
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Short Story ◽  
English Language ◽  
Colonial Literature ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Short Story Collection ◽  
Emerging Trends

This paper investigates the use of Urdu words by Post-colonial writer Daniyal Muneenuddin in his short stories. A content analysis of four short stories from the short stories collection “In other rooms, Other wonders”, published by Random House Group Limited, UK, has been conducted carefully. The three short stories are “NAWABDIN ELECTRICIAN”, “SALEEMA”, and “IN OTHER ROOMS, IN OTHER WONDERS”. The current research answer many questions like why have English words are replaced with Urdu Word in English short stories? Is the English Language is failed to convey contextual meanings? The frequency of Urdu words in the written discourse of short stories indicates the Multilingualism phenomenon in given texts. The analysis also highlights the emerging trends in Pakistani English writings and language mixing as multilingualism in written text. The post-colonial literature written by Pakistani writers provides a clue of the emergence of Pakistani English, and the use of Urdu words in Pakistani English variety anticipates its different forms and functions in written discourse.

scholarly journals Acculturation through Code-Switching Linguistic Analysis in Three Short-Stories: “Invierno”, “Nilda” and “The Pura Principle” (Díaz 2012)

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 59-79
Author(s):  
María Jesús Sánchez ◽  
Elisa Pérez-García
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Lexical Density

The purpose of this article is to investigate whether Yunior, a character and narrator in the three short stories under study, “Invierno”, “The Pura Principle”, and “Nilda”, becomes absorbed into American culture or obtains a positive relationship with this culture without losing his Dominican identity. Quantitative analyses of the vocabulary in the L1 code-switches (Spanish) and of the L2 (English) vocabulary used by Yunior in the stories were carried out to appraise his linguistic progression. Code-switching was analyzed because it gives insights into how situation and context influences language use and why the characters use the language they do. The results obtained, by means of three common lexical measures used in foreign language research (lexical density, age of acquisition and lexical sophistication), allowed us to assess Yunior’s change of identity. According to the acculturation model, Yunior becomes acculturated in the host country, showing progression and integration with many cultural aspects of American life and the English language due to his formal education and early age of acquisition of L2.

scholarly journals Selecting Literary Texts for Language Learning

1970 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 110-113
Author(s):  
Chris Lima
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
English Language Learning ◽  
Poetic Language ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Reading Material ◽  
Graded Readers

In many English language learning and teaching contexts the absence of literary texts, such as graded readers, short stories and poems, still seems to be the norm. This article looks briefly at the some more recent historical positions regarding the use of literature in ELT, and then discusses how the inclusion of creative reading material may foster the development of reading and critical thinking skills.Key words: Literature; Language input; Poetic language; Web 2.0Journal of NELTA Vol. 15 No. 1-2 December 2010Page: 110-113Uploaded date: 4 May, 2011DOI: 10.3126/nelta.v15i1-2.4616

NINA BERMAN, Orientalismus, Kolonialismus und Moderne: Zum Bild des Orients in der deutschsprachigen Kultur um 1900 (Stuttgart: M und P, Verlag für Wissenschaft und Forschung, 1996). Pp. 378. DM60.

2002 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 399-401
Author(s):  
ANDREW ZIMMERMAN
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Near East ◽  
German Literature ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
German Language ◽  
Hugo Von Hofmannsthal ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Colonial Theory

Nina Berman's Orientalismus, Kolonialismus und Moderne consists of a theoretical Introduction and a chapter each on three modern German-language authors who visited, and wrote extensively about, the Middle East: Karl May, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and Else Lasker-Schüler. The argument is based on the analysis of literary texts, but Berman also weaves in discussions of the authors' own travels in the Near East, a wide range of contemporary Orientalist texts, and post-colonial theory. Thus, although her book primarily addresses specialists in German literature, it will also be of interest to anyone concerned with Orientalism and the functioning of imperialist and colonialist ideology.

scholarly journals Enhancing Students' Reaction Writing via Short Stories: A Pedagogical Perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ainon Omar ◽  
Ezatul Marini Mohd. Ghazali
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
English Language ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Authentic Material ◽  
Technical Students ◽  
Post Test

Studies have shown that literary texts such as short stories have been able to develop students’ interpretative skills as well as provide opportunities for students to enhance their critical thinking skills. This study aimed at investigating the use of short stories on enhancing students’ reaction writing. The purpose of the study was to look into a new method that can assist students in expressing their views and opinions about current issues. Thus, a study was conducted to investigate whether the use of short stories as an authentic material can assist students in enhancing their reaction writing. An experimental study was employed on a group of technical students. A pre-test was administered followed by treatment sessions and finally a post-test before a semi-structured interview was conducted on lecturers. The study gathered data on the lecturers’ perceptions towards the idea of incorporating literary texts in their English language lessons. The findings showed that the use of the short story had assisted students to generate ideas to write their reaction paper although a lot of guidance had to be given by the lecturer. The students as well as the lecturers were optimistic on the idea of incorporating literature in the English language course. However, the choice of literary texts needs to be carefully selected and also students’ interests and needs are taken into consideration in order for them to write their reaction paper.

