A Qualitative Teacher-Student Oriented Approach to Translation Teaching

This article proposes a move away from the traditional methodologies of teaching translation that focus on text-typologies to an eclectic teacher and student oriented approach that involves a set of interdisciplinary skills with a view to improving students’ translation quality. Here, a combination of the minimalist approach, revision vs. editing and discourse analysis is the proposed alternative in translation teaching. This combination brings together both teacher- and student-centred approaches. As the validity of the approach proposed relies partially on instructors’ competences and skills in teaching translation, universities, particularly in the Arab world, need to invest in recruiting expert practitioners instead of depending mainly on bilingual teachers to teach translation.

Arthur Ransome the Stylist

This paper breaks new ground in the field of Ransome criticism and presents new findings. It is the first to examine Arthur Ransome’s use of signals in his novels for children, here Coot Club (1934). Structural analysis of the novel has revealed a carefully concealed three-tier structure, and shows Arthur Ransome to be a consummate stylist.

Study of Communication Skills in Children with Attention Deficit /Hyperactivity Disorder in Shahrekord

Objective: This study was to investigate those pragmatic skills that children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, especially children with pragmatic impairment, show in their colloquial interactions with their parents. Method: In this regard, all children aged 6 to 13 years old with a diagnostic criterion for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in a a center for learning disabilities in Shahrekord were selected as research participants in a census method. Required data were collected by using an ADHD rating scale–IV (DuPaul et al., 1998) as well as a Five to fifteen parent questionnaire and were examined through descriptive statistics and chi square test methods. Results: Findings showed that children with more hyperactivity were of more problem, especially in nonverbal skills (r=0.079; p≤0.05) and subject Maitaining skills (r=0.032, p≤0/05), than children with more attention deficit (r =0.00; p≤0.05). In addition, compared to girls, boys had more problems in subject Maitaining skills (p= 0.02) and non-verbal ones (p=0.014). The results of the analysis also showed that most issues related to pragmatic skills occur at younger ages and decrease with age. The study of previous research literature also confirmed that the low level of such skills can have adverse consequences for such children and pose serious risks to their future psychologically, educationally and behaviorally. Conclusion: Psychological interventions and educational strategies seem necessary to increase the level of these skills in children with this disorder.

Persuasive Language in Presidential Speeches

Persuasive strategies in political discourse provide opportunities for politicians to influence, guide, and control their audiences according to their desires and benefits. This study examines the persuasive side of the language used in presidential speeches delivered by Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani. This contrastive study delineates persuasive strategies based on the Aristotelian approach towards the methodology of persuasion. Through extracting our corpus from the internet, we analyzed it using Aristotle’s three means of persuasion (ethos, pathos, and logos). The corpus analysis was performed through qualitative content analysis according to the predefined themes and considering earlier investigations within the frame of Aristotelian rhetoric. The results indicated the prominent role of logos in presidential speeches as the most frequent strategy. Also, the analysis indicated three contrastive themes of religion, time, and participant names in the speeches of the presidents which signified their different cultural and political discourse. The impact of contextual aspects has also been discussed.

Ethno-Linguistic Vitality of Koch

The Koch language is spoken in the states of Assam (Goalpara, Nagaon, Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Bongaigao, Barpeta, Baksa, Udalguri, Karbi Anglong, Golaghat districts), Meghalaya (West Garo Hills, South-West Garo Hills, South Garo Hills and East Khasi Hills Districts). Koches are found in West Bengal (Northern part) and also in Bangladesh. The speaker strength of Koch in India according to 2011 census is 36,434. Koch community is the bilingual speakers of Assamese, Bengali, Garo, Hindi, and English. Contact situations of Koch with Assamese and Bengali languages have made the language vulnerable to language shift. The UNESCO report mentions Koch as ‘Definitely Endangered’1. Koch has gained the status of a scheduled tribe in Meghalaya in 1987. Kondakov (2013) traces six distinct dialects of Koch, viz., Wanang, Koch-Rabha (Kocha), Harigaya, Margan, Chapra and Tintekiya. He (2013:24) states, “The relationship between the six Koch speech varieties are rather complex. They represent a dialect chain that stretches out from Koch-Rabha in the north to Tintekiya Koch in the south.” This is diagrammatically represented as - Koch-Rabha(Kocha)→Wanang→Harigaya→Margan, Chapra→Tintekiya where the adjacent dialects exhibit more lexical similarity than those at the ends. Nine ethno-linguistic varieties of Koch (also mentioned in Kondakov, 2013:5) have been reported during field investigation. These are Harigaya, Wanang, Tintekiya, Margan, Chapra, Satpariya, Sankar, Banai and Koch Mandai.

Register of the Qurʾānic Narratives

A text is an instance of a particular ‘register’, Halliday states. Because text carries indications of its context, it is possible, then, to reconstruct out of it (text) certain features of the situation in which it is produced. Accordingly, the register, being a configuration of semantic features typically associated with the contextual variables of field, tenor and mode, can be established. The aim of this study is to construct the context of situation of a short text (an instance of language) of the Qurʾānic story of Abraham in Q19 (41-50). This pericope represents but a sample of Abraham story told in different sūras of the Qurʾān; and as instance of language (text) in a context of situation, this story belongs to a register of narratives on prophetic stories which subject matter revolves about ‘monotheism’ as propagated by the Qurʾān. This study reports preliminary observations on some features of the Qurʾānic narratives register.

