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Advances in Language and
Literary Studies

Online ISSN: 2203-4714

Advances in Language and Literary Studies [ALLS]
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Editor-in-Chief
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Editorial Assistants
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ISSN: 2203-4714
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ii
 ALLS Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief

Amelia Ying Qin, University of Houston, United States

Editorial Assistants

Seyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi

Ruzbeh Babaee

Advisory Board

Andrew Weiler, Holmesglen Institute, Australia

Brian Tomlinson, Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom

John I. Liontas, University of South Florida, United States

Mark Pegrum, The University of Western Australia, Australia

NS Prabhu, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Editorial Board

Alex Ho-Cheong Leung, Northumbria University, Newcastle, United Kingdom

Ali Miremadi, California State University, United States

Andrés Canga Alonso, Universidad de La Rioja, Spain

Anthony J. Liddicoat, University of South Australia, Australia

Bakhtiar Naghdipour, Girne American University, Cyprus

Canzhong Wu, Macquarie University, Australia

Chan Swee Heng, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Chamkaur Singh Gill, Bond University, Australia

Darryl Jones, Trinity College, Ireland

Dat Bao, Monash University, Australia

Fadil S Elmenfi, Omar Al-Mukhtar University/Derna, Libya

iii
Holi Ibrahim Holi, Rusaq College of Applied Sciences, Oman

I Wayan Arka, Australian National University, Australia

Jason Brown, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Jayakaran Mukundan, University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Karim Hajhashemi, James Cook University, Australia

Leila Lomashvili, Shawnee State University, United States

Kylie Cardell, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

Mahmoud M Gewaily, Minia University, Egypt

Mohammad Hossein Keshavarz, Near East University, Cyprus

Mohammad Reza Shams, University of Kashan, Iran, Islamic Republic of

Mounir Jilani Ben Zid, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

Natasha Pourdana, Gyeongju University, Korea, Republic of

Neil Anderson, James Cook University, Australia

Shaofeng Li, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Siamak Babaee, University of Kashan, Iran, Islamic Republic of

Vahed Zarifi, Iran, Islamic Republic of

Wayne DeFehr, University of Alberta, Canada

Wisdom Agorde, University of Alberta, Canada

iv
Vol 6, No 6 (2015)
Table of Contents
Articles
The Effects of Using Microsoft Power Point on EFL Learners’ Attitude and Anxiety
Boualem Benghalem 1-6
Examining the Effect of Interference on Short-term Memory Recall of Arabic Abstract
and Concrete Words Using Free, Cued, and Serial Recall Paradigms
Ahmed Mohammed Saleh Alduais, Yasir Saad Almukhaizeem 7-24
The Effect of Iranian Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs on Their Teaching Practice
Malahat Yousefzadeh, Leila Babapour Azam 25-28
A Network Text Analysis of David Ayer’s Fury
Starling David Hunter, Susan Smith 29-38
How James Kept the Pace?; A Look into the Organic Unity of Daisy Miller
Sina Movaghati, Milad Comcar 39-45
“Reports from an Absurdist” —An Analysis of Artistic Features of Ukraine Diaries
Yang Jing 46-48
Influence of Speech Anxiety on Oral Communication Skills among ESL/EFL Learners
Said Muhammad Khan 49-53
The Effect of Focus on Form and Task Complexity on L2 Learners’ Oral Task
Performance
Asghar Salimi 54-62
Power in Play: A Foucauldian Reading of A.O. Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero
Mahboobeh Davoodifar, Moussa Pourya Asl 63-68
Acculturation Attitudes and Sociocultural Adaptation of Chinese Mainland Sojourners
in Hong Kong
Yuanyi Ma, Bo Wang 69-73
On the Comparative Impact of Self-assessment and Teacher-assessment on Iranian
EFL Learners' Academic Motivation
Asghar Salimi, Vahid Nowrozi Larsari 74-79
Language Testing: an Overview and Language Testing in Educational Institutions of
Bangladesh
Md. Mahroof Hossain, Md. Kawser Ahmed 80-84
Development and Validation of a Materials Preparation Model from the Perspective of
Transformative Pedagogy
Hamed Barjesteh, Parviz Birjandi, Parviz Maftoon 85-93
Lexion: That Which Upholds or Bears an Archetype; Introducing Lex and Lexion to
Modern English
Helen Russ 94-100
Mandarin, Suzhou Dialect and English: Multilingualism in Suzhou

v
 Sibing Xu 101-106
Acoustic Analysis on the Palatalized Vowels of Modern Mongolian
Sangidkhorloo Bulgantamir 107-110
The Impacts of Presenting New Words in Semantically-Related Sets on Vocabulary
Learning
Xingrong Wang 111-118
Genre Analysis and Writing Skill: Improving Iranian EFL Learners Writing
Performance through the Tenets of Genre Analysis
Nazanin Naderi Kalali, Kian Pishkar 119-130
Syntactic Dependencies and Verbal Inflection: Complementisers and Verbal Forms in
Standard Arabic
Feras Saeed 131-140
The Function of Native American Storytelling as Means of Education in Luci
Tapahonso’s Selected Poems
Widad Allawi Saddam, Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya 141-145
Arabic and English Consonants: A Phonetic and Phonological Investigation
Mohammed Shariq 146-152
On (De) Personification in Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition
Ahmad El-Sharif 153-164
Important Points on Rewriting Old Stories for Children
Maryam Jalali 165-169
Ego is a Hurdle in Second Language Learning: A Contrastive Study between Adults
and Children
Shumaila Abdullah, Javed Akhter 170-173
An Etymological Study of Mythical Lakes in Iranian Bundahišn
Hossein Najari, Zahra Mahjoub 174-182
Rhetorical Impact through Hedging Devices in the ‘Results and Discussion’ Part of a
Civil Engineering Research Article
Minoo Khamesian 183-186

Analysing ESL Students’ Perceptions towards Oral Communication for Social and
Occupational Purposes
Fauzilah Md Husain, Malini Ganapathy, Akmar Mohamad 187-194
An Investigation into Undergraduates’ Errors in the use of the Indefinite Article at
Omar Al-Mukhtar University
Ahmed Gaibani 195-200
Effectiveness of Oral Proficiency in English for Secondary Schools (OPS-English)
Programme in Improving English Language Vocabulary among Secondary School

vi
Students

Manesha Kaur Rajendra Singh, Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh, Lin Siew Eng 201-208
Book Review: Backhaus, Peter (2007): Linguistic Landscapes: A Comparative Study
of Urban Multilingualism in Tokyo. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters; 158 Pages ISBN
9781853599460
Omar Alomoush 209-210

vii
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Effects of Using Microsoft Power Point on EFL Learners’

Attitude and Anxiety
Case Study of Two Master Students of Didactics of English as a Foreign Language, Djillali Liabes
University, Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria
Boualem Benghalem
Djillali Liabes University,Sidi Bel Abbes,Algeria
Laboratoire critique et étude littéraires linguistique
B.p N° 89 Sidi Bel Abbes 22000, Algeria
E-mail: benghalemist@gmail.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.1 Received: 24/05/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.1 Accepted: 17/08/2015

Abstract
This study aims to investigate the effects of using ICT tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint on EFL students’ attitude
and anxiety. The participants in this study were 40 Master 2 students of Didactics of English as a Foreign Language,
Djillali Liabes University, Sidi Bel Abbes Algeria. In order to find out the effects of Microsoft PowerPoint on EFL
students’ attitude and anxiety, two main research tools were employed in this study: a questionnaire that was addressed
to 40 Master 2 students of Didactics of English as a Foreign Language and an interview for 10 participants, randomly
selected from the forty participants who answered the questionnaire. After the data had been analysed, the results
revealed a positive attitude and low anxiety among students towards Microsoft PowerPoint. These concluding results
promote the use of ICT and encourage EFL teachers to use these tools in the most beneficial way to improve students’
level of English and motivate them.
Keywords: Information and Communication Technology (ICT), attitude, anxiety, English as foreign language,
teaching, learning
1. Introduction
Educational technology and Information Communication Technology (ICT) provide many benefits for education and
especially for the acquisition and application of English Language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and
grammar in EFL classroom. ICT is an acronym that stands for Information Communication Technology. However,
apart from explaining a contraction, there is not a universally accepted definition of ICT, because the concepts, methods
and applications involved in ICT are constantly evolving on an almost daily basis.
Since ICT was introduced in the West, students have benefited from educational technology. This leads to the need to
investigate whether Algerian students are also getting the benefits of educational technology and ICT and progressing
on balance with students in other parts of the world. Strategies have been designed to equip teachers with the
knowledge and skills to use technology effectively in the classroom. Information Technology (IT) is also introduced as
a subject course offered by teachers in Algerian Universities. Language instructors can also utilize Power Point in
language classrooms as an effective complement to, or as a substitute for traditional textbook teaching. PowerPoint
group projects can give learners the opportunity to work together toward a common group goal while using their
language skills creatively.
This study involved the use of Microsoft Power Point to learn the English language. The participants of this study were
Master 2 students of Didactics of English as a Foreign Language, Djillali Liabes University, Sidi Bel Abbes. The
objective of this study were to determine students’ attitude and to evaluate students’ anxiety when Microsoft Power
Point is used in EFL classroom. This research aimed to address the following research questions:
 What are the students’ attitudes toward lessons that are presented by Microsoft PowerPoint to learn English?
 Do students feel anxious when lessons are presented by Microsoft PowerPoint to learn English?
The study was made up to test the following hypotheses:
 EFL students’ attitude is positive when lessons are presented by Microsoft PowerPoint
EFL students are less anxious when lessons are presented by Microsoft Power Point
2. Literature review
2.1 Attitude and Language Learning
Thomas (1971) views attitude as “a complex of feelings, desires, fears, convictions, prejudices or other tendencies that
have given a set of readiness to act because of varied experience.” According to Noor Zainab (2005), attitude is thought
 ALLS 6(6):1-6, 2015 2
to provide answers to why some students avoid while others approach educational tasks. Noor Zainab (2005) gave an
example that “if students develop positive attitudes towards learning English language, they presumably can enhance
their favourable attitudes towards learning the language which in turn may lead to successful achievement.” Hedge
(2000) points out that, “a learner who has generally negative attitudes towards learning English will have a high
affective filter and the task for the teacher will be substantial.”
Teachers also can help in changing students’ attitude to learn a language. Disick (1972) as cited in Noor Zainab (2005)
suggests that “attitudes towards second language learning can be improved if teachers seek to promote their students’
needs and interests.”
2.2 Anxiety and Language Learning
Anxiety can be defined as “a state of uneasiness and apprehension or fear caused by the anticipation of something
threatening” (Koba, Ogawa and Wilkinson, 2000). In addition, Spielberger (1972) defined anxiety as :
Unpleasant emotional state or condition, which is characterised by subjective feelings of tension, apprehension, and
worry, and by activation or arousal of the autonomic nervous system.
In general, anxiety includes tension, nervousness, fear or worry and is a rather negative or unfavourable feeling. Von
Wörde (2003) believes that both foreign and second language learners experience language anxiety and poses potential
problems as it can interfere with the acquisition, retention and production of the new language. High levels of anxiety
could prevent a student from trying in the learning process.
Teachers play an important role in reducing student anxiety. Von Wörde (2003) found that, “teachers who provide a
supportive and understanding environment, who employ non-threatening teaching methods, and who use appealing and
relevant topics seem to enhance the foreign language experience.”
2.3 Educational Technology and ICT in Algeria
As Kennewell (2004) argues, the term ICT covers all aspects of computers, networks (including the Internet) and
certain other devices with information storage and processing capacity such as calculators, mobile phones and
automatic control devices. ICT is an acronym that stands for Information Communications Technology.
According to Kennewell (2004), ICT resources are broadly classified as follow:
• Hardware: The equipment, such as a PC or interactive whiteboard;
• Software: The stored instructions, which enable the hardware to operate automatically, together with the information
that it stores and processes, such as a word processing program and the documents produced using it
• Media: The materials that carry data and programs, such as floppy or hard disks.
• Services: Combinations of hardware, software and human resources that enable users to achieve more than they could
with hardware and software alone, such as the Internet.
Algeria is encouraging and fostering the use of ICT to enhance the development process in general and the development
of the educational system in particular, paving the road for an ICT policy framework along with an implementation
strategy (Hamdy, 2007).
According to Hamdy (2007), the government is committed to set forth a policy for the integration of ICT within the
educational system. The reform of the educational process and inclusion of ICT with a set structure was formally
included in the country’s formal ICT policy in June 2002 with an allocation of three billion dinar. Some Algerian
universities have computer labs and Internet access for faculty, students, and administration in addition to the
availability of digital libraries. Each university has its own ICT policy to accelerate the educational process and offer
better learning opportunities in virtual universities and with distance and open learning.
2.4 Using Power Point in EFL Classroom
As Radanov (2008) explains, “PowerPoint is a type of presentation software that allows one to show coloured text and
images with simple animation and sound”. This tool can be shown on a computer screen or using a projector with a
large screen for the whole class who can view the same presentation at the same time. PowerPoint has many features,
which make it a useful classroom tool. It can save teachers time because the materials that are produced for PowerPoint
can be reused many times. PowerPoint also allows teachers to vary their teaching methods and break the routine
(Ahmed, 2005). Moreover, Steele & Johnson (n.d) note that using PowerPoint’s big screen allows all learners (at the
front and back of the class) to see what is being introduced. They argue that, when used appropriately, it can enhance
the teacher’s instruction and learners’ motivation. Of course, teachers must also be aware of potential disadvantages of
using PowerPoint. The use of presentation software encourages use of all four skills. Fisher (2003) explains that
PowerPoint “can be used for initial teaching, for practice and drilling, for games, for reviews, and for tests.”
3. Methodology
To allow the investigation of students’ perceptions of the use of Microsoft Power Point, the study was based on mixed
model research paradigm. The choice of this research design was pointed by the aim of the study and also the type of
data to be analysed and discussed. The most important material used in this study was obtained from the closed-form
questionnaire responses of the participants along with their responses to the open-form questionnaire administered for
both students.
 ALLS 6(6):1-6, 2015 3
The respondents for this study were 40 LMD Master 2 students of Didactics of English as Foreign Language in the
Djillali Liabes University Sidi Bel Abbes, Faculty of Letters, Languages and Arts. They usually have few teachers who
use power point to present their lessons. At that particular stage of the study, the choice of participants was based on
some standards, which make the selection ideal. First, they are typical EFL Algerian learners. Second, they are students
at Djillali Liabes University and consequently are more convenient in location to the researcher in terms of access and
delivery of the survey. Third, they are particularly exposed to ICT in general and the use of Microsoft Power Point by
few teachers. Finally, it seems likely that by fifth year of their studies in the faculty and after a long-term exposure to
mandatory foreign language instructions in secondary and high schools prior to their study at university. The students’
academic level is ideal for this study because they have enough experience to propose some helpful insights about the
use of Microsoft Power Point in EFL classroom.
The questionnaire was distributed for the participants during class sessions, after a brief explanation about the nature of
the study and its major implication in the LMD system. They were agreed to have enough time to give back the answers
to the researcher himself. Following the semi-structured format, the interviews with 10 participants were conducted in
an informal manner (English or Algerian Arabic).
4. Results and Discussions
4.1 Participants
The questionnaire used in this study was distributed to 40 Master 2 students of didactics of English foreign language at
Djillali Liabes University Sidi Bel Abbes. In this study, the numbers of male and female students are not equally
represented, as there are 7 male and 33 female respondents between the age of 21 and 46 years old as shown in the
following table:

Table 4.1 Gender of the Participants

Number Percentage

Female 33 82.5%

Male 7 17.5%

Total = 40 100%

4.2 Participants’ Attitude towards Using Microsoft Power Point

Table 4.2 was devoted to seek participants’ attitude towards using Microsoft Power Point; four items were designed for
this purpose. It shows the results given by the participants determined if they have positive or negative attitude.

Table 4.2 Participants’ Attitude towards Using Microsoft Power Point

Statements Strongly agree Total undecided Disagree Strongly Total

agree (SA+A) disagree (SD+D)
N° % N° % N° % N° % N° % N° % N° %
I believe I can use 25 62,5 10 25 35 87,5 5 12,5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Microsoft
PowerPoint to
improve my
language skills.
It is boring to only 6 15 21 52,5 27 67,5 2 5 0 0 11 27,5 11 27,5
listen to my
lecturer in normal
English class.
Microsoft Power 33 82,5 7 17,5 40 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Point makes it easy
for me to learn
English.
I am not interested 2 5 2 5 4 10 5 12,5 7 17,5 24 60 31 77,5
to use Microsoft
PowerPoint in
doing a
presentation.

In response to the first statement, “I believe I can use Microsoft PowerPoint to improve my language skills”, 62.5% of
the participants strongly agreed, 25% agreed and only 12.5% were undecided. The next statement was aimed to seek
 ALLS 6(6):1-6, 2015 4
participants’ attitude toward a classroom where there is no use of technology. A total of 67.5% agreed with the
statement “It is boring to only listen to my lecturer in normal English class” while a group of 27.5% disagreed and 5%
were undecided. All the participants (100%) found that Microsoft PowerPoint had an easy feature of facilitating work
when mistakes occur and need to be corrected. A high percentage of 77.5% disagreed with the last statement “I am not
interested to use Microsoft PowerPoint in doing a presentation” while a minority of 5% strongly agreed, 5% agreed,
however,12% of the participants were undecided.
4.3 Anxiety Level of Participants towards Using Microsoft Power Point
The final part of the questionnaire was designed to determine the anxiety level of participants towards the use of
Microsoft Power point in EFL classroom. Three items were designed concerning this regard and the table 3.5 shows the
ratings used to determine high and low anxiety of the respondents.
Table 4.3 shows that in response to the statement “I become anxious when my teacher uses a Microsoft PowerPoint
presentation”, 15% strongly agreed, 12.5% agreed while 32.5% disagreed, 27.5% strongly disagreed while 12.5% were
undecided.
Almost all the participants (97.5%) agreed with the statement “I feel very disappointed when my Microsoft Power Point
presentation does not work” 82.5% of the participants strongly agreed while 15% agreed. An amount of 75% of the
respondents agreed with the final statement “After the training provided, I felt less anxious when I was asked to prepare
a Microsoft Power Point presentation.”62.5% of the participants strongly agreed, 2.5% agreed whereas 17.5%
disagreed, 2.5% strongly disagreed and 5% were undecided.

Table 4.3 Anxiety Level of Participants towards Using Microsoft Power Point.
Statements Strongly Agree Total Undecided Disagree Strongly Total
Agree (SA+A) Disagree (SD+D)
N° % N° % N° % N° % N° % N° % N° %
I become anxious when 6 15 5 12,5 11 27,5 5 12,5 13 32,5 11 27,5 24 60
my teacher uses a
Microsoft PowerPoint
presentation.
I feel very disappointed 33 82,5 6 15 39 97,5 1 2,5 0 0 0 0 0 0
when Microsoft Power
Point presentation does
not work.
After the training 29 72,5 1 2,5 30 75 2 5 7 17,5 1 2,5 8 20
provided, I felt less
anxious when I was
asked to prepare a
Microsoft Power Point
presentation.

4.4 Discussion of the Participants’ Attitude Findings

In general, the majority of the participants (87.5%) had a positive attitude towards using Microsoft PowerPoint to
improve the English language skills (listening, speaking writing and reading) however 12.5% were neutral. This
positive attitude of most participants indicate that there is a shift of the learning style since most participants (67.5%)
replied that the lecture presented without the use of technology is boring. However, a small proportion (27.5%) still
preferred the old method of conventional white board and marker. This is expected because learning style differs from
one learner. Some students appreciate the use of technology and others are still techno phobic.

Figure 4.1 Participants’ Attitude about the Impact of Using of Microsoft PowerPoint
 ALLS 6(6):1-6, 2015 5
4.5 Discussion of the Participants’ Anxiety Level Findings
A low anxiety level was noticed among participants when 60% disagreed with the statement, “I become anxious when
my teacher uses a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation”.
However, there are problems that cause high anxiety for students. One example is when their Microsoft PowerPoint
presentation does not work; almost all the respondents (97.5%) were very disappointed when the presentation of the
teacher does not work. Participants felt that training could be a factor that can reduce Anxiety since 75% replied that the
training provided in the first LMD cycle reduced their anxiety.

Figure 4.2 Level of participants’ anxiety towards using Microsoft Power Point

4.6 The Interview Results

In order to back up the data obtained from the questionnaire, an interview was set out for 10 selected participants among
those who completed the questionnaire.
All participants had a positive attitude when they present a work that requires PowerPoint. This may be due to the fact
that participants have been used to it since some teachers already rely on this tool. Thus, they became more integrated in
technology trend. One participants said “What makes PowerPoint attractive is not the tool itself, but the way it is used
and the way its functions are gathered to emphasise on the most important elements of the lecture.”
When asked if a PowerPoint presentation makes the respondents feel anxious, most of them said no, because they are
motivated to associate technology with English learning. However, four participants replied yes to the same question
but the reason of feeling anxious varied from one participant to another. One participant said ” Yes, because sometimes
there is no interaction between the teacher and learners ” while another said:” Yes, because the setting of the tool takes
a lot of time and sometimes we waste time while waiting for the teacher to get it set ”.
There was unanimity of respondents that Microsoft PowerPoint should be included in education and especially EFL
classrooms for various reasons. One interviewee stated “Yes because visual aids help to learn better”, another
interviewee said: “yes because I can take notes without making mistakes”. Another commented: “it includes clear
pictures and sounds which helps to memorise the information.”
5. Summary of the Results
This study was aimed to examine the attitude and anxiety of Master 2 students of didactics of English as a foreign
language at Djillali Liabes University Sidi Bel Abbes Algeria when Microsoft PowerPoint is used in EFL classroom.
As it was pointed out by Fisher (2003), “PowerPoint has been in existence for many years, it has just begun to spread to
schools and ESL classrooms… [and]…the reason for this delay is that technology requires hardware, which is relatively
expensive.”, it is no longer an excuse for Algerian teachers to avoid using technology in teaching since Algerian
universities in general and Sidi Bel Abbes university in particular has already been provided with those tools.
Furthermore, there can be also another determining fact shown in this study with the positive attitude of Master 2
students of didactics of English as a foreign language at Djillali Liabes University Sidi Bel Abbes towards the use of
Microsoft PowerPoint in EFL classroom.
Given the results of a study conducted by Cobb (2002), it was found that ICT can enhance students' motivation and
confidence in using the English language and can assist with language acquisition in ESOL students. It makes sense that
the majority of participants showed a positive attitude towards using Microsoft Power Point to improve their English
level and also the four language skills (listening, speaking writing and reading). This positive attitude is attributed to the
fact that the tools provided by Microsoft PowerPoint facilitate their work and are more helpful in improving their
language skills and also their computer skills. Moreover, the use of Microsoft PowerPoint generates a great learning
atmosphere, which makes English lessons interesting. If students have positive attitudes towards using Microsoft
PowerPoint to learn English, it is remotely inevitable that they will achieve higher proficiency level with the software.
Having said this and based on those results, EFL students’ attitude is positive when lessons are presented by Microsoft
PowerPoint, which confirms the first hypothesis of this study.
 ALLS 6(6):1-6, 2015 6
It is a common knowledge that anxiety in language classroom cannot be avoided or prevented. Yet, it was noticed low
anxiety among the majority of EFL students but as in the case of this study, anxiety is still present. High anxiety can be
caused by the failure of software sometimes when it is not working appropriately because of technicalities. However, it
is possible to reduce anxiety and not completely eradicate it through ICT training. The findings of the current study
were generally similar to those found by Valerie (2006) on her research on the effects of using ICT on EFL Malaysian
students. Based on those results, EFL students are less anxious when lessons are presented by Microsoft Power Point,
which confirms the second hypothesis.
5.1 Pedagogical Implications
The data obtained from this study revealed that by using ICT appropriately, it would help to improve the learning
process for students learning English Foreign language.
First of all, This study already proved that students are interested in using Microsoft PowerPoint to learn English.
Hence, all teachers could start using Microsoft PowerPoint in their English class since so far; only few teachers at the
English department Djillali Liabes University are embracing this ICT tool. Either they can use it to teach or they can
make it a part of student activity since they certainly need more opportunities. Moreover, teachers should take into
consideration how the students like to learn because learning style differs from one learner to another. Educational
technology is playing an important role in the teaching profession but it does not mean that teachers should be totally
enslaved to the ICT tools. They can use Microsoft PowerPoint as a tool, not as a method. They can incorporate the use
of technology to teach as a way to add variety into classroom procedures so students do not get bored. It could be a
form of motivation for the students and also the teachers themselves.
6. Conclusion
The reason to choose this topic “The effects of using Microsoft PowerPoint on EFL learners” was mainly because of the
awareness of the importance of ICT nowadays, its absence of using it at Algerian universities in general and especially
at the department of foreign languages, Djillali Liabes University.
The main objective was to show the impact of using one of ICT tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint, on the EFL
learners’ attitude and anxiety. There is still a need for many studies that have to be done in order to determine the future
of ICT in Algerian EFL classroom because Algeria is still consider left behind with modern technology especially in the
educational field.
Having said this, the use of ICT in EFL classrooms offers significant advantage in language teaching learning; students
can be more motivated and less anxious. Yet, PowerPoint is not the answer to all foreign language problems. What
more is certain is that, when this tool is used considerately, it can increase learners’ motivation, and therefore backing
up the teacher to make his job less stressful and more efficient in order to achieve their objectives.

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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Examining the Effect of Interference on Short-term Memory

Recall of Arabic Abstract and Concrete Words Using Free,
Cued, and Serial Recall Paradigms
Ahmed Mohammed Saleh Alduais (Corresponding author)
Department of Linguistics, Social Sciences Institute
Ankara University, 06100
Sıhhiye, Ankara, Turkey
E-mail: amsalduais@gmail.com

Yasir Saad Almukhaizeem

Department of Linguistics and Translation, College of Languages and Translation
King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
E-mail: ymokhezeem@ksu.edu.sa

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.7 Received: 29/05/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.7 Accepted: 18/08/2015

The research is financed by Research Centre in the College of Languages and Translation Studies and the Deanship of
Scientific Research, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Abstract
Purpose: To see if there is a correlation between interference and short-term memory recall and to examine interference
as a factor affecting memory recalling of Arabic and abstract words through free, cued, and serial recall tasks. Method:
Four groups of undergraduates in King Saud University, Saudi Arabia participated in this study. The first group
consisted of 9 undergraduates who were trained to perform three types of recall for 20 Arabic abstract and concrete
words. The second, third and fourth groups consisted of 27 undergraduates where each group was trained only to
perform one recall type: free recall, cued recall and serial recall respectively. Interference (short-term memory
interruption) was the independent variable and a number of recalled abstract and concrete words was the dependent
variable. The used materials in this study were: abstract and concrete words classification form based on four factors
was distributed to the participants (concreteness, imageability, meaningfulness, and age of acquisition), three oral recall
forms, three written recall forms, and observation sheets for each type of recall. Also, three methods were used:
auditory, visual, and written methods. Results: Findings indicated that interference effect on short-term memory recall
of Arabic abstract and concrete words was not significant especially in the case of free and serial recall paradigms. The
difference between the total number of recalled Arabic abstract and concrete words was also very slight. One other the
hand, we came to the conclusion that Pearson’s correlation between interference at these memory recall paradigms (M:
1.66, SD= .47) and the short-term memory recall (M: 1.75, SD= .43) supported the research hypothesis that those
participants with oral interruptions tended to recall slightly less Arabic abstract and concrete words, whereas those
participants with no oral interruptions would tend to recall slightly more Arabic abstract and concrete words, r = .713,
p< 0.01. Conclusions: Interference as a factor affecting short-term memory recall didn’t show any significant effect
where there was a noticeable increase or decrease in the number of recalled words; although, it is moderately yet
positively correlated to short-term memory recall.
Keywords: abstract words, concrete words, words recall, free recall, cued recall, serial recall, recall effects,
interference, short-term memory
1. Introduction
Psycholinguistically, language in general operates under different levels as illustrated in figure 1 below, (Scovel, 1998).
 ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 8

Figure 1. Psycholinguistic processes of language

Human memory plays a critical role in all the above levels in terms of: storage, recall, and encoding, (see Byrne, 2003;
Baddeley, 1999; Baddeley, 2004; Parker, Wilding & Bussey, 2002). However, a number of both external and internal
factors can affect these processes in general and each in particular. The possible factors that can affect memory recall
are listed in figure 2. (See Menzel, 2008; Baddeley, 1999; Parker, Wilding, & Bussey, 2005; Noordman-Vonk, 1979;
Eichenbaum, 2002; Byrne, 2003).

Figure 2. Factors affecting human memory recall

The effect of interference on memory recall of Arabic abstract and concrete words using free, cued, and serial recall
paradigms is the scope of this paper. Interference refers to ‘irrelevant information that enters the focus of attention and
impairs performance’, (Mackay-Brandt, 2014, para 1).
There are basically two major theories in regard to interference and memory recall: one is called Interference Theory
 ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 9
and the opposing theory to it is Decay Theory. In the former theory, it is proposed that retrieval of previously encoded
information is hindered by newly encoded information, (see Rieber & Salzinger, 1998). In the latter theory, it is
proposed that the result of information retrieval failure is due to memory decay and attrition other than the newly
acquired information, (see Thorndike, 1914).
When talking about interference; however, two types of interference are differentiated (see figure 3, adapted from Rich,
2014). The first type is called proactive interference and the second type is called retroactive interference. The proactive
interference is defined as, ‘… the interference effect of previously learned materials on the acquisition and retrieval of
newer materials’, (Teague, Langer, Bored, & Bender, 2014, para. 1). An example of this type of interference is ‘in
everyday life would be a difficulty in remembering a friend's new phone number after having previously learned the old
number, (ibid). On the contrary, retroactive interference is referred to ‘... conditions in which new learning interferes
with old learning. Forgetting may be due to decay, a failure to reinstate the context of initial learning, or interference’,
(Rich, 2014, para. 1).

Figure 3. Main difference between proactive interference and retroactive interference

Campoy, 2011 conducted a study about retroactive interference on short-term memory and word-length effect. Two
experiments were carried out to see if word-length effect on short-term memory is the result of generated greater level
of retroactive interference by long words. It was concluded that ‘… long words produce more retroactive interference
than short words, supporting an interference-based account for the word-length effect’, (ibid, p. 1).
Furthermore, Risser, McNamara, Baldwin, Scerbo, & Barshi (2002) studied the interference effects on the recall of
heard and read words. Two experiments where the first one examined effects of simultaneous interference and the
second one examined the effects of post-task and/or subsequent interference. It was concluded that both visual and
verbal interferences are equivalent.
In fact, studies of interference effects have not been only conducted on human, but also on non-humans. Consider, for
instance, the study of (Lewis & Kamil, 2006) who examined interference effects on the memory for serially presented
locations in Clark’s nutcrackers. Results of the two experiments approved effect of interference both proactive and
retroactive during recall of spatial information by nutcrackers.
Henson, Hartley, Burgess & Flude (2003) investigated in four experiments, ‘effects of irrelevant speech, articulatory
suppression, temporal grouping, and paced finger tapping on these two tasks [item probe and list probe tasks]’ (p.
1307). Findings reported limited evidence for the proposed aim of the study in spite of inferred reasonable
interpretations.
In depth, Oberauer & Lewandowsky (2008) tested ‘three hypotheses of forgetting from immediate memory: time-based
decay, decreasing temporal distinctiveness, and interference’ (p. 544); using three models of serial recall, ‘the primacy
model, the SIMPLE (scale-independent memory, perception, and learning) model, and the SOB (serial order in a box)
model’ (ibid). It was concluded that, ‘purely temporal views of forgetting are inadequate’ (ibid).
Moreover, Darby & Sloutsky (2013) examined, ‘proactive and retroactive interference effects’ (p. 2130); in children
and adults. Results indicated stability of these effects among the two targeted groups. Thus, it is proposed that there
might be vital role of ‘associative complexity as a possible modulator or proactive interference’ (Darby & Sloutsky,
2013, p. 2013) in the investigated age groups.
Further, Balota, Cowan, & Engle (1990) investigated suffix interference in the recall of linguistically coherent speech.
Four experiments were conducted and results indicated that, ‘auditory memory interference can take place for
linguistically coherent speech, although magnitude of the interference decreases as one increases the level linguistic
structure in the to-be-recalled materials’ (p. 446).
One more study is Turvey & Weeks (1975) studied effects of interference and rehearsal on the primary and secondary
components of short-term retention. Findings of the study consolidated the view that ‘proactive interference is limited to
long-term store and that items in short-term store are impervious to the influence of prior traces’ (p. 119).
(Lustig, May, & Hasher, 2001) investigated ‘the possibility that working memory span tasks are influenced by the
interference…’ (p. 199). Findings suggested the validity of the view that interference influences on span.
Another study examined the effect of retroactive interference on memory recall using two phases: learning and
ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 10
recognition for three types of visual passwords: faces, objects, and abstract imagery. It was concluded that, ‘overall
recognition was better for abstract images than for pictures of people and object imagery’ (UKEssaysa, 2014, p. 6).
One more study was conducted examining the effect of interference on remembering words in short-term memory. The
researcher made use of 24 unrelated words, selected randomly, and 24 participants with no neurological and/or
psychiatry record. Results indicated that the number of recalled words was more in the group where no interference was
occurred. On the contrary, less number of recalled words was found in the case of group where interference was
occurred. Thus, the difference between the two groups was insignificant, (UKEssaysb, 2014).
One more study was conducted by (UKEssaysc, 2014) investigating the effects of chunking and distraction on short-
term memory recall. Twenty male and female undergraduates participated in the study, using two types of recall stimuli:
related and unrelated words with ten lists of words in each type. In each type, the recall process was carried out with
and without distraction. Results proposed significant effect of interference on short-memory recall in that it decreases
recall changes and the number of recalled items. Also, results suggested that related and/or chunked words help improve
memory recall as compared to unrelated and/or un-chunked words which showed less recalled words even in the case of
non-interference, (ibid).
In 1997, Nairne, Neath, & Serra examined the effect of proactive interference role in the word length effect. Two
experiments were carried out and it was concluded that ‘proactive interference is an important source of forgetting in
immediate memory tasks’ (p. 544).
The trend of research applies to Tulving & Arbuckle (1963). They studied two sources (separation and evaluation
effects- input and output) intratrial interference in immediate recall of paired associates. The study was based on the
assumption that a certain learned item is recalled immediately after its presentation and if it cannot be recalled after
interval retention regardless of its length, then it must have been forgotten. A major conclusion was that ‘probability of
recall of an individual item is greatly affected by the position of the item in the input and output sequence’ (p. 333).
It has been mentioned above that human memory undergoes three main processes as illustrated in (figure 4) below (see
Baddeley, 2004; Baddeley, 1999; Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968; Randall, 2007; Byrne, 2003; Parker, Wilding, & Bussey,
2002).

Figure 4. Human memory core processes

A large number of studies have been conducted investigating concreteness effect in particular and abstract and concrete
words recall in general. A number of these studies are reviewed shortly below.
One of these studies is Harad’s & Coch (2009). They investigated the concreteness’ effect on the ability of processing
words and backward recall. 14 normal adults participated in the study where 120 abstract words and 120 concrete words
were used. It should be noted that 60 words from each type were old and 60 words were considered as new. Memory
tasks including press button judgment were used as tools of this research. It was concluded that concrete word are more
remembered than abstract ones. The researchers supported their empirical conclusion with that concrete words have
more “meaning-based features” than do have the abstract ones, (Walker & Hulme, 1999 in Harad& Coch, 2009, p. 1).
Another study related to the same perspective is West’s & Holcomb (2000). They conducted an experimental study
claiming supporting the previously finding that concrete concepts and/or words over abstract ones in terms of cognitive
processing. The study consisted of 36 student in the age range (19-23) divided into through groups where each group
ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 11
represents one investigated level: imagery, semantic and surface levels. The researcher made use of Reaction time (RE)
and Even-Related brain Potential (ERP) as tool measurements for their research. The ERs were shorter in both the
imagery and semantic tasks for concrete words than abstract ones specially the imagery task. Besides, concrete words
elicited more negative ERPs than abstract ones.
Furthermore, Schwa, Akin & Luh (1992) examined the concreteness effects of automatic-imagery, strategic-imagery,
and context availability hypothesis predictions to recall abstract and concrete words. The researchers conducted three
experiments supporting the view that abstract words “are remembered more poorly than concrete materials”, (Paivio,
1971, 1986 in Schwa, Akin & Luh, 1992, p. 96). The researchers concluded that their research with results supporting
the “strategic-imagery view of concreteness effects in free recall”, (ibid).
An important study is Fliessbach’s, Weis, Klaver, Elger, & Weber (2006) who examined abstract and concrete words
processing on the basis of the notion that concrete words are generally better than abstract ones in terms of more
successful remembering. The study was based on two theories, both supporting the view that concrete words, but not
abstract ones are more accurately remembered. The first theory is called Dual-Coding Theory and the second one is
called Context-Availability Theory. The former theory states that concrete words are over abstract ones because they
possess “dual coding … in the form of a verbal and sensory code”, (p. 1413). The latter theory states again that concrete
words are over abstract ones because they possess “a more accessible semantic network”, (Fliessbach, Weis, Klaver,
Elger, & Weber, 2006, p. 1413). The researcher made use of the even-related Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(fMRI) technique as a tool for testing their proposed prediction. Twenty one (21) subjects without any neurological or
psychiatric history in the age range (19-43) participated in the study. The material of the study was 180 abstract words
and 180 concrete words, selected and identified as among the most frequent German words. The drawn conclusion was
in favour of more significance in the case of concrete words over the abstract ones in terms of activated places in the
brain.
The same applies to Dahlstrom and Ultis (2014) who investigated the view that concrete words but not abstract ones
are generally recognized more by humans. Using an attractor network “a recurrent neural network designed to settle to a
stable output over time”, (p. 1) the researchers attempted to analyse the human behaviour towards language processing.
It was concluded that the concrete words are more recognizable than the abstract ones, not because of their highly
intensive representation, but of being more “reinforced” (p. 6) in terms of learning [input].
Immediate Free Recall (IFR) has been used by (Dukes & Bastian, 1966). They used abstract and concrete words using
a list of 10 abstract words and 10 concrete words, more specifically nouns. The words were shown to the participants by
a projector twice. It was concluded that the participants recalled more concrete words than abstract ones.
The roles of word concreteness and word valence in immediate serial recall has been assessed by Tse & Altarriba
(2009). The researchers conducted two experiments using word-label and word-laden pairs of words. Five lists of
positive concrete words, five lists of negative concrete words, five lists of positive abstract words, and five lists of
negative abstract words in the first experiment. In the second experiment, the researcher used five lists of neutral
abstract words and five lists of neural concrete words plus the twenty lists used in the experiment 1. The participants
were 20 in Experiment 1 and 20 in Experiment 2 who are native-speaker of English Language. A compatible computer
with E-Prime was used for data-analysis purposes. Results indicated that concrete words are more recalled than abstract
ones, yet positive ones are more recalled than negative ones. These results are also the same in the second experiment in
addition to that positive and neutral words are more remembered than negative words.
(Lagishetti & Goswami, 2012) conducted a study examining the effectiveness of concreteness on differentiating
between abstract and concrete words processing. A minor aim of this study was also observing any gender differences
in relation to abstract and concrete words processing. The participants were 20 neuro-typical adults (10 males and 10
females) whose first language is Kannada Language. The instrument of the study is DMDX software and an
accompanying software called (TimeDX). The researchers made use of 100 selected abstract and concrete words
measured on 3-point scale (1: abstract, 2: unrecognized, 3: concrete). Reaction times for both abstract and concrete
words were measured and results revealed significant differences between occurring reaction times for abstract and
concrete words in favour of the concrete ones. Gender differences were not observed during the study and the
researchers conclude that concreteness is an effective variable for distinguishing between abstract and concrete words
processing.
The same is true for Hanley, Hunt, Steed & Jackman (2013). They examined concreteness’ effect on abstract and
concrete words’ production. Two experiments were conducted where in 56 undergraduates from the University of Essex
participated in Experiment 1 and 58 participated in Experiment 2. 68 words where 34 are abstract and 34 are concrete
with their dictionary definitions were used to measure the productions of the words in terms of semantic lexical weighs
and phonological lexical weighs. Findings indicated that “poor performance during attempts to retrieve abstract words
from their dictionary definitions… associated with more omissions, more alternates, and more TOTs (tip-of-the-tongue-
state) than is the case for concrete words”, (p. 374).
On the basis of the above presented literature, it could be seen that previous studies accounted for either interference
effect on memory recall of words or concreteness effect on memory recall but not the two as an integrated topic. In this
study, the researchers investigated the validity of the following hypotheses:
1. Participants will recall more words in non-interference recall processes than in the interference recall
processes; and
 ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 12
2. Participants will not recall the same number of abstract and concrete words in non-interference and
interference processes [less/more abstract words than concrete ones].
3. There might be a [correlation] between interference and memory recall of Arabic abstract and concrete words.
2. Method
2.1 Sample
The population of interest in this study is all university students in the undergraduate level who meets the following
criteria: 1) native-speakers of Arabic Language; 2) registered in the university as undergraduate students; and 3) typical
neurological and clinical history. The following table (2) shows the characteristics of the subjects in this study.