scholarly journals Reader, I Married Him, or the Mechanism of Attentional Convergence in the English-Language Narrative

2020 ◽  
pp. 66-77
Author(s):  
Zinaida Chemodurova
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
English Language ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Jane Eyre ◽  
Female Authors ◽  
Text Organization ◽  
Cognitive Activities ◽  
Inherent Component

The current paper investigates the mechanism of attentional convergence viewed as a type of formal text organization which is based on the convergent potential of several types of foregrounding and is used by writers to stimulate cognitive activities of their readers. The article offers the analysis of the "attentional effects" produced by the combinatorial use of the false expectancy mechanism, coupling, convergence of stylistic devices, salient textual positions of the ultimate narrative beginning and ending, intertextual markers. The hypothesis formulated in the article suggests that the effect of the attentional convergence might be responsible for causing cognitive dissonance as an inherent component of the interpretational programmes modern writers devise for their readers. The article describes the effect caused by the attentional convergence on the readers of short stories created by renowned English-Language female authors, such as J. Briscoe, T. Chevalier, E. Freud, T. Hadley, S. Hill, S. Vickers, to name just a few of the 21 writers, who contributed to the collection entitled "Reader, I Married Him" inspired by "Jane Eyre" and Charlotte Bronte's bicentenary. The analysis carried out in the article focuses on the linguocultural features of gender constructing, undertaken in these modern stories and reflecting diverse attitudes of modern female authors to the issues of gender stereotypes, gender roles, gender motivated patterns of behaviour. The findings presented in the article prove the relevance of a further investigation of various attention focusing mechanisms enhancing the expressiveness of the literary texts and increasing their pragmatic effect on readers.

scholarly journals The types and functions of code switching in a thesis defense examination

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Usman Kasim ◽  
Yunisrina Qismullah Yusuf ◽  
Sri Rahayu Jumiati Ningsih
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Banda Aceh

This study investigated the acts of code switching by lecturers and student in thesis defence examination at a university in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The study involved five participants (four lectures and one student) of the English Language Department. Data from recordings were used to analyse the types and functions of code switching that occurred during the defence. The types of code switching were analysed based on Poplack, and the functions of code switching were analysed based on the theories by Gumperz, Hoffman and Holmes. The result showed that there were three types of code switching found in 109 examples during the interactions between the lecturers and the student, they were: intra-sentential switching (77.06%), inter-sentential switching (15.59%), and tag switching (7.33%). In term of the functions of code switching, 10 functions were identified from 68 switches, they were: addressee specification at 22.05%, followed by interjections (16.17%), loanwords (16.17%), message qualifications (11.76%), transfer of the subconscious markers (8.82%), proper names (8.82%), quotations (5.88%), message reiteration (4.41%), personalization versus objectification (2.94%) and specific features of Islamic terms (2.94%) as the least. It can be concluded that in this case, code switching allowed the participants achieve a wide range of important and interesting ends in their discourse during the thesis defence examination.

scholarly journals Fiction From a Critical Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 990-997
Author(s):  
Suhair Al-Alami
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Extensive Reading ◽  
English Novel

With English as a lingua franca in mind, it has become essential for undergraduate students to acquire the English language. Additionally, undergraduate students are expected to acquire a repertoire of critical thinking skills for lifelong learning. Inspired by the need to augment mastery of English as a foreign language (EFL) whilst at the same time enhancing critical thinking on the part of EFL learners, the research study this paper portrays was conducted for one academic semester involving a number of students at the institution where the author of this paper works. The research aimed to investigate whether using English novels; novellas; and short stories for teaching purposes would have any significant impacts on subjects’ attitudes towards using literary texts for enhancement of both critical thinking and EFL skills. To achieve the intended aim, the researcher used eight English short stories and one novella in class besides assigning one English novel as extensive reading, while teaching the course Communication Skills during the implementation stage. The researcher also administered a pre-post questionnaire with the aim of measuring subjects’ attitudes towards utilizing novels; novellas; and short stories as a means for fostering both critical thinking and EFL skills. Based on the statistical tests, there were significant differences in favor of the post questionnaire regarding the majority of the questionnaire’s items. Based on this study, it can be concluded that English novels; novellas; and short stories have a significant role to play in relation to developing critical thinking and EFL skills.

Using literature in English language training (based on the Language trainer O. Henry (abridged). Short stories and six tests)

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gergana Petkova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Language Training ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Practice Tests

Using literature in English language training provides a large number of advantages for learners such as developing their reading skills, contributing to better understanding of the foreign language, and providing an authentic model of language use. Combining reading with practice tests developed on the basis of the plotline, vocabulary, and grammar exhibited in each story can produce numerous benefits for foreign language learners and it is an effective tool for consolidating knowledge and developing skills to use the foreign language in different situations. The Language Trainer series published by Koala Press implements the idea of combining literary texts with tests designed to consolidate the learners’ knowledge of the specific vocabulary and grammar used in them. A number of books have already been published in this series, among which is O. HENRY (ABRIDGED). SHORT STORIES AND SIX TESTS. It is intended for anyone learning English who wants to improve their knowledge and skills in English.

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