ONE FUNERAL AT A TIME! Why we hold on to old ideas

This article discusses how easily we lock ourselves into established theories, which are often promoted within our formal education. They can blind us to new developments, influencing our professional practice and progress by narrowing thinking. Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar is an example, since this paradigm has dominated teaching and learning for over 50 years. It has led to a focus on the form of language, rather than its content and use, restricting learning approaches and contributing to lower standards of UK Education when compared with other countries. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (2016 & 17) attributes limited value for language as a reason for the UK being near the bottom of the global league. Language development is presented within physical, mental, emotional and social aspects of communication. Competence across areas opens the mind to empathy, new experiences, continuous learning, humour, teamwork and cultural awareness. These elements together distinguish us from robots and are vital for our futures, as improved interaction of people is required for new job possibilities since machine technology is taking over routine work.

THE LINGUISTIC REGISTER OF BRITISH PREPARATORY SCHOOLS IN ANTHONY BUCKERIDGE’S JENNINGS GOES TO SCHOOL

The unique language employed in many British Public Schools has long been noted; that of the Preparatory Schools from which the Public Schools mostly draw their pupils has generally been neglected.[1] Public School English is a feature of such popular sources as the novel Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857) and has had formal analysis at least since 1900, the year of publication of Farmer’s Public School Word Book. By contrast, there are far fewer sources for the language of the Preparatory Schools. In Jennings Goes to School, novelist Anthony Buckeridge provides a surprisingly rich overview of this English linguistic Register as it was in the late 1940s. The Jennings Register is explored here through a Jennings word-list as an appendix to this article, and through discussion within this article of the Register in action. The Jennings Register looks in two directions. It is the primary source of Public School English and therefore of the dialect of British English associated with the Upper and Upper-Middle Classes. However, the Jennings Register surprises in that its sources are primarily Working Class and from popular culture, and in this respect it is a dialect of the Working Class. Preparatory School English therefore appears to provide a bridge between various class-based dialects of British English. It may be regarded as a linguistic and cultural unifier for Britain in the twentieth century.The structure of British Schools should perhaps be clarified. Public Schools are fee-charging schools, in contrast with State Schools which charge no fees. Public Schools include many of the most famous schools in Britain, perhaps in the world, for example Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Merchant Taylors’, Rugby, St Paul’s, Shrewsbury, Westminster and Winchester. Most are boarding schools, most were for boys only, and most provide education for ages 13-18. Fee-charging schools for the age range of (typically) 8-13 are called Preparatory Schools, and these are schools which prepare pupils for entry to the Public Schools.

Content Based Language Instruction practice and its challenges in TVET: the case of Bahir Dar polytechnic college, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to assess whether or not students and teachers were having positive attitude towards the practice of content based language instruction and to see the actual practice of it in TVET poly technic colleges. It was particularly meant to investigate students’ attitude towards the usefulness of the course, course contents, assessment and teacher’s competence. Teacher’s attitude towards the course and challenges of it if occurs were investigated. Moreover, the study was targeted to investigating the actual practice of teaching in three areas: students’ participation, teachers’ language skills and teachers’ skill in using instructional materials. The study was conducted in one Polytechnic College of Amhara Region. Generally, from the total number of 2909 trainees in four different levels; second year Level Three and Level Four trainees were purposefully selected. From the selected six departments (639 trainees), 185 were randomly selected. Regarding CBL teachers, no sample selection were needed for their number was small and easily manageable. So, the participant of the study were 6 teachers and 185 students in the college. The data were collected through questionnaire, observation and interview and the results were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The result of the study revealed that students and teachers showed positive attitude towards the usefulness of CBL courses, course contents and course assessment. However, students had negative attitude towards teachers’ competence. And teachers’ actual practice revealed that teachers did not properly apply content based language instruction to bring the desired result. The study also indicated that there were problems for its implementation due to teachers’ lack of language skills and training. The combined responses of the participants (students and teachers) revealed that the students didn’t get benefit and this impact developed because of teachers’ incompetence to implement content based language instruction. Finally, it was concluded that CBLI was not implemented as it is desired. Therefore, concerned bodies should take various measures to ameliorate the challenges.

SFL- based Analysis of Thematic Structure of the Qurʾān (19:41-50): Some Reflections

The present study is an endeavor to explore applying Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to the oldest Arabic text (the Qurʾān). The study point of departure is the textual metafunction (of the Sura 19:41-50), focusing principally on thematic structure (Theme-Rheme) for its role first in organizing the linguistic resources of both the experiential and interpersonal meanings in text production; and secondly in message unfolding. The salient results are the followings: the use of the three types of Theme (i.e., textual, interpersonal and topical). The topical Theme, important in message unfolding, it is essentially realized by the verbal group in the declarative clause. By virtue of verbal inflection, the bound pronominal markers, expressing Subject in Mood system and the Participant in the transitivity system, expands Theme boundary to better reflect Arabic clause structure. As to Theme orientation, the semantic aspect of Theme function , it is seen that the interaction of the verbal-locution- projection, modalization of Theme, in particular, and other elements contributed to the saliency of interpersonal meanings. Though the Qurʾānic Arabic, of this narrative, lends itself for SFL analysis, the results should be interpreted as an approximation that needs further studies. That Theme, in this study, is register specific is too early to consider as comprehensive analysis of Qurʾānic narrative register is required to support these results. Finally, analyzing the Qurʾānic Arabic provides a support for SFL universality; and at the same time, SFL, as a sociosemiotic linguistic theory, offers new avenues to better understand the Qurʾānic texts in many ways.