Table 1. Characteristics of subjects

Age range 20-24
Mother tongue language Arabic Language
Dialect Saudi Arabic Language
Ethnicity Arab
Other languages English (EFL use)
Gender Male (single and married)
Nationality Saudis
Specific characteristic Be enrolled in a BA programme in the university
level (King Saud University).

Probability sampling method, mainly stratified sampling method was used in this study where one class out many
available classes was picked randomly to take part in this study. The class has 36 students from the college of
Engineering who are enrolled in prerequisite English Language course in the College of Languages and Translation,
King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in 2013, late December. The class was divided randomly into
two four groups as shown in table (2) below.

Table 2. Population distribution

Task type Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
Free recall
Cued recall
Serial recall
Interference No No No Yes

The selected sample is aimed to be representative of the population of interest and that reached results are generalizable
for populations with similar characteristics. In other words, the study investigates a language acquisition topic from
both cognitive and psycholinguistic perspectives and the targeted population is native speakers of Arabic so external
effects like time, place and people cannot affect the generalizability of this study as long as they have similar
characteristics to the above mentioned ones.
2.2 Measures
Two measures were used in this study: one is a list of 20 Arabic abstract and concrete words and an observation sheet of
the observed effects of recall types.
To start with the first measure, a list of 20 Arabic words where 20 are abstract and 20 are concrete were used in this
study. The words were selected on the basis of semantic relationship where one word could relate to another in terms of
meaning but differ from one another in terms of concreteness. For instance, the words: mind and brain which are both
semantically related but actually different from one another. It should be noted that by stating semantically similar is to
mean that they share same associations and a person can think of both words when provided by certain cues and/or
associations.
The list of the 20 abstract and concrete words were selected to measure abstract and concrete words processing and
recall through free call tasks. The list of the words, yet more procedural issues could be followed in the procedures
section below and in the appendix.
 ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 13
Both validity and reliability were calculated in this used measurement tool. In detail, in the case of construct validity:
both face and content validities were calculated to represent translation validity. Face validity was calculated by the
principal researcher and another PhD student of Arabic Language from the Department of Arabic Language and
Literature, College of Arts, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Both of them indicated very good
face validity for the list of the words. For content validity, again, the list of the words was divided into two types in
terms of content: abstract and concrete, yet in terms of semantic relationship between the abstract and concrete pair of
words. In other words, the abstract word must have an association with the concrete words in order to be included in the
list; otherwise, it will be excluded and replaced by another pair of words. One type only of criterion-related validity,
namely, predictive validity, was calculated in this study (see tables 3 & 5 below).
To move to reliability, two types of reliability were calculated: inter-rater and internal consistency reliability. Inter-rater
reliability was measured by the principal researcher who divided the words into two lists: abstract and concrete words
on the basis of the following criteria: concreteness, imageability, meaningfulness (Paivio Norms), and age of
acquisition, (MRC Psycholinguistic Database, 2013). The list of words was rated twice to make sure that the list of the
abstract words are those with negative significant concreteness, zero or negative imageability, and vague and/or
ambiguous meaning(s), and the concrete words are those with positive significant concreteness, high or positive
imageability, and clear-cut meaning(s). Tables (3-5) below display and summarize the calculated validity and reliability
types and their values.

Table 3. Reliability & validity results of abstract and concrete words scale
Reliability Statistical tool & result Validity Statistical tool & result
Tool Result Tool Result
Inter-rater Pearson .80, .80, .78 Face 2 raters High
Internal Cronbach .82 Content Categories Excellent
Predictive Pearson .49
Concurrent Uncalculated
Convergent Uncalculated
Discriminant Uncalculated

Table 4. Internal consistency reliability of the abstract and concrete words scale
Feature Corrected Cronbach’s Cronbach’s alpha if item
Alpha deleted
Concreteness .71 .78
Imageability .70 .78
Meaningfulness .69 .80
Concreteness and abstractness 1.00 .71

Table 5. Construct validity of the abstract and concrete words scale

Feature
R value R Value R value R value
Concreteness .46 .47 .40 .80
Imageability .46 .44 .37 .80
Meaningfulness .46 .44 .38 .78
Age of acquisition .40 .37 .38 .49
Concreteness and abstractness .80 .80 .78 .49

*Indicates insignificant values, ** indicate low level validity, all other values are significant at the 0.01 level.

The second measure was an observation sheet where in the administrator of the research was provided with to document
his observations following the given instructions in the provided sheet (see appendix)
2.3 Design
A four group quasi-experimental randomized design was used in this study. The design can be depicted in notational
ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 14
form as:
R X- 1, 2, 3 O1 O+ 1, 2
R X- 1, 2, 3 O2 O+ 1, 2
R X- 1, 2, 3 O3 O+ 1, 2
R X- 1, 2, 3 O4 O- 1, 2
where:
R = indicates that the groups were randomly assigned
X- = indicates words processing methods (1 = auditory, 2 = visual, and 3 = writing), (-) indicates that it is
non=treatment research
O = indicates the measurement tools used in the study
O = the first O stands for the observation sheet for recall types (1: means only free recall task without short-
term memory interruption, 2 means cued recall task without short-term memory interruption, 3 means serial recall
without short-term memory interruption and 4 means free, cued, and serial recalls with short-term memory interruption)
O = the second O stands for observing which type of words comes over which, that is abstract words are better
recalled than content words or vice versa. The numbers in lower case stand for (1 = abstract words, and 2 = concrete
words, and more generally retrieved and non-retrieved words), (+) means the possibility that number of recalled words
increases when a short-term memory interruption does not occur and (-) means the possibility that number of recalled
words decreases when is a short-term memory interruption occurs.
The first three groups were compared to the fourth group to see first if words recalling is correlated with interference
and then to see if interference affects word recall. The independent variable was the short-term memory
interruptionrepresented by intended explanatory oral interruptions from the test administrator. On the other hand, the
dependent variable was the number of recalled abstract and concrete words in the non-interference group and
interference group.
2.4 Procedure
Between 01.02.2014 and 01.03.2014, the study was conducted and all the following procedures were arranged and
followed.
Data collection: an observation sheet for documenting the observed effects was designed where the subjects were first
provided with a list of 20 words and asked to classify them into both abstract and concrete words. Before that, the
students are provided with very basic information about the differences between abstract and concrete words. Moreover,
they were introduced with related terms to classification process: concreteness, imageability, meaningfulness (Paivio
Norms), and age of acquisition, (MRC Psycholinguistic Database, 2013). Having done that, then the list of words was
presented to the students using three methods:
1. Auditory methods: the administrator of the research reads the words aloud to the students;
2. Visual method: the administrator of the research presents the list of words to the student using an Over-Head
Projector (OHP) and powerpoint slides where each word is presented as a card (pictures are may be provided
next to each word); and
3. Writing method: the administrator of the research asks the students to read the words aloud and write them
from the over-head projector in the paper-notes they are provided with.
The next step was asking the students to start recalling the words they can recall from both abstract and concrete words.
Of course, the same procedures will be followed to the four groups with following differences:
1. Group one attempted only free recall (no interference);
2. Group two attempted only cued recall (no interference);
3. Group three attempted only serial recall (no interference); and
4. Group four attempted free, cued and serial recalls (short-term memory interruption).
Authenticity: the students were informed by their instructor and were given the chance to take part or not before being
the subjects of the study. Having agreed, the students are assured to have full authenticity about the collected data and
restricting its use for research purposes only. Needless to say, all the above procedures were officially documented
using a consent form signed by each student confirming his free willingness to participate in the study.
Measures administration: the two used measures were administered by the instructor of the course after being trained
by the one of the researchers. The instructor was provided with all kinds of instructions that should be followed
(detailed procedural issues can be seen in the appendix).
Time and environment of the measurement tools: the study was conducted in the College of Languages and Translation,
King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Each student was called individually into a well-prepared
classroom with comfortable chairs, over-head projector, good air conditioning, and lightening. The used time for all the
above described steps to be performed was about 26 minutes (4 minutes for each for those who were assigned to recall
20 words, and 2 minutes for each for those who were assigned to recall only 10 words).
Administering: the following steps were followed for administering the measurement tools in this study:
 ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 15
1. the administrator of the research provides the students with the list of 20 words requesting them to classify
them into two lists: abstract and concrete words;
2. the administrator of the research collects the words’ lists from the students;
3. the administrator of the test makes sure that none of the students has any words lists remaining with them;
4. the administrator of the test reads the list of words aloud (abstract-concrete or concrete-abstract) to the
students;
a. the students are requested to say the words which they can recall;
b. the administrator of the research documents the recalled words in both cases; and
5. the administrator of the research presents the words to the students using an over-head projector (OHP)
requesting them to:
a. read them silently;
b. read them either aloud, finger pointing or lips-moving; and finally
c. write them down
 the students are requested to note down the words they could recall
Assessing: the researchers but not the administrator of the research (the instructor of the course) does the calculations
for the following:
1. Number of recalled abstract words as opposed to number of recalled concrete ones.
Recall prompts: firs letter prompt, miming and or sign-language in addition to semantic associations were provided in
some cases (see appendix for more details).
Preliminary analysis steps: Using the 17th version of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences), both descriptive
and referential statistics tools were used to test proposed hypotheses in this study.
3. Results
17th version of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) was used for the statistical analysis of the collected data.
Both descriptive and referential statistics were used where different yet suitable statistical tools were used from each to
serve the purposes of the study. Table (6) below presents the used types of statistical tools, the selected tools and
performed functions. To remind our readers with the proposed hypotheses in this study, they are:
1. Participants will recall more words in non-interference recall processes than in the interference recall
processes; and
2. Participants will not recall the same number of abstract and concrete words in non-interference and
interference processes [less/more abstract words than concrete ones].
3. There might be a [correlation] between interference and memory recall of Arabic abstract and concrete words.

Table 6. Summary of the statistical tools used in analyzing the data of this study
Statistics type SPSS tool(s) Purpose of use
Descriptive statistics Frequency Total number of recalled words
Total number of recalled abstract words
Total number of concrete words
Observed effects
Mean The central location of the recalled words in free,
cued, and serial recall paradigms
Standard Deviation Measuring variability among recalled words in
free, cued, and serial recall paradigms
Frequencies: graphs Description and comparisons purposes

Inferential statistics Pearson Reliability and validity issues

Cronbach Alpha Reliability
Correlate: Bivariate Getting the correlation coefficient and degree of
significance and deciding on whether there is a
relationship or not between the two tested
variables
Graphs: scatter-plot Seeing in clearer way the correlation between the
two tested variables and ascertaining the presence
or absence of relationship between the two tested
variables

There were 36 participants in this study, divided into two groups. Group 1 acted as three sub-groups where they
performed free, cued and serial recall paradigms at the same time. Group 2 was divided into 3 groups, 9 in each where
ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 16
each groups consisting of 9 students performed only one recall type. Percentages of total recalled Arabic abstract and
concrete words in both groups are presented comparatively in figure 3 below.

Figure 5. Comparison of the performance of one (A) and three groups (B) in three recall types

Both pie charts can be read counterclockwise. The pie chart to the right side present the percentages of the three groups
(the control group) (9+ 9+ 9=27) and the pie chart to the left side presents the percentages of the experimental group. In
both pie charts, free recall is the highest and serial recall is lowest. The percentage of experimental group (50) is
insignificantly higher than the percentage of the control group (47%). On the other hand, the percentage of the control
group (47%) is higher than the percentage of the experimental group (38%) in cued recall paradigms. Similar to free
recall paradigms where the percentage is higher in the experimental groups than in the control group so is it in the serial
recall paradigms (12%) for the former and (6) for the latter. This very early statistics gives us an impression that there
might be a [correlation] between interference and short memory recall of Arabic abstract and concrete words though the
differences in percentages between two groups are not statistically different.
Detailed statistical results for the recalled Arabic abstract and concrete words in the control and experimental groups are
shown in figures 4-5 below.

Figure 6. Comparison of recalled words in different performed tasks of free, cued, and serial recall paradigms

Figure 7. Comparison of recalled words in different performed tasks of free, cued, and serial recall paradigms
ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 17
Figure 6 presents results for the experimental group whereas figure 7 presents results for the control group. In both
control and experimental groups, the whole number of words was fully retrieved in free recall paradigms. In cued recall
paradigms, the mean for the number of the recalled words is minimally less in the experimental group than the number
of the recalled words in the control group (15) for the former and (19.78) for the latter. As for serial recall, it is
surprisingly higher in the experimental group than that in the control group (5) for the former, and only (2.75) for the
latter. These current results might indicate either a negative correlation or zero correlation as the differences in
descriptive statistics are not significantly different between the results of short memory recall and interference.
It was also proposed in our study that abstract words are better recalled than concrete ones in free, cued and serial recall
paradigms be it with or without interference. Statistical results for this claim are shown in figures 6-7) below.

Figure 8. Abstractness, Concreteness, or Zero Effect?

Figure 9. Abstractness, Concreteness, or Zero Effect?

First, it should be noted that figure 6 presents results for the experimental group and figure 7, on the other hand,
presents results of the control group. According to the two figures, in both control and experimental groups (with and
without interference) the effect is neither abstract (advantage of abstract words over concrete ones) nor concrete
(advantage of concrete words over abstract ones), it is rather zero effect (identical number of recalled Arabic abstract
and concrete words).
Both abstractness and concreteness effect remained stable and zero effect went up to (100) in free recall paradigms in
the experimental and control groups.
In cued recall, there is a considerable sudden change where abstractness effects went up from (1.5) in the control group
to (16.7) in the experimental group. Similarly, there is also a fast negligible change in the case of concreteness effect
which picked up from (0) in the control group to (25.6) in the experimental group. Besides, there is a sharp substantial
decline in the case of zero effect which deteriorated to (57.8) in the experimental group before it was (98.5) in the
control group. This means clearly interference decreases recalled number of Arabic abstract and concrete words though
the increase rate is slightly considerable.
In the case of serial recall paradigms, abstractness effects dropped gradually down to (4.1) in the experimental group.
Similarly, concreteness effect did down to (4.4) before it was less than (7). On the other hand, zero effect increased
gradually to (91.1) in the experimental group before it was only (82.3) in the control group.
To conclude, in spite of the gradual yet significant changes in the results between the two groups, it is still too early to
decide whether short memory recall of words is correlated with interference or whether interference affects short
ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 18
memory recall or not!
More descriptive statistics will help us reach a solid decision about this issue before starting the analysis of referential
statistics. Comparisons of observed effects in both the experimental and control groups for the three types of recall are
presented in figures 8-11.

Figure 10. Effects comparison in free recall paradigms

The above bar chart presents comparatively the observed effects in control and experimental groups in free recall
paradigms. There were two observed effects in free recall paradigms, namely primacy and recency effects. It can be
seen clearly that in both groups recency is the most popular effect, while primacy is the least popular one.
To begin, primacy effect is more frequent in the experimental group than the primacy effect in the control group. It goes
up in the former to (42.2) and then goes gradually down in the latter to exactly (35). On the hand, recency effect is more
frequent in the control group than the recency effect in the experimental group. It picked up in the former to exactly
(65) and then slips back in the latter to less than (58).
Thus, recency effect is generally more frequent than the primacy effect. Also, while primacy effect is higher in the
experimental group and lower in the control group than the recency effect, recency effect is conversely higher in the
control group and lower in the experimental group.

Figure 11. Effects comparison in cued recall paradigms

The above bar chart deals with observed effect in both experimental and control groups in cued recall paradigms. There
were two observed effects in cued recall paradigms of Arabic abstract and concrete words, mainly forward and
backward recalls. It is immediately apparent that forward recall effect is the most common observed effect and
backward recall is least common observed effect.
To start, forward recall in the experimental group is more popular than it is in the control group. It improves to over
(55) in the experimental group and stops at (51) in the control group. In comparison, backward recall in the
experimental group is less popular than it is in the control group with only a slight change at the rate of less than (4).
That is to say, it stops at less than (44) in the former and reaches (49) in the latter.
In conclusion, forward recall effect is generally more observed than backward recall effect during cued recall paradigms
in both the experimental and control groups. Yet, forward recall effect has an advantage over backward recall effect in
the experimental groups while the latter has an advantage over the former in the control group.
ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 19

Figure 12 (A). Comparison of observed effects in serial recall paradigms

Figure 13 (B). Comparison of observed effects in serial recall paradigms

The above bar charts (10-11) show the observed effects during serial recall paradigms of Arabic abstract and concrete
words for both experimental and control groups. While the first bar chart represents the experimental group, the second
one represents the control group. There were nine pre-specified effects to be observedas mentioned above in the bar
charts during serial recall paradigms. Generally, there are three non-observed effects in the experimental group and four
in the control group.
At the beginning, while there were three non-observed effects in the experimental group (item confusion error,
repetition error and protrusion effects), there were four in the control group (the above mentioned three in addition to
word length effect). Moreover, the most frequent occurring effect in both experimental and control groups was
transposition gradients effect with being higher for the control group (100) as compared to less than (84) for the
experimental group. On the other hand, the least frequent occurring effect for both groups again was the fill-in effect
with a slight difference in favour of that for the experimental group (16.7) as compared to (16.2) for the control group.
Some major differences between the two groups in regard to the observed effect include that while word length effect
did not occur at all in the control group, the occurrence rate climbs rapidly yet dramatically to over (80) and non-
occurrence rate slips back sharply to less than (20). One more noticeable yet sudden change is that for list length effect.
The occurrence rate bottomed out in the experimental group to less than (19) after it was over (82) in the control group.
On the contrary, the non-occurrence rate rose considerably yet quickly to over (80) in the experimental group after it
was only less than (18) in the control group.
To sum up, some of the pre-specified effects were not observed at all in both groups and some others were observed in
both groups with a preference for the occurrence of the observed effect to the experimental group.
ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 20
In order to reach solid yet better results for the proposed hypotheses in this study, referential statistics tools were used.
The means and standard deviations of the independent variable (interference) and dependent variable (recalled Arabic
abstract and concrete words abbreviated to short recall memory) are presented below in table 7.
Table 7. Descriptive Statistics

Std.
Mean Deviation N

Short term memory

1.7523 .43218 440
recall

Interference 1.6614 .47378 440

It can be clearly seen from the two means for the independent variable and the dependent variable that the mean for the
former (M: 1.66) with a standard deviation of (SD: .47) is slightly lower than the mean for the latter (M: 175) with a
standard deviation of (SD: .43). This clearly initially indicates a correlation between the two variables from one side
and the effect of one variable on the other, mainly the independent one on the dependent one (interference on short-term
memory recall). These above mentioned inferences are verified more in table 8 below.
Table 8. Correlations

Short term Interferenc

memory recall e

Short term memory Pearson

1 .713**
recall Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 440 440

Interference Pearson
.713** 1
Correlation

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 440 440

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

A Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between interference
(intended explanatory oral interruptions) and short-term memory recall (recalled Arabic abstract and concrete words).
There was a positive correlation between the two variables, r = 0.713, n = 440, p = 0.000, with R2 = .508. A scatterplot
summarizes the results Figure 12. Overall, there was a moderate, positive correlation between interference and short-
memory recall. Increases in the the interference (oral interruptions) were correlated with increases in non-retrievable
Arabic abstract and concrete words (short-term memory recall).

Figure 14. Direction of correlation between interference and short memory recall
Pearson’s correlation between interference at these memory recall paradigms (M: 1.66, SD= .47) and the short-term
memory recall (M: 1.75, SD= .43) supported the research hypothesis that those participants with oral interruptions
tended to recall slightly less Arabic abstract and concrete words, whereas those participants with no oral interruptions
would tend to recall slightly more Arabic abstract and concrete words, r = .713, p< 0.01.
 ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 21
To conclude, the value of R is 0.713. This is a moderate positive correlation, which means there is a tendency for high
X variable scores go with high Y variable scores (and vice versa). The value of R2, the coefficient of determination, is
0.508. The P-Value is < 0.00001. The result is significant at p < 0.01.
4. Discussion
The results of the current study were to some extent on contrary to our preliminary expectations. We carried out an
experiment examining the effect of interference on short-term memory recall of Arabic abstract and concrete words
using free, cued, and serial recall paradigms. The researchers proposed two major hypotheses along with a minor
hypothesis. The statistical analysis indicated initially partial consolidation of the first hypothesis (effect of interference,
the independent variable, on the number of recalled Arabic abstract and concrete words, the dependent variable). On the
contrary, it indicated the approval of the minor hypothesis and the second hypothesis that (more/less abstract/concrete
words will be recalled regardless of the occurring interference) and also the claim that (interference, the independent
variable, might be correlated to the recalled Arabic abstract and concrete words, the dependent variable). These results
are discussed below in relation to the introductory part, the previous studies and the statistical analysis.
Our first hypothesis was that participants will recall more words in non-interference recall processes than in the
interference recall processes. It was assumed that the intended occurring interruptions made by the experiment
administrator will negatively effect on the recall level and frequency of the experimental group. On the other hand, it
was assumed that the three groups who were trained to recall without any interruptions will have the chance to recall
more Arabic abstract and concrete words as compared to their counterparts. Surprisingly, the results indicated the
opposite of this assumption in the case of both free and serial recall paradigms but not in the case of cued recall
paradigms. The percentage of the recalled Arabic abstract and concrete words for the experimental group was slightly
higher than the percentage of the recalled words for the control group; (50%) for the former and less than (50%) for the
latter. Though insignificant; it refutes our hypothesis stating that interference will negatively effect on short-term
memory recall. Similar to the above situation is the case of serial recall where the percentage of the recalled Arabic
abstract and concrete words for the experimental group was as two times (12%) as that of the percentage of the recalled
words for the control group (6%). Dissimilar to these two cases is in the case of cued recall where the percentage of the
retrieved Arabic abstract and concrete words for the control group was moderately higher than that of the experimental
group; (47%) for the former and only over (35%) for the latter. In effect, previous conducted studies investigating the
effect of interference on short-term memory recall emphasized the effect of the former variable on the latter one which
is partially contrary to the reached results in our study. We return the discussion to the significant differences in terms
of research methods, environments and more importantly and used measures. These studies include: (Tulving &
Arbuckle, 1963; Turvey, & Weeks, 1975; Nairne, Neath, & Serra, 1997; Lustig, May, & Hasher, 2001; Henson,
Hartley, Burgess, Hitch, & Flude, 2003; Lewis & Kamil, 2006; Chiasson, Forget, & Stobert, 2009; Annis, Malmberg,
Criss, & Shiffrin, 2013; UK-Essays-Editors, 2014a; UK-Essays-Editors, 2014b; UK-Essays-Editors, 2014c).
Within the first hypothesis, we also presented that the participants will not recall the same number of abstract and
concrete words in non-interference and interference processes [less/more abstract words than concrete ones]. This
assumption was based on previous studies supporting the view of concreteness effect (concrete words are better recalled
than abstract ones). Studies supporting this view include: (Dukes & Bastian, 1966; Schwa, Akin & Luh, 1992; West &
Holcomb, 2000; Fliessbach, Weis, Klaver, Elger, & Weber, 2006; Harad & Coch 2009; Tse & Altarriba, 2009;
Lagishetti & Goswami, 2012; Hanley, Hunt, Steed & Jackman, 2013; Dahlstrom, Ultis, 2014). On the basis of this and
with reference to (figures 6-9), the different between the recalled Arabic words is very slight in favour of the
abstractness effect. This in return resulted to introducing the term zero effect indicating the similarity and/or
identicalness between the recalled abstract and concrete words.
Our second proposed hypothesis was that there might be a [correlation] between interference and memory recall of
Arabic abstract and concrete words. The statistical analysis indicated that the mean for the independent variable (M:
1.66) with a standard deviation of (SD: .47) is slightly lower the mean for the dependent one (M: 175) with a standard
deviation of (SD: .43). This clearly indicates a correlation between the two variables from one side and the effect of one
variable on the other, mainly the independent one on the dependent one (interference on short-term memory recall).
Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between interference (intended
explanatory oral interruptions) and short-term memory recall (recalled Arabic abstract and concrete words). Pearson
product-moment correlation coefficient analysis indicated a positive correlation between the two variables, r = 0.713, n
= 440, p = 0.000, with R2 = .508. That is to say, there is a moderate, positive correlation between interference and
short-memory recall. Increases in the interference (oral interruptions) were correlated with increases in non-retrievable
Arabic abstract and concrete words (short-term memory recall).
5. Conclusions
This study examined one of the memory processes― recall in relation one of the many factors affecting memory
recall― interference. In other words, the researchers accounted for the effect of interference on short-term memory
recall of Arabic abstract and concrete words using free, cued, and serial recall paradigms. A four group quasi-
experimental randomized design where a total number of 36 of native Arabs took part in this study. They were divided
into two groups of 9 where 9 was dealt as the experimental group (performing free, cued and serial recall paradigms)
and the other 27 were divided into three groups where each group performed only a recall type. The three groups were
dealt as the control group. The independent variable was the interference variablerepresented by oral interruption
performed by the experiment administrator. On the other hand, the dependent variable was the number of recalled
ALLS 6(6):7-24, 2015 22
abstract and concrete words in non-interference and interference groups. Findings indicated that interference effect on
short-term memory recall of Arabic abstract and concrete words was not significant especially in the case of free and
serial recall paradigms. The difference between the total number of recalled Arabic abstract and concrete words was
also very slight. One other the hand, we came to the conclusion that Pearson’s correlation between interference at these
memory recall paradigms (M: 1.66, SD= .47) and the short-term memory recall (M: 1.75, SD= .43) supported the
research hypothesis that those participants with oral interruptions tended to recall slightly less Arabic abstract and
concrete words, whereas those participants with no oral interruptions would tend to recall slightly more Arabic abstract
and concrete words, r = .713, p< 0.01. Thus, there was a moderate positive correlation between interference and short-
term memory recall.
5.1 Implications
The current study has two implications: cognitive and theoretical. To start with the cognitive implication, we assumed
in this study that interference represented by oral interruptions in addition to the direct proactive and retroactive
interferences will affect short-term memory recall of Arabic abstract and concrete words. Our results indicated that
there is a moderate positive correlation between the two variables but the effect of the former on the latter was not clear
according to our presented results and conclusions. Presented data and previous studies about the effect on interference
stated clearly the direct effect of interference on short-term memory recall. However, presented data about memory and
cognitive processes of human memory remain arguable. There is a need for further research about the situations that
interference occurrence might or might not affect short-term memory recall or even long-term memory recall in the case
of proactive and retroactive interference types. For further details about this issue, please see: (Conway, 1997; Greene,
1987; Monsell & Driver, 2000; Pulvermuller, 2002; Cowan, 2005; Mense, Debney, & Druce, 2006; Pickering, 2006;
Mace, 2007; Foster, 2009; Faust, 2012).
To move to the theoretical implication, it is based on the assumption of short-term memory capacity (seven plus or
minus two) which can be depicted in the following equation: (M stands for short-term memory capacity)
7±2=𝑀
This finding needs further exploration and experimentation when presented in relation to our findings where most of the
participants were able to exceed the values in this equation to become:
7±3=𝑀
Further details about this claim can be seen at: (Shiffrin & Nosofsky, 1994; Sprenger, 1999; Takac, 2008; Richards,
Daller, Malvern, Meara, Milton, & Treffers-Daller, 2009).
5.2 Limitations and future work
This study has one limitation that both major types of interference were not directly experimented. In other words,
neither proactive interference nor retroactive interference was directly investigated in the study procedures. Instead, an
interference mean was used to replace the use of such two types. We expected that basing the experiment on such two
common types would have resulted to more plausible results especially about the effect of interference on short-term
memory recall.
Besides, further researches exploring the effect(s) of other factors affecting short-term memory recall are needed. These
factors include: attention, motivation, context, state-dependent memory, gender, food consumption, physical activity
and trauma and brain exposure.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their words of thanks to the Research Centre in the College of Languages and
Translation Studies and the Deanship of Scientific Research for their financial support of this project, King Saud
University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Effect of Iranian Teachers’ Epistemological Beliefs on

Their Teaching Practice
Malahat Yousefzadeh (Corresponding author)
Department of Teaching English as a second language, Sarab Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sarab, Iran
E-mail: yousefzadeh5351@yahoo.com

Leila Babapour Azam

Department of Teaching English as a second language, Sarab Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sarab, Iran

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.25 Received: 02/06/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.25 Accepted: 22/08/2015

Abstract
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that investigates what knowledge is and how people know whether they know
something (BonJour, 2002). It addresses questions such as: What is knowledge? How do people know if they really
have knowledge? What gives a reason for any knowledge that they have? This study aimed at investigating the
relationships between high school teachers’ epistemological beliefs and their teaching practices. The subjects of the
study were 60 teachers at Ardabil high schools. They responded to two questionnaires: an Epistemological Beliefs
Questionnaire and a Teaching Practices Questionnaire. In this study, the independent variables are measures of teacher
epistemology and their teaching practices as the dependent variables. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient
was used to assess the relationship between scores on the Teaching practice scale and those on the Epistemological
Beliefs scale. Findings of the study showed that teachers with inexperienced epistemological beliefs tend to traditional
teacher-centered practices and experienced belief holders were more tend to constructive learner-centered practices.
Keywords: inexperienced epistemology, experienced epistemology, teacher-centered practices, constructive learner-
centered
1. Introduction
There is no or a little studies investigating the relation of teachers' epistemic beliefs and their pedagogical strategy.
Epistemology is defined by Schraw, Olafson and Vanderveldt (2011) as a study of beliefs about the origin and
acquisition of knowledge. Now the issue is: if teachers have beliefs about epistemological questions and whether these
beliefs affect in any way their teaching. A contextualist theory assumes that learners construct common understandings
in concerned contexts in which teachers act as facilitators. Teachers with a contextualist view are less concerned with
the type of knowledge that students construct, than the process by which they construct that knowledge, and the degree
to which that knowledge has authentic practices to the context it is learned in (Mertens2005). Constructivism is an
epistemology, a learning or meaning-making theory, that puts forward an explanation of the nature of knowledge and
how human beings learn. It maintains that individuals create or construct their own new understandings or knowledge
through the interaction of what they already know and believe and the ideas, events, and activities with which they
come in contact (Richardson, 1997). Chen & Elliot (2004b) mentioned that traditional ideas of teaching were positively
related to teachers' naive beliefs and certainty of knowledge. Those teachers using more constructivist teaching
practices felt that knowledge is acquired through effort and that knowledge was not certain. Schraw and Sinatra (2004)
noted that teachers with more Experienced epistemologies are likely to be adaptable in terms of teaching strategies and
they tend to engage more with their students. Teachers’ teaching practices are believed to be determined by their ideas
about teaching and student learning which should be driven by their epistemological beliefs (Chan &Elliot, 2004,
p.817). Hofer (2001) says that teachers' beliefs influence the types of pedagogical practices and as a result affect the
process in different ways. Beliefs about the role of education can filter down and impact teachers' epistemological
beliefs. These include “beliefs about the nature of knowledge and the processes of knowing” (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997, p.
117).
1.1 Research Question
Is there any significant relationship between the experienced and inexperienced teachers’ epistemological beliefs and
their teaching practice?
1.2 Null Hypothesis
There is not any significant relationship between the experienced and inexperienced teachers’ epistemological beliefs
and their teaching practice.
ALLS 6(6):25-28, 2015 26
2. Method
2.1 Participant
The study sample is 60 high school teachers in Ardabil. 30 inexperienced teachers had an experience period of 1-4 years
and 30 experienced teachers had an experience period of 20-25 years. This study investigated Iranian high school
teachers’ epistemological beliefs and their impact on their teaching practices.
2.2 Procedures
The study was conducted during the second semester of the academic year (2014-2015). The teachers were informed
that their participation would be voluntary and were assured that the information they provided would be confidential.
Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire was used on the basis of Schommer (1990) stating about belief system.
According to the structure of knowledge, integration of knowledge, the source of knowledge, certainty of knowledge,
the speed of knowledge acquisition and the control of knowledge acquisition. All items are to be rated on a Likert-type
scale from 1 to 5. The scale includes thirty items that are rated on a five point Likert scale, ranging from ‘Strongly
Disagree’ (1) to ‘Strongly Agree’ (5). Lower scores represent more inexperienced epistemological beliefs and higher
scores represent more experienced epistemological beliefs. These dimensions of epistemological beliefs change alone a
continuum with polarities at two extreme ends. The first dimension, Source of Knowledge, differs from students'
believing in “knowledge as submitted by experts and authority” to “knowledge as gained by reason and evidence”. The
second dimension, Control of Knowledge, differs from “students' beliefs in linguistic ability as inborn and fixed” to
“beliefs of linguistic ability as a result of effort”. The third dimension, Certainty of Knowledge, differs from beliefs in
“knowledge as certain and definite” to "knowledge as uncertain and ever-changing”. The fourth dimension, the Speed
of Knowledge Acquisition, differs from “beliefs in linguistic knowledge acquisition as quick” to “beliefs in acquisition
as steady and time-consuming”. The fifth dimension, the Structure of Knowledge, differs from “beliefs in linguistic
knowledge as simple” to “beliefs in linguistic knowledge as complex”. The sixth dimension, Integration of Knowledge,
differs from “beliefs in linguistic knowledge as disintegrated” to “beliefs in linguistic knowledge as integrated and in
constant interaction with the cultural context of language learning”.
Teaching Practices Questionnaire intended to identify the teaching orientations of teachers in their teaching practice.
The scale includes thirty items which are scored on a Likert scale of five points (1 = Never; 2 = Rarely; 3 = Sometimes;
4 = Often; 5 = Always). These items are classified under two main teaching orientations: a constructivist learner-
centered orientation and a traditional teacher-centered one. In this study, the independent variables are measures of
teacher epistemology and the teaching practices as the dependent variables. The researcher established a priori a
minimum significance level of 0.05.
2.2 Data analysis
The mean scores obtained by inexperienced teachers in Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire: The mean score on the
“Source of Knowledge” dimension is (2.25), which showed that they tend to believe in knowledge as chiefly derived
from authority figures. Their mean score on the “Certainty of Knowledge” is (2.15) indicating that they believe in
unchanging nature of knowledge. Their mean score on the “Control of Knowledge” is (2.33) indicating that they believe
in knowledge as limited by innate ability. Their mean score on the “Speed of Knowledge Acquisition” is (2.20) showed
that they believe in linguistic knowledge acquisition as quick process. Their mean score on the “Integration of
Knowledge” is (2.11) showed that linguistic knowledge is not influenced by socio-cultural norms. Their mean score on
the “Structure of Knowledge” is (2.60) indicated that inexperienced teachers believe that knowledge is simple and can
be deal with using by learning strategies such as rehearsal and memorization. On the other hands, the mean scores
obtained by experienced teachers: The mean score on the “Source of Knowledge” is (3.33), which showed that they
tend to believe in knowledge obtained by reason and evidence. Their mean score on the “Certainty of Knowledge” is
(3.55) indicating that they believe in knowledge as indefinite and ever-changing. Their mean score on the “Control of
Knowledge” is (3.10) indicating that they believe that linguistic ability is as a result of effort. Their mean score on the
“Speed of Knowledge Acquisition is (3.20) showed that they believe in acquisition as gradual and time consuming.
Their mean score on the Integration of Knowledge is (3.66) showed that linguistic knowledge is influenced by cultural
norms. Their mean score on the “Structure of Knowledge” is (3.60) indicated that the experienced teachers believe that
knowledge is beliefs in linguistic knowledge as complex. The mean scores obtained by inexperienced teachers in
Teaching Practices Questionnaire: Most of the inexperienced teachers showed traditional orientation about language
teaching (M= 4.15). However, the items applying to constructivist orientation received rather low scores (M= 2.86).
Also most of experienced teachers tended to constructivist orientation (M= 3.95). For investigating if there is any
significant relationship between the experienced and inexperienced teachers’ epistemological beliefs and their teaching
practice, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship between scores on the
teaching practice scale and those on the Epistemological Beliefs scale.
3. Result & Discussion
The results indicated that there is a significant positive correlation between traditional conceptions of teaching and the
teachers' Innate/Fixed Ability beliefs (r = 0.66), unchanging nature of Knowledge (r = 0.52),innate ability of
knowledge(r= 0.65),quick processing of knowledge( r= 0.58),simple knowledge(r= 0.67) and (r= 0.61) showed
knowledge is not nfluenced by cultural norms. As well as negative correlation between traditional conceptions and six
epistemological beliefs, i.e. knowledge by reason (r = -0.18), ever changing Knowledge (r = -0.15), knowledge by effort
(r= -0.25), knowledge by gradual process ( r= -0.21 ), influenced by cultural context (r= -0.33) and complex nature( r=
ALLS 6(6):25-28, 2015 27
-0.28). Also there is a positive correlation between constructivist conceptions and six epistemological beliefs, i.e.
knowledge by reason (r = 0.27), ever changing Knowledge (r = 0.25), knowledge by effort( r=0.18), knowledge by
gradual process( r=0.33), influenced by cultural context ( r=0.33) and complex nature(r=0.29).As well as there is a
significant negative correlation between constructivist conceptions of teaching and the teachers' Innate/Fixed Ability
beliefs (r = -0.36) unchanging nature of Knowledge (r = -0.22), innate ability of knowledge(r=-0.41), quick processing
of knowledge(r= -0.38), not influencing by sociocultural ( r= -0.44), and simple knowledge(r= 0.39).The mean scores
obtained by the subjects of the study as measured by Teaching Practices Questionnaire in its two dimensions (traditional
teacher-centered vs. constructive learner- centered) indicate a tendency to the first dimension by inexperienced teachers
and second dimension by experienced teachers. The finding of study showed teachers who hold inexperienced
epistemology believe that knowledge is simple, definite and specific. They believe that knowledge resides in authorities
and it is certain and unchanging. Concepts are learned quickly, their learning abilities are innate and fixed. On the other
hand, the experienced teachers believe that knowledge is complex, uncertain and it can be learned gradually through
deduction processes and created by learners.
4. Discussion & Conclusion
The present study found that teacher beliefs are mostly consistent with their practice. According to Schraw & Olafson
(2002), “teachers' epistemological worldviews influence the ways that they make important instructional decisions
related to the curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment.” Donmoyer (2001) stated that epistemological beliefs define how
teachers control different classroom problems. On the hand, there have been some studies that teacher beliefs do not
necessarily influence classroom practice because of several factors (Hancock & Gallard, 2004; Mellado, 1998).

Table 1. A comparison of constructivist vs. transmission (traditional) beliefs and practices (Brownlee, Schraw,
Berthelsen 2012, P. 247)
Constructivist teaching Transmission teaching

Developmental stage Characterized by evaluativist stance Characterized by absolutist stance

……………………... …………………………………….. …………………………………..

