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Arabic and English Phonotactic Convergence: A Case Study
Guessas Abibaker Seddik,
Benhattab Abdelkader Lotfi
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3-1, June 2017
Pages:
1-5
Received:
8 February 2017
Accepted:
21 February 2017
Published:
10 March 2017
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.s.2017050301.11
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Abstract: Learning a second language bears traces of the first language at different levels and with differing degrees. The number of studies devoted to the morpho-syntactic and lexical outcomes of transfer seems to outnumber those investigating phonological ones. This paper tries to investigate variation in Algerian Arabic speakers’ performance of English as a second language with an emphasis on the phonological level. It further studies the production of English phonemes /t/ and /d/ by these learners. There are differences in the realisation of /t/ and /d/ in Arabic and English phonological paradigms. While they are realized as dentals in the former, they are produced as alveolars in the latter. The observation and investigation of the data under light for the present study reveal that, as learners of English, our informants display variation in the realization of /t/ and /d/ while using English in formal settings. These informants realize them as dentals in some English words and alveolars in some others. Our study is a trial to understand the reasons behind such variation. There seems to be some interference mechanism that does not operate at all phonological contexts. We further hypothesized that in addition to interference there are mechanisms of convergence between the phonotactics of the two languages operating in contact situation involving Algerian Arabic and English. The results of this investigation also reveal that the above mentioned hypotheses seem to be more plausible than the one related to informants’ English proficiency as a reason behind variation in the production of/t/ /d/and other English phonemes.
Abstract: Learning a second language bears traces of the first language at different levels and with differing degrees. The number of studies devoted to the morpho-syntactic and lexical outcomes of transfer seems to outnumber those investigating phonological ones. This paper tries to investigate variation in Algerian Arabic speakers’ performance of English a...
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The Feasibility of Content and System Morpheme Hierarchy in the Analysis of Tamazight Bilingual Corpora: The Case of Kabyle and Mzabi Bilingual Speech in Oran
Abdelkader Lotfi Benhattab,
Ghania Ouahmiche,
Zohra Labed
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3-1, June 2017
Pages:
6-14
Received:
10 February 2017
Accepted:
13 March 2017
Published:
23 March 2017
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.s.2017050301.12
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Abstract: This study examines the empirical validity of the hierarchy of system and content morphemes on Tamazight bilingual corpora. This dichotomy is one of the underlying principles of the Matrix Language Frame model and the 4-M model as they have been advocated by Myers- Scotton in 1997, 2002 and 2016. These socio-psychologically based syntactic models have been used by contact linguists as viable alternatives in the investigation and interpretation of the morphosyntactic processes underlying bilingual corpora. The present paper investigates Kabyle and Mzabi bilingual data; it focuses on these two Berber or Tamazight varieties as they are in contact with Algerian Arabic, Standard Arabic and French in an Algerian context, namely Oran city. The study of the communities under light here reveals that the languages composing the verbal repertoire of these Tamazight minorities living in Oran overlap at different linguistic levels including the morpho-syntactic one.
Abstract: This study examines the empirical validity of the hierarchy of system and content morphemes on Tamazight bilingual corpora. This dichotomy is one of the underlying principles of the Matrix Language Frame model and the 4-M model as they have been advocated by Myers- Scotton in 1997, 2002 and 2016. These socio-psychologically based syntactic models h...
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Reflections on the Linguistic Landscape and the Prospects of English Language Teaching in Algeria
Ghania Ouahmiche,
Abderrazak Beddiaf,
Abdelkader Beddiaf
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3-1, June 2017
Pages:
15-23
Received:
4 March 2017
Accepted:
6 March 2017
Published:
5 April 2017
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.s.2017050301.13
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Abstract: The paper is bi-pillared: first is an allowance for the Algerian sociolinguistic panorama; then follows an account for the status of English in the Algerian sphere of schooling. Education, history, geography and ethnicity are the four quintessential factors underlying the Algerian involved linguistic situation. As a meeting ground for a multiplicity of tongues, Algeria is by and large regarded as an intricate plurilingual country. Indeed, plurilingualism, in the Algerian context, is organized in essence around three linguistic spheres consisting of Arabic (with its two varieties), Tamazight and foreign languages. The other pillar upon which rests the present paper concerns the status and image of English as a foreign language in didactic subjects, i.e. teaching/learning English in Algeria, and more specifically in its consideration of added value. The effort lies in tracking down whether this state could have taken a place of choice (privileged) as a whole with reference to its teaching/learning within the contextualized linguistic chessboard. The idea of the didactic dimension of English clarifies its weight and sheds light on academic conceptions installed in Algeria.