Epistemological beliefs Sophisticated beliefs(more explicit Naïve beliefs(less explicit awareness)

awareness) ……………………………………
……………………………. ……………………………………… Teacher-centered approach which
Teacher practices: pedagogy Student-centered approach which emphasizes acquisition of core facts and
emphasizes collaborative learning, teacher concepts mastery of basic procedures,
scaffolding and independent work, leading leading to automated application of
to domain-general application of critical domain-specific skills.
thinking skills. …………………………………..
Mastery of first-order domain
…………………………. ………………………………….. knowledge and procedures

Teacher practices curriculum Higher order thinking and evaluation

skills based on reasoned application of
first order skill (i.e., domain knowledge
and procedures)

Inexperienced epistemologies are parallel to transmission epistemologies and experienced epistemologies are parallel to
constructivist epistemologies. Rosso (1978) determined that the educational beliefs of teachers had little influence over
the instructional decisions a teacher makes. Wilcox-Herzog (2002) suggested that there was not a relationship between
teachers‘beliefs and their actions. The findings suggest that there is a need to take teachers' epistemological beliefs into
account when considering and designing professional development opportunities. These findings help to areas of
research that probe the impact of teachers' epistemological beliefs on teaching practice. Teachers' epistemological
beliefs may direct curricula and instructional practices. Epistemology is not a fixed trait it can be changed. It is
important to instructing teacher for rising epistemological change. Teacher training and teacher background,
administrator, parent and student views and other factors may influence teacher classroom practice as well as teachers’
beliefs about teaching and learning, and should be taken into account by researchers. Teacher's epistemology is able to
determine what he/she sees, how he/she interprets the world, which strategies he/she selects to learn. Teacher beliefs
play a major role in teachers’ decision making about curriculum and instructional tasks. In summary, educational
researchers have advocated the need for careful examination and direct study of the relationship between teacher beliefs
and educational practice.
ALLS 6(6):25-28, 2015 28
References
BonJour, L. (2002). Epistemology: Classic problems and contemporary solutions. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman &
Littlefield.
Brownlee. J., Schraw. G., Berthelsen. D (2012). Teacher practices curriculum. Routledge
Chan, K., & Elliot, R. G. (2004b). Relational Analysis of Personal Epistemology and Conceptions about Teaching and
Learning. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 817-831.
Donmoyer, R. (2001). Paradigm talk reconsidered. In V. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (4th ed.,
pp. 174-197). Washington, D.C.: American Education Research Association.
Hancock, E. S., & Gallard, A. J. (2004). Preservice science teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning: The
influence of K-12 field experiences. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 15(4), 281-291.
Hofer, B. K. (2001) Personal epistemology research: Implications for learning and instruction. Educational Psychology
Review, 13(4), 353-382.
Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (1997). The development of epistemological theories: Beliefs about knowledge and
knowing and their relation to learning. Review of Educational Research, 67, 88–140.
Mellado, V. (1998). The classroom practice of preservice teachers and their conceptions of teaching and learning
science. Science Education, 82(2), 197-214.
Mertens, D. M. (2005). Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology: Integrating Diversity With
Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods, Sage, Thousand Oaks, Calif, USA, 2nd edition.
Richardson, V. (1997). Constructivist Teaching and Teacher Education: Theory and practice. In V. Richardson (Ed.),
Constructivist Teacher Education: building new understandings (pp. 3-14).Washington, DC: Falmer Press.
Rosso, N. A. (1978). Capturing teachers’ decision policies: An investigation of strategies for teaching reading and
mathematics. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto,
Canada.
Schommer, M. (1990). Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 82, 498–504.
Schraw, G. & Olafson L. (2002). Knowing, Knowledge and Beliefs. New York, Springer Netherlands.
Schraw, G., Olafson, O., & Vanderveldt, M. (2011). Fostering Critical Awareness of Teachers' Epistemological and
Ontological Beliefs. In J, Brownlee, G. Schraw & D. Berthelsen (eds.), Personal Epistemology and Teacher Education
(pp. 149-165). UK: Routledge.
Schraw, G., & Sinatra, G. M. (2004). Epistemological Development and its Impact on Cognition in Academic Domains.
Contemporary Educational Psychology, 29, 95-102.
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13(1), 81-106.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

A Network Text Analysis of David Ayer’s Fury

Starling David Hunter (Corresponding author)
Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, 5032 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh PA, USA
E-mail: starling@andrew.cmu.edu

Susan Smith
College of Mass Communication, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
E-mail: ssmith@aus.edu

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.29 Received: 09/06/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.29 Accepted: 25/08/2015

Abstract
Network Text Analysis (NTA) involves the creation of networks of words and/or concepts from linguistic data. Its key
insight is that the position of words and concepts in a text network provides vital clues to the central and underlying
themes of the text as a whole. Recent research has relied on inductive approaches to identify these themes. In this study
we demonstrate a deductive approach that we apply to the screenplay of the 2014 World War II-era film Fury.
Specifically, we first use genre expectations theory to establish prior expectations as to the key themes associated with
war films. We then empirically test whether words and concepts associated with the most influentially-positioned nodes
are consistent with themes common to the war-film genre. As predicted, we find that words and concepts associated
with the least constrained nodes in the text network were significantly more likely to be associated with the war, action,
and biography genres and significantly less likely to be associated with the mystery, science-fiction, fantasy, and film-
noir genres.
Keywords: content analysis, text analysis, network text analysis, semantic network analysis, film studies, screenplay,
screenwriting, war movies, World War II, tanks
1. Introduction
Network text analysis (NTA) is a term used to describe a wide variety of “computer supported solutions” that model a
text as a network “of words and the relations between them” (Diesner & Carley, 2005, p. 83). Constructing these
networks is a four-step process and differences in how each is performed account for much of the variety to be found in
approaches to NTA (Diesner, 2012). The first step involves the selection of which words are to be included or excluded
in the analysis. The second step involves the abstraction of the included words to higher-order conceptual categories. In
the third step, connections are established between pairs of related concepts. Subsequent analysis of the resulting
network involves a fourth step—the identification or extraction of the key themes. Like other forms of content analysis,
NTA explicitly assumes that structure encodes meaning (Fischer-Starcke, 2009). Where it differs from traditional
content analytic approaches, i.e. those concerned with word-frequency, is that meaning is encoded in the structure of the
network. Most specifically, in the extraction phase of NTA, prime importance is placed upon the position or role of
concepts within the text network. In short, the more influential the network roles and position occupied by concepts, the
greater the assumed thematic or semantic relevance they are assumed to have.
A number of recent studies have focused attention on the last step. In the last five years alone these include network text
analyses of abstracts of academic journal articles (Beam, et al, 2014), medical school mission statements (Grbic,
Hafferty, & Hafferty, 2013), presidential inaugural addresses (Light, 2014), violent extremist propaganda (Morris,
2014), screenplays and novellas (Hunter & Singh 2015; Hunter & Smith, 2014), energy policy speeches (Shim, Park, &
Wilding, 2015), as well as newspaper articles about the global financial crisis (Nerghes, Lee, Groenewegen, &
Hellsten, 2015), mad cow disease (Lim, Berry, & Lee, 2015), the creationism debate in the US (Shortell, 2011) and two
major cities in Afghanistan (Martin, Pfeffer, & Carley, 2013). In these studies, measures of concept position within the
text networks include degree centrality (Shortell, 2011; Grbic, Hafferty, & Hafferty, 2013; Martin, Pfeffer & Carley,
2013; Morris, 2014;) , betweenness centrality (Light, 2014; Shim, Park, & Wilding, 2015; Nerges, Groenewegen, &
Hellsten, 2015), and network constraint (Hunter & Singh, 2015).
Despite the wide variety of corpora and research questions, the research designs share two important features. The first
is the use of exploratory or inductive methods. Put another way, falsifiable hypotheses concerning both the content and
positions of the themes are rarely if ever formulated and tested. Rather, the approach has been to select texts on a
particular topic, generate semantic networks therefrom, identify the words/concepts occupying the most influential
network positions or roles, and for the purposes of the ensuing analysis treat those words/concepts as indicators of the
most important themes. For example, Shim, Park & Wilding (2015) undertook to “explore and compare nuclear energy
ALLS 6(6):29-38, 2015 30
policy frames” in six countries –Japan, South Korea, USA, UK, France, and Germany—in the two years preceding and
two years following the March 2011 Fukushima accident. They created semantic networks from “the speeches and
addresses made by top policy makers” in each of the six countries. Their subsequent analysis found many important
differences both with and across countries, as well as over time. But the analysis was exploratory and no falsifiable
hypotheses or propositions were formulated concerning the differences in the centrality of concepts across the various
analytical frames.
Similarly, Beam, Applebaum, Jack, et al (2014) undertook to map the semantic structure of “cognitive neuroscience” a
field that links the “biological systems” investigated by neuroscientists to the “processing constructs” investigated by
psychologists. Notably, their investigation revealed many significant instances of “negative” structure—what they
termed “islands” and “gaps”—as well as “positive” structure—what they termed “hubs” and “branches” (ibid., p. 1958).
However, despite the clearly stated role of cognitive neuroscience as a “linking discipline”, the authors offered no
predictions concerning either which concepts would be central in each of the three domains or which concepts, if any,
would serve as linchpins among them.
Two recently studies have undertaken an inductive approach concerning the network position of concepts. One of them
is Grbic, Hafferty, & Hafferty (2013, p. 853) who studied the semantic structure of mission statements of 132 US
medical schools. They divided the schools into four types—research-focused, social mission-focused, public, and
private. Their hypothesis was that “key differences in institutional identity and purpose are projected through (medical)
school mission statements, ” differences that would “become apparent particularly under the lens of a network approach
to text analysis.” And as predicted they found that the top 10 most central themes—terms like leader, biomedical,
health, research, and community—across the four hospitals differed. They did not, however, predict what any of the
most central themes would be. Nor did they specify a priori how the most central concepts would differ across the four
types of medical schools—only that they would differ.
Another study adopting an inductive approach is Hunter & Singh’s (2015) analysis of the screenplay of the 1999 film
Fight Club. They selected the film not only because of its status as a cult classic, but also because the film and the novel
upon which it is based have been the subject of over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles with emphases on literary
criticism, film studies, religion, philosophy, media and culture, race and ethnicity, gothic studies, psychotherapy, and
the sociology of sport. And it was from the abstracts of such journal articles that they first identified thirteen prominent
themes prominent in the academic discourse about the film. The four most frequently occurring in the sample of 52
abstracts were gender, social and individual identity, capitalism, and anarchism. As expected, they found these themes
to be clearly associated with the most central and least constrained nodes in the morpho-etymological network that they
constructed from the screenplay’s text. That said, it is important to note that neither Hunter & Singh (2015) nor Grbic,
Hafferty, & Hafferty (2013) offered theoretically-grounded justifications for their predictions. And that is where the
present study stands to contribute to the existing literature concerning the extraction of important themes. Our is the first
of which we are aware that grounds our predictions in such a manner. As detailed in the next section, in this study we
use genre expectations theory (Bignell, 2002; Altman, 1984; Eberwein, 2009) to determine a priori what themes should
be prevalent in a war film in general and in an Iraq-war film in particular. We then test whether those themes are
associated with centrally or influentially positioned nodes in the text network that we construct from the text of the
screenplay. We then externally validate those results by having survey respondents attempt to determine the film’s
genre based only on their examination of words and concepts associated with the most influentially positioned nodes in
the network.
2. Literature Review & Hypothesis
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines the word genre both as “a type or class” and more
specifically—in reference to the arts—as “a category of artistic composition…marked by a distinctive style, form, or
content.” In film studies the term “genre analysis” refers to the classification of films into recognizable groups and
types—e.g. comedy, drama, science-fiction, and horror—as well as the study of the “codes and conventions” that define
them (Bignell, 2002, p. 199). Many aspects of a film can convey its genre. These include, but are not limited to the story
structure (plots, characters, issues, situations), locations and backdrops, props, the narrative style, dialog, lighting,
emphasized camera shots, the musical score and sounds, lighting, etc. (Bignell, 2002; Altman, 1984). “Genres have
characteristic features that are known to and recognized by audiences.” For example, in a Western we see similar
characters, situations, and settings, e.g. native Americans, settlers and homesteaders, horses and men on horseback,
stagecoaches and covered wagons, guns and gunfights, corrals and ranches, wilderness and wide open spaces.
Taken together, all of these things—and more—“offer the audience a set of expectations” and allow the film producer a
template upon which to base its marketing and promotional discourse. (Bignell, 2002, p. 199). There is currently no
universally agreed-upon set of film genres. The International Movie Database (imdb.com) classifies films into 21
genres which have remained relatively constant over time (http://www.imdb.com/genre/). Box Office Mojo (BOM) ,
however, currently lists 217 genres and sub-genres (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/). Notably, neither site claim
that their genre categories are either mutually exclusive or cumulatively exhaustive, or scientifically precise (Bordwell
& Thompson, 2009). In fact, BOM explicitly states that “more genres will be added over time” and it invites readers to
indicate what new (sub-) genres should be added. On both sites, a very large number of films are assigned to more than
one genre but few appear to have more than four. Although definitions of genres vary, implicit in standard definitions is
the notion that films can be classified into groups that have high similarity within the groups and low similarity across
ALLS 6(6):29-38, 2015 31
them. In other words, members of a genre share particular certain conventions of “content, e.g. themes or setting” with
one another to a much greater degree than they do with those belong to other genres.
In the introduction of his book entitled The Hollywood War Film, Eberwein (2009) places the “conventions” that define
the genre into two categories—stock “characters” and “basic narrative elements.” As summarized in in the first column
of Table 1, below, the characters of three types—males, females, and “youth/children/pets.” The former are further
subdivided into (a) “the older, seasoned leader” (b) “young recruits” (c) “camp/platoon clown (d) “ladies man” [e]
(“newly married or recent father” (f) “regional, ethnic, and racial types” and (g) “examples of different social classes.”
The basic narrative elements are of three kinds—(1) the “basic training” that characterizes the preparation for combat
(2) activities characterizing the specific branches of the armed services at war (3) activities or elements common to all
branches of the armed services and where appropriate (4) the aftermath of war.

Table 1. Codes and Conventions that Define the War Film Genre—Adapted from Eberwein, (2009)
MALE CHARACTERS
• Older, seasoned leader; Young recruits; Camp/platoon clown; Ladies’ man; Newly married or recent father
• Regional, ethnic, & racial types; Different social classes
FEMALE CHARACTERS
• Loyal wife, girlfriend, nurse; Prostitute, floozie; Wise, sustaining mother
YOUTH, CHILDREN, & PETS
• Eager brothers, boys; Younger sisters; Endangered or killed child; Animals (dogs, cats)
PRE-COMBAT: BASIC TRAINING
• Tyrannical squad leader; Demanding exercises, drills; Bonding, pranks; Weekend passes; Sexual initiation
• Successful graduation, completion of training
COMBAT: ARMY/INFANTRY/MARINES
• Water landings, patrols, ambushes, raids, digging in; Combat in jungles, deserts, mountains
• Tanks, grenades, flamethrowers; Dealing with heat/cold (or elements)
ELEMENTS COMMON TO ALL BRANCHES
• Writing letters; receiving mail from home (typically birth announcements and “Dear John” letters).
• Sharing and observing photographs; Listening to the radio
• Spontaneous and improvised play to alleviate tension and boredom
• Singing; prayers/church service; communion; Burials with short, moving eulogies & tributes
• Leaves and Rest & Recuperation; Reflections on the nature of the enemy
POST-COMBAT: AFTERMATH OF WAR
• Recovery/rehab for physical/psychological injuries; Difficulty adjusting to civilian life
• Reunion with wife, girl, family, friend

As noted previously, prior studies in semantic network analysis operate on the assumption that the most influentially
positioned words and concepts in text network embody or illustrate the source texts’ most important themes or meaning.
Prior research of an exploratory kind on screenplays has already demonstrated that thematically-relevant words are
associated with the least constrained and most central nodes in text networks (Hunter, 2014). One of those was The Hurt
Locker, an Iraq War film about a bomb-disposal team working in and around Baghdad. In the text network of the
screenplay, words associated with the least constrained nodes in that network included— HUMVEE, IED (improvised
explosive device), machine gun, shell-shocked, suicide bomber, army-issue, body armor, fireball, gunfire, gunshot, , UN
(United Nations), and USA. All of these words, and others, were illustrative of the conventions that Eberwein (2009)
and others have identified as defining war films, in general, and Iraq war films in particular. As such, our hypothesis is
that
H1: In a text network constructed from the screenplay of a war film, words associated with the most
influentially-positioned nodes will embody or illustrate the codes and conventions of the war genre to a
greater extent than they do any other genre to which the film does not belong.

In other words, the influentially-positioned words should be strongly associated with the WAR genre and not strongly
associated with genres to which the film does not belong.
3. Methods & Data
The object of our analysis is Fury, a 2014 American war film about US tank crews in Nazi Germany during the final
months of World War II. The film stars Brad Pitt and Shia LeBeouf and was written and directed by David Ayer.
Among Ayers’ other screenwriting credits are one other WWII-era film (U-571, 2000), the first installment of the
highly-successful Fast and Furious franchise (The Fast & the Furious, 2001), a forthcoming comic-book adaptation
ALLS 6(6):29-38, 2015 32
(Suicide Squad, 2016), and several law-enforcement-themed dramas including Dark Blue (2002), Sabotage (2014)
SWAT (2003), End of Watch (2012), and Training Day (2001), the last of which starred Denzel Washington in an
Academy-Award winning performance. The film had its world premiere in Washington DC on October 15, 2014
followed by a wide release to over 3700 theaters across North America on October 17th. As of July 1, 2015 the film had
earned $85.8 million domestically and another $126 Million in foreign revenues for a total of 211.8 million against a
budget of $68 million.
Critical response to the film has been largely positive. The film has a “Certified Fresh” by Rotten Tomatoes, rating of
77% based on 223 reviews (Rotten Tomatoes, 2015). Thirty-one positive ratings out of forty-five reviews by “top
critics” as “fresh” leaves the film with a slightly lower 69% rating. Although the film received no Academy Award
nominations, the lead and several supporting actors earned nominations and/or wins for their performances. These
included the Best Actor in an Action Movie from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Best Ensemble (National
Board of Review) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Phoenix Film Critics Society). The film also was nominated
and/or won a number of technical awards including Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion
Picture (Screen Actors Guild Awards), Best Sound Editing (Motion Picture Sound Editors), Best Film Editing and Best
Art Direction and Production Design (Satellite Awards).
The copy of the screenplay used in this paper was the “pink” revision date October 30, 2013, a date which is one month
after principal photography began. Thus, it is likely the final draft of the screenplay and the one which matches most
closely the resulting film. The screenplay was downloaded in PDF format directly from the website of Sony Pictures.
(Note 1). The script itself is only 103 pages, approximately 17 less than the 120-page industry standard.
4. Network Text Analysis
Recall that the four steps involved in a semantic network analysis, as detailed by Diesner (2012, pp. 90-1), are (1)
selection, the determination of which words are to be included and excluded from consideration (2) abstraction, i.e.
assigning the retained words to higher-level conceptual categories (3) connection, establishing a relationship for
connecting pairs of conceptual categories and (4) and extraction, i.e. extracting or inferring meaning and key themes
from the completed network. Our choices for these four steps were consistent with prior research on the semantic
networks of screenplays (Hunter, 2014a, b; Hunter & Singh, 2015). In those studies, the only words that are selected are
multi-morphemic compounds (MMCs), i.e. hyphenated and closed compounds, e.g. heavy-handed or shotgun;
acronyms and abbreviations, e.g. NATO, radar, laser; blend words, e.g. guesstimate (guess + estimate) and motel
(moter + hotel); clipped words, e.g. internet(work), e(lectronic)-mail; multi-word compounds, e.g. son-in-law, over-the-
top; copulative compounds, e.g. actor/model, attorney-client; open compounds, e.g. trade secret and post office and
words with hyphenated prefixes of three or more letters, e.g. pro-choice, ultra-sophisticated, anti-establishment. The text
of Fury contained 4291 unique words repeated a total of 24,872 times. Excluding open compounds, the text contained
227 multi-morphemic compounds, about 5.3% of the number of unique words.
Abstraction involved the assignment of each element of each MMC to a category defined as its etymological root. The
source used to determine these roots was the 3rd edition of the Watkins’ (2011) American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-
European Roots (AHDIER). which traces more than 13,000 English words back to over 1,300 Indo-European roots. For
example, word shotgun is comprised of two morphemes—shot and gun. According to the AHDIER, the former
descends from the IE root skeud- which means “ to shoot, chase, throw” (p. 81). The latter descends from the IE root
gwhen- which means “to strike, kill” (p. 36). When Indo-European (IE) roots were not identified, then Greek, Latin,
Semitic, or other roots are used, as provided in words’ etymology in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English
Language (AHDEL). Because no software exists that etymological stems words in this fashion, the mapping had to be
performed manually. At the conclusion of this process the 227 MMCs were traced back to 255 unique roots, 73% of
which were Indo-European.
The relationship between a word and its etymological root is genetic in that it suggests that the former descends from
the latter. The choice of relationship used to connect these 403 roots was the co-occurrence of descendants of two or
more roots within the same MMC. As shown above, the word shot descends from skeud- and gun from gwhen-. In
semantic network of the screenplay of Fury, these two roots are linked or connected because their descendants co-occur
within the same MMC—shotgun. And because roots have many descendants that may co-occur with many other
descendants of other roots, the result is a semantic network where the nodes are etymological roots and the linkages
representing the MMCs in which the roots co-occur. The 227 nodes in the semantic network for the screenplay of Fury
were connected by 250 links or ties. As shown in Figure 1, the main component of the network—i.e. the largest group
of interconnected or mutually-reachable nodes—contained 130 nodes connected by 165 linkages.
 ALLS 6(6):29-38, 2015 33

Figure 1. Main Component of the Morpho-Etymological Network of the Screenplay of David Ayers’ Fury

4.1 Identifying Key Themes

As discussed above, prior research in semantic network analysis has relied upon a variety of node-level measures to
identify the most influentially-positioned concepts in a text network, degree and/or betweenness centrality being the
most common (Nerges, Groenewegen, & Hellsten, 2015). In this study, we defined “influentially-positioned” nodes as
those with betweenness centrality scores in the top 10% of the 130 nodes (etymological roots) in the main component.
Those nodes and their betweenness scores are shown in Table 2, below:

Table 2. The Most Influentially-positioned Nodes and Betweenness Centralities and Multi-Morphemic Compounds
Associated with Them
Node (definition) Betweenness Associated Multi-morphemic Compounds
Centrality
(Normalized)
kaput- (head) 28.9 forehead, handkerchief, headbutt, headquarters, HQ, headset,
overhead, shithead, spearhead
bhel-2 (ball) 24.9 baseball, bulldozer, bullshit, eyeball, fireball, football, hardball,
redball
skei- (to cut, split) 24.5 bullshit, dogshit, shithead, shithouse, shit-yer-pants,
en- (in) 21.9 close-in, dug-in, incoming, instead
se-2 (side) 20.8 backside, broadside, countryside, roadside, sidewalk
agh-2 (a day) 20.3 daylight, everyday, Sunday
gwhen (to strike, skill) 18.0 anti-tank gun, COAX (coaxial machinegun), greasegun, gunfire,
gunpowder, gunshot, gunsight, MG (machine gun), outgunned,
shotgun, sub-machinegun, tommy-gun
aiw- (vital force; life; 17.9 everyday, forever, middle-aged, nevertheless, teenager
eternity)
sta- (to stand) 16.3 anti-tank gun, assistant-driver, TC (tank commander), anti-tank mine,
anti-tank rocket, lamppost, outpost, instead, understand
uper- (over) 16.0 hangover, overalls, overhead, overheated, overlay, overrun,
overwhelming, supercharge, superquick.
per1 (forward, through) 13.2 forearm, forehead, forever.
paewr- (fire) 12.7 gunfire, fireball, firelight,
de- (to) 12.1 today
ALLS 6(6):29-38, 2015 34
Recall that in all other semantic network analyses reviewed above—and all of which we are more generally aware—
words are nodes in the networks whereas in the morpho-etymological approach the nodes are etymological roots and the
words are associated with the edges. As such, while the determination of the most influentially-positioned nodes is a
relatively straight-forward process, the only contingency or element of uncertainty being which of many measures of
influence to use. In the table above, the third column contains all of the MMCs associated with each of the 13 most
influentially-positioned nodes. After excluding prepositions and pronouns, these nodes were associated with the
following 57 MMCs : anti-tank (mine), anti-tank (gun), anti-tank (rocket), assistant-driver, backside, baseball, birthday,
broadside, bulldozer, bullshit, close-in, COAX (coaxial machine gun), countryside, daylight, dogshit, dug-in, everyday,
eyeball, fireball, firelight, football, forearm, forehead, forever, grease-gun, gunfire, gunpowder, gunshot, gunsight,
handkerchief, hardball, headbutts, headquarters, headsets, incoming, instead, lamppost, MG (machine gun), middle-
aged, nevertheless, outgunned, outpost, overhead, Redball, roadside, shithead, shithouse, shit-yer-pants, shotgun,
sidewalk, spearhead, Sunday, TC (Tank Commander), teenager, today, Tommy-gun, and understand.
4.2 Results
Several of the above MMCs typify several of the codes and conventions of war films defined by Eberwein (2009).
Recall that his “COMBAT” category included participation in and participation for combat (“ambushes, raids, digging
in”), the locations where combat takes, and the weaponry itself (tanks, grenades, flamethrowers, etc.). Clearly, several
MMCs are relevant to this category including anti-tank mine, anti-tank gun, anti-tank rocket, COAX (coaxial machine
gun), dug-in, fireball, grease-gun, gunfire, gunpowder, gunshot, gunsight, incoming, machine gun, outgunned, shotgun,
TC (tank commander), and Tommy-gun. Additionally, the term spearhead is used in this context figuratively and takes
the meaning of the “the leading forces in a military thrust.” The MMC countryside is used the phrase “German
countryside” in reference to the location of all combat which takes place in the film. The term outpost appears in the
phrase “outpost tank” and refers to a defensive combat role performed by a specific tank in the column. The term
overhead appears in reference to American P47 warplanes that provided air-cover for the tank column. Associated with
the “MALE CHARACTERS” is the troupe of “regional, ethnic, and racial types” representing “different social classes.”
Among the MMCs used to convey this convention were the names of several characters—WarDaddy, Coon-Ass, good-
old-boy, redneck, peachfuzzy teenager, and Redball. Only the latter term was associated with the most influentially
nodes and it refers to the supply trucks driven by black American soldiers.
4.3 Survey Results
Taken together, the above MMCs are adequate to support the first hypothesis, i.e. that the influentially positioned
concepts (nodes) in the text network of Fury’s screenplay embody the conventions of the genre. As noted previously, it
is at approximately this point that most network text analyses conclude. We, however, opted to further validate our
coding with an approach not previously undertaken in any study of which we are aware. Specifically, developed a
survey that would allow us to directly compare how well the MMCs convey not the codes and conventions of the war
genre, by comparing it to genres to which it does not belong. Specifically, we created a survey instrument that asked
respondents to first review the above list of MMCs and then required them to indicate the film genre to which they best
correspond. (See Appendix 1 for details of the questions which appeared in the survey instrument). Respondents were
from Amazon.com’s mTurk e-worker service (mTurk.com). All survey respondents were located in the USA, had
previously completed at least 5000 human intelligence tasks (HITs) and had a 98% or better approval rates from other
employers. Respondents were told in the introduction to the survey that they would be matching keywords extracted
from the screenplay of a film to types or genres of films. After viewing just one of the three groups of keywords,
respondents were asked to answer a series of 20 questions, each of which provided a definition of a genre and which
required the respondent to rate on a 1-10 scale the likelihood that the resulting film belonged to that genre. Higher
scores represented higher likelihoods. The question specific to the war genre read as follows: “How likely is it that this
list of words was taken from a WAR film, i.e. one that contains numerous scenes and/or a narrative that pertains to
a real war (i.e., past or current).” The question regard westerns was worded similarly: “How likely is it that this list of
words was taken from a WESTERN film, i.e. a film that contains numerous scenes and/or a narrative that portrays
frontier life in the American West during 1600s to contemporary times.” The eighteen other genres about which the
respondents provided opinions were Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Family,
Fantasy, Film-Noir, History, Horror, Music/Musical, Mystery, Romance, Science-Fiction, Sport, and Thriller. Their
definitions embedded in the questions were taken directly from the International Movie Database (IMDB). (Note 2).
Consistent with our qualitative analysis, we found the predicted relationship between the network position of concepts
and the film’s genre. Table 3 contains the descriptive statistics the scores for each of the 158 usable responses.

Table 3. Descriptive Statistics for Survey Responses

Genre Min Max Median Average Std. Dev. Skewness

Action 1 10 8.5 8.29 1.60 -1.15
War 1 10 8 8.02 2.08 -1.21
Crime 1 10 6 6.08 2.34 -0.43
Adventure 1 10 6 6.08 2.23 -0.62
 ALLS 6(6):29-38, 2015 35
Thriller 1 10 6 5.53 2.23 -0.24
History 1 10 6 5.33 2.54 -0.09
Drama 1 10 5 5.18 2.44 0.05
Bio 1 10 4 4.24 2.36 0.46
Film-noir 1 10 4 4.16 2.47 0.49
Comedy 1 10 3 3.97 2.48 0.65
Horror 1 10 3 3.90 2.34 0.56
Mystery 1 10 4 3.89 2.03 0.52
Scifi 1 9 3 3.83 2.29 0.55
Sports 1 10 3 3.73 2.46 0.67
Western 1 10 3 3.46 2.54 0.82
Fantasy 1 10 2 3.21 2.28 1.07
Animated 1 10 2 2.72 2.13 1.48
Romance 1 10 1.5 2.24 1.87 2.03
Music 1 10 1 2.16 1.88 2.31
Family 1 10 1 1.98 1.77 2.51

In the IMDB, Fury belongs to three of the 20 aforementioned genres—Action, War, and Drama. As shown in the table
above, the mean scores of the corresponding survey responses were 8.29, 8.02, and 5.18, respectively. Notably, these
are the first, second, and seventh highest scores among the 20 genre-specific averages. The skewness of the Action and
War responses were also the most highly negative with values of -1.15 and -1.21, respectively. This indicates that the
left tail of the distribution of these scores is longer and, accordingly, that the mass of the distribution is concentrated to
the right. This skewness can be interpreted to indicate that there was relatively less uncertainty in the scores for these
two genres. By comparison, the skewness of the scores for the Drama genre was only 0.46, thereby indicating that there
was a slight right-hand shift in the distribution. The standard deviation of the distribution of the Action and War genres
were 1.60 and 2.08, the lowest and fourth lowest scores respectively.
While these results strongly suggest that the most influentially-positioned concepts—those with the high betweenness
scores—were easily recognizable as belonging to the War genre, they only partially support the hypothesis. Recall that
our specific prediction was not just that the most influentially-positioned words would illustrate or embody the War
genre but not do the same for genres to which it did not belong. As we can see from the results in Table 1, the lowest
average scores are those associated with the following five genres—Fantasy (3.21), Animated (2.72), Romance (2.24),
Music & Musicals (2.16) and Family (1.98). Notably, these five genres also have the five highest levels of skewness—
values of 1.07, 1.48, 2.03, 2.31, and 2.51, respectively. This pattern of results suggests that the survey respondents had
very little uncertainty associated with their determinations concerning these five genres in particular. Seventeen t-test of
means were also conducted in which War genre scores were compared to scores for the remaining seventeen genres to
which the film did not belong. In every instance the scores for the War genre were very significantly larger (p < 1E-10).
Taken together these results make clear that the most influentially-positioned concepts—those with the highest
betweenness centrality scores—were strongly associated with the War genre in the absolute sense and the relative. As
such, the study’s hypothesis is strongly supported.
5. Conclusion
As noted in the introductory section of this paper, the extraction of meaning from text or semantic networks involves an
examination of the most influentially positioned nodes in the network. That said, we are aware only one other study
wherein the themes associated with a text network’s most influential nodes were specified a priori. Thus, the present
study is distinguished from most of the prior literature in this regard. Where the present study is most distinctive
concerns the theory we used to generate our falsifiable two hypotheses. Specifically, it was genre theory within the
broader film studies literature, and research on the war-film genre that we applied to the screenplay of Fury. As
discussed in the preceding section, our results supported both hypotheses, i.e. that the words associated with the most
influentially-positioned nodes would embody the codes and conventions of the war film genre and that they would so
more accurately than words associated with the least influentially-positioned nodes. Recall that we used network
constraint (Burt, 2000) as our measure of positional influence and found that several words associated with the subset of
least constrained—and thus most influentially-positioned—nodes were clearly associated with the codes and
conventions of war films, words like anti-tank mine, anti-tank gun, anti-tank rocket, COAX (coaxial machine gun), dug-
in, fireball, grease-gun, gunfire, gunpowder, gunshot, gunsight, incoming, machine gun, outgunned, shotgun, TC (tank
commander), and Tommy-gun. In marked contrast, our reading of the words associated with the most constrained—and
thus least influentially-positioned—nodes revealed that many fewer evoked the codes and conventions of the war genre.
But unlike prior studies of this kind, we also externally validated our impressions of these two sets of words.
Specifically, we administered surveys to over 100 participants recruited through Amazon’s mTurk service and, as
discussed above, we found further and stronger support for our hypothesis. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the
only network text analysis that has externally validated its findings.
ALLS 6(6):29-38, 2015 36
There are at least two important implications of our findings that should be explicitly noted. First, as noted above, this
study is the first of which we are aware that developed specific, falsifiable hypothesis concerning the role and positions
of relevant concepts and externally validated the hypothesis. It is our belief that this approach should become a standard
practice followed by future network text analyses. Secondly, the approach outlined here may have implications for the
practice of screenplay “coverage”—the term used to describe the qualitative analysis of screenplays by readers,
directors, agents, and producers. As noted by Eliashberg, Hui, and Zhang (2007), “deciding which scripts to produce is
dauntingly difficult task, as the number of submissions always greatly exceeds the number of movies that can be made”
(p. 881). The approach used by all major studios to select screenplays from the thousands submitted each year has been
described both “age-old” and “labor-intensive” (ibid, p. 881). In short, they hire 3-4 readers who read the script and
provide a written “synopsis of the story line” along with a “recommendation on whether the screenplay should be
produced into a movie and the changes, if any, that are needed before actual production” (ibid, p. 881-2) Because the
evaluations are entirely subjective and qualitative, it means that the success of a movie relies in large part on the
“quality of the available readers and their acumen in picking out promising scripts” (ibid., p. 882). In addition, because
readers can and do frequently disagree—as do producers—the process is characterized by high levels of uncertainty and
strikes many as arbitrary (Hague, 2011). Although this study did not attempt to link the position of key concepts to the
screenplay’s quality, it’s worth noting that it’s possible that screenplays will vary systematically in this regard. More
specifically, it is possible that in higher quality screenplays will be characterized by a greater number of genre-relevant
concepts in the more influential positions within the text network. If so, then it means that an objective and much-
needed measure of screenplay quality could be developed, one based on the process and approach outlined here.
We should note that there are several limitations to this study that should be explicitly recognized, limitations that may
place bounds around on the generalizability of the result. The first concerns the nature of the text analyzed. Whereas all
other network text analyses of which we are aware use non-fiction, we used a screenplay, one adapted from an
autobiography. This is important because contemporary screenplays adhere to very well-defined set of story-telling
conventions, plot devices, and narrative structures (Field, 2005; Snyder, 2005) and are characterized by a level or
thematic and lexical repetition not common to texts in other domains (Hunter& Smith, 2013). Secondly, we analyzed a
screenplay from a film genre that is long-standing and well-defined in the minds of American movie-goers and media
consumers. It’s possible that widespread familiarity with war films enhanced survey respondents’ ability to correctly
identify the genre and it’s an open question as to whether a romantic comedy or a family drama would be so easily
identified through a similar approach. Third, we should note that the method upon which we based our findings relies
on a single source for tracing multi-morphemic compounds back to their etymological roots—the American Heritage
Dictionary of Indo-European Roots (Watkins, 2011). Recall that approximately 75% of the individual morphemes in the
network model were traced back to that source. It is possible that some of the remaining 25% could have been traced to
common roots—Indo-European or otherwise—described and defined in other well-known sources, e.g. the Barnhart
Concise Dictionary of Etymology (Barnhart, 1995) or The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (Hoad,
1993). Finally, we should note that it is unclear whether and to what degree the approach described here can be applied
to languages other than English. While it is widely accepted in comparative linguistics that compounding is a common
to all languages, the same compound words are not always used across languages to describe the same thing. For
example, the English compound laptop doesn’t translate directly into many other languages. Furthermore, research on
the Indo-European roots of those languages may not have progressed as far as it has in English. As such, there may be
serious limitations associated with the application of the methods described herein to other Indo-European or other
language families.

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Notes
Note 1: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/fury/awards/scripts/fury_script.pdf
Note 2: http://www.imdb.com/help/search?domain=helpdesk_faq&index=2&file=genres

Appendix
1. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from an ACTION film, i.e. a film that contains numerous scenes
where action is spectacular and usually destructive?
2. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from an ADVENTURE film, i.e. one that contains numerous
consecutive and inter-related scenes of characters participating in hazardous or exciting experiences for a specific
goal.
3. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from an ANIMATED film, i.e. a film where the majority of its
scenes are wholly or partly animated, hand-drawn, computer-generated, stop-motion, etc?
4. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a BIOGRAPHICAL film, i.e. a film that focused on the
depiction of activities and personality of a real person or persons, for some or all of their lifetime?
5. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a COMEDY, i.e. a film that mostly contains characters
participating in humorous or comedic experiences?
6. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a CRIME film, i.e. a film that contains numerous
consecutive and inter-related scenes of characters participating, aiding, abetting, and/or planning criminal behavior
or experiences usually for an illicit goal?
7. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a DRAMA, i.e. a film that contains numerous consecutive
scenes of characters portrayed to effect a serious narrative throughout?
8. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a FAMILY film, i.e. the film is aimed specifically for the
education and/or entertainment of children or the entire family?
9. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a FANTASY film, i.e. it contains numerous consecutive
scenes of characters portrayed to effect a magical and/or mystical narrative?
10. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a FILM NOIR, i.e. a film that features dark, brooding
characters, corruption, detectives, and the seedy side of the big city?
11. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a HISTORY film, i.e. a film whose primary focus is on real-
life events of historical significance featuring real-life characters?
ALLS 6(6):29-38, 2015 38
12. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a HORROR film, i.e. a film that contains numerous
consecutive scenes of characters effecting a terrifying and/or repugnant narrative throughout?
13. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from an MUSICAL/MUSIC film, i.e. a film that contains several
scenes of characters bursting into song aimed at the viewer and/or contains significant music-related elements, e.g.
portrays a concert or a story about a band?
14. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a MYSTERY film, i.e. a film that contains numerous inter-
related scenes of one or more characters endeavoring to widen their knowledge of anything pertaining to
themselves or others?
15. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a ROMANCE film, i.e. a film that contains numerous inter-
related scenes of a character and their personal life with emphasis on emotional attachment or involvement with
other characters, especially those characterized by a high level of purity and devotion?
16. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a SCIENCE FICTION film, i.e. a film that contains
numerous scenes, and/or the entire background for the setting of the narrative, based on speculative scientific
discoveries or developments, environmental changes, space travel, or life on other planets?
17. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a SPORTS film, i.e. a film whose focus is on sports or a
sporting event, either fictional or actual?
18. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a THRILLER, i.e. a film that contains numerous sensational
scenes or a narrative that is sensational or suspenseful?
19. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a WAR film, i.e. a film that contains numerous scenes and/or
a narrative that pertains to a real war (i.e., past or current)?
20. How likely is it that this list of words was taken from a WESTERN, i.e. a film that contains numerous scenes
and/or a narrative that portrays frontier life in the American West during 1600's to contemporary times?
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

How James Kept the Pace?; A Look into the Organic Unity of
Daisy Miller
Sina Movaghati (Corresponding author)
English Language and Literature Department, Kharazmi University of Tehran, Mofateh, Tehran, Iran
E-mail: sinamovaghati@yahoo.com

Milad Comcar
English Language and Literature Department, Kharazmi University of Tehran, Mofateh, Tehran, Iran
E-mail: comcar.milad@gmail.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.39 Received: 15/06/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.39 Accepted: 28/08/2015

Abstract
Many Critics believe that Henry James has set the definitive standards of modern fiction writing. Undoubtedly his
groundbreaking article “The Art of fiction,” which published for the first time in 1884, has a major contribution in
developing the theories of fiction writing. The term Organic Unity has derived from a major Formalist Critic, Cleanth
Brooks. Both James and Brooks believed that a critic should approach a text as an organic whole. So, in this article we
try to pinpoint the ideas which James and Brooks claimed in their essays and see how these ideas conform to one of
James’ well-known stories, Daisy Miller. We want to observe that how James develops and shapes his story around the
central theme. Furthermore, we want to investigate that are there any literary devices embedded in the text of the story
which help James to deliver his fiction with artistry?
Keywords: James, Cleanth Brooks, Organic Unity, The Art of Fiction, Daisy Miller
1. Introduction
1.1 Organic Unity
Organic Unity or Organic Form was one of the major topics of debates during the reign of the New Critics. The concept
of organic unity was mentioned for the first time in such works as The Republic, Phaedrus, and Gorgias by the Greek
philosopher Plato; but it lacked the true definitive role in literature until it was formed and shaped by another Greek
philosopher, Aristotle. In Aristotle’s Poetics, organic unity is described by “how writing relies internally on narration
and drama to remain cohesive to one another, not as separate entities. Without balance on both sides, the whole concept
suffers” (Britannica). A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms defines organic unity as:
An argument that a literary work evolves and develops like a plant or other organism, naturally and internally.
[...] The term was originally employed by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in defending Shakespeare from
neoclassical critics’ charges of formal flaws in his plays. Coleridge argues that Shakespeare’s works exhibit
“organic” rather than “mechanic” form: “The form is mechanic when, on any given material, we impress a
predetermined form. The organic form, on the other hand, is innate; it shapes as it develops itself from within,
and the fullness of its development is one and the same with the perfection of its outward form.” The idea of
the literary text as a living organism has been an influential concept in the 20th century, particularly in NEW
CRITICISM. (Quinn, 2006, p.306)
1.2 Claiming The Organic Unity in “The Art of Fiction”
Henry James’ critical essay, “The Art of Fiction” was published in Longman’s Magazine in 1884. Actually, it was a
reaction to a lecture which was given by Sir Walter Besant1 in 1884, but James’ essay became one of the most
important essays in theory of fiction. James chose the title of the essay as a reaction to the title of Besant’s lecture, too.2
He starts his essay by asserting his key critical point; he elucidates that the sole motive of the author for the fiction
should be epitomizing real life with all its fragments. He remarks that “The only reason for the existence of a novel is
that it does attempt to represent life” (James, 2010, p.745). He proceeds and declares that “the air of reality (solidity of
specification) seems to me to be the supreme virtue of a novel” (James, 2010, p.750).
James continues his discussion by talking about form; he maintains that the author, like the painter and the artist, should
capture life with all its particles and should illustrate it in his form of the novel, so one can judge a novel, not by his
own taste but by the form which the author tries to produce; James maintains:

1Sir Walter Besant (1836 – 1901), was an English novelist and historian.
2The title of Besant’s lecture was The Art of Fiction, too; it seems that James chose the same title to mock Besant’s
opinions about novel and author.
 ALLS 6(6):39-45, 2015 40
The cultivation of this success, the study of this exquisite process, form, to my taste, the beginning and the end
of the art of the novelist. They are his inspiration, his despair, his reward, his torment, his delight. It is here, in
very truth, that he competes with life; it is here that he competes with his brother the painter, in his attempt to
render the look of things, the look that conveys their meaning, to catch the colour, the relief, the expression,
the surface, the substance of the human spectacle. (James, 2010, p.751)

In this respect we can call him a Formalist and it is a fact that Formalists used James’s critical point of views in order to
strengthen their critical theories. Later, in his essay, James attacks Besant’s standpoint about making a distinction about
“incidents,” “descriptions,” and the “characters.” James claims that there is no such thing as significant incidents and
insignificant incidents; there is no such thing as significant characters and insignificant characters. Here, James asserts
the idea of organic unity and maintains that all the characters, incidents, and descriptions are significant to the plot. He
restates Coleridge point of view about a work of art (here particularly a novel) and argues that novel is a living thing
and an organic whole which all its materials and substances come together to form an organism. James contends that
Nothing, for instance, is more possible than that he be of a turn of mind for which this odd, literal opposition
of description and dialogue, incident and description, has little meaning and light. People often talk of these
things as if they had a kind of internecine distinctness, instead of melting into each other at every breath and
being intimately associated parts of one general effort of expression. I cannot imagine composition existing in
a series of blocks, nor conceive, in any novel worth discussing at all, of a passage of description that is not in
its intention narrative, a passage of dialogue that is not in its intention descriptive, a touch of truth of any sort
that does not partake of the nature of incident, and an incident that derives its interest from any other source
than the general and only source of the success of a work of art—that of being illustrative. A novel is a living
thing, all one and continuous, like every other organism, and in proportion as it lives will it be found, I think,
that in each of the parts there is something of each of the other parts. (James, 2010, p.751)

In the next few sentences he wrote these famous questions which became one of the landmarks in the theories of novel
in the twentieth century: “What is character but the determination of incidents? What is incident but the illustration of
character?” (James, 2010, p.752)
James maintains that the separation between novel and the romance, and the novel of incident and the novel of character
are “clumsy separations” and only made by critics and certain readers for their own sake and convenience. James thinks
that subject or idea of a novel should not be the subject of criticism; so he claims: “We must grant the artist his subject,
his idea, donnée; our criticism is applied only to what he makes of it” (James, 2010, p.753). Again we can observe that,
in James opinion, the crucial criteria for criticizing and judging a novel are those intrinsic features which the reader can
see in the text, and not those features which are outside the text (like biography, politics,…) and imposed by certain
critics when they are judging a literary text. Another thing which James mentions at the end of the essay is about this
question that a novel should be moral or not? James confutes the whole idea and believes that it is not a goal for a novel
to have certain moral lesson; One should judge a novel by the certain intrinsic features which the artist, as James calls a
novelist, puts in his novel in order to achieve his own goal, which is the idea and the purpose which he pursues from
writing the novel. Again this is a fact that proves James as a Formalist. Although we cannot call him a Formalist critic
but certainly he and his opinions had certain tendencies toward formalism.
James maintains his argument by attacking Emile Zola’s idea of the “treatment” of a novel. James argues that there is
no such thing as good taste and bad taste in writing fiction, in his word he calls it “the absoluteness of taste;” and to him
the motive of the author is above all things, and if the author has the success to achieve that motive, he will be able to
show the real life to his readers, and readers can feel the art also; he believes that if the writers does not have creativity,
they will sink into the well of familiar clichés. James writes:
Thinking that there are certain things that people ought to like, and that they can be made to like. I am quite at
a loss to imagine anything (at any rate in this matter of fiction) that people ought to like or to dislike. Selection
will be sure to take care of itself, for it has a constant motive behind it. That motive is simply experience. As
people feel life, so they will feel the art that is most closely related to it. This closeness of relation is what we
should never forget in talking of the effort of the novel. Many people speak of it as a factitious, artificial form,
a product of ingenuity, the business of which is to alter and arrange the things that surround us, to translate
them into conventional, traditional moulds. This, however, is a view of the matter which carries us but a very
short way, condemns the art to an eternal repetition of a few familiar clichés, cuts short its development, and
leads us straight up to a dead wall. Catching the very note and trick, the strange irregular rhythm of life, that is
the attempt whose strenuous force keeps Fiction upon her feet. (James, 2010, p.754)
James believes that if an author wants to get rid of the problem of mediocrity he should have creativity; for James
creativity goes along with freedom. He writes: “It appears to me that no one can ever have made a seriously artistic
attempt without becoming conscious of an immense increase—a kind of revelation—of freedom” (James, 2010, p.754).
When the essay becomes close to its ending, James remarks that an author or a novelist should have the capacity to
receive the straight impressions from his surroundings. He writes: “If he has taste, I must add, of course he will have
ingenuity, […] But it is only a secondary aid; the first is a capacity for receiving straight impressions” (James, 2010,
p.755). He also, for the second time, talks about an organic whole and asserts that every line, every image, and even
 ALLS 6(6):39-45, 2015 41
each punctuation mark contributes to the novel as a whole, so that the combination should be criticized rather than the
individuals. James States:
This sense of the story being the idea, the starting-point, of the novel is the only one that I see in which it can
be spoken of as something different from its organic whole; and since, in proportion as the work is successful,
the idea permeates and penetrates it, informs and animates it, so that every word and every punctuation-point
contribute directly to the expression, in that proportion do we lose our sense of the story being a blade which
may be drawn more or less out of its sheath. The story and the novel, the idea and the form, are the needle and
thread, and I never heard of a guild of tailors who recommended the use of the thread without the needle or the
needle without the thread. (James, 2010, p.755)

Call him a realist, an impressionist or an expressionist, Henry James was truly a pioneer in modern fiction writing.
Through the examination of his revolutionary essay “The Art of Fiction,” we grasp certain few points about his critical
standpoints about novel writing. 1- Novelist should not have any restriction according to their subject matter. 2- He
should derive his subject matter from the real life experience or his surroundings 3- Author should treat his novel
delicately and with artistry. 4- Judgments should not be based on moral matters or taste. 5- The Novel should be judged
as a whole, and should not be judged based on the individual fragments or parts of it. 6- The author should strive to
establish an organic whole during his production of the novel. Of course there are other important details to point out,
but for the sake of the discussion we limit ourselves to these few points.
1.3 Brooks and the Idea of Textual Harmony
Another critical essay on the subject matter of organic unity was published in the book The Well Wrought Urn: Studies
in the Structure of Poetry. The book is a series of critical essays written by American critic Cleanth Brooks, and in
general it is about reading poems and how should critics approach an analysis of a poem. Although, one would argue
that Brooks’ theories are only applicable to poetry and not fiction -and in result they do not relate to the subject matter
of our discussion- but like James, Brooks’ standpoints about literature -in general- are important for us. The book
contains eleven chapters and its most important chapter, at least for us, is the last one which is entitled by the author as
“The Heresy of Paraphrase.” The method of Brooks’ criticism of poetry is the close reading of the poem.
Brooks argues that because a poem is an aesthetic whole, therefore “the relation between all the elements must surely be
an organic one” (Brooks, 1947, p.183), and the implications of the poem or the poet’s intentions cannot be found in the
individual examination of each single element, hence the poem should be judged and criticized as a whole, and in this
respect he argues that the act of paraphrasing poem’s text is like a heresy. He argues: “we see plainly that the
paraphrase is not the real core of meaning which constitutes the essence of the poem” (Brooks, 1947, p.180). Here, he
mentions the word “essence,” and by using this word we simply can understand that what Brooks means as the essence
of the poem, or the literary work in general, is the organic whole which the creator, here particularly a poet, intends to
create and the act of paraphrasing will reduce the denotations and mainly the connotations which one can derive from
the text.
Like James, Brooks believes that a particular element or object cannot solely stand for the beauty of the work, but it can
be helpful when this single element works in “harmony” with other elements of the work; he writes: “we must draw a
sharp distinction between… a particular item ...and the beauty of the poem considered as a whole” (Brooks, 1947,
p.178); and the artistic and beautiful arrangement of all elements can make certain impact which shows itself in the
wholeness of the work, which is the organic unity of the work. He asserts that a glorious poem does not unify the same
things with one another, on the contrary a poem can be called glorious when it “unites the like with the unlike” (Brooks,
1947, p.179). By uniting the like with the unlike, Brooks emphasizes on the concepts such as irony, paradox, and
ambiguity; and of course these elements can produce the estrangement impact on the reader and we should note that
New Critics were overemphasizing on the use of literary devices such as irony and paradox, and of course one of their
pioneers is William Empson3 which wrote a book of the concept of ambiguity.
Brooks States that -and in this matter we can say that he is very close to what James expects of a well-written fiction-
the poem should be the “experience,” not talking about certain experience. In general, he tries to claim that the poet
should capture the form, as well as the mood; because the basis of a poem should be reality and real life, and a poet can
be called successful who mixes the essence of reality with the perfect form. He maintains that “the poem, if it be a true
poem, is a simulacrum of reality […] by being an experience rather than any mere statement about experience or any
mere abstraction from experience” (Brooks, 1947, p.194).
2. Maintaining the Organic Unity in Daisy Miller
In the introduction to Daisy Miller, Elizabeth Hardwick writes that the novella can be read “as an intramural battle
between middle-aged, deracinated American women” which have been “long abroad” and “a young, provincial
American girl whose naturalness and friendliness are more suitable to hometown streets” rather than to the “mysteries
of European society” (Hardwick, 2002, p. xi). Indeed, it is a trilateral battle between the discreet American expatriates,
indiscreet American immigrants, and the mysteries of the European society. Winterbourne’s role is crucial in this battle,

3 Sir William Empson(1906-1984) was an English literary critic and poet who was emphasizing on the close reading of
the text. Empson’s most ground-breaking contribution to the literary society was Seven Types of Ambiguity. It was
published in 1930.
ALLS 6(6):39-45, 2015 42
because he is a spectator who observes both sides of the battle with a conscience to help him judge all the characters.
But as the battle between the old and the new continues, Winterbourne is forced to pick a side which at the end left his
conscience mortified.
The narrative starts by the meeting of Winterbourne with Daisy’s little brother, Randolph. Winterbourne was very
amused by the quick replies of the child and “wondered if he himself had been like this in his infancy, for he had been
brought to Europe at about the same age” (James, 2002, p.6). Winterbourne quickly notices that something is different
about this child and his own infancy; maybe he does not expect from an eight-year-old boy to be so bold. Winterbourne
notices certain peculiarities in the kid’s behavior.
In Winterbourne’s first encounter with Daisy, the author mentions that in “Geneva, as he had been perfectly aware, a
young man wasn’t at liberty to speak to a young unmarried lady” (James, 2002, p.7), but because there were in Vevey
and Winterbourne was well aware of the conditions, he thought it is the best place for flirting with a young, innocent
flower like Daisy. Here the author intentionally claims about the awareness of Winterbourne to suggest that, unlike
Daisy, he is a man of discretion.
Later in the narrative, Winterbourne describes Daisy’s habits and manners formless, as if she has “no idea whatever of
form” (James, 2002, p.9). Living a great amount of his life in Europe, Winterbourne promptly understands the crudity
of Daisy’s mannerism. “It was many years since he had heard a young girl talk so much” (James, 2002, p.11). Well, it is
true that Daisy is an ignorant girl, but James also reveals to the reader the other character’s mannerism, which is being
too judgmental about Daisy. As Winterbourne puts it himself, he tries to formulate everyone and Daisy’s behavior is a
mystery because he could not “generalize” her. More or less, “all the characters in Daisy Miller: A Study judge people
according to presuppositions of type” (Haralson & Johnson, 2009, p.223). Of course, Winterbourne is the representative
of the judgmental Society of American expatriates.
The interesting thing happens a few paragraphs later. After the author introduces both the examiner and the examinee,
Daisy reveals her problem with Europe to Frederick. She asserts: “you see the most frightful things here. The only thing
I don’t like […] is the society. There ain’t any society - or if there is I don’t know where it keeps itself. Do you?”
(James, 2002, p.12) Daisy unintentionally reveals to the reader that this judgmental society has already decreed their
verdict against Miller family and it is Daisy’s childish innocence that keeps her from understanding such a thing.
Daisy tells Frederick that, back in Schenectady, she had “a great deal of gentlemen’s society.” Winterbourne is
“amused” and “perplexed,” but “above all he was charmed;” because he had never “heard a young girl express herself
in just this fashion” (James, 2002, p.13). The fact that Winterbourne is more charmed than being perplexed by Daisy’s
confession implies that Winterbourne is more in favor of “studying,” or as Motley Deakin puts it, Winterbourne
“typifies” her. James intentionally reveals an important side of Winterbourne’s character; he is not in passionate love
with Daisy, instead he is the sort of man who prefers to be a bystander and categorizes women. James immediately
delays the narrative to talk about the previous experiments of Winterbourne in Europe:
He had known here in Europe two or three women-persons older than Miss Daisy Miller and provided, for
respectability’s sake, with husbands- who were great coquettes; dangerous terrible women with whom one’s
light commerce might indeed take a serious turn. But this charming apparition wasn’t a coquette in that sense;
she was very unsophisticated; she was only a pretty American flirt. Winterbourne was almost grateful for
having found the formula that applied to Daisy Miller. (James, 2002, p.13)

We understand that Frederick engaged in some affairs in the past and maybe the results of them were not good for his
reputation, so he prefers to be a bystander rather than to engage him-self in a passionate affair. Winterbourne cannot
decide “whether Daisy is vulgar or naive,” and therefore he is “perturbed when Daisy does not fit into either of these
boxes, but instead of reassessing his methods, he cuts Daisy down to size” (Haralson & Johnson, 2009, p.223) and then
he is relieved to declare that Daisy is only an unsophisticated, American flirt; because Winterbourne is such a cautious
person, as if Daisy was a sophisticated coquette, he would hold back all his desires to talk to her. Motley Deakin noticed
the same manner in Winterbourne and claims that Frederick’s habit is to “categorize; he sees the type, not the
individual. When Daisy first appears before him, his response is not “How pretty she is,” but “how pretty they are. […]
unwilling to accept her in her charming uniqueness, he searches for a term to typify her” (Deakin, 2001, p.80). Deakin
investigates further in the habits of Winterbourne. He argues that Winterbourne does not attach him-self with the object
of his investigation; also, “he approaches his interests with this habit of making comparisons, even to the extent of
trying to balance the attractions of the Italian cities Bologna and Florence against those other, quite different charms of
Daisy” (Deakin, 2001, p.80). Deakin maintains that Winterbourne commits him-self to Daisy because he thinks this is a
proper thing to do. He is not in pursuit of either love, or passion; and he always puts his footsteps on the safest routes in
the society. He writes:
Winterbourne’s purpose is to please his fancy, not to stir his soul. His attitude is mild, suggesting that he is
committed because he thinks it is the proper thing to do rather than because he feels any great passion. His
interests involve very little personal risk. Even his attraction to the pretty but socially déclassé Daisy leaves no
blemish on him. (Deakin, 2001, p.80)
ALLS 6(6):39-45, 2015 43
There are other clues which James puts in the story in order to develop its organic unity. After reading another few
pages, the reader understands that the narrative stays with Winterbourne rather than staying with Daisy. As the full title
of the novella suggests, Daisy Miller “A Study,” the story is more about the judgments and opinions of others, rather
than a self-revelation of the character. And one can observe that this aspect of the work has masterfully done. “The
observing outsider is a common figure throughout James’s work, and the strictness with which Winterbourne’s
narrative viewpoint frames Daisy’s story is an important development in James’s narrative technique.” James focalizes
“the narrative within the consciousness of a single character.” The story takes place in “Winterbourne’s consciousness
and implies the possibility of competing interpretations of Daisy’s character and conduct. Readers must first evaluate
Winterbourne’s point of view in order to understand Daisy” (Haralson & Johnson, 2009, p.223). Maybe, “it is only the
fortune hunter Giovanelli,” who observes “society with some objectivity, is able to sense that Daisy is ‘the most
innocent’ of creatures who simply does what she likes” (Coffin, 1958, p.273).
Winterbourne who was perplexed and confused by the words which Daisy uttered at Vevey, easily understands his
aunt’s intention by the tone of her voice. “He at once recognized from her tone that Miss Daisy Miller’s place in the
social scale was low” (James, 2002, p.18). It is true that Winterbourne’s logic classifies the object of his scrutiny by
making comparisons; and if the reader exploits the same logic as Winterbourne, he will understands that Frederick who
spent quite a while to understands Daisy’s intentions -at least Winterbourne thinks that he has succeeded to classify
Daisy at this point of the novel- does not even have to wait to understand his aunt’s intention and the fact that James
uses the words “at once” is a proof for such understanding. There are other examples of Mrs. Costello’s judgmental
characteristics; After Frederick mentions Miller family to his aunt, Mrs. Costello retorts that Miller family is “horribly
common. […] they are the sort of Americans that one does one’s duty by just ignoring” (James, 2002, p.18). Here,
James again emphasizes on the concept of categorizing. From here to the end of the story, the text contains lots of
ironical situations. Mrs. Costello, like Frederick, categorizes these new immigrants by using the word “sort,” but at the
same time the author hints us that she and her nephew can be categorized as the enclosed, American expatriates. Mrs.
Costello refers to Daisy as the “young lady” who has an “intimacy with her mama’s courier.” And Winterbourne asks
from his aunt that does she believe that their intimate relation to be true? His aunt replies that “There’s no other name
for such a relation. But the skinny little mother’s just as bad! They treat the courier as a familiar friend-as a gentleman
and a scholar” (James, 2002, p.18). Aunt Costello exploits the word intimacy, because above all “intimacy” connotes
the sexual friendship rather than a simple one; but we can observe that her explanation for the word is not quite fit. This
is ironical because indeed other names are available for such relations.
After introducing another American expatriate, James develops both ironical and sarcastic tone. James, very much a
meddler in the narrative, comments that “Winterbourne listened to these disclosures” (James, 2002, p.18) and this is
truly sarcastic because what James call as disclosures -and Frederick listens with interest to- are the blathers of an old
lady, and cannot be considered as facts. The reader knows already that this is the blathers of an old woman, because
James has already told the reader that Mrs. Costello has sporadic headaches that keep her from going outside too often;
so again this is ironic because if Mrs. Costello goes outside rarely, how can she disclose this amount of information
about the Millers? Later in the story, Winterbourne remembers that he had heard that the daughters of Mrs. Costello
her-self are called “tremendous flirts” back in New York, so immediately one understands that Mrs. Costello cannot be
a good judge to rely upon.
As the story reaches its middle, James contrasts the lightheartedness and straightforwardness of Daisy’s behavior with
the discreet and ludicrous behavior of Winterbourne. After Daisy asks for a meeting with Mrs. Costello, Frederick hides
the real reason that the aunt does not want to see Daisy; instead he tries to evade the situation by asserting that “She’d
be most happy, but I’m afraid those tiresome headaches are always to be reckoned with.” Daisy, who is too much
lighthearted does not understand Winterbourne false excuse and insists: “Well, I suppose she doesn’t have a headache
every day.” Winterbourne, who is trapped by the innocence of Daisy’s manner, comes with the ludicrous justification
that “She tells me she wonderfully does.” Daisy which is a very straightforward girl, retorts that “She doesn’t want to
know me? […] why don’t you say so! You needn’t be afraid! I’m not afraid!” (James, 2002, p.22) Author brings a
situation which the straightforwardness of Daisy confronts with the timidity and the discretion of Frederick’s mentality.
Maybe it is easy for Daisy, who is not financially relies upon anyone but his father, to claim that she is not afraid, but
for Frederick which presumably relies on his aunt in financial matters, the sentence “I’m not afraid” is a little bit too
bold to say. Deakin notices the same thing and asserts that Winterbourne is a “captive of women” in some sense and
being held captive results from his lack of “initiative.” He writes:
Winterbourne is presented as the captive of women, not their protective gallant. He is “at liberty to wander
about” when his aunt wishes to be alone with her headache. “He had imbibed in Geneva the idea that one must
always be attentive to one’s aunt,” certainly in part because the code requires it, but also in part, one would
suspect, because she was in control of the “social sway,” […]Winterbourne’s nebulous means of monetary
sustenance seems peculiarly vulnerable to a matriarchic image as overwhelming as Mrs. Costello. He is the
captive as well of—or, one should say, “extremely devoted to”—a mysterious, older, foreign lady in Geneva
who, with her erotically ambivalent significance, seems a most satisfactory and safe choice—if he indeed made
the choice—for one so lacking in initiative as Winterbourne. (Deakin, 2001, p.80-81)

Later, when Winterbourne accompanies Daisy to castle of Chillon, the reader is forced to notice the difference between
Daisy’s actions and those in her surroundings. “Miss Miller was highly animated, She was in brightest spirits;” what
ALLS 6(6):39-45, 2015 44
shocks Winterbourne is that-unlike him- Daisy does not have a bit of shame or nervousness. “She was clearly not at all
in a nervous flutter-as she should have been to match his tension; she avoided neither his eyes nor those of any one else;
she neither coloured from an awkward consciousness when she looked at him” (James, 2002, p.30). These descriptions
suggest that Daisy is not an “American flirt” in the sense that Winterbourne believes her to be. She is a simple girl,
maybe uncultured, that is really a free spirited and likes to experience life in her fresh and youthful way, but although
Daisy does not care about her surroundings, people “look at her a great deal.” And this implies that natural actions of
Daisy were under scrutiny by the old, watchful European society.
Another concept which contributes to the organic unity of the work is the amount of information that the author
dedicates to each character. All the characters -more or less- are viewed from the window of Winterbourne’s mind; but
what about Winterbourne him-self? James intervenes in the narrative to assert a point or so about Winterbourne, but the
thing which is noticeable is that there are certain times in the story that James prefers not to give extra information to
the reader, in order to add mysterious and secret atmosphere to his narrative. A very bold example from these sorts of
mystifications can be observed here:
Winterbourne was certain that nothing could possibly please him so much, but that he had unfortunately other
occupations. […] The young man allowed that he was not in business, but he had engagements which even
within a day or two would necessitate his return to Geneva. (James, 2002, p.32)

James deliberately does not comment on the affairs and obligations of Winterbourne. And these obligations remain
mysterious through the novel. One can assume that the author does not want to demolish the organic unity to astray and
talk about Winterbourne’s affair. This assumption can be correct, but if we compare the amount of details which we
derived from Daisy and other minor characters like Daisy’s father, with the amount of information which we know from
Winterbourne -which is the main protagonist- we immediately understand that James has an intention for hiding certain
facts about Winterbourne’s life. The reader knows that Winterbourne has some engagements back in Geneva that
perhaps involves an unknown, mysterious and presumably not young, European lady. As we strive to understand more
about Winterbourne’s life, James also makes us ponder that, do we really know anything about Daisy at all? As we take
for granted every piece of information which we derive from Daisy’s life as a mere fact, it is very true that we really do
not have enough information even about Daisy at all. Winterbourne is our observer which is a “misshapen assessment”
to us. This tactic from James serves beautifully to the concept of organic unity, because at the end, Winterbourne
understands that his logic did not apply to Daisy and he was wrong about her. “It was on his conscience he had done her
injustice” (James, 2002, p.71). But the organic unity which James has created already serves the reader best; because for
the reader the state of Winterbourne’s affairs is a mystery, so how can the reader trust a person like Frederick who hides
his life from the reader? Winterbourne cannot be a truthful and trustworthy person to rely upon. Robert Weisbuch has
noticed the same thing and asserts that
Daisy’s continuing and finally ennobled simplicity is not what we usually expect from fiction, where
characters generally complicate themselves in the course of their experiences. But James means for us to see
Daisy’s complexity as not inherent. The terrible ambiguity, the vexing mystery of her status as innocent or
vixen, have nothing to do with her inherent quality, simple as a Daisy can be; they are all evoked by
Winterbourne’s misshapen assessment. It is not really her story but Winterbourne’s, and there the
complications are killing. (Weisbuch, 2001, p.82)

When Daisy goes to Rome, these killing complications seem to aggrandize rather than to lessen. Mrs. Costello who
previously tried to beguile the reader about being disinterested in Daisy’s life, reveals to Winterbourne that in the time
when Frederick was at Geneva, Daisy became “very intimate with various third-rate Italians, with whom she rackets
about in a way that makes much talk” (James, 2002, p.35). The Kind of words that Mrs. Costello uses through the story
shows that she is pretty much exaggerating everything she says about Daisy. She claims that Daisy has intimate
relationship with “various” persons, but as the story continues the reader discovers that Daisy has only a friendship with
an Italian called Giovanelli. James, little by little, increases pressure on Daisy. Another description which is available in
the text is the time when Daisy walks with Giovanelli and Winterbourne in Pincio; James writes: “The slow-moving,
idly-gazing Roman crowd bestowed much attention on the extremely pretty young woman of English race who passed
through it, with some difficulty” (James, 2002, p.42). The fact that Roman crowd is “slow-moving” hinders Daisy from
being joyful -and in consequence- and blissful as well. The pressure aggravates when Mrs. Walker tries to force Daisy
to leave Giovanelli at Pincio. “It’s really too dreadful. […] That crazy girl mustn’t do this sort of thing. She mustn’t
walk here with you two men. Fifty people have remarked her” (James, 2002, p.46). Having failed to bring Daisy back,
Mrs. Walker forces Winterbourne to leave Daisy at Pincio. Finally, Mrs. Walker insistence makes Daisy annihilate her-
self in front of Winterbourne and Giovanelli and she confesses that “I’m all improper” (James, 2002, p.48).
What is crucial to our understanding of the novella is that, James achieves organic unity without stating anything too
boldly about any character. He meddles in the story, but only to the extent which reveals to the reader certain aspects of
the characters. He tries to efface him-self from any bold comments about Europeans or Americans, and that is the thing
which makes him a master of his art. As we studied his revolutionary essay “The Art of Fiction,” we can see that there
is no contradiction between what he claims in his essay and what he writes in his work. What makes his fiction to be so
close to reality is that he does not differentiate between “characters,” “incidents,” and “situations.” He mixes every
ALLS 6(6):39-45, 2015 45
element and every aspect of his work together, so that the only thing which comes as a result is a piece of life rather
than to be certain “moral” or didactic goal. Sarah Wadsworth asserts that James is so skillful in his work that only a
veteran reader can decipher and judge characters. She writes:
So skillful is James in presenting the story through the eyes of this erring youth that the values and judgments
of the supercilious, hypocritical American colony to which he is attached seem almost to become normative as
one reads the novella. Indeed a survey of the criticism and scholarship on Daisy Miller suggests that only
gradually have readers shaken off the prejudices of this close-knit clique and made way for generally positive
and sympathetic readings of Daisy’s character, along with more clear-sighted and skeptical interpretations of
Winterbourne’s. (Wadsworth, 2008, p.33)
3. Conclusion
Although we cannot call James a pure Formalist, but without doubt his ideas in writing have certain similarities with the
Formalists who succeeded him. The Concept of Organic Unity is the very example of this affinity which is claimed by
both James and Brooks. We observed that how James exploits literary devices such as Irony in order to maintain the
organic unity, and form a story around the central theme. Irony, which is a key device in the theories of ‘New Critics,’
helps the author to deliver his story with artistry. We observed that how James’ ideas of fiction, discussed in “The Art
of Fiction,” conform with his own writing actually; and he writes similar to what he claimed in his revolutionary essay.

References
Brooks, C. (1947). The Well Wrought Urn; Studies in the Structure of Poetry. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock.
Coffin, T. (1958). Daisy Miller, Western Hero. Western Folklore, 17(4), 273-275. doi:10.2307/1496191
Deakin, M. (2001). Motley Deakin on Winterbourne. In H. Bloom, Henry James (1st ed., pp. 79-81). Broomall, PA:
Chelsea House Publishers.
Encyclopedia Britannica,. (2015). organic unity | literature. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/art/organic-unity
Haralson, E., & Johnson, K. (2009). Daisy Miller: A Study. In Critical Companion to Henry James: A Literary
Reference to His Life and Work (1st ed., pp. 218-228). New York: Facts On File.
Hardwick, E. (2002). Introduction. In H. James, Daisy Miller (1st ed., p. Xi-Xvii). New York: Modern Library.
James, H. (2002). Daisy Miller. New York: Modern Library.
. . . . . . .. . (2010). The Art of Fiction. In V. Leitch, The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism (2nd ed., pp. 744-
759). New York: W.W. Norton.
Quinn, E. (2006). Organic Form. In A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms (1st ed., p. 306). New York: Facts On
File.
Wadsworth, S. (2008). What Daisy Knew: Reading Against Type in Daisy Miller: A Study. In G. Zacharias, A
Companion to Henry James (1st ed., pp. 32-50). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Weisbuch, R. (2001). Robert Weisbuch on Winterbourne and the Doom of Manhood. In H. Bloom, Henry James (1st
ed., pp. 81-83). Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

“Reports from an Absurdist”

—An Analysis of Artistic Features of Ukraine Diaries
Yang Jing
English Department, Nanjing Normal University-210097,Nanjing, China
E-mail: yangjing@njnu.edu.cn

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.46 Received: 09/06/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.46 Accepted: 25/08/2015

Abstract
With 13 published novels and 5 children’s literature books, which have been translated into 25 languages, Andrey
Kurkov has been recognized as one of the most renowned Ukrainian writers in the world of literature, and Ukraine
Diaries is his first non-fiction literary work. This paper attempts to focus on Kurkov’s unique literary characteristics in
the unusual combination of deceptive simplicity of style and the profound insights, coupled with acrid ridicule and
subtle narration, which can all be attributed to the characteristics of “the Absurdist School”. The writer regards his
living condition, as the report from Kiev shows, as kind of dilemma, or paradox: on the one hand, he feels frustrated
with Russia intellectually despite the affinity to traditional culture in emotion; on the other hand, he feels more
indignant about the European Union who brought painful experiences to his country and his people, in spite of his
closeness to western culture and political system.
Keywords: Ukraine Diaries, Andrey Kurkov, Absurdist
1. Introduction
If any country becomes the headline news of global media all of a sudden, it is hard to imagine that its people could still
live the same life as before. However, in his writings, the Ukrainian famous novelist Andrey Kurkov (1961- ) firmly
believes that, at least in the very beginning, the Maidan Revolution broken out in November 2013 would finish before
long like the former ones and people could come back to their normal life. But this time, the novelist, who has built his
reputation by previous accurate political predictions, has to admit that he “does not know his country and the people
well”. In his novel, The President’s Last Love published in 2004, Kurkov fabricates a plot that the President was
poisoned by political opponents, and only six months later in the presidential election Viktor Yushchenko, the
candidate, was really empoisoned. Besides, he predicts the disputes caused by natural gas price negotiations between
Ukraine and Russia, and Russian government closed the oil and gas pipelines to Ukraine within two years. Similarly, in
his newly published Ukraine Diaries (2014), Kurkov made an optimistic conclusion about the “seasonal revolution” in
the country: the Ukrainian revolutions always begin after the autumn harvest and end in the next spring when people
would go home and plant potatoes. Yet, the situation had not got any better until April 2014 when the book was
finished.
2. An Overview of the Diaries
Kurkov has been keeping diaries for thirty-five years, but he has never before thought about publishing his diaries
extracts. However, “his thought changed this time”, as he “lived in an apartment with his wife and three children, only
500 yards away from Kiev’s Independence Square”, and “From the balcony, we could see smoke rising from the
burning barricades and hear the loud explosions of hand grenades as well as gunshots.” As a journalist since his youth,
he felt the responsibility to stand out for “showing the truth”. He intentionally supplements a subtitle “Reports from
Kiev” to his dairies, whose tone at the beginning indeed appears rather relaxed and humorous, for example, “I drive the
kids to school at first and then watch the revolution”— it is totally out of expectation that an ordinary demonstration
would spark the historically unprecedented political crisis in this country. Thus you can see, as Kurkov said himself, he
“has no intention to record the history”. Instead, his diaries are kept to “record the life of an ordinary person (and his
families) during the unordinary periods, revolution”—maybe in which the significance of this diaries lie.
Making peaceful petition is a normal political movement in democratic countries. It is especially common in Ukraine:
revolutionaries busy with marching; ordinary people working; and children studying. Each goes his own way. The
beginning of the revolution on the Independence Square (Maidan) was more of the same. The slogan was nothing but
pro-Europe, anti-Russia and anti-corruption. Revolutionaries marched on the street. Patrols patrolled around to keep
order and peace. Everything was as usual. Since the novelist himself was not a revolutionary, nor was he an official, he
still went out every day, accompanying his parent to hospital to have an electrocardiogram, taking his family to the villa
in the suburb which is eighty kilometers away from Kiev to grow vegetables, while conceiving a full-length novel
which satirized Russian oligarchs in Lithuania. Like most people, he was expecting President Viktor Yanukovich and
 ALLS 6(6):46-48, 2015 47
the government to make concessions to achieve political compromise and restore normal order, just as their
predecessors did.
As time passed by, the political situation got more turbulent. Rumors flew around the capital: Ukraine’s anti-EU elites
in its western region claimed that one requirement for Ukraine’s admission to EU was to legitimize homosexuality;
while government representatives asserted that American paratroops had landed in western Ukraine, and asked Russia
to dispatch tank troops responsively. “I see them proceed westward to search through the country for those American
soldiers and apologize to the public for disturbing them after coming back,” Kurkov recorded ironically. Then the
authorities’ attitudes got tougher. Motorways were closed in the name of anti-terrorism. As a matter of fact, they were
worried about more people flocking to the square. Onlookers were suspected of opposing the government if they stayed
over half an hour. Besides, the number of secret police was sharply increased. Private gatherings in a couple of
journalists’ houses were monitored, and some writers were interrogated for their improper political remarks. On the
country, the strengthening of police forces failed to keep the society in order. Malicious incidents like theft and robbery
frequently occurred, so did smashing windows and burning cars. Ukraine became the arena for domestic and
international political forces overnight. Its president who ordered a crackdown on the masses ended up stepping down,
but the political situation was hard to restore its stability due to underlying competitions between various forces. In this
sense, the whole book can be regarded as a political allegory.
3. An Anyalisis of the Artistic Features
Readers who expect to dig out startling inside stories would have unavoidable sense of loss: certainly the novelist
recorded the origin of “Maidan Revolution”, the political games behind the parliament and the general election as well
as historical events like the merger of Crimea, but all these seem to be solely backgrounds of the diaries and glowed
dimly. The author’s focus, indeed, fell on the people and the families drawn into the flood of the revolution. He had to
socialize with police officers for organizing his son’s 11 year’s old paintball birthday party; his daughter asked for more
pocket money because of soaring prices; his wife felt alarmed and thus wished the whole family to migrate to England.
At times, of course, he would have coffee or cognac with friends, once he even received a vacuum cleaner from them.
But life was very different from that before the revolution. The current situation confused him a lot. He considered all
things happening currently were “beyond his understanding”: why a peaceful petition would turn out to be a bloody
violent clash? He even couldn’t find the right word to express himself. In confusion and puzzle, the novelist felt he
“almost aged 5 years in 3 months.”
The last part of the diary tells that Kurkov with his family went on their last holiday in Crimea, just in order to take a
glimpse of this resort before Russian annexation. The author himself does not sleep well and suffers from sharp eyesight
decrease. What’s worse, there was no progress in his full-length fiction. Therefore, he planned to go back to his dacha
to grow vegetables—it was indeed not a relaxation but rather an option of bread earning.
Well-known as the “post-Soviet Kafka”, or “Bulgakov the absurdist” in western literary circles, Kurkov’s unique
literary achievement is the unusual combination of deceptive simplicity of style and the profound insights, coupled with
acrid ridicule and subtle narration. One of the specialties of Ukraine Diaries lies in the dramatic irony that the author
pretends to be ignorant of everything happening around him. Undoubtedly, the readers are aware of what happens in
Ukraine—government corruption and political instability, the infamous president is going to be deposed and Crimea to
be annexed. While in comparison, the author seems to be an outsider, knowing nothing about both the background and
the current situation, and all significant historical events are scarecely mentioned. Even if their life is filled with gunfire,
he would also just take down “routines in his everyday life”. That is because the most important thing for him in life,
the novelist believes, is to “move on”.
Kurkov claimed during an interview that absurdity was nothing unusual in Ukraine. His “discovery” of such absurdity
was first enlightened by his brother’s arrest for being a dissident. The boy was officially convicted of “stealing ice
cream” (so long as “anti-government” as a charge has not been invented then). Informed of the Judge’s particular
interest in collecting badges (after endless inquiries through connections), their mother sacrificed all the grandfather’s
badges of Tsarist Russia and brought them to the Judge as a bribe. Thankfully, his brother was sentenced to two year's
probation as a consequence. Two months later those badges were auctioned publicly in an antique store. Embezzlement
and corruption elude no one in Ukraine, the author concluded, not even the President, the Prime Minister, or all the
parliament members. A total of 185 political parties are registered in such a small country. The author observed that you
can, if you wish, actually “buy” a little one to take part in local elections and retrieve your investment by renting the
party after elected. For example, Tymoshenko, the former Prime Minister, was once sent to court for embezzlement and
corruption, and the Judge in charge of the case, was also demoted for the same conviction several months later.
Officials come and go, leaving the public amazed at the absurd farces on end. Corruption tends to plague every corner
of the country, save not even the most prestigious literature prize, which has been on sale in public. Another 100
winners were selected out of the President’s whimsical command just in order to help him gain more support.
More ridiculous, once invited to have a talk with the Prime Minister, who asked him about his opinion on the current
political situation, the novelist spent more than 50 minutes talking to himself continuously within this one-hour
conversation; however, when the program was broadcast finally, it was the Prime Minister that turned to be the eloquent
man, while the novelist was just standing there, listening attentively and nodding from time to time to express
agreement. What a funny scene! Besides, according to the observation by Kurkov, during the revolution, flowers and
candles were the only two businesses in flourish around the city. After the massacre of hundreds of demonstrators in
February, 2014 in particular, the squares and streets were piled with bunches of flowers presented respectfully for those
ALLS 6(6):46-48, 2015 48
martyrs, and the churches had lighted much more candles than usual. “It seemed that only by doing so could the God
see clearly what had happened in Ukraine”, teased by the writer. Except for the corrupted and incapable
government…no one was willing to live under the control of such an absolutely corrupted and illiterate government
who left nothing to his people but exploited the whole nation…sometimes, the write made a mock of part of the people.
On his part, a large number of the so-called revolutionaries participated in the Maidan Revolution merely because they
had nothing else to do. “Every morning, they came to the square, sang the national anthem, and then cleaned up the site
before back home.” The next day, another group came and duplicated, just like the shift of workshops. They were
supposed to form a duty team for order maintenance, but finally the team members changed to be Mafia at night.
4. Conclusion
Andrey Kurkov has been living in Kiev since his childhood. His grandfather died in the Anti-Fascist War, however,
now the writer himself was condemned as a fascist and his son was isolated at school, which puzzles him a lot. The
country is becoming stranger and stranger to him for the time being. His attitude toward Russia, a powerful neighbor of
Ukraine, is quite contradictory. On the one hand, as a writer who was born in Leningrad and received soviet education,
he was unwilling to witness the relationship between the two countries to get worse, especially not willing to see Russia
lose his reason day by day and go crazy as a result of flaunting his superiority. On the other hand, he protests against
President Putin’s backstage manipulation which has intensified the situation in Ukraine. He believes that President
Putin is planning to regain the glory of Soviet Union or even that of Tsar’s. However, Crimea is to Putin is what a stolen
diamond to a thief. He can only appreciate the diamond privately instead of showing it off publicly.
As a matter of fact, he was more indignant with the tricky and inconstant political tricks of EU than with Russia. The
EU, so vociferous in its support for Ukrainian democratic course, suddenly fell silent and walked away from Ukraine,
preferring to profit more from trade with its larger and powerful neighbor. The EU reacted much slowly to the
subsequent action of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. “Though in the information age,” the writer satirized, “their access
to information seems to rely on horseback.” All in all, “It’s bare money and interest.” What the EU did and said could
sufficiently prove that “money is more important than democracy”. Finally he added some words in his postscript: “The
spicy lesson that the EU taught Ukraine will inevitably impact on the future of our state.” Thus the writer ended his
diaries with his parting admonition.
With 13 published novels and 5 children’s literature books, which have been translated into 25 languages, Andre
Kurkov has been recognized as one of the most renowned Ukrainian writers in the world of literature. Ukraine Diaries:
Dispatches from Kiev is his first non-fiction literary work, which won him enormous acclaims from the international
literati.