Abstract: The paper is bi-pillared: first is an allowance for the Algerian sociolinguistic panorama; then follows an account for the status of English in the Algerian sphere of schooling. Education, history, geography and ethnicity are the four quintessential factors underlying the Algerian involved linguistic situation. As a meeting ground for a multiplicit...
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An Investigation of Language Variation and Change Among Three Age-Groups: A Case Study
Abbassia Belahcen,
Ghania Ouahmiche
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3-1, June 2017
Pages:
24-35
Received:
5 March 2017
Accepted:
13 March 2017
Published:
5 April 2017
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.s.2017050301.14
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Abstract: Despite the hostile view and belief toward the inclusion of language use in linguistic study and theorizing by the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, some linguists have revolutionized linguistics. They authentically showed the importance to account for the social factors in linguistic theory. Indeed, the progress of research in linguistics in general and sociolinguistics in particular has led many linguists to stress the fact that no language is a monolithic and homogeneous (e.g. Bell 1976). In their view, language is a heterogeneous and dynamic system. Sociolinguists, therefore, aim to relate language and language users to the speech community where people interact. The present study is a sociolinguistic investigation which aims to relate linguistic aspects to other social aspects to examine certain linguistic features in Algerian Arabic, a variety which reflects linguistic variation in apparent time that rightly correspond to language change in real time in Sidi Bel Abbes speech community. This city is part of a diglossic and multilingual society- Algeria. As a matter of fact, our study tackles a problematic issue: How can the social changes (extra- linguistic factors) bring about changes in the linguistic system and how can individuals’ speech differences make people themselves distinct on the ground of their affiliation to a certain social group? To explore the issue from a sociolinguistic angle, concrete data have been collected from different real set-ups, aiming to provide true evidence to our scope: language variation that leads to change, change in progress and completed change.
Abstract: Despite the hostile view and belief toward the inclusion of language use in linguistic study and theorizing by the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, some linguists have revolutionized linguistics. They authentically showed the importance to account for the social factors in linguistic theory. Indeed, the progress of res...
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Social Network Sites and Arabic Diglossia Between Threatening Modern Standard Arabic and Strengthening Colloquial Arabic
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3-1, June 2017
Pages:
36-43
Received:
6 March 2017
Accepted:
18 March 2017
Published:
15 April 2017
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.s.2017050301.15
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Abstract: The present research paper aims to examine the effects of social network sites on Arabic. It tries to shed some light on one substantial phenomenon that the Arabic language is known for, which is diglossia. The latter clearly poses many challenges and many questions may arise. Therefore, 78 Arab users of Facebook participated in an online survey in order to investigate their use of Arabic language in the social network site, Facebook, and to what extent it can affect the Standard and Colloquial Arabic.
Abstract: The present research paper aims to examine the effects of social network sites on Arabic. It tries to shed some light on one substantial phenomenon that the Arabic language is known for, which is diglossia. The latter clearly poses many challenges and many questions may arise. Therefore, 78 Arab users of Facebook participated in an online survey in...
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Implementing a New Testing System in the Algerian Secondary Schools: A Washback Study
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3-1, June 2017
Pages:
44-50
Received:
10 June 2017
Accepted:
6 July 2017
Published:
2 August 2017
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.s.2017050301.16
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Abstract: This study explored the issue of evaluation in general and language testing in particular in the Algerian educational system. In precise terms, the present research investigated how a particular type of language tests, achievement tests, should be designed and developed in order to make them fit their intended purposes. This aimed to provide EFL teachers at the secondary school level in Biskra region with theoretical and practical understanding, with the expectations to make these developed tests become part of the learning experience and not a mere operation of grading for the sake of passing or failing. The rationale for this study is twofold. Firstly, given that there is a multitude of washback studies of language tests on teaching and learning, no empirically study of this sort was available for this particular context. Secondly, this study stems from the students’ low scores that do not actually reflect their performance by virtue of the non-pertinence between what these students learn and what they are tested in. Ultimately, the fundamental objective of the present exploration is to yield practical insights to overcome the array of anomalies present in the current testing system. In order to achieve this objective, an Alternative Testing Model was proposed. This model was first tried-out and then put into practice on a selected sample of EFL classes in Biskra region. In the investigation of the washback effects of the new testing system on participants’ perceptions of, and attitudes towards, teaching and learning, a mixed-methods approach was employed, using four data collection methods to gather insightful feedback. From the analysis of these data, the findings show that the new testing policy had positive washback effects on teachers and students in this study. It succeeded to change to some extent and with different degrees these participants’ attitudes and behaviours in teaching, learning, and assessment practices.