References
Kurkov, A. (2015). Ukraine Diaries: Dispatches from Kiev. London: Random House UK.
Hoyle, B. (2014). Ukraine Diaries: Dispatches from Kiev by Andrey Kurkov. The Times, August 2.
Thornhill, J. (2014). Ukraine Diaries by Andrey Kurkov. Financial Times, August 1.
Pomerantsev, P. (2015). “Diary”. London Review of Books, 37(4), 38-39.
Jing, Y. (2014). Reports of an Absurdist: A Review on Ukraine Diaries by Andrey Kurkov. Recent Development in
Foreign Literature, 258(6), 48-50.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Influence of Speech Anxiety on Oral Communication Skills

among ESL/EFL Learners
Said Muhammad Khan
Department of Applied Linguistics, Yanbu University College, PO box 31387, Yanbu Industrial City 41912, Saudi Arabia
E-mail: said.english@gmail.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.49 Received: 15/06/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.49 Accepted: 28/08/2015

Abstract
The realization of speech anxiety among ESL/EFL learners is important. Once understood, these feelings of fear or
nervousness may be relieved and the desired objectives of learning the target language may be achieved. The study has
attempted to measure the level of anxiety among ESL/EFL learners at HITEC University, Taxila, Pakistan. The current
research has arrived at the conclusion that the target population is highly anxious in situation where they are required to
speak English. The findings show that sources such as pedagogical, psychological, socio-economic, linguistic and
cultural generate anxiety among the EFL learners. The study has suggested variety of strategies to treat anxiety in the
academic context. It was found that communicative approach in classroom may be helpful in minimizing the negative
impact of anxiety among language learners.
Keywords: speech anxiety, communicative approach, communication apprehension, FLA
1. Introduction
With the globalization, the university graduates are expected to be confident in oral communication so that they can
function effectively in the academic and professional settings. Allen (2002) arrived at the conclusion that having
confidence in oral communication can make graduates versatile in their personal, academic, professional and civic lives.
To fulfill the demands of highly communicative global village, English has become the most desired language of the
world. Every year, a lot of books are published and billions of dollars are utilized for learning English as a second or
foreign language. Whenever such learners endeavor to learn and speak English either as a second or a foreign language,
they experience a certain level of anxiety and claim to undergo a ‘mental block’ during oral communication (Horwitz et
al., 1986). Researchers have found that this mental block or anxiety severely jeopardizes the language learners’
communicative competence. Despite the international market demands for a confident workforce with clear oral
communication in English, researchers like Devi et al. (2008) found that most of the language learners have some form
of anxiety that interferes with their level of confidence during their speech. This aspect of language and communication
is called speech anxiety. Anxiety shakes the language learners’ confidence which adversely impedes their oral
performance in the target language. Being fully aware of the debilitating effects of the multi-faceted dilemma of
language anxiety, the present research project is deemed important in order to gain fuller understanding of
communication apprehension and devise effective strategies to overcome anxiety in ESL/EFL classrooms.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Anxiety or low level of confidence restricts the chances of learning and speaking the target language hence pose serious
threat to oral communication. Richmond and McCroskey (1989) opined that the high level of anxiety among language
learners seriously hampers the interaction between teacher and learners which is extremely crucial to productive
teaching and learning of the target language. Since anxiety is a multi-faceted dilemma language barrier for ESL/EFL
learners, therefore this problem needs to be studied, discovered its sources and cured in the Pakistani academic setting.
1.3 Data Collection
Data for the current research was collected from students of HITEC University enrolled in Communication Skills
course. At a first step, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale— FLCAS questionnaire (adopted from Horwitz et
al. 1986) was distributed to gauge the level of anxiety among the students of BS Mechanical Engineering 3rd semester.
Approximately Two hundred students were enrolled in communication skills class in Fall 2011 semester. At the second
step ten participants (five students, having highest score and five students having lowest score according to the FLCAS
scale) were selected for a structured interview. The interview provided opportunity to the researcher to analyze the
factors and influence of anxiety both among high anxious and low anxious students.
1.4 Research Questions
1. What is the level of speech anxiety among EFL/ESL Learners at HITEC University?
2. What are the main causes of speech anxiety among these learners?
3. How far the speech anxiety affects students’ learning oral communication skills?
ALLS 6(6):49-53, 2015 50
1.5 Aims and Objectives
One of the major objectives of the research study is to measure the level of apprehension among English language
learners especially in the Pakistani context. Measuring the level of anxiety may be helpful in developing teachers and
students’ awareness regarding anxiety and its negative influence on oral communication. Discovering the sources that
provoke anxiety among language learners has also been one among many objectives of the study. Diagnosing the
anxiety-provoking factors may be helpful in devising effective medication for this unsettled phenomenon. To know the
negative influence of anxiety on oral communication has also been one among the objectives of the research study.
Realizing the importance of oral communication in the contemporary world, the study may be supportive for language
instructors, students and policy makers to make EFL/ESL learners confident communicators if incorporated in language
pedagogy.
2. Literature Review
Speech anxiety is broadly used to refer to the apprehension experienced by an individual when required to speak either
in L1 or L2. Horwitz et al (1986) define this anxiety ‘as a type of shyness characterized by fear or apprehension about
communicating [orally] with people.’ MaCroskey, (1970) defines it simply as a fear related to oral communication.
physical, psychological, social and temporal dimensions of context play a critical role in speech. Listeners’ status and
the context make the speaker uneasy and apprehensive to speak confidently. Friedman, 1980 (as cited in Taylor, 1987)
claims that speech anxiety may be specific to just a few setting e (e.g. public speaking) or may exist in most everyday
[oral] communication situations or may even be part of general anxiety trait that arises in many facets of an individual’
life. Among all four language skills, speaking is supposed to be the most anxiety-provoking skill. MacInttyre and
Gardner (1991) have pointed out that the skill producing most anxiety is oral communication. We can simply conclude
on what Scovel (1991) believes that anxiety a state of nervousness and hesitation or fear caused by the expectation of
something intimidating.
Speech anxiety is a general phenomenon experienced by majority of L2 learners effecting both language and
educational achievements. Horwitz (2001) believes that anxiety is perceived intuitively by many language learners,
negatively influences language learning and has been found to be one of the most highly examined variables in all of
psychology and education.
Speech anxiety/apprehension is a part of broader concept of language anxiety. Horwitz and Cope (1986) suggest that
language anxiety has three components: 1) communication apprehension 2) test anxiety 3) fear of negative evaluation.
Learners who demonstrate speech anxiety/communication apprehension feel uncomfortable when required to
communicate orally in the target language in front of others. Students who experience test anxiety consider oral
production as a test situation rather than a chance for improving communication skills (Tesiplakides, 2009). Learners
who exhibit fear of negative evaluations deem errors as a danger to their image not as an accepted part of learning
process. As a consequence, they are silent and do not participate in activities in ESL classroom (Ely 1986)
2.1 Influence of Anxiety on Speaking Skills
Speech anxiety makes language learners frightened and shakes their confidence which results in avoidance and
withdrawal from speaking activities in EFL/ESL classes. McCroskey (1984) found that if students with high speech
anxiety are given the opportunity to choose their subjects, they would probably prefer those subjects where speaking
skills are not focused. High apprehensive language learners cannot organize his/her speech properly and deliver
confidently which makes them reticent and shy. They think about the anticipated threat rather than selection of words
and organization of ideas. Malimabe, (1997) believes that whenever a student with high levels of Speech anxiety tries to
engage himself/herself in oral communication he/she becomes irrelevant at times and prefer to be in a large, rather than
in a small group asking no question in the class. Since L2 learners’ thinking process is infected by fear and uneasiness
when they speak, it also effect both content and manner of the message they want to convey in the target langue.
(Zheng, 2008) claims that anxiety influence both speed and accuracy and its arousal can impact even the quality of
communication output as the retrieval of information may interrupted by the ‘freezing-up’ moments that students
encounter when they get anxious Richmond and Falcoine (1977) discovered that learners with high levels of Speech
anxiety were predisposed to have poorer self-esteems than students with low Speech anxiety which in turn affects
academic success negatively. Students, who participate in classroom discussion, usually get more attention and
welcoming treatment from the instructors but shy students are considered back-benchers and dull. McCroskey and Daly
(1976) concluded that even instructors tend to ignore or consider learners with high Speech anxiety or apprehension as
low achievers, and as a result, do not expect much from them.
3. Research Methodology
A blend of both quantitative and qualitative methods (pragmatic approach) was adopted for the intended research. Data
collected through FLCAS questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively and data collected through interviews was
investigated qualitatively. Due to this very fact, the result of the research reflects both the approaches. Data collected
via FLCAS from 200 students enrolled in communication skills course was examined quantitatively to measure the
level of speech anxiety among EFL learners. Based on the result of the questionnaire 10 subjects (Five high anxious and
five low anxious) were selected for semi structured interviews. Data collected via interviews from high as well low
anxious subjects was analyzed qualitatively. The detailed interviews with the 10 selected participants helped the
researcher to correlate and authenticate the findings of FLCAS questionnaire and also validate the findings of previous
researchers.
ALLS 6(6):49-53, 2015 51
4. Findings and Discussion
Based on the result of FLCAS questionnaire, 10 students were selected for interviews. Five high anxious students were
interviewed along with five less anxious students. Questions related to anxiety-provoking factors, symptoms of anxiety
and remedies of anxiety were asked from all the 10 selected subjects. The following factors were held responsible for
anxiety by the subjects.
4.1 Pedagogical Factors
The ten selected subjects of the study continuously referred to pedagogical factors and held them responsible for their
high as well as low level of speech anxiety during their interviews. Pedagogical sources were declared the most
important factors that produce anxiety among ESL/EFL learners in a language classroom. These instructional sources
are the combination of stressful classroom environment and language teachers’ teaching methodology.
Evaluative and stressful classroom settings were referred to, as the main source of high and low levels speech anxiety
by the selected subjects of the current study. During the interview session, the high anxious subjects pointed out that
classroom is a place where they are judged, their mistakes are highlighted, and their grades are affected whenever they
take part in any speaking activity. This type of feelings can be very easily observed in the remarks of one of the high-
apprehensive subjects when he says, “…when I speak … I think people are jugging me”. The other high anxious
subject blamed his fellow students and the teacher by saying “our English teacher and the students make strange facial
expressions and look on me when I speak English in the class. There strange look and smile make afraid”. This shows
that classroom environment is not supportive and learners are not encouraged to speak. All these remarks given by high
and low anxious participants of this research indicate that EFL/ESL classroom environment can be a major source of
apprehension for learners of a language which is consistent with the findings of Tusi (1996) and Daly (1991).
4.1.1 Poor Educational and Economic Background
In accord with the findings of previous researchers such as Khattak Z. et al. (2011), I also found that the ESL/EFL
learners’ poor educational as well as poor economic background is one among the major sources of speech anxiety. The
less anxious participants of this study gave due credit to their schooling and previous educational background for their
confidence and communicative competence. In response to the researcher’s question regarding the reasons of his low
anxiety, one of the two confident subjects replied, “… [The] reason of my low level of anxiety while speaking English
… the first and foremost is my schooling. We were provided with an environment where teachers and students mostly
communicated in English Language. Secondly, daily assemblies were conducted in which students had to present and
perform in English Language which boosted my confidence a great deal and helped me overcoming the fear of
audience”
4.1.2 Psychological Factors
During the interviews with the selected participants, psychological sources were also held responsible for language
learners’ high as well as low levels of apprehension. There are various psychological variables that make ESL/EFL
learners anxious in setting where they are required to speak English. These diverse psychological variables e.g. learners’
personality traits, and learners’ self-perception that have been highlighted by the subjects
Analyzing the interviews of 10 selected participants, the current research found that personality traits, such as
extraversion as well as introversion are directly linked to low or high level of anxiety. The introvert language learners
are more vulnerable and expected to be anxious in circumstances where they have to communicate in English. During
the interview with the researcher, one of the high anxious subjects replied, “I am not friendly, I do not like talking to
people, and mixing up with them. I am not very talkative”
Some previous researchers on language anxiety have reached the conclusion that learners’ apprehension may be
aggravated by their perfectionist tendencies (Gregresen and Horwitz, 2002) and learners self-related perception
(Krashen, 1985). After analyzing the interviews, the current research has also diagnosed a few self-related perceptions
among the subjects of this study which is consistent with the findings of previous researchers on language anxiety.
Tobias (1986) found that highly apprehensive learners think negative about their own selves and have low-perceived
self-esteem about their own performance in the target language. The same negative thoughts about their selves are very
clear in the remarks of highly anxious subjects during the interview. One of the participants said, “And during speaking
I feel that if I speak wrong, all the people will laugh on [at] me and then I can’t speak English correctly”
4.1.3 Linguistic Factors
The previous researchers on language anxiety such as Lightbown and Spada (2006) and Tanveer (2007) have reported
that English language pronunciation, irregular grammar rules and vocabulary are also responsible for speech anxiety in
situation where learners are required to communicate in English Language The current research has also found that
linguistic factors aggravate student’s anxiety which needs to be investigated and researched.
After in-depth analysis of the interviews with the subjects, the current research reached at the conclusion that Pakistani
ESL/EFL learners commonly think in their native language and then translate it into English during their oral
communication. This translation from native language to English impedes learners’ fluency which causes anxiety in
formal settings. One of the highly anxious subjects replied to a question during an interview, “before speaking I make
sentences in my own language, and I convert it, but when I go to speak it, I can’t speak it with exact vocabulary…”
ALLS 6(6):49-53, 2015 52
4.1.4 Social Factors
The previous researchers on FLA believe that socio-cultural factors cause more fear among EFL learners than the other
factors. The present research has also discussed three different aspects of social factors (limited exposure to L2,
learners’ family background, and social status) responsible for provoking anxiety among ESL learners in Pakistan.
During the interview session, the subjects of this study gave mild discredit to their limited exposure in the target
language for their anxiety. This limited exposure badly affects learners’ fluency in the target language which results in
apprehension in situation where they are required to speak the target language (Lightbown and Spada, 2006). When I
asked one of the highly anxious subjects of this study regarding the reasons of his anxiety, he replied, “The main reason
is that we haven’t [been] provided [with] any environment for speaking English”. Feelings of the same type are also
reflected in the expressions of another high anxious subject when he says, “Since speaking in English is something new
for me, so I make many mistakes and these mistakes make me worried”.
The intended research has concluded from the interviews of highly anxious learners that they consider English language
as a status symbol. The one who speaks English in accent like native speakers is considered wealthy and talented as one
of the participants said, “Yes it gives extraordinary status when you speak English like American or British. People
consider you talented. If you are a good speaker, you impress them” These remarks of the high apprehensive subjects of
the study clearly indicate that they use English as a status symbol rather than just a tool to communicate. These feelings
of associating social class with language make them think inferior, that trouble fluency and trigger anxiety when they
speak in the target language. This association of language with a status symbol or with some ones talent makes the
EFL/ESL learners suffer from inferiority complex. These feelings of inferiority trouble learners’ fluency that results in
nervousness and communication apprehension as Pica (1987) found that difference between speaker’s and listener’s
status may also be one factor of speech anxiety.
4.2 Impact of Speech Anxiety
Speech anxiety makes language learners frightened and shakes their confidence which results in avoidance and
withdrawal from speaking activities in EFL/ESL classes. One of the high apprehensive subjects of this study revealed in
response to the question of influence on anxiety on his language, “Due to fear I cannot speak well, otherwise when I am
alone, I really make good dialogues. I think in English alone. I think the main reason of my poor English is my
confidence, my confidence level is very low. I can’t speak in front of others even if I know the answer”. These remarks
of an anxious subject clearly show a very alarming situation that anxiety negatively influences learners’ speech and
doesn’t let them speak even if they have enough information. In connection with the same question another high
anxious participant said, “I am teaching tuition to my brother, I speak better English, I feel very confident at that time.
But in front of teacher and the classmate I forgot every thing”. Both the statements of subjects who experience high
anxiety clearly show that anxiety cast negative influence on learners’ productive skills and EFL instructors need to
consider this multi-faced phenomenon.
4.3 Remedies of Speech Anxiety
The participants of this study, in their interviews, suggested change in their classroom environment. They think that
strict classroom settings must be replaced with friendly environment where one can speak and practice the target
language easily. In the strict formal place, students fear making mistakes and this fear does not let them practice the
new language. One of the high anxious subjects suggested, “I will request all teachers to be friendly in the class, please
not make strange expressions at their students. They should ignore our mistakes. They should focus on speaking”
To make the language learners comfortable and classroom less anxiety-producing place, the language instructor’s role
has been declared important. A language teacher plays an important role in both decreasing as well as increasing
anxiety of language learners. The participants of this study suggested that a language teacher must be friendly, focusing
communicative competence of learners and tolerating learners’ mistakes. One of the participants, suggested, “I would
request the teacher also, not just to teach grammar rules, but use English for communication, encourage students to
speak…tolerate students mistakes, be friendly. And must not deduct marks on speaking mistakes”.
Classroom environment is stated extremely crucial when it comes to language anxiety and apprehension. The
participants of this study showed that classroom procedure and continuous evaluation of their activities make them
apprehensive as this affects their grades in their entire academic careers. Eliminating and minimizing the other anxiety
provoking factors will also play pivotal role in decreasing foreign language anxiety.
5. Conclusion
Hence it goes without saying that speech anxiety and apprehension is the major problem of English language learners
that impedes their communicative competence. In Pakistan, English is taught to students since Kindergarten, but
students lack confidence and effective communication skills. Despite studying English for years, having sufficient
linguistic competence, students at the University level lack effective speaking skills. Since they have all the required
linguistic knowledge but due to their lack of confidence they can speak the target language confidently. In this highly
communicative world, students’ communication skills are as necessary as other professional skills. This lack of
confidence is a serious threat to English language learners’ communicative behavior which leads to avoidance behavior.
As practice makes a man perfect and language has to be practiced if one wants to learn and speak well. Once a learner
stops practicing the target language, speaking skills can never be developed and whenever the learner is supposed to
speak English, he/she will be confused, nervous and anxious.
ALLS 6(6):49-53, 2015 53
Gaining effective oral communication skills in English is a multidimensional process which depends on various factors.
Low confidence of ESL/EFL learners during their speech is the total sum of the outcome of all the factors discussed
above. Among these anxiety-proving factors, socio-economic and cultural factors of the language learners have been
investigated in the study. However these are the not the only factors responsible for learners’ anxiety, teachers’
communicative competence, instructors’ training, their beliefs and attitude coupled with methodology have also been
proved responsible for language learners’ anxiety.

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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Effect of Focus on Form and Task Complexity on L2

Learners’ Oral Task Performance
Asghar Salimi
English Department, Faculty of Humanities, University of Maragheh, Maragheh, Iran
E-mail: Asgharsalimi356@gmail.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.54 Received: 19/06/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.54 Accepted: 01/09/2015

Abstract
Second Language learners’ oral task performance has been one of interesting and research generating areas of
investigations in the field of second language acquisition specially, task-based language teaching and learning. The
main purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of focus on form and task complexity on L2 learners’ oral
task accuracy. To this end, sixty intermediate learners of English as a foreign language attending an English institute
were chosen as the participant of the study and were divided into three groups control and two experimental groups with
and without focus on form strategy. ANOVA and Independent Sample T-test were employed as the statistical means of
analysis. The results a of analysis revealed significant differences among the performance of the groups. The study
carries significant implications for syllabus and task designers, curriculum developers and language teachers.
Keywords: Accuracy, Focus on form, Task, Task-based language teaching, Task complexity
1. Introduction
Many students encounter unique problems in their study of English. One of the problems that most foreign language
learners, including English language learners, encounter in their process of language learning is attaining a satisfactory
level of oral production. This may be due to different reasons such as anxiety, low self-esteem, high affective filter, task
features etc. Few studies have been conducted designed to offer solutions to the problem and improve the students’
proficiency in English. The researcher proposed using a procedure based on the use of tasks as the central part of
planning and instruction in language teaching called Task-Based language Teaching (TBLT) to enhance the oral
performance of EFL learners. TBLT puts tasks at the center of the methodological focus. It views the learning process
as a set of communicative tasks that are directly linked to the curricular goals they perform. As a recent development in
the field of second language (L2) teaching, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has inspired a lot of pedagogical
innovations and theoretical investigations among L2 teachers and researchers. Today, language teachers look upon
TBLT as a fruitful approach to L2 instruction that has the potentiality to provide them with new insights into the most
effective ways an L2 can be taught. It is hypothesized that task features have some positive or negative impact on
learners` performance in terms of accuracy, fluency, and complexity.
The role that tasks play has important place for some researchers in the field of second language acquisition who are
interested in developing pedagogical application of second language acquisition theory. A central issue in TBLT
involves the impact of task complexity on L2 learners’ performance. L2 researchers have begun a research to test the
frequent claims that helps to support of TBLT. They have accepted experiments to investigate whether the superiority
of TBLT over more traditional approaches to language teaching and learning can be supported by research findings,
what are learners’ attitudes towards task-based pedagogy, how TBLT can be employed to improve learners’ language
skills (i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing),what cognitive processes are involved in task performance, etc. Of
these research topics, the most flourishing one has centered on the question of what factors increase the difficulty with
which L2 learners perform and process pedagogical tasks. Besides, focus on form within TBLT has received a lot of
attention in literature and research since 1990s.However, there are paucity of research to have investigated the joint
investigation of the effects of task cognitive complexity and focus on form on L2 learners' oral task performance in
terms of accuracy, fluency and complexity. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of focus on
form and task complexity on L2 learners’ oral task accuracy.
2. Literature Review
One of the main issued in TBLT is how to define and determine the complexity of a task. This is of importance since
this kind of knowledge can contribute language teachers have a better understanding of task performance, design, and
development. As (Robinson, 2001) argues, task complexity “is the result of the attentional, memory, reasoning, and
other information processing demands imposed by the structure of the task on the language learner” (p. 28). Moreover,
task complexity can affect grading and sequencing decisions in a language teaching syllabus.
Task complexity is derived from the cognitive demands of a task makes in the conceptualization phase. This is based
upon the idea that intricate concepts require using grammatically complex structures, and therefore cognitively complex
ALLS 6(6):54-62, 2015 55
tasks are complex both in terms of conceptualization and linguistic formulation. However, tasks may make various
complexity demands on the conceptualization and formulation phases. As in specific occasions, ordering tasks in terms
of cognitive complexity can be difficult since tasks might make different demands on different phases of language
performance.
A central issue in task-based language learning is that, while performing a task, learners need to coordinate the amount
attention they allocate to different aspects of the task in order to meet the linguistic demands of the task. Such a view
raises questions concerning how attentional resources can be used, coordinated and directed to different aspects of
language production during task completion.
There are two important models of task complexity in field of TBLT as following:
1) Skehan and Foster’s (2001) Limited Attentional Capacity Model and
2) Robinson’s (2001, 2005) Cognition Hypothesis.
In their model, Skehan and Foster (2001) consider attention and memory as limited in capacity. They argue that the
increase of task complexity will lead to the reduction of available amount of attention and memory resources.
Therefore, some aspects of performance will be attended while others will not. In addition, they sate that cognitively
more demanding tasks draw learners’ attention away from linguistic forms.
However, Robinson (2001, 2005b) argues that attention is related to voluntary regulation. This model states that
ordering tasks from cognitively simple to complex allows learners to performing real-world tasks successfully. This
model supports the idea that increasing task's cognitive load and processing complexity will lead to increase in the
accuracy and complexity but not the fluency.
This study is based on Sheehan's model. Skehan (1998) suggested a three-way distinction for the analysis of task
difficulty as following:
1) Code complexity (vocabulary load and variety; linguistic complexity and variety);
2) Cognitive complexity (familiarity of topic, discourse or task; amount of computation and organization, and
sufficiency of information
3) Communicative stress (time pressure; scale; number of participants; length of text; modality; stakes;
opportunity for control);
Also, they later added learner factors (intelligence; breadth of imagination; personal experience) to this taxonomy.
Furthermore, as Long (1996) argued focus on form is mainly motivated by, Schmidt’s (1990) noticing hypothesis.
Schmidt stated that noticing is a cognitive process that involves attending to the input learners receive and is inevitably
a conscious process. He proposed that it is a necessary condition for second language learning.
Schmidt (2001) has argued that attention correlates two vital stages for second language acquisition as following:
1) Noticing, i.e. registering formal features in the input,
2) Noticing the gap, i.e. identifying how the input to which the learner is exposed differs from the output the
learner is able to generate
This study set out to investigate the effect of focus on form and task complexity on EFL learners 'oral task performance
in terms of accuracy.
2.1 Studies conducted on task complexity and focus on form
Skehan and Foster (1999) investigated the effects of task structure and processing load on L2 learners’ performance on
a narrative retelling task. They found that the structured task generated more fluent speech in all four conditions.
Ishikawa (2006) studied the impacts of task complexity and language proficiency on L2 written narrative production.
He considered four modes of production as dependent variables namely accuracy, structural complexity, lexical
complexity, and fluency. He found that the low-proficiency learners seemed benefited more when task complexity was
manipulated from here-and-now to there-and-then. Rahimpour (2007) investigated the impact of task complexity on L2
learners’ oral performance. He reported that there-and-then task led to more accuracy while here-and-now task led to
more complexity. He also found that here-and-now task led to more fluency than there-and-then task. Kuiken and
Vedder (2008) conducted a study on university students who performed two writing tasks with different cognitive
complexity. The students were divided into low- and high-proficiency groups. They implemented linguistic
performance in terms of syntactic complexity, lexical variation, and accuracy. They concluded that (a) with regard to
syntactic complexity and lexical variation, hardly any significant differences were found between the complex and non-
complex tasks; (b) no interaction of task type and proficiency level could be observed. Hosseini and Rahimpour (2010)
explored the effects of task complexity on L2 learners' written performance on narrative pictorial tasks of here-and- now
and there-and then. They found that cognitively more demanding tasks led to more fluency, but not accuracy and
complexity. Rezazadeh, Tavakoli, and Eslami-Rasekh (2011), investigated the role of task type in foreign language
written production in terms of accuracy, fluency, and complexity. They used two types of tasks (instruction task and an
argumentative task) used in the study. They concluded that learners in the instruction-task group performed
significantly better than those in argumentative-task group in terms of accuracy, fluency, and complexity. Salimi et al
(2011) investigated the effect of task complexity on L2 learners’ written performance. They found out that task
complexity did not have a significant effect on accuracy. Regarding the accuracy and fluency of written production, it
 ALLS 6(6):54-62, 2015 56
was revealed that task complexity had a significant effect on accuracy and fluency of the learners. For complexity of
written production, they found that L2 learners’ written complexity was significantly affected by task complexity.
Salimi and Dadashpour (2012b) conducted a study to find out the effect of task complexity on L2 learners’ language
production. Their study was based on the comparison of two models of task complexity namely Robinson's cognition
hypothesis and Skehan's trade-off model. They found out that task complexity led to an increase in the domains of
fluency and complexity but not accuracy. Salimi, Alavinia, and Hosseini (2012) investigated the effects of strategic pre-
task planning and task complexity on L2 learners’ written performance in terms of accuracy. The findings of the study
revealed that pre-task strategic planning time in both simple and complex task led to more accuracy.
As Ellis (2009) argues, “the only characteristic common among all task-based approaches is the inclusion of a focus on
form” (p. 225). Moreover, advocates of task-based language teaching “do not view attention to form as an optional
element of task-based language teaching, but as necessary to ensure ‘noticing’, which Schmidt (1994) viewed as a
requisite for acquisition to take place” (p. 232, emphasis added).
Focus on form techniques are essential parts of task-based language teaching, just as tasks are an ideal environment for
cultivating focus on form. As proponents of Focus on Forms, Long and Crookes (1992, p.43) pointed out that "tasks
provide a vehicle for the presentation of appropriate target language samples to learners-input which they will
inevitably reshape via application of general cognitive processing capacities and for the delivery of comprehension and
production opportunities of negotiable difficulty". Furthermore, according to a more SLA perspective to advocacy of
TBT, issues such as learn ability, the order of acquisition of particular L2 structures, and the implications of the input,
interaction and output hypothesis are central issues (Lynch & MacLean, 2000).
One of the most important issues in research on language learning tasks concerns the interaction between task
complexity and focus on form. Previous studies on the effects of task complexity have largely addressed such issues as
L2 written production (Kuiken &Vedder, 2008), fluency and lexical complexity (Ong & Zhang, 2010), etc. Reviewing
previous research makes it clear that there are only a few studies which examined both the effects of Focus on Form and
Task complexity, most of the researches are about just Focus on form or only about Task complexity. The present study
intends to fill this gap by examining how task complexity combined with focus on form affects EFL learners’ oral
performance.
2.2 Research question and hypothesis
The above literature review yielded the following research question and research hypotheses:
RQ1: What are the effects of Focus on form and Task complexity on L2 learners’ oral performance in terms of
accuracy?
Research hypotheses
H1: Learners receiving Focus on form will outperform group who do not receive any Focus on form in terms of
accuracy in simple and complex tasks.
3. Methodology
3.1 Participants and setting
The participants of the study were 6o Iranian male EFL learners, who had been in upper intermediate level of language
proficiency in English. The participants were studying in Jihad Daneshgahi Language Institute in Tabriz. The
participants were from different L1 backgrounds, including Turkish and Persian. They aged between 18- 25 and had
been studying English in that institute for about three years. They were randomly selected on the basis of their
performance on Oxford Proficiency Test (OPT) (2004) which was administered among the learners of intermediate and
upper-intermediate of the institute to make sure about the proficiency level of the learners prior the experiment. They
were randomly separated in half into two groups of simple and complex. Then, each group was divided into two control
and experimental groups as following: simple experimental (simple task with focus on form), simple control (simple
task without focus on form), complex experimental (complex task with focus on form), and complex control (complex
task without focus on form). In order to control the variables of gender, all males who had obtained the criteria were
included in the study.
3.2Instructional material
The participants of the study received instruction from 5 units of Four Corners 3 by Richards and Bohlke (2012). These
books are commonly used in language institutes all over the country to teach English as foreign or second language.
They are written on the basis of communicative and task-based approaches to language teaching and learning.
3.3 Data Collection Material
A pictorial valid decision making tasks (one simple and the other complex task) were extracted from Gilabert 2007;
Salimi Asadollahfam, and Dadashpour, 2010). A simplified "fire chief task" used in cognitive psychology was utilized.
In this task, the learners were presented with a building where a fire has broken and where a number of people need to
be rescued. The problem in the complex version required from learners not just one decision, but a long series
simultaneously. In both versions of the task learners were instructed to specify the actions they would take to determine
the order of their actions and justify their option for actions and specific order. In the simple task, there are similar types
of people (i. e people with no particular roles) in the building who were faced with similar degrees of danger, the fire
being relatively static, and the smoke blowing away from the building. In the complex one, learners had to deal with
ALLS 6(6):54-62, 2015 57
specific types of people (e.g. a pregnant woman, an elderly man, an injured person, a hero, etc). The factors in the task
are also intricately related and dynamic (e.g. the different fires moving towards the people and the smoke blowing into
building through the ventilation system) and they have fewer resources (i.e. a single fire truck), which is thought would
force learners to prioritize, and later justify their actions (Gilabert, 2007).
3.4 Procedure
First the researcher chose upper intermediate level classes at Jihad Daneshgahi institute in Tabriz branch and
administered OPT (2004) in order to make sure that participants are at the same level of proficiency. Based on the
results of the OPT (2004), 60 students out of 100 students were chosen as the participants of the study. The participants
were then randomly classified into two groups simple and complex, thirty in each group. Then, they were participants of
each group were divided into two control and experimental groups as following: simple experimental (simple task with
focus on form), simple control (simple task without focus on form), complex experimental (complex task with focus on
form), and complex control (complex task without focus on form). The participants of experimental groups received
form-focused instruction. That is, they were taught on the basis of the principles and strategies of focus on form. When
the teacher wanted to teach them a new grammatical point, she did not teach them directly, rather she tried to draw the
learners’ attention to newly presented structure implicitly by highlighting it on the board or providing ample amount of
examples. However, in the control groups, the learners were taught based on the traditional method of teaching or focus
on forms, i.e. they were instructed based on the principles of the traditional approach of PPP (presentation-practice-
production). In these groups, when the teacher wanted to present a new grammatical form, she explained the new points
of grammar directly to the learners. All the groups received instruction for a semester of eighteen sessions during
summer course in 2014. At the end of the treatment, the participants of all groups were given the simple version of the
decision-making task to perform it. After two weeks of interval the participants were given complex version of the same
decision-making fire task. Their oral task performances were recorded with a tape recorder by the researcher. After that,
the oral performances of the participants were transcribed and measured by the researcher on the basis of the measures
of accuracy, complexity, and fluency proposed by Ellis (2003). In order to ensure about the reliability of the
quantification of the oral data, they were re-quantified by another M.A in TEFL who was familiar with issues involved
in the research.
4. Data Analysis and Results
To compare the means of accuracy of two groups, appropriate statistical means of analysis were run and the results are
presented as the following:
4.1 Independent-Samples T-test of accuracy of complex task with and without focus on form
Table 4.1 shows the mean differences of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance in complex task with and without
focus on form.

Table 4.1 The mean differences of accuracy of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance in
complex task with and without focus on form
N Mean Std. Deviation
Complex 15 0.84 0.12
+FOF
Complex - 15 0.79 0.17
FOF

According to table 4.1, the mean of oral accuracy of the participants receiving focus on form instruction in complex task
(0.84) is higher than the learners who did not receive form-focused instruction (0.79). That is, learners who were taught
on the basis of focus on form strategies produced more accurate oral language than learners who received traditional
instruction.
Figure 4.1 clearly shows the mean differences of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance in complex task with and
without focus on form.

Figure 4.1 The mean differences of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance in complex task with and without
focus on form

The results of the Independent Samples-T-test for comparing the means of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance
in complex task with and without focus on form are provided in table 4.2.
 ALLS 6(6):54-62, 2015 58
Table 4.2 Independent Samples T-Test for the means of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance in complex
task with and without focus on form
Levene’s Test T-test Equality of Means
for Equality of
Variances
F Sig. t df Sig (2- Mean Std. 95% Confidence
tailed) Differen Error Interval of the
ce Differen Difference
ce Lowe
r Upper
Equal variances 1.77 0.19 0.97 28 0.33 0.05 0.05 -0.05 0.16
assumed
Equal variances 0.97 25.59 0.33 0.05 0.05 -0.05 0.16
not assumed

The results of applying Independent Samples T-test for comparing the means of accuracy of learners’ oral task
performance in complex task with and without focus on form were provided in the above table. According to the data
presented in the table, the learners receiving form-focused instruction outperformed the learners who did not receive
focus on form instruction in terms of accuracy of their oral task production.
4.2 Independent-Samples T-test of accuracy of simple task with and without focus on form
Table 4.3 shows the mean differences of accuracy of simple task with and without focus on form.

Table 4.3 The mean differences of accuracy of accuracy of

learners’ oral task performance in simple task with and without focus on form
N Mean Std.
Deviation
Simple +FOF 15 0.82 0.10
Simple -FOF 15 0.77 0.13

As the data presented in the above table show, the learners receiving focus on form instruction produced more accurate
language (0.82) than the learners receiving focus on forms instruction (0.77) in their oral production in simple task. This
means that learners who were instructed according to focus on form strategies performed better than the others in terms
of oral accuracy in simple task.
Figure 4.2 clearly shows the mean differences of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance in simple task with and
without focus on form.

Figure 4.2 The mean differences of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance in simple task with and without
focus on form

The results of the Independent Samples-T-test for comparing the means of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance
in simple task with and without focus on form are provided in table 4.4.

Table 4.4 Independent Samples T-Test for the means of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance in simple task with
and without focus on form
Levene’s Test T-test Equality of Means
for Equality of
Variances
F Sig. t df Sig (2- Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence
tailed) Difference Difference Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Equal variances 1.59 0.21 1.07 28 0.29 0.04 0.04 -0.04 0.13
assumed
Equal variances 1.07 26.12 0.29 0.04 0.04 -0.04 0.13
not assumed
 ALLS 6(6):54-62, 2015 59
The results of applying Independent Samples T-test for comparing the means of accuracy of learners’ oral task
performance in simple task with and without focus on form were provided in the above table. As the data presented in
the table show, the learners receiving form-focused instruction outperformed the learners who did not receive focus on
form instruction in terms of accuracy of their oral task production in simple task.
4.3 Independent-Samples T-test of accuracy of simple and complex tasks with focus on form
The mean differences of accuracy of simple and complex tasks with focus on form are provided in the following table.

Table 4.5 The mean differences of accuracy of accuracy of learners’ oral

task performance in simple and complex tasks with focus on form
N Mean Std. Deviation
Simple +FOF 15 0.82 0.10
Complex+ 15 0.84 0.12
FOF

According to the data provided in table 4.5, the learners who were taught according to form-focused instruction
strategies produced more accurate language (0.84) in complex task than simple task (0.82), i.e. learners receiving focus
on form in complex task outperformed learners receiving the same instruction in simple task.
Figure 4.3 vividly indicates the mean differences of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance in simple and complex
tasks with focus on form.

0.84
0.82

Simple +FOF
Complex+ FOF

Figure 4.3 The mean differences of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance in simple and complex tasks with
focus on form

Table 4.6 shows the results of the Independent Samples-T-test for comparing the means of accuracy of learners’ oral
task performance in simple and complex tasks with focus on form.

Table 4.6 Independent Samples T-Test for the means of accuracy of learners’ oral task performance in simple and
complex tasks with focus on form
Levene’s Test T-test Equality of Means
for Equality of
Variances
F Sig. t df Sig (2- Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence
tailed) Difference Difference Interval of the
Difference
Lowe Uppe
r r
Equal variances 1.36 0.25 -0.64 28 0.52 -0.02 0.04 -0.11 0.05
assumed
Equal variances not -0.64 26.89 0.52 -0.02 0.04 -0.11 0.05
assumed

Table 4.6 presents the results of applying Independent Samples T-test for comparing the means of accuracy of learners’
oral task performance in simple task with and without focus on form. According to the data presented in the table, the
learners receiving form-focused instruction produced slightly more accurate language in complex task than the learners
who received the same instruction in simple task.
ALLS 6(6):54-62, 2015 60
4.4 The comparison of the means of fluency of simple and complex tasks with and without focus on form
One-Way ANOVA was employed to compare the means of fluency of simple and complex tasks with and without focus
on form. The results of the analysis are provided in the following table.

Table 4.7 The results of One-Way ANOVA for the comparison of the means of fluency
of simple and complex tasks with and without focus on form
Sum of Mean
Squares df Square F Sig.
Between 2112.49 3 704.16 2.27 0.09
Groups
Within 17364.25 56 310.07
Groups
Total 19476.75 59

The data presented in table 4.23 shows that there was a meaningful difference between the performances of the
participants who received and did not receive focus on form instruction in simple and complex tasks in terms of fluency
of their oral task performance.
The mean differences of the four groups of learners in simple and complex tasks with and without focus on form are
presented in the following figure.

Figure 4.4 The mean differences of accuracy of simple and complex tasks with and without focus on form

This means that focus on form and task complexity had significant effects on the L2 learners’ oral task performances in
terms of accuracy.
5. Discussion and Conclusion
The effects of task complexity and focus on from on the accuracy of L2 learners’ oral task performance was explored as
part of this study. The results of the data analysis regarding the oral accuracy of the learners were provided in chapter
four in tables 4.2, 4.4, 4.6, and 4.8 and figures 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4. The finding of the study revealed that there were
significant differences between the oral performances of the learners who received focus on form instruction and those
who received traditional instruction both in simple and complex tasks. According to the findings of this study, the most
accurate language was related to the learners who received focus on form instruction on complex task while the least
accurate language was for the learners who received traditional instruction on simple task. That is, task complexity and
focus on form were effective on the oral task production of the learners in terms of accuracy.
The findings of this study in terms of accuracy are in line with the findings of Kuiken, Mos and Vedder (2005),
Rahimpour (2007), Kuiken and Vedder (2008), and Hejazi (2012). Kuiken, Mos and Vedder (2005) manipulated task
complexity by varying the number of elements to be considered in a writing task. Specifically, they asked Dutch
learners of Italian with high and low proficiency levels to write a recommendation letter to a friend about where to visit
for a holiday. Five destination choices were given and the participants were required to choose only one based on a
varying number of criteria (i.e., three in the simple and six in the complex task). They examined three categories of L2
production measures: syntactic complexity; lexical variation; accuracy. Their results showed that there were no task
complexity effects on lexical and syntactic complexity. In contrast, analyses on accuracy data yielded significant
interactions between task complexity and proficiency; namely, greater written accuracy was observed when task
complexity and proficiency were both high. Rahimpour (2007) studied the effect of task complexity on L2 learners’ oral
performance. The results showed that there-and-then task (complex task) led to more accuracy.
However, the finding of the present study in terms of accuracy ran against the findings of Hosseini and Rahimpour
(2010), Salimi et al (2011), and Salimi and Dadashpour (2012). Hosseini and Rahimpour (2010) investigated the effects
of task complexity on L2 learners' written performance on narrative pictorial tasks of here-and- now and there-and then.
ALLS 6(6):54-62, 2015 61
The results of the study demonstrated that cognitively more demanding task (there-and- then) had no significant effects
on accuracy. Salimi et al (2011) investigated the effect of task complexity on L2 learners’ written performance. They
found out that task complexity did not have a significant effect on accuracy. Salimi and Dadashpour (2012) conducted a
study to find out the effect of task complexity on L2 learners’ language production. Their study was based on the
comparison of two models of task complexity namely Robinson’s Cognition Hypothesis and Skehan’s Trade-off Model.
They found out that task complexity led to an increase in the domains of fluency and complexity but not accuracy.
The findings of this study in terms of accuracy can be attributed to the limited attention model proposed by Skehan and
Foster (2001). Skehan and Foster’s (2001) limited attentional capacity model views attention and memory as limited in
capacity; therefore, they suggest that increasing task complexity reduces the pool of available attention and memory
resources. As a result, some aspects of performance will be attended to while others will not. Skehan and Foster (2001)
also claim that cognitively more demanding tasks draw learners’ attention away from linguistic forms so that enough
attention need to the content of the message. Also, the findings of the study can be imputed to Schmidt’s noticing
hypothesis (Schmidt, 1990, 2001). This hypothesis holds that noticing, a cognitive process that involves attending to the
input learners receive, is inevitably a conscious process and is a necessary condition for second language learning.
Schmidt (1990, 2001) has argued that attention and its subjective correlates noticing, i.e. registering formal features in
the input, and noticing the gap, i.e. identifying how the input to which the learner is exposed differs from the output the
learner is able to generate, are essential processes in L2 acquisition. Attention is generally considered a necessary
condition for changing input into intake in the field of SLA (Schmidt, 1990, 2001). Nothing in the target language is
available for intake into a learner‘s existing system unless it is consciously noticed.
It can be concluded that engaging learners in the performance of tasks with high amount cognitive complexity along
with form-focused instruction can make learners’ attentional resources be drawn more to the linguistic forms of the
language and as a result of this, they produce. It can be said the more the complexity of the task, the more the learners’
efforts to have more accurate production.
5.1 Pedagogical Implications
The findings of the present study may be helpful for second/foreign language researchers, language teachers, and
syllabus and task designers. The findings of this study can add some new points to the literature of SLA and may
provide the researchers of second language acquisition with some new insights and findings. Language teachers may
benefit from the results of this study in that they can employ the strategies of form-focused instruction in their classes to
improve their teaching and student’s learning. Also, they can employ tasks with different complexity levels and
demands to make their learners produce and learn language. Syllabus designers can use the findings of this study to
design their syllabuses in ways that they involve task with different levels of task complexity and cognitive demands as
well as they lend themselves to strategies of form.

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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Power in Play: A Foucauldian Reading of A.O. Soyinka’s

The Trials of Brother Jero
Mahboobeh Davoodifar (Corresponding author)
English Language and Literature Department
Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University
E-mail: Mahboobeh.Davoodifar@gmail.com

Moussa Pourya Asl

School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia
11800 USM, Pulau Pinang. Penang, Malaysia
E-mail: Ms_pourya@yahoo.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.63 Received: 11/06/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.63 Accepted: 01/09/2015

Abstract
This work utilizes Foucault’s articulations on the power strategies of our contemporary society. To him the subject’s
constitution is never a purely passive effect of power on the subject but requires the subject’s own activity. This
necessitates the existence of a dynamic, mutually affecting relationship, implying that one can be both dominated and
dominate at different times and in different contexts. This article aims to analyze the Nigerian Noble Laureate, Wole
Soyinka’s play The Trials of Brother Jero, a prophetical play that criticizes the ills of society through its satirical
depiction, in the light of Foucault’s conceptualizations on power. To do this, the article first clarifies Foucault’s mature
understanding of the operation of power and then attempts to provide an in-depth analysis of the structure of the power
regime and its relations in the play, tactics of domination, and more importantly, the characters’ relations to the existing
system of power. The study of the language and the dialogue of the main characters, Brother Jero, Amope, Chume and a
Member of Federation House not only exposes the sources of operating power relations, but it also highlights the
characters’ desire for power and the way it flows and slips from one character to another. The findings of the paper
reveals that power is not concentrated on merely one character or institution within the play, rather, it circulates, and
through the active resistance of the dominated characters, it constantly engenders new meanings within the structure of
the play. In The Trials of Brother Jero, different characters have the desire to use power against each other and the
resistance of each of them indicates that power is neither possessive nor repressive.
Keywords: Michel Foucault, Power, Pastoral Power, Resistance, Wole Soyinka
1. Introduction
The Trials of Brother Jero, widely known as one of Soyinke’s (1934-?) most popular plays, was first published in 1964,
and then appeared as a performance at the Greenwich Mews Theatre in New York City in 1967. The play is a popular
comedy in the language (perhaps it is the only work by Soyinka that is written in simple English) of the masses. For the
most part, it mocks the effects of the rapid spread and wide popularity of Christianity across Africa. The playwright
touches upon the issue with a common figure of the time: i.e. a corrupt priest, a phony preacher named in the play as
Prophet Jero, who proselytizes by deceiving his followers. In the play, Jero buys a velvet cape from a woman trader,
Amope, on credit, for which he declines to pay and hence gives rise to numerous other conflicts of the play. Through
the element of satire, the play thus successfully reveals the contradictions in blind faith and following; and highlights
many of the social and political imbalances of Nigeria in the early 1960s. Perhaps, this is why, Osoba (2014) suspects,
its audience tend to cut across social and intellectual classes. This being said, it is easy to note that the play engages
directly with the current socio-political and religious atmosphere of the contemporary Nigeria (2).
A quick overview of Soyinka's career reveals that his works, i.e. his plays, novels, and poetry, combine elements of
African cultural tradition, particularly the traditional Yoruban folk drama with European dramatic form to create sense
of satire. His interest in the Yoruba culture has made him mainly focus on the problems his people are experiencing or
may undergo in the postcolonial period. Thematically, his works deal with various leitmotifs and dichotomies:
existentialism, the crisis of identity, nationhood and Africa’s political turmoil, tradition versus modernity, and the more
importantly, in terms of its relevance to the present article, the flow of the power and its relationality.
As a dramatist, poet, novelist, literary critic, theatre director, sometimes actor, Soyinka was the first Nigerian Noble
Prize winner for literature in 1986. His works have hence received much public and critical reception. In an interview
with Ahmed Yerima, the dramatist and social commenter, which was conducted at National Theatre of Nigeria, Lagos,
the interviewer commented on The Trials of Bother Jero that the issues presented in the play were a kind of prophecy,
maintaining that it “was written in 1960, at the time of writing the play, the issue of the religious proliferation was not a
ALLS 6(6):63-68, 2015 64
big thing then but at the moment is a big issue” (Adeoye and Jays, 222). Moreover, in a review published in African
Quarterly and the Arts, The Trials of Brother Jero, Akin Adesokan has called it “perhaps the most performed of
Soyinka’s plays and either its comedy or its accessibility has helped it stay in various repertories, or on the reading lists
(90).
Since its publication, the play has also been the target of much critical discussion. Critics have taken widely different
approaches to read it from various perspectives. Some have focused on the way satire has been used to expatiate the
socio-political problems of Nigerian Society (Abisola 2011; Kammampoal 2013; Sanka and Addei 2013; Beatrice &
Gyimah 2013). Others have utilized linguistic lenses, functional meaning and language (Ekpe, Oden, & Essien-Eyo
2013; Osoba 2014). Beatrice & Gyimah, for instance, in their paper entitled “Soyinka as Satirist: A Study of The Trials
of Brother Jero” introduce Soyinka as a satirist and further explain the tools of satire such as irony, exaggeration and
invective in the play. They believe that “satire is a mode of writing that exposes the failings of individuals, institutions,
or societies to ridicule and scorn” (269). Meditating on satire as a social commentary and criticism, they highlight the
power of language to communicate messages to the audience. Though this paper is successfully done, it is limited to the
discussion of the power of the language, and thus fails to study the notion of power. Furthermore, the article excludes
the power of characters and institutions that could unveil certain unique aspects of the play. In an attempt to fill out this
gap, our paper investigates this play meticulously in the light of Foucauldian theory of power relations and pays
particular attention to different characters in the play, their use of language, and the contribution of the language they
use to the notion of the power in the play. The reason for that is power has been one of the recurrent themes in major
Works of Soyinka. For instance, in The Lion and The Jewel (1959), the struggles among characters to win the village
belle clearly explains the theme of power and this is approved by the fact that the Bale of the village wins her hand.
Another instance can be A Dance of the Forests (1960), Soyinka’s first major work, in which for the gathering of the
tribes, two powerful and glorious forefathers are invited. However, the least powerful ones that have been violently
abused are brought to the feast. The repetition of the notion of the power has made the researchers ponder the
applicability of it to The Trials of Brother Jero. In addition to the recurrence of theme of power in Soyinka’s works, the
fact that The Trials of Brother Jero has been categorized as a political play makes it valuable to be analyzed with regard
to Foucauldian theory of power.
2. Theoretical Background
Providing a genealogy of the subject in his History of Sexuality, Foucault states, “[i]t seemed appropriate to look for the
forms and modalities of the relation to self by which the individual constitutes and recognizes himself qua subject” (6).
Then, he begins to explore the technologies and practices that formulate the self; thereby examining the power
strategies of our contemporary disciplinary society. Power is one of the recurrent themes in Foucault’s works, which are
largely concerned with the relations between social structures and institutions and the individual (Mills, 33). Unless one
appreciates the general definition of the notion of power, one would not be able to easily comprehend it in Foucauldian
terms.
In general, power is the ability of an agent that desires to impose its will over the wills of the powerless (Goudarzi and
Ramin, 2014). In defining power, Foucault emphasizes that he does not intend to provide a theory of power, rather, he is
involved in the ways the network of power relations operates, how power strategies structure our field of experience.
This examination entails an account of power as a tool of analysis. In his first volume of The History of Sexuality, he
stresses that “power is exercised from innumerable points, in the interplay of non-egalitarian and mobile relations” (94).
Hence, power is not exercised on a marginalized and subordinate group by a privileged and dominant one. These roles
are dynamic, suggesting that there is “no binary and all-encompassing opposition between rulers and ruled” (94). So, it
is easy to conclude that one can be the subject and the object of power at the same time, one can be both dominated and
dominate at different times and in various contexts. However, in both cases, both sides are actively involved, implying
that when even one is dominated, this is not a purely passive relationship.
Foucault believes that the power relations are implicated in all our social relations. His definition of power departs from
the Marxist articulations of the concept that consider it as a possession through which the powerful can suppress the
powerless. Foucault’s theory of power suggests that the system of power relations is omnipresent, that is, it can be
found in all social interactions. As he asserts, “it seems to me that power is always already there’, that one is never
‘outside’ it” (Taylor, 15). Power is not a fixed possession but a flow which circulates and is exercised and practiced. As
he explains in one of his interviews published as “Critical theory/ intellectual theory”, “I am not referring to power with
a capital P, dominating and imposing its rationality upon the totality of the social body. In fact, there are power
relations. They are multiple; they have different forms, they can be in play in family relations, or within an institution,
or an administration” (Foucault, 38).
Foucault studies power not only as a macro power in institutions, but also in smaller circles such as families and trivial
conversations among family members, friends or even taxi drivers and passengers which he refers to as micro power;
thus pointing to the unfixed status of power relations. In this context, Sara Mills points to the relationality and
unsteadiness of the power regime and claims that Foucault’s work is very critical of the notion that power is something
which a group of people or an institution process and that it is only concerned with oppressing and constraining. What
Foucault’s work tries to do is to move from thinking about power beyond the view of power as repression of the
powerless by the powerful to an examination of the way that power operated within everyday relations between people
and institutions (33). In this regard, Yuan Yu (2014) concurs with Mills asserting that to Foucault, power is relations.
As he observes, power is “not a thing, it is a relationship between two individuals, a relationship which is such that one
ALLS 6(6):63-68, 2015 65
can direct the behavior of another or determine the behavior of another” (244); therefore, individuals also play a
significant role in practicing power.
In The History of Sexuality, Foucault states that ‘where there is power there is resistance. Should it be said that one is
always “inside” power, there’s no “escaping” from it (95). With regard to this statement we come to know the
importance of individuals in power relations. In order to be a relation, where power is exercised there has to be someone
who resists. Foucault argues that where there is no resistance, there is not, in effect, a power relation (Mills, 40). His
view of power involves certain features including: 1) the impersonality, or subjectiveness, of power, meaning that it is
not guided by the will of the individuals; 2) the relationality of power, meaning that power is always a case of power
relations between people as opposed to a quantum possessed by people; 3) the decenteredness of power, meaning that it
is not concentrated on a single individual or class; 4) the multidirectionary of power, meaning that it does not flow only
from more to the less powerful; 5)the strategic nature of power, meaning that it has a dynamic of its own (Kelly, 38).
This study aims to analyze the existing power relations in The Trials of Brother Jero. To do this, we will focus on and
utilize the language and dialogue of the play and attempt to address questions like: Where is the first point in the play in
which power is shown for the first time? How is power practiced and circulated by characters? Where and when do
characters resist the dominating power in the play?
3. Discussion
The Trials of Brother Jero is a story of a day in the life of a self-named prophet, Jero. This corrupt preacher is proud of
demonstrating his wise and cunning nature to the public. The play begins a monologue in which we learn about Brother
Jero: The audience is told that he was born a prophet and thus, his view of prophethood as a trade is revealed at the very
outset of the play. We learn that Jero acquired his current beach-side realty in the name of the Old Prophet, his former
master, by formulating a campaign against the other prophets. The Old Prophet, however, is also already driven off his
own land. Midway into the monologue, the Old Prophet enters to curse Jero, “wishing his downfall via women”. The
day is presented to us as one in which the wish is nearly fulfilled. Hereafter, a messenger in the government, called
Chume and Amope, his ill-tempered wife appear. Chume is Jero’s most faithful penitent. However, unbeknownst to
him, Brother Jero owes Amope a sum of money for a velvet cape that he bought from her. Determined to get her
money, Amope camps outside his door and after a brief confrontation Jero sneaks out to the beach. In Scene 3, we see
Chume joining Jero at the beach. The scene goes on with Chume listing his grievances about his wife and requesting to
beat her. Jero, however, prohibited Chume from doing so. While the rest of the congregation is gathering, Jero notices a
fight between a Drummer Boy and a woman. Being distracted, he leaves to attempt to mitigate it. In the meantime,
Chume temporarily takes over Prophet Jero’s sermon, empowered. Returning to the congregation, Jero, very exhausted,
finds out that Amope is in fact Chume's wife. There, we see him granting permission to beat her, hoping it will take care
of his problems as well. In the following scene, Chume is eventually emboldened to speak with Amope, whereby he
finds out that her debtor is in fact Brother Jero, and that his sacred life is built on a web of lies. Instead of beating
Amope, he runs back to confront Jero. In the final scene we see Jero in the process of converting another penitent. The
new member is a Member of the House who is yearning to become a Minister. Chume arrives with one determined
intention in his mind: that of killing Jero. Jero, however, escapes, but, ironically, his fleeing is interpreted as a sign of
his divinity by the Penitent. And when he comes back, his newest Penitent is more strongly convinced of his status as a
Prophet, dedicating himself to Jero as his "Master."
Going back to the beginning lines of The Trials of Brother Jero, it starts with Jero’s monologue as:
JEROBOAM: I am a prophet. A prophet by birth and inclination. You have probably seen many of us
on the streets, many with their own churches, many inland, many on the coast, many leading
processions, many leading processions to lead, many curing the deaf, many raising the dead. In fact,
there are eggs and eggs (145).

The starting lines of the play are important to the discussion since it is the very first point in the play where the reader
becomes familiar with the existing power hierarchies within the narrative. Brother Jero calls himself a prophet, a priest,
a pastor. Christianity and prophethood of Jero reminds us of the Foucauldian notion of disciplinary technologies of
religion. As Foucault writes:
It has often been said that Christianity brought into being a code of ethics fundamentally different
from that of the ancient world. Less emphasis is usually placed on the fact that it proposed and spread
new relations throughout the ancient world. Christianity is the only religion that organized itself as a
church. As such, it postulates in principle that certain individuals can, by their religious quality, serve
others not as princes, magistrates, prophets, fortune-tellers, benefactors, educationalists, and so on but
pastors. However, this word designates a very special form of power. (333)

In this context, it is clear that this is the church and the pastoral power which gives power to Brother Jero. He calls
himself a prophet and renames his duty as a trade. What he is doing, nevertheless, is not practice, preach or pray. What
he does is to empower him through weakening his flock and keeping them dissatisfied: “I am glad I got here before any
costumers- I mean worshippers- well, if you like customers. I always get that feeling every morning that I am a shop-
keeper waiting for customers’ (153). Likening the people to the customers assures the reader that people need him and
they come to him since they consider him as someone who has power, the pastoral power that he has gotten from the
ALLS 6(6):63-68, 2015 66
church. This becomes crystal clear especially the time when we read about the day he bought the velvet cape from
Amope. He says: “I don’t know how she found out my house. When I bought the goods off her, she did not even ask
any question. My calling was enough to guarantee the payment (152). Having this in mind, Beatrice & Gyimah state
that “the woman, Amope, was kind enough to give the white gown and velvet cape to prophet Jero on credit. Jero
confessed to us that, when he ‘bought the goods off her’, she did not even ask any questions”. This means that Amope
showed him great respect and consideration as a man of God (274).
However, in the light of Foucauldian reading, it can be said that Amope was under Jero’s pastoral power. In fact there
are instances in the play that illuminate the ways Jero is trying to make people notice his holiness and power; the time,
for instance, when he says “God curse that woman! I never thought she would dare affront the presence of a man of
God” (153). There are also a few times when Jero reminds people of the presence of a man of God. To believe that Jero
possesses power and is trying to suppress other characters and turn their relationship into a master-slave one is a
Marxist view of power. In this regard, Althusar tells us that power is possessed by the powerful; and consequently, the
less powerful are nothing but puppets that are doomed to accept the wills of the system and institutions (Goudarzi and
Ramin, 2036). Rejecting this theory, Foucault asserts that power is not something to be held or possessed by
governments, systems and institutions since it is not something fixed and stable. On the contrary, power in power
relation is dynamic and for this reason it can be productive (ibid). In terms of the story, Jero, who is exploiting his flock
as customers, is not the only person in power. The fact that Amope is sitting in front of Jero’s house and he is afraid to
come out and, as a result, wants to flee from the window, introduces Amope to the reader as a new source of power in
the play. This incident helps the reader vote against the fixity of the power and enables them to see it like a net or
relation and creates another center for the power showing the decenteredness of power hierarchies.
Chume, Amope’s husband, who has been trying to get the permission to beat his wife and avoid himself from madness,
can be considered an angel of the power. Chume is under the influence and power of Brother Jero and is almost begging
for the permission of beating his wife. This form of power is what Foucault calls disciplinary power. For Foucault, as it
is for Gramsci, power can be productive to discipline and regulate people (Gandhi and Bakhshizadeh, 2). In Foucault’s
words, disciplinary power strives to make the body “more obedient as it becomes more useful, and conversely” (Taylor,
28). Therefore, Chume wants to regulate Amope, and he wants to do it only once, since he sincerely believes in the
disciplinary power.
Foucault insists that knowledge and power go hand in hand. In another scene, Chume confesses to Brother Jero that he
has to beat his wife because in the morning she went to an area to lay siege for one week in front of her debtor’s house.
In their article entitled “Exploring the Foucauldian Interpretation of Power and Subject in Organization” Anita
Valikangas and Hannele Seeck assert that pastoral power is a relationship, where the pastor aims to modify the spirit
and the will of the guided person into a certain direction, with the help of spiritual guidance and subject’s confession
(9). Through Chume’s confession Jero gets the knowledge. Upon knowing this, Brother Jero changes his mind.
JERO: I wonder really what the will of God would be in this matter. After all, Christ himself was not averse to
using the whip when occasion demanded it.
Chume: (eagerly)… no, he did not hesitate.
JERO: in that case, since, Brother Chume, your wife seems such a wicked, willful sinner, I think …
CHUME: Yes, Holy one ….?
JERO: You must take her home tonight …
CHUME: Yes …
JERO: And beat her.
CHUME: (Kneeling, Claps Jero’s hand in his) Prophet!
JERO: Remember it must be done in your own house. Never show the discord within your family to the world.
Take her home and beat her. (162)

Here the exploitive nature of Prophet Jero is exposed: how he cheats on others to achieve his selfish interest (Abisola,
42). In “Prison Talk”, Foucault states that it is not possible for power to be exercised without knowledge. As he states
“that the exercise of power perpetually creates knowledge and, conversely, knowledge can constantly induce effects of
power” (52). The cooperation of knowledge and power is undeniable. With regard to the relation of knowledge and
power, Foucault asserts that the set of procedures which produce knowledge and keep knowledge in circulation can be
termed as ‘episteme’ (Mills, 71).
There are two epistemes in the play that contribute to the production and circulation of knowledge. During the
confession, the pastor aims to gain more knowledge on his subjects. The result of confession is that the subject begins to
produce a certain kind of truth about him- /herself (Valikangas and Seeck, 9). It is during the confession that Chume
reveals the woman who has laid siege in front of Jero’s house is his wife and it is with the help of this knowledge that
Jero finds a way to fight against Amope’s power on him. The other instance is when Chume gets the permission to beat
his wife. When he arrives at Jero’s house, he has been transformed. He is not the same person who obeys and listens to
Amope. He thinks he has become a man and Amope should listen to whatever he says. While arguing with Amope, he
acknowledges that the debtor is Prophet Jero. Chume who has been following and obeying Jero throughout the play
ALLS 6(6):63-68, 2015 67
wants to go back and confront him. He becomes a source of power over Jero again and when Jero hears his words from
a distance, he tries to hide himself in the darkness. Jero tries to preach a member of Federation House. In the beginning
the member does not care about Jero’s prayers and words, saying “(with great pomposity) go and practice your
fraudulence on another person of greater gullibility” (168). Jero’s knowledge of the fact that the member is looking for
a promotion helps him make the member believe his prophecies that he is going to be the war minister. As soon as the
member hears it, he behaves with a pleading manner. Upon Jero’s disappearance he says “Prophet! Prophet! (Turns
sharply and rapidly in every direction, shouting) Prophet, where are you? Where have you gone? Prophet! Don’t leave
me, prophet, don’t leave me” (170). Jero wants to use the influence of the member to send Chume to an asylum for one
year and this shows that almost every character in this play has a desire for power.
What is crucial to the analysis is the resistance that characters have shown to each other’s power. Jero who was the first
character in power, bought a velvet cape from Amope, and in fact he had no intentions of paying for it: “God curse that
woman! I never thought she would dare affront the presence of a man of God. One pound eight for this little cape! It’s
sheer robbery” (153). Amope, contrary to all the male characters of the play, not only does she let go of her money, but
she is also brave enough to call the prophet’s name, calling him bearded rogue, spindle-leg toad and dirty beggar. Even
though we do not side with and appreciate Amope’s insulting habit, we, likewise Mireku-Gyimah, admire her industry
and desire to succeed. In a similar way, we also acknowledge her refusal to be cowed before a man and an opportunistic
Christian leader at that. Here, she is an individual because she is different from many African women that are only
abused first by men, and second, in the “Prophet Jero” churches (Mireku-Gyimah 270). The fact that Amope is an
individual assures us that we are dealing with Foucauldian power. The notion of the individual is problematic for
Foucault; nevertheless, it is in the relationship between the individual and the institution that we find power operating
most clearly (Mills, 33).
4. Conclusion
With regard to the Foucaudian theory of power, Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero promises a profound
understanding of the play. Foucault’s articulations on the power strategies of our contemporary society reveals that the
subject’s constitution in the society is never a purely passive effect of power on the subject but requires the subject’s
own activity. This necessitates the existence of a dynamic, mutually affecting relationship in the hierarchal structure of
the system of power, implying that one can be both dominated and dominate at different times and in different contexts.
The Nigerian Noble Laureate, Wole Soyinka’s play The Trials of Brother Jero is a prophetical play that criticizes the
ills of society through its satirical depictions. A study of the play in the light of Foucault’s conceptualizations on power
demanded us first clarify Foucault’s mature understanding of the operation of power and then provide an in-depth
analysis of the structure of the power regime and its relations in the play, tactics of domination, and more importantly,
the characters’ relations to the existing system of power. The study of the language and the dialogue of the main
characters, Brother Jero, Amope, Chume and a Member of Federation House not only exposes the sources of operating
power relations, but it also highlights the characters’ desire for power and the way it flows and slips from one character
to another. The findings of the paper revealed that power is not concentrated on merely one character or institution
within the play, rather, it circulates, and through the active resistance of the dominated characters, it constantly
engenders new meanings within the structure of the play. In The Trials of Brother Jero different characters have the
desire to use power against each other and the resistance of each of them indicates that power is neither possessive nor
repressive. The power is in play and it is not limited to the class the characters belong to, a trader, a priest, a messenger
and a member of Federation House. At specific times they control each other and as the power circulates, a different
character gets a significant role in the play. The main question which is still worth pondering address the socio-political
aspects of the power strategies of the play.

References
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Goudarzi, A., and Zohre, R. (2014). Foucauldian Power and Identity in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.
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Kelly, M.G.E. (2009). The Political philosophy of Michel Foucault. Londen: Routledge.
Mills, S. (2003). Michel Foucault. Londen: Routledge.
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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Acculturation Attitudes and Sociocultural Adaptation of

Chinese Mainland Sojourners in Hong Kong
Yuanyi Ma
School of Foreign Languages, Guangdong Institute of Science and Technology
Jinwan District, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China
Faculty of Humanities, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
E-mail: yuanyi.ma@connect.polyu.hk

Bo Wang (Corresponding author)

Centre for Translation Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
E-mail: bo.wang@connect.polyu.hk

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.69 Received: 28/06/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.69 Accepted: 03/09/2015

Abstract
Within these years, there has been a significant increase in the number of Chinese Mainland sojourners studying in
Hong Kong. Due to the huge differences in various aspects like language, culture, cultural value, it would be
considerably difficult for the Chinese Mainland students to adapt to the Hong Kong environment. This article
investigates the ways for a group of doctoral students from Chinese Mainland to acculturate in Hong Kong. With the
help of questionnaires, the difficulties that the sojourners have encountered in social situations are measured. It is found
out that age and gender may have influenced the participants’ acculturation strategies, and interpersonal relationship is
that which the subjects have the most difficulties with, while academic domain is the area with the least difficulties.
Meanwhile, the results have shown that competence of local language is not a determinant factor of the sociocultural
adaptation, and female subjects seem to adapt better than male subjects.
Keywords: sojourner, acculturation, sociocultural adaptation, acculturation strategy
1. Introduction
There has been a significant increase in the number of Mainland student studying in the higher institutions of Hong
Kong ever since the formulation of the policy that allows Mainland graduates from local higher institutions to work in
Hong Kong (Guo, 2014). For example, as informed by the Academic Secretariat of the Hong Kong Polytechnic
University, in the year of 2014, the number of Chinese Mainland students studying in the institution has reached 3,421
(excluding outpost and distance learning students), and 4,448 (including outpost and distance learning students).
Considering the huge differences in language, culture, value system, life pace, etc., it would be a real challenge for
Chinese Mainland students to fit into this new and unfamiliar culture. Therefore, this article aims to investigate the
ways for Chinese Mainland students to acculturate in Hong Kong, and to measure sociocultural adaptation in terms of
the difficulties the students have encountered in social situations.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Studies on Acculturation Attitudes
Acculturation is believed to occur “when two independent cultural groups come into continuous first-hand contact over
an extended period of time” (Redfield, Linton, & Herskovits, 1936, cited in Berry, Kim, Power, Young, & Bujaki,
1989: 186). It is also defined as “the process of learning and acquiring the elements of the host culture” (Shibutani &
Kwan, 1965, cited in Wiseman, 1995:176).
During the process of acculturation, two major orientations of attitudes are found. One is to maintain and develop
uniqueness of one’s own culture, cultural identity and customs. The other is to recognize the value of intercultural
contact and to seek positive relations with a much larger society. Based on these two major orientations, four
acculturation attitudes are found, namely assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization (Berry et al., 1989).
To explain in simple terms, the four attitudes are all those adopted by different kind of people, assimilation by those
who value intergroup relation but not cultural maintenance; integration by those who value both cultural maintenance
and intergroup relations; separation by those who value cultural maintenance but not intergroup relations; while
marginalization by those value neither intergroup relation nor cultural maintenance.
As mentioned above, Berry, et al. (1989) have classified acculturation attitudes into four major types and provided a
detailed description of the design and validation of the culture-specific measurement of acculturation attitudes for
French-Canadians, as well as Hungarian, Korean, and Portuguese immigrants in Canada. The design, validation and
ALLS 6(6):69-73, 2015 70
conduction of the Acculturation Attitude Statements (a questionnaire) are described in detail by Berry, et al. (1989). The
construction of the acculturation attitude questionnaire generally involves forming an initial item pool, judging of
representativeness of the items, phrasing positive and negatively, and finally forming an 80-item questionnaire
measuring four orientation of acculturation attitudes. Although proved highly reliable, and valid, this questionnaire is
far from perfect due to its ambiguous intergroup relation dimension, considerate length, heavy attendant demand and
culture-specific design that is no easy for test construction (Ward & Kennedy, 1994).
Following Berry et al.’s (1989) study, more researches (e.g. Searl & Ward, 1990; Ward & Kennedy, 1994; Jasinskaja-
Lahti & Liebkind, 2000; Leung, 2001; Ataca & Berry, 2002; Virta, Sam, & Westin, 2004; Ouarasse, & Vijver, 2005)
are carried out to measure acculturation attitudes. Some studies (Ward & Kennedy, 1994; Jasinskaja-Lahti & Liebkind,
2000) construct questionnaires based on the model designed by Berry et al. (1989), which form two questions regarding
each of the acculturation attitudes for targeted domains of life. One study (Ataca & Berry, 2002) focuses on eleven
attitude domains (friendship, lifestyle, social activity, food, holiday celebration, language use, decoration, newspaper
readership, child-rearing style, children’s values, children’s moving out); while two other studies (Virta, Sam, &
Westin, 2004; Jasinskaja-Lahti & Liebkind, 2000) focus on five domains (marriage, cultural traditions, language, social
activities, and friends). Meanwhile, there are also some studies that are only targeted at either co-national (Leung, 2001)
or host-national identification (Ouarasse, & Vijver, 2005).
Some factors are found related to acculturation attitudes. For example, gender may be significantly related to
acculturation attitudes. Length of residence is positively related to the identification of host-culture, and negatively
related to ethnic culture. Also, higher education level may boost host culture identification. At the same time, age is
reported to be significantly but inconsistently related to acculturation attitude (Ouarasse, & Vijver, 2005).
The present study uses the Acculturation Index designed by Ward & Kennedy (1994), which measures both co-national
identity and host-national identity. Another advantage of the index is that, coupled with median split technique, it can
classify subjects into four acculturation domains (Ward & Kennedy, 1994).
2.2 Studies on Sociocultural Adaptation
The concepts of Psychological Adaptation and Sociocultural Adaptation (henceforth PA and SA respectively) are two
major dimensions of the acculturation process. PA refers to “the feelings of well-being and satisfaction”, while SA is
related to the “ability to ‘fit in’” (Searle & Ward, 1990: 450), “to acquire culturally appropriate skills” (Ward &
Kennedy, 1999), or “negotiate in interactive aspects of the new culture” (Searle & Ward, 1990: 450). SA has been
repeatedly measured in studies like Searle and Ward (1990), Ward and Kennedy (1994), Klemens and Bikos (2000),
Ataca and Berry (2002), Brisset, Safdar, Lewis and Sabatier (2010), and Sochos and Diniz (2012).
The measurement of SA, also the one adopted in current study is the Sociocultural Adaptation Scale (SCAS) (Ward &
Kennedy, 1999), which is a “behavioral and cognitive measure that explores how an individual adjusts to a society in
terms of cultural learning and functional social skills” (Klemens & Bikos, 2000: 726). Its original version was in the
form of a 16-item questionnaire developed in the 1990s that has been first used to measure cross-cultural SA of
Malaysian and Singaporean students in New Zealand (Searle & Ward, 1990). While in Klemens and Bikos (2000),
several adaptations and revisions are done to “include items based on the host country studied” and to “provide overall
improvement to the measure” (ibid: 726).
Similar to Furnham and Bochnner’s (1982) Social Situations Questionnaire (SSQ) (Furnham & Bochner, 1982), SCAS
requires respondents to rate the amount of difficulties encountered in a certain situation with a five-point scale (i.e. no
difficulty / slight difficulty / moderate difficulty / great difficulty / extreme difficulty). One difference between SSQ and
SCAS is that “difficulty is not explicitly framed in affective terms relating to anxiety, discomfort, and embarrassment”
(Ward & Kennedy, 1999: 662). An advantage of the SCAS lies in its flexibility and modifiability to suit the need of
different sojourner samples. The 1999 version of SCAS contains 40 items, but most versions contain 20-23 items, while
most of the items are applicable to different sojourner groups (Ward & Kennedy, 1999).
2.3 Chinese Sojourners in Other Cultures
Sojourners are defined as those who “live in another culture for a period of time, with the initial, continuous intention of
returning to their native land” (Dion & Dion, 1996:457). Since sojourner students are generally under the pressure of
adapting to the different culture and the demanding student life, researches have thus usually been focused on sojourner
adjustment and stress faced by sojourner students.
Dion and Dion (1989) have conducted a review of various researches that have explored the factors that lead to
adaptation difficulties for Chinese sojourners in other cultures. Studies examined in Dion and Dion (1989) include
Graham (1983), Dion and Toner (1988), Chataway and Berry (1989), Pak, Dion and Dion (1991). The difficulties faced
by Chinese students include parental pressure to achieve excellent academic achievements, racial discrimination,
interracial dating, and maintenance of Chinese identity in an assimilationist, cultural environment (Dion & Toner, 1988;
Pak, Dion & Dion, 1991). Similar findings are reported by Chataway and Berry (1989), as compared to their host-
national peers, Chinese student in Canada experienced higher trait anxiety, greater racial prejudice, and communication
problems. Graham (1983) has reported the difficulties in cultural exclusion and communication with local Samoan
students. It is found that while under the situation of unfamiliar foreign culture, Hong Kong Chinese students owe their
academic excellence to the priority they give to school work rather than personal problems. A longitudinal study (Zheng
& Berry, 1991), after repeated measurement of acculturative stress, reveals that Chinese sojourner students experience
 ALLS 6(6):69-73, 2015 71
an increase in acculturative stress from pre-departure after three to four months post-arrival, before declining slowly for
several years back to the pre-departure baseline.
3. The Study
3.1 Subjects
The subjects in the present study are 10 students enrolled in a doctoral program of a Hong Kong higher institution. All
of them come from Mainland China, and have spent approximately 8 months in Hong Kong (with one or two
exceptions). Their age ranges from 20 to 40. Most of them have jobs in higher institutions in Mainland China.
3.2 Questionnaire
The questionnaire consists of three parts: personal profile, acculturation index, and measurement of sociocultural
adaptation. For personal profile, information on gender, age, months of having stayed in Hong Kong, times of visiting
Hong Kong before the study experience, and the ability of speaking Cantonese would be collected. Researchers of
previous studies have been interested in measuring a respondents’ level of acculturation in a host society. The most
frequent demographic indicators they use include “length of time in the country of residence, location and years of
schooling, age at time of immigration…” (Dion & Dion, 1996: 459). However, these indicators are not satisfactory
enough to reflect individual differences. The above information is collected for the following reasons. First, gender is
found related significantly to acculturation attitudes. It is reported that women are more assertive about their original
culture and slower than men in accepting the host culture (Ouarasse, and Vijver, 2005). Age range of the subjects is
mostly between 30-40, with one or two exceptions. Several demographic questions like, “Months of staying in Hong
Kong”, and “times visiting Hong Kong”, “ability of speaking Cantonese” are included to identify whether these two
factors affect acculturation attitudes and sociocultural adaptation.
The second part of the questionnaire is the acculturation index (cf. Ward, & Rana-Deuba, 1999). 21 cognitive and
behavioral questions including aspects in clothing, pace of life, food, religious beliefs, material comfort, self-identify,
accommodation, values, friendships, family life, etc. are included. It is a 7-point scale rating, enquiring the subjects to
indicate the similarity between their own life experience and those of their co-nationals and again with the host-
nationals. If the life experiences of subjects are similar to both co-nationals and host-nationals, integration strategy is
used; if similar to only co-nationals, or host-nationals, separation or assimilation strategy is used; if similar to neither
group, separation strategy is used. The 6 items from the original 21-item questionnaire are deleted, including family life,
accommodation/residence, perceptions of co-nationals, perceptions of host nationals, worldview, and employment
activities. Two reasons are involved in doing this. One is to shorten the list, the other is to deduct those irrelevant to the
subjects’ experiences like family life, employment activities, or items that are too abstract like world view, perceptions
of co-nationals, perceptions of host nationals. The score of the index ranges from 15-105.
The final part of the questionnaire is the measurement of sociocultural adaptation, which is a revised version of the
Sociocultural Adaptation Scale devised by Ward & Kennedy (1999). The original scale is made up of 41 items of social
situations, and requires respondents to indicate the degree of difficulty they encounter in those social situations, using a
five-point scale (no difficulty / slight difficulty / moderate difficulty / great difficulty / extreme difficulty). The range of
difficulty is from 0 to 84. Some adaptations have been made to the questionnaire to include fewer items, and to make it
better organized. Altogether 4 sections (interpersonal relationship, public situations, academic situations, ideology
domain) are made upon the original items. 20 items are deleted for reasons of irrelevance or unimportance. For
example, “going to social events/gathering/functions”, “worshiping in your own way”, “relating to older people”,
“accepting/understanding the local political system”, “understanding the locals’ world view”, etc. are deleted due to
their irrelevance; meanwhile, items like “getting used to the pace of life”, “following rules and regulations”, “adapting
to local accommodation”, “dealing with the climate”, “adapting to the local etiquette”, etc. are deleted because of their
unimportance.
3.3 Results and Discussion
The calculation of acculturation attitudes follows the method of Ward and Rana-Deuba (1999). 7 valid questionnaires
are collected. Median scores are first obtained for co-nationals and host-nationals, which is 95 for co-nationals, and 49
for host-nationals. Subjects with a co-national acculturation score higher than 95 would be seen as valuing co-nationals
identification, and those with a host-national score higher than 49 would be seen as valuing host-national identification.
Then, among the 7 subjects, 2 cases of assimilation, 2 cases of integration, 2 cases of separation and 1 case of
marginalization are found. Interestingly, the 2 cases of separation and 1 case of marginalization are exactly the two
youngest and one oldest subjects in the group. Similar to the findings of Ouarasse, & Vijver (2005), this may give some
proof that age may be an influential factor in acculturation attitude. As for the gender factor, the two female subjects in
the sample each feature integration and assimilation, with one young subject (aged between 20-30) having low co-
national identification, and high host-national identification. This is contradictory to the previous studies that women
are more assertive to their own culture and slower in accepting the host-culture (Ouarasse, & Vijver, 2005). But the
limited sample size may to some extent affect the reliability of the result.
As to the sociocultural adaptation, 10 valid questionnaires are collected. The total degree of difficulties ranges from 7 to
40. The average scores for each section (interpersonal relationship, public situations, academic situations, ideology
domain) are 14.6, 2.7, 1.9 and 4.5 respectively. The result indicates that most difficulties encountered by subjects occur
in interpersonal domain, followed by the ideology domain, even fewer difficulties are met in the public situations, and
the least are met in academic situations. It is reflected that the interpersonal relationship may be the area that is most
ALLS 6(6):69-73, 2015 72
influential to the sociocultural adaptation of the subjects. Also, since the subjects equally have high educational level
(students of a doctoral program), it is no wonder that academic domain is the area that they meet with least amount of
difficulties.
According to the profiles given by the subjects, 4 of them are capable of communicating in Cantonese. A comparison is
thus to be made upon those who speak and do not speak Cantonese — the local language spoken in Hong Kong. In the
domain of interpersonal relationship, those who can speak Cantonese have an average score of 26.2 in degrees of
difficulties, while the average number for those who cannot speak Cantonese is 21.8. This contrast shows that language
competence may not be the dominant factor in sociocultural adaptation. In terms of gender, the average score for female
subjects is 20.2 while male subjects has an average score of 25.8, which reflect the fact that female sojourners in Hong
Kong are adapting better than their male peers. This finding does not conform to those of Ouarasse and Vijver (2005),
who hold that women are slower in accepting the host culture.
4. Conclusion
The present study has found out that age and gender may influence acculturation strategies. The measurement of
sociocultural adaptation shows that interpersonal relationship is the area that the subjects have the most difficulties with,
while academic domain is the area with the least difficulties. Also, the results have shown that competence of local
language is not a determinant factor of the sociocultural adaptation; while female subjects seem to adapt better than
male subjects.
Due to the limited sample size, the study is very primitive in nature. Further research involving larger number of
subjects is expected to be carried out so as to find out more about the influence of gender, age, education, and language
on Chinese Mainland sojourners’ acculturation strategy and sociocultural adaptation, as well as the relationship between
the above two constructs.