Abstract: This study explored the issue of evaluation in general and language testing in particular in the Algerian educational system. In precise terms, the present research investigated how a particular type of language tests, achievement tests, should be designed and developed in order to make them fit their intended purposes. This aimed to provide EFL te...
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Socio-Pragmatic Functions of Algerian Arabic/French Code-Switching: The Case of Tlemcen Speech Community
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3-1, June 2017
Pages:
51-57
Received:
27 July 2017
Accepted:
14 August 2017
Published:
10 January 2018
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.s.2017050301.17
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Abstract: This work is a micro-sociolinguistic investigation of Code-switching (hereinafter, CS) in an Algerian context. It attempts to point out the socio-pragmatic functions of Algerian Arabic/French CS among adult bilinguals in Tlemcen speech community. The present investigation aims at showing the different instances of CS that occur in distinct settings and in daily conversations, in particular occurrences that may not always be interpreted literally as speakers say what they do not really mean. This work relies mainly on Gumperz’s notion of ‘contextualisation cues’ that views CS as a communicative strategy to achieve certain socio-pragmatic functions. Moreover, it seeks out the fundamental reasons for which the bilingual speakers participating in this study may alternate either consciously or sub-consciously between the two genetically unrelated languages. A qualitative method is used to gather reliable data that are analysed as objectively as possible. The results show that the occurrence of CS differs from one case to another and is closely related to bilinguals. It is a discourse strategy used by speakers to communicate effectively and in certain cases it is mostly influenced by social aspects like the context, participants, the topic, and by social dimensions like status, solidarity, formality and functions.
Abstract: This work is a micro-sociolinguistic investigation of Code-switching (hereinafter, CS) in an Algerian context. It attempts to point out the socio-pragmatic functions of Algerian Arabic/French CS among adult bilinguals in Tlemcen speech community. The present investigation aims at showing the different instances of CS that occur in distinct settings...
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Beni Snous Speakers’ Linguistic Accommodation in an Urban Contact Context
Issue:
Volume 5, Issue 3-1, June 2017
Pages:
58-66
Received:
21 December 2017
Accepted:
2 January 2018
Published:
22 March 2018
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.s.2017050301.18
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Abstract: Within a rural-urban contact context, the present paper investigates linguistic accommodation of rural speakers (originally from Beni Snous valley, south-west of Tlemcen-Algeria) being in frequent and regular contact with urban speakers in the neighbouring city of Tlemcen. Gender marker is the selected linguistic variable which is used to address a female person. This variable has a reduced form [-i] and a neutralised form ∅ in the speech of Tlemcen speakers. However, Beni Bahdel speakers tend to diphthongise it by adding the suffixes [-ij] and [-ej]. Thus, the aim is to examine whether these rural commuters to the city of Tlemcen have accommodated their speech to the input variant forms [-i] and gender neutralisation ∅ or they still maintain their native variant form. By means of quantitative and qualitative methods, data analysis has revealed that linguistic accommodation has been attested in the speech of these speakers. Some social factors dictate the accommodative behaviour of these rural speakers to urban speech, as women are likely to maintain their native speech while men are prone to accommodate their speech. Such linguistic behaviour is reinforced by social-psychological factors towards both their native speech and urban speech.
Abstract: Within a rural-urban contact context, the present paper investigates linguistic accommodation of rural speakers (originally from Beni Snous valley, south-west of Tlemcen-Algeria) being in frequent and regular contact with urban speakers in the neighbouring city of Tlemcen. Gender marker is the selected linguistic variable which is used to address a...
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