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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

On the Comparative Impact of Self-assessment and Teacher-

assessment on Iranian EFL Learners' Academic Motivation
Asghar Salimi (Corresponding author)
Department of English, University of Maragheh, Maragheh, Iran
E-mail: AsgharSalimi356@gmail.com

Vahid Nowrozi Larsari

Department of Teaching English Language, Sarab Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sarab, Iran
E-mail: v.nowrozi@gmail.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.74 Received: 18/06/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.74 Accepted: 02/09/2015

Abstract
Nowadays, the function of language teaching and testing has been paid much attention by researchers. There is an
overall notion in the literature that motivation, as driving force, is one of the likely learners' traits. The aim of this study
was to examine the comparative impact of self-assessment and teacher-assessment on learners' academic motivation.
The participants were 60 intermediate students in two groups at Novin-Rezvan Foreign institute. At the beginning of
semester, the instructor gave a motivation questionnaire as pre-test to the students, and then both groups were put to the
similar content and instructional method for reading strategies. There was only one difference, i.e., the students in the
experimental group self-assessed themselves, whereas the students in another group were assessed by the teacher-
assessment. At the end of treatment session, a post-motivation questionnaire was given to the students to assess level of
their motivation. Two t-tests were run, and the results showed that self-assessment play an important impact on Iranian
EFL learners' academic motivation.
Keywords: Motivation, Self-assessment, Teacher-assessment, Assessment
1. Introduction
It is generally claimed that it is indispensable to evaluate the learners’ performance by the use of a diversity of
assessment strategies. Actually, assessment is considered as a fundamental element for language teaching and testing,
allowing them to monitor their needs and focus on student’s views of development (Harris, 1997). Yet, in traditional
classrooms, are dominant in Iran, the teacher is the only evaluator (as cited in Birjandi & Tamjid, 2010). Such
assessment is acceptable in terms of tests whose items have one correct answer, but in performance tests, such as
reading tests, the evaluation is not so straight-forward (Birjandi & Tamjid, 2010). Alternative assessment including self-
assessment, learners are trained to assess their own learning progress, and can recognize their own strengths and
weakness so as to compensate for the restrictions of teacher-assessment (Noonan, 2000). Besides, motivation is
regarded as a basic role in the achievement of language learning and teaching (Nakanishi, 2002). Dörnyei (2000) also
contends that motivation offers the main incentive to engage in learning among learners. Hence, the aim of the present
study is to see if self-assessment and teacher-assessment have an important impact on academic motivation learners'
motivation.
1.1 Research Question
Q1: Is there any statistically significant difference between the impact of self-assessment and teacher-assessment on
Iranian EFL learners' academic motivation?
1.2 Hypotheses
H01: There is no statistically significant difference between the impact of self-assessment and teacher-assessment on
Iranian EFL learners' academic motivation.
2. Review of the Related Literature
2.1 Assessment
According to Wang and Wang (2007), the word “assessment” originates from ‘ad sedere’ – means to sit down beside
(as cited in Birjandi & Tamjid, 2010). They also discussed that the etymology of assessment is mainly based on the
learner guidance and feedback. Many methodologists such as Erwin (1991) stated assessment as “the process of
defining, analyzing, understanding, and using information to upsurge students’ learning and development” (p.14).
Angelo (1995) defines: “assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning. It
involves making our expectations explicit and public; setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning
quality; systematically gathering, analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches
those expectations and standards” (p.7). Richards and Schmidt (2002) believes that assessment is a methodical method
ALLS 6(6):74-79, 2015 75
to assemble material and make implications and conclusions about pupils' performance. In addition, Airasian (1994)
defined assessment as gathering, separating and explaining information to make to make decisions on student
performance. He also states that “in classroom, assessment can be done conducted to diagnose student problems, to
judge their academic performance, to provide feedback to student and to plan instruction” (p.16).
2.2 Self-assessment
According to Naeini (2011), self-assessment has obtained significant consideration in recent years to put emphasis on
evaluate of students’ language capabilities. Also, self-assessment relates to checking learners’ performance on a
language learning task after completing or monitoring their success in using a language (Richards & Schmidt, 2002).
They also believed that self- assessment is an example of a meta-cognitive strategy in second language learning.
According to Mousavi (1995), self-assessment is the learners’ own assessment of their language ability, in terms of their
capability to use the language in various contexts. In this regard, Harris (1997) maintained that self-assessment plays as
an important role in language learning, helps the learner to increase independency which the learner can monitor his/her
progress his/her individual needs. Liang (2006) defined the term “self-assessment” as follows:
* Self-assessment plays as a central role in a learner-based curriculum.
* Self-assessment is different from teacher-assessment for different evaluation purposes.
* Self-assessment is an ability to evaluate learning progress and learning effectiveness.
2.3 Advantages of self-assessment
According to researchers such as Coombe & Canning (2002) have discussed the application and advantages of self-
assessment as follows:
* Enhancing and improving learning and teaching.
* Raising learners’ awareness of their own learning and teaching.
* Developing learner’s autonomy.
* Reducing the burden of assessment placed on teachers.
* Developing range of evaluation into effective contexts.
Harris (1997) also believes that one of the main reasons for introducing self-assessment, that is, self-assessment is a key
learning strategy for autonomous language learning, which enables the students to monitor their progress and relate
learning to individual needs. In this regard, Dickson (1987) suggests three main points for applying self-assessment in
language learning and teaching. First, Self-assessment leads toward evaluation, which is as a basic educational objective
in its own place. Secondly, Self-assessment also plays an important role in self-determination. Thirdly, Self-assessment
is one way of declining the assessment burden on the teacher.
3. Methodology
3.1 Participants
The participants of this study were EFL learners from Novin-Rezvan foreign languages institute in Rasht with the range
of 17 to 25 years old. There were 90 learners in intermediate level who were given PET as the homogenization test.
Those participants whose scores fell between one standard deviation above and below the mean were selected and they
were defined as intermediate EFL learners in this study. Then, the researcher divided them into two groups randomly.
Each group consisted of an equal number of 30 participants. One experimental group treated with self-assessment and
the other one with teacher-assessment. For evaluating the writing and speaking part of the PET, there was another rater
who helped the researcher to rate the paper. Prior to the actual administration, the tests were piloted among 30 students
with the same language proficiency level and almost the same characteristics of the 90 students who took the test later.
3.2 Instrumentation
3.2.1 Gardner’s Attitude/Motivation
It is prepared by Gardner (2004) to assess the subjects’ degree of motivation. It includes 25 items and in front of each
item six alternatives including “Strongly disagree”, “Moderately disagree”, “Slightly disagree”, “Slightly agree”,
"Moderately agree", and “Strongly agree”. The scoring procedure of the questionnaire was from one to six Likert scale.
The participants were instructed to answer each item by putting an underline/circle around these alternatives as quickly
as possible. It is necessary to note that reliability of this questionnaire was assessed by using Cronbach’s Alpha
Coefficient. If it is greater than 0.7, a scale is considered reliable. Hence, Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient for this
measurement is 0.76 indicate that it has sufficiently coefficient alpha scores.
3.2.2 The Preliminary English Test (PET)
In order to homogenize the participants, the researcher used PET test (Appendix A). The sample of the test which was
used in this study included three sections of reading (five parts), writing (three parts), and listening (four parts). The
reading section of this language proficiency test had 35 items including five three-option multiple-choice items, five
matching, 10 true/false, and 15 four-option multiple choice items. For the writing section, there were three parts
including five sentence transformation items in the first part and in the other two parts, students were required to write
one essay for each part; in other words, in the second part students were required to write a short communicative
message about 35-45 words, and for the third part, they were required to write a longer piece of continuous writing
ALLS 6(6):74-79, 2015 76
about 100 words. The allotted time for the PET reading and writing parts was one hour and 30 minutes. In the listening
section, students were required to answer 13 three-option multiple-choice items and six filling-the-gap items and six
true/false items. The allotted time for the PET listening part was 30 minutes. It is necessary to mention that with the aim
of saving time, the researcher used only reading, writing, and listening parts of the PET. To conduct the speaking part of
the PET, a qualified examiner was required and since such qualified examiner was professionally not allowed to engage
in any application of the PET and all Cambridge ESOL exams, for that matter, without the direct supervision of
Cambridge, it was thus not possible for the researcher to run the speaking part of the test in its genuine manner.
Moreover, the main focus of the study was reading comprehension, thus the speaking section was not administered in
this study. Therefore, as a whole, this test had 65 closed-ended items and two open-ended writing tasks; each section
valued 25 marks, adding up to 75 marks on the whole. Before the main administration, the test was piloted with 30
students at intermediate level with the same characteristics of the target sample. Item analysis and reliability estimates
were carried out after the pilot administration and three items out of the 65 total items were found to be malfunctioning
and were excluded. The allotted time for answering the remaining 62 items and the two tasks was two hours.
3.3 Procedure
To achieve the purpose of this study, the following steps were taken:
At the beginning of the study, 90 learners of intermediate level at Novin-Rezvan Foreign languages institute were
selected through non-random selection. Then, PET already piloted among 30 subjects with similar characteristics was
administered to homogenize the participants regarding their overall language proficiency. Next 60 participants, whose
scores fell between one standard deviation above and below the mean, were selected. Then, they were randomly divided
into two groups and two classes so that every member had an equal chance to be located to each group. In the next step,
the participants were asked to fill in Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) questionnaire to measure their
motivation. In fact, the researcher gave a pre-motivation questionnaire to the students before teaching the reading
strategies. From the second session on, the regular class teaching syllabus contained teaching and practicing section one
of the reading strategies for five sessions. After that these two groups were taught the same strategies and then a reading
comprehension test was administrated. For self-assessment group (experimental group), the students were assessed by
the students themselves, while the students of the control group received instruction on the same reading strategies and
practice those strategies, but there was no self-assessment given to them. Instead, traditional teacher-assessment was
used to assess them. After the end of treatment session, the researcher required the participants fill out the
Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) questionnaire again to measure their motivation after applying the
treatments. Finally, obtained data was analyzed to test the proposed null hypothesis of the study. The results of the post-
test showed whether using self-assessment and teacher-assessment instruction has any significant impact on the
learners’ motivation.
4. Results and Discussions
In order to fulfill the purpose of this study which was to compare the impact of self-assessment and teacher-assessment
on Iranian EFL learners' academic motivation, the researcher asserted the following question and hypothesis:
Q1: Is there any significance difference between the impact of self-assessment and teacher-assessment on Iranian EFL
learners' academic motivation?
H0: There is no significant difference between the impact of self-assessment and teacher-assessment on Iranian EFL
learners' academic motivation.
The researcher conducted a series of calculation and statistical routines in order to test the hypothesis and come up with
certain results which are explained.
The above research question sought to find out whether self-assessment and teacher-assessment has any strong impact
on Iranian EFL learners' academic motivation or not. The scores in the questionnaire were analyzed. The particular
analysis used was paired sample T-test. Within both experimental and control groups.

Table 4.1 Descriptive statistics for experimental and control Group

Group N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Pre Experimental Group 30 5.0760 .39484 .07209
Control Group 30 5.0773 .55310 .10098
Post Experimental Group 30 5.0773 .55310 .10098
Control Group 30 5.1747 .30643 .05595
Table 4.1 shows the results of descriptive statistics for the two groups. Experimental group is the self-assessment and
control group is related to the teacher-assessment. As it can be observed, the experimental group has M=5.0760 and
SD=.39 in the pre-motivation questionnaire, and M=5.0773 and SD=.55 in the post-motivation questionnaire. Based on
the obtained results, the difference between the scores of the pre and post-motivation tests in the experimental group or
the self-assessment is insignificant. In addition, the results of the control group indicates M=5.0773 and SD=.55 in the
pre-motivation questionnaire, and M=5.1747 and SD=.30 in the post-motivation questionnaire.
 ALLS 6(6):74-79, 2015 77
4.2 Paired Samples Test for the experimental group
Paired Differences t df Sig. (2-
Mean Std. Std. 95% Confidence tailed)
Deviati Error Interval of the
on Mean Difference
Lower Upper
Pair 1 PRE - -.00133 .64309 .11741 -.24147 .23880 -.011 29 .045
POST

Table 4.2 contains the results of the paired sample test for the pre- and post-motivation tests in the experimental group
or the self-assessment group. As it can be seen, the differences between the scores of the motivation questionnaires in
the pre- and post-motivation in the experimental group are significant since the level of significance is .045 which is
smaller than the threshold level 0.05.

4.3 Paired Samples Test for the control group

Paired Differences t df Sig. (2-
tailed)
Mean Std. Std. 95% Confidence
Deviatio Error Interval of the
n Mean Difference
Lower Upper
Pair 1 PRE - -.09733 .68853 .12571 -.35444 .15977 -.774 29 .445
POST

Based on the results of table 4.3, the paired sample test is utilized for the control group or the teacher-assessment group.
A close look at the table indicated that the significance level is .44 >0.05, indicating that there are not statistically
significant differences between the scores of the pre- and post-motivation tests.

4.4 Independent Samples Test experimental and control group

Levene's Test for t-test for Equality of Means

Equality of Variances
F Sig. t df Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence
tailed) Difference Difference Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper

P Equal variances 4.341 .042 -.011 58 .991 -.00133 .12407 -.24969 .24703
R assumed
E Equal variances -.011 52.464 .991 -.00133 .12407 -.25025 .24759
not assumed

Table 4.4 shows the independent sample test of both experimental and control groups for the pre-test. The equal
variance assumption was examined to conduct the independent sample test. To this end, the Leven’s test for equality of
variances was used in order to investigate the equal variance assumption. The obtained results indicated that the level of
significance of the Leven’s test (.04) is lower than .05, suggesting that the equal variance assumption is not supported.
Hence, the second row of data is examined regarding the mean score of the t-test. In addition, the results indicated that
the level of significance of the t-test (-.011) for the equality of means is .99 that is higher than the level of significance
.05, indicating that the differences between the mean scores of both experimental and control groups in the pre-test are
not statistically significant.
4.1 Post-test Results
The researcher administrated the motivation post-test to both experimental and control groups once the treatment period
was over for each of them.
4.2 Post-Test Descriptive Statistics
To test the null hypothesis which stated there is no significant difference between the effects of self-assessment and
teacher-assessment on the EFL learners' motivation, an independent samples t-test had to be run to compare the mean
scores of both groups. The descriptive statistics of the motivation post-test of both groups are shown in Table 4.5.
 ALLS 6(6):74-79, 2015 78
Table 4.5 Descriptive Statistics of the motivation Post-test
group N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error
Mean
POST experiment= self- 30 5.2117 .49134 .08971
assessment
control= teacher- 30 5.1747 .30643 .05595
assessment

As Table 4.5 shown, the teacher-assessment group turned out to obtain a lower mean, namely 5.1747, than the self-
assessment group who obtained a mean of 5.2117. Moreover, the skewness ratio obtained by both groups fell within the
acceptable range of ±1.96, which revealed normality for both distributions. Therefore, the first assumption for running
an independent-samples t-test in order to compare the mean scores of the two experimental groups was observed and as
a result, running as independent-samples t-test was legitimate.
4.3 Testing the Null Hypothesis
To verify the null hypothesis of the study that stated "there is no significant difference between the impact of self-
assessment and teacher-assessment on Iranian EFL learner's academic motivation, the researcher conducted an
independent sample t-test. Table 4.8 shows the independent samples t-test results on the two groups on the motivation
post-test.

Table 4.6 Independent Samples Test for experimental and control group
Levene's Test t-test for Equality of Means
for Equality of
Variances
F Sig. t df Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence
tailed) Difference Difference Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
P Equal 7.763 .007 .350 58 .0034 .03700 .10572 -.17463 .24863
O variances
S assumed
T Equal .350 48.595 .0034 .03700 .10572 -.17550 .24950
variances not
assumed

Based on the obtained results of Table 4.6, the equal variance assumption is investigated to conduct the independent
sample test of both groups for the post-test. At first, Levene’s test for equality of variances is utilized to investigate
the equal variance assumption. As it can be observed, the level of significance of the Levene’s test (.00) is lower than
the threshold 0.05, highlighting that the equal variance assumption is not supported. Therefore, the second row of data
is investigated concerning the mean. The results indicate that the level of significance of the t-test is (.72) for equality
of means. There are statistically significant differences between the mean scores of both groups in the post-test. Based
on Table 4.7, as the mean score of the self-assessment group (5.2117) was higher than the mean score of the teacher-
assessment group (5.0773), it was found that self-assessment group had significantly more significant effect on the
learners' motivation compared to teacher-assessment. In fact, self-assessment as alternative assessment had
significantly more positive impact on the motivation of EFL learners compared to teacher-assessment. Therefore, self-
assessment can provide a motivating and low tension and apprehension situation for second language learning. This
finding is compatible with the findings of Birjandi and Tamjid (2010). Also, they made an attempt to investigate the
role of self-assessment in promoting Iranian EFL Learners' motivation. They investigated the role of journal writing as
a self-assessment teaching in promoting Iranian EFL learners' motivation. The subjects were 60 intermediate learners
in two groups. The experimental group was treated with journal writing. At the beginning and end of the treatment
session, both groups took test for their homogeneity, and filled out a questionnaires concerning motivation. The
findings showed that writing journals play a role in developing the learners’ motivation.
5. Conclusion and Implication
The present study has provided empirical evidence on the comparative study of the effectiveness of self-assessment
and teacher-assessment on learners' academic motivation. With respect to the obtained findings, the researcher came
to a certain conclusion that self-assessment has an important impact on learners' academic motivation. Also, the
researcher provided some pedagogical implications so as to increase the place of self-assessment in Iranian education
context. First of all, To begin with, it may hopefully increase students’ and teachers’ awareness of these powerful
strategies (Birjandi & Tamjid, 2010). In fact, since self-assessment is not common in Iranian educational systems, it is
ALLS 6(6):74-79, 2015 79
hoped that we should raise students’ and teachers’ awareness of self-assessment. Therefore, through the incorporation
of self- assessment activities into everyday ELT instruction, students can gain a better comprehending of the expected
learning outcomes, find their strengths and weaknesses, and set goals for future improvement (Birjandi & Tamjid,
2010). Secondly, by creating a supportive environment in the assessment, the students can have a better understanding
of the learning outcomes (Liang, 2006). For instance, extensive teacher feedback for modeling is an example of
creating a supportive environment in the assessment (Liang, 2006). Thirdly, the teachers who aim at utilizing self-
assessment in their classes should decide on “clear criteria to base their assessment on. Both teachers and students
need to agree on clear criteria to use while assessing the students’ performance” (Liang, 2006.p.1). In fact, He also
mentioned that “well-defined scoring criteria and good descriptors lead to provide a close guidance in the assessment”
(p.1). Fourth, the researchers believe that directed knowledge develop a sense of responsibility, so-called autonomy
(Birjandi & Tamjid, 2010). Fifth, it is recommending that teachers should cognizant of the motivation of the students,
because, they can increase self-assessment easily in their classroom (Giang, 2008).

References
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Airasian, P. W. (1994). Classroom assessment (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw Hill
Coombe, C. , & Canning , C (2002) .Using Self-assessment in the classroom : Rationale and Suggested Techniques.
Retrieved in September 7 , 2010 from : http:// www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/selfasess2.html.
Covington M. V. (2000). Goal theory, motivation, and school achievement: An integrative review. In ST Fiske, DL
Schachter, C Zahn-Waxler (Eds.), Annual review of psychology, 51: 171-2000. Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews
Dickinson, L. (1987). Self-instruction in language Learning .Cambridge University Press.
Dornyei Z. (2000). Motivation’ & ‘Motivation Theories. In M. Byram (Ed.) Routledge Encyclopedia of Language
Teaching and Learning. London: Routledge, pp. 425-435.
Dornyei, Z. (2009). The L2 Motivational Self System. In Z. Dornyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.) Motivation, Language
Identity and the L2 Self. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Erwin, T.D. (1991). Assessing Student Learning and Development, Jossey-Bass.
Harris ,M. (1997). Self-assessment of language learning in formal settings. ELT 51(1), 12-20.
Hotard, D. J. (2010). The effects of self-assessment on student learning of mathematics. The Interdepartmental
Program in Natural Sciences. pp. 1-72
Jack C .Richards & Richard Schmidt. (2002). Dictionary of language teaching & applied linguistics, London: Pearson
Education Limited.
Liang, J. (2006). Overview of Self-assessment in the Second Language Writing Classroom. Paper presented at the
2006 TESOL Convention, Tampa, Florida. Available: http://secondlanguage writing.com/documents/overview.doc.
Oscarson, M. (1989). Self-assessment of Language Proficiency: Rationale and Applications. Language Testing,6(1),
1-13.
Mousavi, A. (1991). A dictionary of language testing (2nd ed.). Tehran: Rahnama Publication
Naeini, J. (2011). Self-assessment and the impact on language skills. Educational Research, 2(6), 1225-1231.
Nakanishi, T. (2002). Critical Literature Review on Motivation. Journal of Language and Linguistics. Vol. 1(3) pp.
278-290.
Noonan, B. (2000). Demystifying Assessment Leadership. Educational Administration, University of Saskatchewan.
2(3). pp.1-20
Rahman, F., Jumani, N., & Basit, A. (2010). Motivating and de-motivation factors among learners. International
Journal of Academic Research. 2(1), p.206-212
Tamjidi, N . & Birjandi, P. (2010) . The Role self-assessment in Promoting Iranian EFL learner’s Motivation .English
Language Teaching , Vol. 3, No. 3; September 2010.
Wang, H., & Wang, Y. (2007) . The Addition of an Affect Test and Self-assessment into ESL Writing Assessment:
Process and Effect . Asian EFL Journal ,20.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Language Testing: an Overview and Language Testing in

Educational Institutions of Bangladesh
Md. Mahroof Hossain (Corresponding author)
Department of English, Z.H Sikder University of Science & Technology
Bhedorgonj, Modhopur, Kartikpur, Shariatpur, Bangladesh
E-mail: Mahroof.hossainsarker@gmail.com

Md. Kawser Ahmed

Z.H Sikder University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh
E-mail: kawser.zhsust@gmail.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.80 Received: 13/06/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.80 Accepted: 05/09/2015

Abstract
Test is procedures for measuring ability, knowledge or performance. Testing can be defined as a method of assessment
and improvement of the students. Language testing in any point is an extremely multifarious task that ought to be based
on method as well as exercise. The results of assessments are used for one or more purposes. So they have an effect on
those who are assessed and on those who use results. The knowledge of the fundamental doctrine of testing is important
for the instructor, as instructors have to make test for the institution as well as for the candidates of the external
examination. Many instructors to do have the right knowledge about testing so that the language test may have harmful
effect on education any they fail to measure what they want to measure. This study aimed mainly of clarifications of
notions of testing system, its impacts on education process and the different steps for a qualified test development. This
article also presents the characteristics of good test as well as it presents a study which is based on the university
students about the test technique that is commonly used in educational institution of Bangladesh. This article will be
helpful for the instructors to develop their testing system and make their teaching an effective one for the students.
Keywords: Language testing, Evaluation and assessment, EFL context
1. Introduction
Today practical language learning is taking place in various non-formal ways. Different organizations are taking many
practical steps but the educational institutions cannot cope with these ones. If they fail to take up the newer ways, means
and technologies, the whole language teaching learning can go to other sectors making the educational institutions lame.
Life-oriented English must be taught to the students. Language is one of the medium of communication. Through
communication one can express his or her idea, feelings and also share his problem to others and as well as can get the
solution of the problem. Language is the most significant tool to make communication. Without language it becomes
quite impossible for a human being to communicate his or her opinions to others and the educational process will not be
possible to continue. This necessity compels us to learn a language and use the language suitably. To acquire a language
or to learn a language is not an easy process, it requires a lot of uphill struggle to learn a language. The objective of this
article is to help language teachers write better tests and by writing good test helps the students to acquire the target
language. The whole article focused on the testing system; it presents the opinion that test construction is a matter of
problem solving, with every teaching situation setting a different testing problem. A well constructed testing system is
not enough to say that it is the appropriate test for testing the candidates. It also requires giving importance to the
philosophy of testing and how they can be useful in practice.
2. Testing
Testing system is an essential part in teaching as it helps us to know the stage of the candidates or the students and
depending on the level we as teachers can take advance steps for the development of their quality.
Testing system may have a constructive or unconstructive effect on the learners. Backwash is known as the effect of
testing and learning. Language test construction and valuation describes the process of language test construction
plainly and broadly.
Davies (1968:5) once wrote that ‘the good test is an obedient servant since it follows and apes the teaching’. The proper
connection between teaching and testing is surely that of partnership. It is true that there may be occasions when the
teaching programme is potentially good and apt but the testing is not, we are then likely to experience from harmful
backwash. This would seem to be the condition that led Davies in 1968 to confine testing to the role of servant to the
teaching. But equally there may be occasions when the teaching is poor or inapt and when testing are able to make use
of a beneficial influence.
 ALLS 6(6):80-84, 2015 81
2.1 Magnitude of Testing
The main problem of tests is that often the test which is organized fail to measure accurately what they intended to
determine. As a result student’s true capabilities are not always reflected. Language abilities are not easy to evaluate.
The first of the test is test content and test techniques.
Reliability is an important criterion for testing. Testing is reliable when it measures consistently. Unreliability has two
factors. The first is the communication between the person taking the test and features of the test itself. As human
beings are not machine and it is difficult for the human being to perform in exactly the same way on two different
situations. As a result we get some dissimilarity in the scores a person gets on the test, depending on the time, mood of
test takers. The second difficulty of unreliability is in the scoring process of a test. When we find different scores are
given by different makers in the equal test to the same candidates the test become unreliable.
3. Objectives of tests
The main purpose of testing is to find out what the students have achieved at the end of the semester or what the
progress of the student’s is during the semester. This kind of assessment is known as formative and summative
assessment. When teachers try to find out the improvement of their students, to observe how they have develop and to
pinpoint out what they should have learned and finally use this information to modify their future teaching plans. This
kind of assessment is known as formative. It can also be a kind of advice to the students.
When the assessment is used at the end of the term, semester or year with a view to measuring what has been gained
both by groups and by individuals, this kind of assessment is known as summative assessment. So language testing
system is important in our teaching arena.
A successful testing system should have the following criteria:
3.1 It should produce truthful measures of the abilities in which we are paying attention.
3.2 It has a useful effect on teaching
3.3 It should be cost-effective in terms of time and money.
3.4 It should be carried out in a proper way and fairness should be maintained.
4. Different Types of Test
Language test are carried out with specific intention in mind. As we use them to gain information about the students, we
may categories tests according to the kinds of information being required. We may put them into the subsequent
divisions:
a. Ability tests.
b. Situation test
c. Achievement tests.
d. Investigative test.
e. Aptitude test.
However, of the several tests mentioned above, achievement test will be the most appropriate one for someone who
wants to find out how thriving a language programme has been.
4.1 Ability test
When it is intended to measure people’s skill in a language without having any guidance in that language it is named as
ability test. Ability test does not have any content or language course. The most renowned ability tests are Cambridge
IELTS and the American TOEFL tests in that they want to have a picture of a candidate’s ability to apply what they
know. These kinds of test are very useful for future and often used by different education bodies, employers and
immigration.
4.2 Situational test
Placement tests are designed to place students at an apposite level in a programme or course on the basis of their present
level of proficiency. It is aim to find out new students into group roughly the same level. This type of test is not related
to any type of course taken so that it start simple but get more difficult to furnish for a number of abilities. It is aimed to
know the general standard rather than test exact language points. The fours skills of testing methods are usually based
on common human experience- something everyone can rely on. An interview is useful as we gauge the student’s
spoken accuracy and fluency at the same time as putting a face to a filing number.
4.3 Achievement test
Achievement test is related to a particular course of study or programme. On the basis of their testing system it is
categorized into two tests. One is final achievement test and another is progress achievement test. The main aim of
achievement test is to find out what has been learnt over a longer period of time.
4.4 Investigative test
The most popular test to pinpoint the areas of difficulty the students faced as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the
students is known as investigative test. The results also demonstrate which areas need revising with the class or
individuals.
 ALLS 6(6):80-84, 2015 82
4.5 Aptitude test
Aptitude test assesses learner’s ‘aptitude’ for learning a language. This type of test tries to measure the students’
probable performances in a foreign language which he has not started to learn. There are many factors that are
considered by aptitude test. These are intelligence, age, motivation, phonological sensitivity and sensitivity to
grammatical patterning.
5. Characteristics of good test
All good tests possess three qualities: Validity, reliability and practicality. However, the supposition that good items
will inevitably produce a good test may not always come true. Test developers, should go one more steps to determine
the characteristics of the total test. In other words, simply putting good individual items together would not be sufficient
for a test to function satisfactorily. (Farhady and Jafarpur and Birandi, 2010). To guarantee the quality of a test other
factors and guiding principles including the administration process and scoring procedures are indispensable. In general
it is noteworthy that an efficient test can be marked by certain characteristics that be considered as cornerstone of
testing; reliability, validity and practicality. (Farhady, et..al,2010). It would be pointless to try to write tests without
basic understanding of the principles behind them. So, a teacher who is constructing his own test or selecting a standard
instrument for use in his class or school understands what these concepts mean and how to apply them.
5.1 Validity
The first criterion of a good test is validity. When a test measures what it is believed to measures it is known as validity.
A number of producers are related to determine the validity. One producers is what exactly the test measures and
another is how well the test measures.
5.2 Reliability
The perception of reliability is defined as ‘the consistency of measurement’ (Bachman and Palmer 1996). In other
words, a test is reliable to the degree that whatever it measures, it measures it every time. Reliability may be of two
types: test reliability and scorer reliability. Thus, to be reliable a test must not be resilient in its measurement. Reliability
should focus on students score that the students should produce the same scores regardless of how many version of test
the candidates takes.
5.3 Practicality
The focal point of practicality is management system. It is not enough for a test to be highly reliable and valid it should
it should also be easy and cheap to construct, administer, score and interpret. So practicality is closely related to cost-
cutting measures in time and in money.
6. Common test techniques that are used in different educational institution in Bangladesh
Test techniques are important to validate students correctly. Test techniques are one kind of techniques that are used to
point out the behaviour of candidates that will tell us about their language skills.
According to Hughes (2003) what we need are techniques that:
7.1. Will extract behavior which is reliable and valid pointer of the ability in which we are interested.
7.2 will elicit behavior which can be reliably scored.
7.3 are as cost-effective of time and effort as possible
7.4 will have a beneficial backwash effect, where this is pertinent.
7. Multiple Choices
Multiple choice items take many forms, but their basic structure is as follows:
There is a ‘stem’
Arif has been here ------ half an hour
And a number of ‘options’, one of which is correct, the others being ‘distractors’. It is the candidate’s task to identify
the correct or most suitable option. Multiple choice scoring is fast and cost-effective. A further significant advantage is
that since in order to response the candidate has only to make a mark on the paper. As it is possible to include more
items; so that it is likely to make for greater test reliability. The difficulties with multiple choice areas as follows:
8.1 The technique tests only recognition knowledge
8.2 Sometimes guessing can bring unknowable outcome on test scores.
8.3 It restricts what can be tested.
8.4 It is very complicated to write successful items.
8.5 It is easy to cheat.
8.6 Backwash may be harmful.

8. Yes/No and True/False items

Where in multiple choice we have several choices to choose the correct option, but in Yes/No or true / false items we
have only two option to choose the correct option. One of the pitfalls of such items is that the test of such items is that
the test taker has a 50% chance of choosing the correct response by chance alone.
 ALLS 6(6):80-84, 2015 83
9. Short-answer items
In listening and reading test short answer is a common test technique. It has particular advantage over the multiple
choices
a. Guessing will contribute less to test scores;
b. The technique is not limited by the need for distractors.
c. Cheating is likely to be more difficult.
d. Items are easier to write.
The disadvantage of this kind of item is that responses may take longer and so reduce the possible number of items.
Another disadvantage is that the test taker has to produce language in order to respond. Scoring may take longer.
10. Gap filling items
Filling a gap with a word is also a common technique in testing. Gap filling items for reading or listening work best if
the missing words are to be found in the text. For testing grammar and vocabulary gap filling items can help a lot. But it
does not work well where the grammatical element to be tested is discontinuous and so need more than one gap. If in
testing the gap filling item is used it is essential for the test takers to give clear instruction that only one word can be put
in each gap. In respect of this criterion we can value gap filling items highly. It is valued because it has advantages of
the short answer technique.
11. A Study
In this section, we shall look in detail at a study which was made to find out the success rate of language test techniques
that are used in the educational institution of Bangladesh.
11.1 Area of investigation
It is true that students are still unable to communicate in English in their daily life in spite they attain good grades in the
public examination in our country. So, It is necessary to change the evaluation system to find out whether students are
becoming proficient at key test vocabulary, grammar and idioms; however, this will not help the students in gaining
effective balanced skills that combine listening, speaking, reading and writing competencies. So there are lots of
complexities in preparing language testing items for a test.
11.2 Objectives
The study was conducted to achieve the following objectives:
a. To find out whether the item used in test are beneficial for the students.
b. To find out the item used in language testing is probing successful in language testing.
c. To find whether the existing language testing system are helpful for the students to learn English.
d. To find out the students suggestions how they think the language testing item should be improved.
11.3 Questionnaires
There is no scope of taking questionnaire lightly because it is a powerful tool for evaluation. It is seen that at present
closed format questions are chosen. Except some Yes/No questions, all are the multiple-choice questions, which offer a
number of answer options. Closed format questions have many advantages in respect of time, efforts and money.
11.4 Subjects
Subjects were 300 students of a University named Z.H Sikder University of science and Technology. All of them were
native speakers of Bangla who were enrolled in two different course named Basic English language and Functional
English and who were judged to be an intermediate –high level of proficiency in English.
11.5 Research Methodology
The present research was a descriptive survey type study. The researchers provide a question paper to all the students.
The students are asked to answer the questions provided to them.
11.6 Procedure of data collection
After providing the questionnaire form, the researcher has collected the information from different classes and the total
number of students was about 300. The collected data were about 300. The collected data were analyzed through the
application of percentage.
11.7 Results
The study was conducted on 300 students among them different types of answers were given by the students.
Most of the students that is around 86% students said that the items provided to them in exam for language development
is appropriate.
They were provided a question that which item is useful for language development. Around 60% give the answer that
multiple choices help them a lot in language development other than other language item used in the exam for language
testing.
ALLS 6(6):80-84, 2015 84
Around 75% students give the opinion that the language item used in the language test makes us to use accurate
grammar in language.
Around 80% students give the following suggestion how the testing system should be and which item they think should
be included in the language item.
a. Language items should focus on grammar.
c. Multiple choices help us to develop our reading skills. So multiple choices item should be included in language
testing system.
d. The language item should focus on all the four skills reading, writing, listening and speaking.
e. Fill in the gaps is effective for language testing because it helps to enrich vocabulary. Fill in the gaps is an effective
item for language testing.
f. Language items should focus on creative skills.
g. Reliable testing item should be included in language testing system.

Figure 1. Diagram of the students’ opinion given on different question shown in percentage

12. Recommendations
We need to take further steps to improve this stream of education. The following recommendations can help a lot for the
improvement of this education system:
a. It is necessary to keep in mind the communicative approach while setting up the questions.
b. Every skill should be tested through different items.
c. It is necessary to set up innovative questions paper so that students can answer them using their knowledge of
English.
d. It is necessary to change the question pattern every year so that the students will be encouraged to read, to learn
instead of memorizing the textbook content.
13. Conclusion
Testing is an important part of teaching process. It can be defined as a discipline of teaching. Whilst Alderson (1997)
and others have argued that testers have long been concerned with matters of fairness and that striving for fairness is an
aspect of ethical behavior, others have separated the issue of ethics from validity, as an essential part of the
professionalizing of language testing as a discipline (Davies 1997). Tests are frequently used as instrument of
educational policy, and they can be very powerful. (Shohamy, 2001).

References
Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for language teachers. Cambridge university press.
Davies, A. (1968). Language testing symposium: a psycholinguistics perspective. Oxford: Oxford University press.
Farhady, H., Jafarpur, A., and Birjandi, P. (2010). Testing language skills from theory to Practice. Iran: SAMT
Bachman, L.F., and Palmer A.S (1996). Language Testing in practice. Oxford. Oxford University Press.
Alderson, J.S. (1997). Ethics and Language Testing. Paper Presentation at the annual TESOL conventions, Orlando,
Florida.
Davies, A, (1997). Demands of being Professional in language Testing. Language testing, 14(3).
Shohamy, E. (2001). The powers of Tests. London: Longman.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Development and Validation of a Materials Preparation

Model from the Perspective of Transformative Pedagogy
Hamed Barjesteh
Department of English, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
E-mail: ha_bar77@yahoo.com

Parviz Birjandi (Corresponding author)

Department of English, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
E-mail: pbirjand@yahoo.com

Parviz Maftoon
Department of English, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.85 Received: 18/06/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.85 Accepted: 07/09/2015

Abstract
This study is a report on the design, development, and validation of a model within the main tenets of critical pedagogy
(CP) with a hope to implement in education in general and applied linguistics in particular. To develop a transformative
L2 materials preparation (TLMP) model, the researchers drew on Crawford’s (1978) principles of CP as a springboard.
These principles provide the theoretical framework of the ELT program in general, but they need to be adapted to the
specific features of L2 materials development. To this end, Nation and Macalister’s (2010) model of materials
development were utilized to base different aspects of materials preparation. The newly developed model has driven 22
principles which was validated through a stepwise process. It was administered among 110 participants in 15 cities of
Iran. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. The results indicated a high level of internal
consistency and satisfactory construct validity. The TLMP model could be conducive for language policy makers, ELT
professionals, materials and curriculum developers.
Keywords: Critical pedagogy, materials development, transformative model, ELT community, development, validation
1. Introduction
Critical language pedagogy (CLP) encompasses a diverse set of approaches in education that has alternately been
referred to as participatory approach, pedagogy of inclusion, pedagogy of possibilities, emancipatory, dialogic, radical,
engaged, transformative, postmodern pedagogy (Giroux, 1988; Hovey, 2004; Kincheloe, 2005; Pennycook, 1990; Shor
& Freire, 1987). It derives its doctrine from different critical theories-including queer theory, post-colonialism,
postmodern, anti-racism and feminism- of the Neo-Marxist Frankfurt school as a revolt to the traditional school (Heras,
1999). The proponents of CLP believe that education is interwoven with social, cultural, political and economic
construction in everyday life to be questioned and urged for progress in a society. They maintain that CLP is a new
paradigm in thinking about education. This paradigm contends that education is influenced by the social structure;
therefore, it can lead to the development of status quo (Kincheloe, 2008). From a CLP perspective, education is
conceptualized as a “vehicle for social control, for ethnic assimilation and reproduction of privileging norms”
(McLaren, 2000, p. 129).
Advocates of CP maintain that education including literacy programs foster direction of development in human beings
(Shor, 1996).This framework has colored English language teaching (ELT) as confirmed by the hegemony of
apolitical, asocial and cognitive-linguistic view of language (Pennycook, 1990). CP incorporates problem posing
method by interrogating the received knowledge. This led students not to be the only consumer of knowledge. Freire
(1970, p.77) criticized a model of language teaching what he coined “banking model”. He posits that this model
endeavors to “control thinking and action, leads men and women to adjust the world, and inhibits their creative power”
(Freire, p. 77). He suggests the problem posing instruction with a transformative perspective that entails learners' real
life issues and engages them in an open-ended process of problem solving (Larson-Freeman & Anderson, 2011).
Drawing from L2 professional literature on transformative pedagogy, transformation refers to a paradigm shift in
perspective that lead the habit of mind to be more permeable (Cranton, 2011). When CP comes to play, both
transformation and action aim to change students’ view (Mayo, 2004). This makes CP different from most other
pedagogies because it invites learners to use their knowledge in a cycle of reflection and action (Wink, 2000). This
doctrine implies that literacy program is unlikely to end in the classroom but will affect a wider society. This point of
view is in line with the objectives of universities as they stand on the pedestal of teaching, research, and service.
However, a large number of them depend on teaching rather than research (Gourley, 2012). To help students to be the
ALLS 6(6):85-93, 2015 86
transformative agents in the society, the proponents of CP suggest that the theoretical framework needs to be in constant
interaction with learners' real life situation so that both knowledge and transformative action are increased (Kincheloe,
2008).
Many practitioners have endorsed the educational side of CLP and its contribution to learners’ critical consciousness.
Upon encroaching CLP, ELT practitioners have started to “engage themselves in an academic debate about the putative
neutrality of ELT and the need to consider the social and political implications of ELT” (Cox & Assis-Peterson, 1999,
p. 434). Currently, some applied linguists (Canagarajah, 1999; Crooks, 2009; Pennycook, 1994; Phillipson, 1992)
highlight the social, political, and cultural notion of CP in ELT. They maintain that ELT is culture-bound and education
in CP endeavors to leave a transformative effect on learners by motivating them to reflect on their learning through
providing a linkage between students’ knowledge and their real life situation in a dialogical method, i.e., interaction
between teacher and learners.
Canagarajah (2005) states that although CP as a new paradigm was introduced to the educational discourse almost two
decades ago, it is practically absent from ELT context. Many authors attribute this to its lack of empirical consequences.
Similarly, Ford (2014) asserts that the last few decades have seen a growing interest in CP both in ESL/EFL contexts.
He argued that despite the great potential of CP, its implications have not been well acknowledged, and most of the
works done have been restricted to the theoretical aspect of CLP. Pennycook (1990, p. 24) states that CP incorporates a
set of ideologies that aims "not only to change the nature of schooling, but also the wider society." However, while
taking a radical critical stance implies emanticipatory and transformative action (Giroux, 1988), a more practical
approach particularly in an EFL context like Iran is reflected in calling materials development and classroom practices
into question. Unlike many related studies (Abdollahzadeh & Baniasad, 2010; Aliakbari & Allahmoradi, 2012; Bruenig,
2005; Cox & Assis-Peterson, 1999; Davari, 2011; Gafarsamar & Davari, 2011) emphasizing the importance of
democratic and oppression free education at the theoretical level, this study gains significance as it highlights the way in
which ELT materials developers can apply this theory to practice.
The general dissatisfaction with the efficiency of the mainstream ELT in Iran has been discussed in an Iranian ELT
context that can mostly be attributed to the centralized top-down educational management and policy. Many authors
(Hayati & Mashhadi, 2010; Maftoon, Yazdani Moghadam, Gholebostan, & Beh-Afarin, 2010) among others criticized
the EFL materials arguing that the public schools do not meet the needs of Iranian students. Due to this dissatisfaction,
private English institutes in Iran use internationally marketed materials in their classroom. Reviewing the private school
book series, we see western cultural norms and values are widespread in many EFL textbooks in Iran, leaving very
limited room for the inclusion of local cultures and issues.
Pennycook (1990) highlights that one can conclude that language education will be better prepared to implement its
underlying social, political, and cultural responsibilities if it reflects the tenets of CLP. In the ELT educational context
of Iran, the market demands have led to a highly uncritical approach to language education, which is clearly revealed in
the poverty of studies on incorporating a critical perspective on materials development. Now, given the crucial role of
ELT materials, EFL teachers, and the rapid spread of English in Iran the need is felt to accommodate ELT materials in
the EFL classroom to serve the local needs.
While a growing body of literature argues that CP has not yet started to creep into the practical aspect, this paper
explores the applicability of CP to educational discourse to address this gap. In following this tendency, and with
particular reference to the researchers' own teaching context in a second language (L2) teaching methodology classroom
context of an M.A. level in Iran, this paper aims to develop and validate a transformative L2 materials development
(TLMP) model with the hope to implement in the educational context of Iran. This newly developed model can help
materials developers and EFL teachers incorporate its principles for developing and evaluating ELT materials.
2. Method
2.1 participants
This study adopted a stratified random sampling. The population was stratified according their level of education, type
of participants, and gender. The respondents were 50 prospective EFL teachers, 45 private language institution teachers
holding M.A. degrees, and 15 university instructors holding Ph. D in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL). A
total number of 110 participants, 43 males and 67 females, comprised the subject pool of the present study. Their ages
ranged from 24 to 51. Regarding their teaching experience, 80% of the participants had more than three years of
classroom teaching experience.
2.2 Sampling Procedures
Describe With the absence of a reliable, valid, and comprehensive model to develop EFL materials within the
framework of CLP in the context of Iran, this study attempted to develop and validate a transformative model in order
to implement the proposed model in an L2 methodology course at M.A. level in Ayatollah Amoli University, Amol,
Iran. To develop the model, the major principles of CP (Crawford, 1978) and Nation and Macalister's (2010) model of
materials development were drawn as the springboard. Based on extensive review of the available literature on CP,
Crawford's (1978) principles of ELT curriculum design were found to be comprehensive enough to serve as the basis of
the course. The principles provided a theoretical framework for the ELT program in general, but they need to be tailored
to the specific features of L2 materials development for the purpose of this study. Thus, another preliminary step to take
before developing the model was to think of a framework upon which to base different aspects of materials
development. To this end, the researchers drew on Nation and Macalister's (2010) model of materials development.
ALLS 6(6):85-93, 2015 87
More specifically, an attempt was made to classify Crawford's principles into Nation and Macalister's (2010) categories
as meaningfully as possible so that it would be clear as to what should be done throughout the course. Finally, the
researchers developed the TLMP model. The first draft of the proposed model comprised 22 principles reflecting the
main tenets of CP. To probe the validity of the model, the principles of the developed model were put into a five-Lickert
scale format questionnaire. After collecting the data, the preliminary and final validation were conducted to probe the
content validity, reliability, and factor analysis of the proposed model.
2.3 Instrumentation
2.3.1 TLMP Model
To develop the model, the researchers classified Crawford (1978) principles of CP into Nation and Macalister's (2010)
principles of materials development. In so doing, the literature was extensively searched with the hope of finding a
transformative model for L2 materials development that could be readily used as the instrument of the present research.
After a long and extensive search, the researchers became convinced of the necessity of developing a transformative L2
materials preparation (TLMP) model. Thus the TLMP model was proposed (See Appendix for the principles of the
TLMP model).
2.3.2 Crawford's (1978) Principles of Curriculum Design and Nation and Macalister's (2010) Principles of Materials
Development
Crawford (1978) proposed 20 principles of curriculum design informed by Freire's philosophy. The principles deal with
nine dimensions: (1) purpose, (2) objectives, (3) content definition, (4) learning strategies, (5) learning materials, (6)
planning, (7) teacher role, (8) student role, and (9) evaluation. Crawford's principles need to be adapted to the features
of L2 materials development for the purpose of this study. Thus, the researchers drew on Nation and Macalister (2010)
classification of curriculum principles. Nation and Macalister's (2010) allocate three groups for the principles of
language curriculum development: (a) content and sequencing, (b) format and presentation, (c) assessment and
evaluation. The first group of principles is concerned with what goes into a language course and the order in which
language items should appear. The second group of principles is about to what actually happens in the classroom during
learning, and the last group deals with monitoring, assessment, and, to some degree, evaluation.
After developing the model, the following stepwise process was conducted to probe the validity of the proposed model.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1 In Preliminary Validation, Content Validity for the TLMP Principles
To assure the content validity of proposed principles, five experts holding Ph.D. degrees in TEFL were asked to read
the proposed principles and determine the content validity of each principle. Four indices (comprehensiveness,
relevance, clarity, and wording) were assessed for each principle. The experts were asked to score each of the indices
based on four-point content validity index (CVI) from 1 to 4, corresponding to poor (1), fair (2), good (3), and excellent
(4), respectively. It was calculated by tallying the results of panel of experts, working independently, to evaluate the
principles based on the four indices. Next, the following indices were computed: (a) item CVI, which indicated the
validity for each principle, (b) scale validity index (SVI), which signified validity for the whole model; (c) inter-rater
agreement, which delineated the extent to which the experts agree on the validity of the principles, and (d)
comprehensiveness score, which unveiled how well the experts agreed that the principle was comprehensive. To
compute the item validity index (IVI), the scores were divided into two classifications: (a) good /excellent, (b) fair/poor.
The IVI for each principle (comprehensiveness, relevance, clarity, and wording) was calculated as the experts who
scored the principle good or excellent. For each index, a cut-off point of 0.75 was considered as acceptable validity. The
principles with IVI less than cut-off point were re-examined. What follows presents the information about the content
validity index and the scale validity index for the TLMP principle:
3.2 Content validity for items
The item CVI for comprehensiveness was .93 for 22 principles. The corresponding index for relevance was .90 for the
principles. The CVI for clarity and wording was .84 and .91, respectively. The principles that received a score below .80
for item CVI were revised by the researchers and the experts, and some modifications were made based on consensus.
After analyzing the results, three principles for comprehensiveness, four principles for relevance, five principles for
clarity, and 3 principles for wording were in the unacceptable range. Based on this evaluation, the principles that did
not meet the pre-assumed criteria were modified due to the lack of minimum content validity based of the judgment of
the five experts. Then three other TEFL experts were asked to comments on the modified version. The modified items
with score above .79 were retained as the appropriate items.
3.3 Scale validity index
Using the average approach, the overall SVI for comprehensiveness, relevance, clarity and wording were .88. The inter-
rater agreement for the four indices were .89, respectively. The overall comprehensiveness score rated by the experts
was 93%. Table 1 shows the CVI for the principles of the TLMP model based on the experts' opinions.
ALLS 6(6):85-93, 2015 88
Table 1. Content validity index for the principles of TLMP model
Item content validity index Scale Inter-rater Comprehens-
Validity agreement iveness score
Comprehensiveness Relevance Clarity Wording index

.93 .91 .84 .90 .88 .89 .93

3.4 Final validation: Reliability and factor analysis

At this stage, the researchers needed to assure that the participants understood the principles proposed in the TLMP
model in the way it was intended and the instrument could serve its intended purpose. To make this happen, Dornyei
(2007, p. 112) suggests that a questionnaire should be administered to "a group of about 50 respondents who are in
every way similar to the target population the instrument was designed for."
To pilot the principles of the proposed model, it was administered to 90 prospective EFL teacher, 60 private language
school teachers, and 20 university instructors in 15 cities of Iran. The recipients were informed that their responses to
the questionnaire would be an indication of their consent to take part. A number of received questionnaires were not
usable because the participants had left many items blank or had skipped the demographic section. 110 questionnaires
including 50 prospective EFL teachers, 45 private language school teachers, and 15 university instructors were qualified
for the use. Once the data were collected from the pilot group, the data were fed to the Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences (SPSS) version 20.
According to Dornyei (2007), three aspects of response patterns needed to be taken care of, that is, “missing responses
or signs of misunderstanding, the range of responses elicited by each item and internal consistency” (p. 113). The
questionnaires were scanned for the respondents who had clearly misunderstood the questionnaire (for instance, those
agreeing with all items or with many completely opposite items) or had left many items blank ( more than an acceptable
number to be replaced by neutral). The range of elicited responses by each item was checked by the SPSS software to
“exclude items that are endorsed by almost every one or by almost no one” (Dornyei, p. 113). The internal consistency
of the questionnaire enjoyed a reliability of .79. This reliability index is acceptable and strong in educational research
(Hatch & Lazaraton, 1991). The results are presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Reliability Coefficient for the TLMP model

Cronbach’s Alpha N
.79 110

Measuring the reliability and content validity, however, does not confirm the validity of a newly developed model.
That is to say, a further step is needed to fully validate the model, which is to confirm its construct validity. In so doing
a factor analysis was run. According to Pallant (2005), principal component analysis (PCA) is the most commonly used
approach for the factor analysis. Therefore, PCA was picked to confirm the construct validity of the TLMP model in
this research. The TLMP questionnaire makes use of a five-point Likert scale; that is, the respondents choose out of five
options and score from one to five on each item. Thus, the minimum possible score is 22 and the maximum is 110.
However, some items may be related to a single variable and can be grouped together. In other words, it may be
possible to reduce the 22 items into a smaller number of factors, each covering a number of items related to the same
factor. Thus, the researchers applied factor analysis in order to decide primarily which items should be eliminated from
the list of expressions representing the principles for materials development and then to see if the researchers could
arrange different items related to the same principles under the same category.
Prior to running the factor analysis, the assumptions had to be checked. The first assumption was the inter-correlation
among the variables. To know about inter-correlation among the variables, one needs to obtain a correlation matrix by
running the correlation analysis. In the case of TLMP, the value of determinant is .001, which is larger than .00001.
According to the results displayed in the correlation matrix, none of the items were excluded because there were
significant correlation among all the items and there were no muli-collinearity.
Another requirement is the factorability of the data. Thus, factor analysis was run with principal components chosen as
the extraction technique. Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity (BTS) and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling
adequacy help to determine the factorability of the data (Kaiser, 1970, cited in Pallant, 2005). ) Table 3 indicates the
results of BTS and the KMO. The results enjoy the value of .63 and .000. Simply put, the first null hypothesis
suggesting that transformative L2 materials preparation model will not show a good internal consistency was rejected.

Table 3. BTS and the KMO measure of sample adequacy.

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sample adequacy .632
Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 673.67
Df 231
Sig. .000
ALLS 6(6):85-93, 2015 89
Table 4 presents information about initial eigenvalues, extraction, and rotation data. Eigenvalue is the sum of squared
loading for a factor. It conceptually represents the amount of variance account for by a factor. The results are presented
in table 4. In this table, only the first seven components recorded eigenvalues above 1(4.05, 2.52, 1.62, 1.59, 1.39, 1.36,
1.18). These seven components explained 62.52% of the variance. The table below indicates that the first factor account
for 18.44%, factor 2 (11.49%), factor 3 (7.38%), factor 4 (7.25%), factor 5 (6.34%), factor 6 (6.22%), and factor 7
(5.40) in all 22 variables.

Table 4. Total Variance Explained for the TLMP Principles

Component Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings
Total % of Cumulative % Total %of Variance Cumulative%
Variance
1 4.057 18.442 18.442 4.057 18.442 18.442
2 2.527 11.489 29.930 2.527 11.489 29.930
3 1.624 7.384 37.314 1.624 7.384 37.314
4 1.594 7.247 44.561 1.594 7.247 44.561
5 1.396 6.347 50.907 1.396 6.347 50.907
6 1.369 6.223 57.130 1.369 6.223 57.130
7 1.187 5.396 62.526 1.187 5.396 62.526
8 .971 4.415 66.941
9 .951 4.324 71.265
10 .843 3.834 75.099
11 .777 3.531 78.630
12 .679 3.085 81.715
13 .612 2.781 84.496
14 .553 2.515 87.011
15 .539 2.451 89.462
16 .486 2.210 91.671
17 .440 1.999 93.670
18 .385 1.750 95.421
19 .357 1.625 97.045
20 .286 1.298 98.343
21 .195 .888 99.231
22 .169 .769 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Often running KMO, many components are extracted. Thus, it is of great significance to look at the change (elbow) in a
Scree Plot (Pallant, 2005). Only component above this point are retained. The results are presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Scree plot of the Eigenvalues for a factor analysis on the TLMP principles

Since in the extraction procedure the eigenvalue was set at 1 and above, the extract components have eigenvalue greater
than 1. Figure 1 indicates only the first seven components qualify for this point of view. This means that the seven
components explained 62.5 percent of the whole variance. Thus, it is possible to reduce the original 22 principles to
seven and lose only 37.5% of the information. An analysis of the ScreePlot disclosed a clear break after the third
component. Using the Catell's (1966) ScreePlot, it was confirmed to keep three components for the further analysis.
To help identifying the factors, rotated component matrix was conducted. Table 5 determines what the components
represent.
ALLS 6(6):85-93, 2015 90
Table 5. Rotated Component Matrixa for the components of the TLMP Model
Component
1 2 3
P 7 Time on Task .730 .061 .072
P 4 Fluency .721 -.093 -.109
P 8 Depth of Processing .706 .060 -.168
P 3 Comp. input .663 .051 -.159
P 6 Deliberate Learning .622 -.007 -.246
P 10 Learning style .607 .003 .181
P 9 Integrative motivation .603 .094 -.234
P 5 Output .560 .112 .085
P 11 Frequency .143 .324 .308
P 13 Spaced retrieval .143 .837 -.102
P 14 Language system .193 .775 .098
P 12 Strategies and Autonomy .081 .647 -.184
P 17 Learning burden .032 .525 .397
P 18 Interference -.184 .409 .135
P 21 Teacher role -.110 -.153 .314
P 22 Student role -.165 -.054 .562
P 1 motivation .528 -.147 -.003
P 15 Keep moving forward .076 .514 .428
P 20 Feedback -.270 -.137 .444
P 16 Teachability -.011 .433 .145
P 2 Four strands .329 .223 -.025
P 19 Ongoing needs -.046 .056 .059
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varmix with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 5 iterations.

As table 5 demonstrates, component 1 encompasses principles 7,4,8,3,6,10,9,5,1,2. This set of principles is labeled
format and presentation. Component 2 encompasses principles 11, 13, 14, 12,17,18,15,16. This set of principles is
labeled content and sequencing. Component 3 encompasses principles 21,22,20,19. This set of principles is labeled
monitoring and assessment. The components and their corresponding principles are summarized in Table 6.

Table 6. Components and their corresponding principles

Components Principles
1. Format and presentation 7,4,8,3,6,10,9,5,1,2
2. Content and sequencing 11,13, 14, 12,17,18,15,16
3. Monitoring and assessment 21,22,20,19

The three factor solution explained 37.5% of the variances with component 1 contributing 17%, component 2 11.75%,
and component 3 contributing 8.5%. It should be noted that since items with loading factors below .3 were ignored, the
number of items in the questionnaire was confirmed to 22 principles. Therefore, the final validated version of the TLMP
model was used for the main study.
The TLMP model is in line with Aghagolzadeh and Davari (2012) who strongly believe in empowering learners to
make them the agent of transformation in the local and global arenas and reducing the cultural and social implications
of English in a country such as Iran. They suggest bringing CP in to play as an alternative approach in ELT. However,
they did not propose a practical guideline in order to apply the principles of CP into EFL classroom in Iran. It is also in
line with a number of studies (Akbari, 2008; Aliakbari and Faraji,2011; Kumaradivelu, 2001) among others provide
some useful suggestions for introducing CP into ELT classrooms, but these suggestions are still very broad without a
practical framework to be applied in an EFL classroom. The proposed model contradicts with the findings of (Baladi,
2007; Gore, 1993; Kanpol, 2009; Sarroub & Quadros, 2015) who consider CP as a critical educational theory, which is
restricted at the theoretical level. Likewise, Pennycook (2001) believes that CP has been its inclination to "remain at the
level of grand theorizing rather than pedagogical practice" (p. 130). Similarly, Johnson (1999) makes the same point
arguing that CP is not enough "to capture the complex essence of teaching especially of EFL/ESL" (p. 564). Put
ALLS 6(6):85-93, 2015 91
differently, they believe that there is no room for the practical aspect of CP in the classroom discourse. The same critics
might level toward the newly-developed model. Such a claim can be justified by the promising findings of the present
study. Thus the proposed model suggests that one should avoid jumping to this conclusion that CP is only at the
theoretical level and devoid applicability.
4. Conclusion
The pedagogical implication of CLP in education, in general, and applied linguistics in particular, led the evolution of
critical viewpoint toward ELT industry. While there is a body of literature that considers the theory of CP, Shor (1996)
and Sweet (1998) among others assert that there is less literature that addresses the ways in which EFL/ESL teachers
and materials developers apply this theory in practice. Some authors like Kumaradivelu (2001) have attempted to
present some guidelines for the post-method learners, teachers and teacher educator, but still some of these guidelines
might not be very practical. In a similar vein, Akbari (2008) provides some useful suggestions for introducing CP into
ELT classrooms, but these suggestions are still very broad without a practical framework to be applied in the classroom.
Similarly, Aliakbari and Faraji (2011) recommend the application of CP in ELT classrooms, but they did not provide
practical guidelines/principles for implementing this theoretical underpinning of CP in a classroom.
To address the gap, the present study was conducted as a preliminary step to develop and validate a transformative
model for materials development. The proposed model has driven 22 principles that reflect students' real life situation in
a dialogical method. This model aimed to foster learners' critical awareness, and critical consciousness, as well as help
them become critical reflective by a linkage between theory and practice so that they find the pedagogical application.
The model considers teaching as a cycle of reflection and action by embracing learners’ critical needs analysis. The
TLMP model suggests that critical ELT materials should co-built around problem posing by inviting learners examine
the course content from the practical context of the classroom. It highlights that as much as possible should be spent
focusing on reflective task to foster learners’ intellectual ability. ELT materials should integrate both social
development and language skill development to aid students surpasses the understanding of the texts. In addition, the
language focus should speed up both collective social transformation and cognitive development, and learners should
have an opportunity to work with materials in the ways that most suit their culture, society, and learning style. The
model suggests that both students’ critical language awareness and their linguistic skills should be evaluated through
self-assessment and dynamic assessment. Students are active decision makers who participate in assessing their
performance. Materials should consider teacher as a coordinator, a co-learner, and a problem poser. The TLMP model
was developed and validated in an educational context of Iran with the hope to implement in the ESL/EFL context.
This model aimed to develop learners’ critical consciousness. Many authors believe that CP is an ivory tower in the
EFL/ESL contexts. Gore (1993) criticizes CP as it lacks applicability. She maintains that CP offers too little strategies
to use in practice. Thus, she considers CP as an educational theory rather than pedagogy. Keesing-Styles (2003)
postulates that critical theorists provide little account for what attempts are made within their classrooms to implement
the principles of CP that they espouse. Similar criticism might also level against the newly developed model. Such
criticism might be justified to this claim that “one cannot give the ten steps for a critical pedagogy” (Kanpol, 1998, p.
3). Each situation is different. CP struggles against any formulaic enterprise in which learners are regarded as passive
recipients of deposits of prescribed materials. Therefore, the main feature of the TLMP model is that it is dynamics of
how CP materials can be developed. The TLMP model could pave the ground for the local materials developers and
EFL teachers as a touchstone to develop and adapt ELT materials in a way that gears to the learners' needs, culture,
society, and learning style. However, teachers should plan for the possible risks and difficulties involved.

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Appendix
Principles of transformative L2 materials preparation (TLMP) model
A FORMAT AND PRESENTATION
Motivation ELT materials should motivate students to reflect on their learning by linking their
knowledge to their real life situation in a dialogical method, interaction between teacher and
learners.
Four strands ELT materials have learners focus on how to make meaning by incorporating their
socioeconomic status.
Comprehensible Materials should help the learners become critical reflective by providing comprehensible
input receptive activity in both listening and reading through discussion.
Fluency ELT materials should make use of discussion through cultural and political topic of great
concern to participants.
Output Critical ELT materials are co-built around problem posing by inviting learners examine the
course content from the practical context of the classroom in both speaking and writing.
Deliberate learning Materials should foster an enriched language learning context by drawing explicit linkage
between theory and practice so that learners find the pedagogical application.
Time on task As much as possible should be spent focusing on reflective tasks to foster learners’
intellectual ability.
Depth of processing ELT materials should help learners process the course content thoughtfully (develop their
critical literacy) by in-depth analysis of the discussed topic.
Integrative ELT materials should integrate both social development and language skill development to
Motivation go beyond the understanding of the texts.
Learning style Learning materials in ways that most suit their culture, society, and learning style.

B CONTENT AND SEQUENCING

Frequency Contents should be negotiated with the best possible coverage of humanized pedagogy.
Strategies and Materials should help learners become self-directed through contextualization
autonomy
Spaced retrieval ELT materials should provide repeated opportunities for learners to retrieve information
from authentic materials.
Language system The language focus should speed up both collective social transformation and cognitive
development.
Keep moving forward ELT material should progressively help learners develop critical awareness of their own
sociopolitical context.
Teachability Teaching is a cycle of reflection and action by embracing learners’ critical needs analysis.
Learning burden Materials should help learners challenge their own assumptions concerning the course.
Interference ELT materials should sequence from more familiar to less familiar hidden curriculum by
incorporating learners’ background experience into the new context.

C MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT

Ongoing needs & Both students’ critical language awareness and their linguistic skills should be evaluated
environment analysis through alternative assessment.
Feedback Learners should receive implicit feedback that allows them to develop critical thinking.
Teacher role Materials should take into account teacher as co-learner, coordinator, and a problem poser.
Student role Students are active decision makers who participate in assessing their performance.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Lexion: That Which Upholds or Bears an Archetype

Introducing Lex and Lexion to Modern English
Helen Russ
School of Business Western Sydney University, NSW Australia
E-mail: H.Russ@westernsydney.edu.au / helen@helenruss.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.94 Received: 18/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.94 Accepted: 07/09/2015

Abstract
Derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin is a classical language that has influenced modern languages
such as English, French, Italian and Spanish. With its Latin and Greek roots, this paper argues that the word lexion is an
appropriate and necessary addition to the English language. Lex in Latin means, law, syllabus, statute and dharma. Lex
in Ancient Greek means ‘the Word’ or logos. Drawing from Plato, this paper argues that lexion is the lore, law and
dharma that upholds or bears an idea or perfect Form. A lexion emerges at the confluence of forces aligned with the
archetype, thus forming the metaphysical body or spirit of an organisation. It is argued that a new term is necessary to
name this phenomenon as current terms, while appropriate in some contexts, are often inadequate, limited and at times
misleading. This paper outlines the benefits in introducing a new term.
Keywords: archetype, lex, lexion, metaphysical, organisational spirit, Plato
1. Introduction
In The Republic, Plato argued that behind physical phenomenon are perfect Forms or archetypes (Jowett, 1891, Book
V11, p.1165; Louth, 2007). Perfect Forms exist in a non-dimensional, less emanated (incarnated) level of creation. They
are the divine blueprint or essence of what we experience with the physical senses (Louth, 2007; Sagan 2007; Miller,
1974; Jowett, 1891).
This paper argues that a term is needed. Through the process of emanation, a perfect Form will be upheld by lore, laws
and dharma that support, bear and shape its emanation (Russ 2014). At the confluence of forces aligned with the
perfect Form a new 'form’ emerges. Drawing from Latin and Ancient Greek, this paper names lexion as what upholds or
bears an idea or perfect Form (lex). This paper outlines the traditional meaning of lex, from both Greek and Latin, to
renew its use for a modern audience. It defines the modern definition of lex and lexion. Terms such as the corporate
being (Sagan, 2007), metabeing (Bodeau, 1999), egregore, (Delaforge, 1988) a psychic entity (Dubuis, 2000), corporate
angel (Wink, 1986), the metaphysical body (Russ, 2014), the super-organism (Bloom, 1995) and meme (Dawkins,
2006), have been used to describe the phenomenon being considered. This paper discusses why these terms are
inadequate and what are the benefits in the introduction of a new term.
2. Definitions
‘In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’
(John 1:1, King James Version).
This paper introduces new terminology by utilising the original meaning of ‘The Word’, as creative emanating principle
and the original meaning of ‘law’ as the principle of order and structure. The words lex and lexion are re-introduced by
drawing on the original Greek and Latin definitions. The nature of this research demands an explanation of the origins
of the term lex. While original definitions of ‘The Word’ and ‘law’ are important in defining the meaning of the term
Lex, the current scholarly discourse around meanings, definitions and appropriate usage is exhaustive. As this discourse
draws from the original definitions the discussion will be limited as such.
Definitions of ‘The Word’ can be traced to esoteric, religious and philosophical sources at least into early Ancient
Greek times in the work of Heraclitus and Plato (Jowett, 1891; Singh, 1963). In Greek lexis originally meant ‘speech’ or
‘word’ (Harper, 2014). Lexicon was used to describe a compendium of words. Lexicology was the study of words and a
lexicon was the preferred word for dictionary in Greek, Syriac, Hebrew and Arabic (Harper, 2014). Lex relates to the
Greek lexikos, meaning ‘of or for words’, lego meaning ‘to say’, and logia meaning ‘the study of’ (Liddell, 1940;
Harper, 2014). According to Liddell, lex is derived from the suffix logos meaning speech, oration, discourse, quote,
study calculation and reason. Esoteric interpretations of logos define it as the 'divine Word' or emanating principle
(Harper, 2014; Sagan, 2007). The meaning behind lex in Greek refers to both the ‘regular word’ used in every day
speech and a metaphysical definition of ‘The Word’ or logos referring to the divine emanating principle.
The Latin word lex is described as ‘law, precept, regulation, principle, rule, mode or manner’. It is also described as a
covenant, agreement, a condition or stipulation (Lewis, 1891, p.468; Smith, 1855, p.328). The Phraseological Latin–
ALLS 6(6):94-100, 2015 95
English Dictionary defines lex as 'a law, proposed or enacted, a rule or regulation and a condition' (Yonge, 1856, p.291).
By the 1500s lex was defined as a system or body of laws, a particular or specified law (Collins English Dictionary,
2015; Ruby, 1986), but the term has much older roots. In the Bible lex was used as a prefix to laws. For example, in
Ecclesiastes the Ten Commandments are referred to as the Lex Mosi or the Law of Moses crystallising the law of God
into simple instructions (McCullough, 1981). In Ancient Rome, lex was also used as a prefix to enacted laws. For
example, Lex Valeria (509–300 BC) granted Roman citizens the legal right to appeal against a capital sentence (Lentz,
1993). Lex Regia, were royal laws used and enacted by the kings of ancient Rome who held the roles of political,
military, religious and judicial chief (Watson, 1991). In ancient Rome, the word lex preceded any legal ruling.
Singh (1963) suggests it was Heraclitus (535–475 BC) who first spoke philosophically of the idea of law but he argues
that the idea of law was integrated into earlier works of Homer (8th century BC) and into the Ionian ideas (8th–6th
century BC) about world-order, the Pythagorean concepts (570–495 BC) of measure, cosmos and the legal structuring
of society. St Augustine, a Roman philosopher (354–430 AD) was aware of the writings of Cicero (107 BC–44 AD)
when he discussed lex aeterna (or cosmic logos) describing an eternal law (Chroust, 1973; Singh, 1963). Much later
Erasmus discusses the law of God as lex aeterna, lex Divirza and, lex Dei (McCullough, 1981, p.91). The original
essence of the word ‘law’ appears to refer to eternal, cosmic or divine laws; laws that are immutable, unchangeable or
eternal and govern the unfolding cosmos.
Finally from Hindu philosophy 'dharma' has been translated as ‘law’ (Rocher, 1977). 'Dharma' is a Sanskrit word
meaning ‘to hold, maintain, keep’. It is also defined as what is established or firm and therefore law. 'Dharma' is a
complex term encompassing meanings of right conduct, duty, social justice, ethos, custom, quality, model and
responsibility (Arokiasamy, 1986, p.17; Horsch, 2004; Ramkumar, 2010). It is derived from an older term from Vedic
Sanskrit meaning bearer or supporter (of deities) and in a religious sense it is seen as a reflection of Rta (Day, 1982). In
a similar way to ‘law’, 'dharma' is the principle that remains constant and in so doing it regulates the course of change.
It is also that which upholds or bears the law.
The paper argues that sourcing the esoteric essence of the term lex from both Greek and Latin leads to similar
phenomena. Interpreting the work of Plato and Heraclitus particularly suggests that the archetypal meaning of ‘law’ and
the archetypal meaning of ‘The Word’ refer to the creative power that structures creation. To understand the intellectual
standpoint behind this interpretation, it is necessary to provide a context.
3. The context
Plato described creation as levels of emanation from ‘The One’ (Jowett, 1891; Louth, 2007; Miller, 1974; p.xxxi-
xxxiii). ‘The emanation model is a basic aspect of Platonic, neoplatonic and Kabalistic theory, according to which God
created the universe through a process of emanation, or radiation’ (Coudert, 1995). A Platonic cosmology embodies
'The One' or ‘The Good’, which is an eternal unity beyond duality. It is pure spirit, a non-dimensional reality with no
time, space or gravity (Sagan, 2007; Miller, 1974; Leadbeater, 1902). ‘The One is truth ineffable, one touches it, one is
united with it by theoria, but one cannot define it’ (Louth, 2007, p.5). The second dimension was described by Plato as
comprising intelligible (or intermediary) realms embodying the logos or understanding (Langlois, 1971) where attention
is the focusing force (Palmer, 1994). They are fluid dimensional and non-dimensional realms governed by laws of
duality, where laws of time and space are not fixed (Heindel, 1909). The third dimension is material creation or
dimensionality. This level is the visible world, where gravity is the focusing force and laws of limits, time and space
apply (Leadbeater, 1902; Besant, 1912). Plato argued that what we experience with the physical senses is an emanation
of a perfect Form from the world of Ideas (intelligible realms) (Jowett, 1891; Louth, 2007; Rommen, 1998). Confirmed
in ancient Indian texts (Rgv. X65.7) Miller (1974) says that, ‘one aspect is manifested on earth, but the real or vital
essence remains invisible’ (p.14).
‘The One’ described by Plato is immutable, unchangeable, eternal and infinite in its multiplicity (Jowett, 1891, p.676;
Miller, 1974, p.xxxiii). The essential unity of all ‘Being’ is stressed by Heraclitus in his fragment ‘One out of all and all
out of One’ (Singh, 1963, p.42). The world of Ideas or perfect Forms embody the natural unity of 'The One'. Emanation
occurs when Will aligns with a perfect Form or archetype and a reflection of the Form emerges in creation (Russ, 2014;
Miller, 1974, p.xxxi). Each emanation carries the essence of first principles, rules, patterns or laws that make it so, that
govern its existence, that shape its being. Each emanation reflects ‘the laws’ (lex aeterna) within the world of Ideas, the
perfect structure that upholds the perfect Forms.
4. The importance of names
In Cratylus Plato argues that names are linked to the essence of things, to their essential or eternal nature (Jowett, 1891,
p.365-424). Plato suggests that ‘true’ names are first principles aligned with the world of Ideas. True names are living
forms, connected to their perfect Form. According to Beck (1995), the biblical Adam knew ‘the intrinsic nature’ of
things and gave names to worldly phenomenon by translating the divine eternal word. The ‘Adamic signatures can still
be partially read in the words we use for things’(p.58). Beck also argues that the Hindu tradition suggests that
‘individual letter potencies (sakti), ….leave an impression or trace (samskara)’ (p.61). According to Plato, the shape,
sound and structure of letters and syllables are linked to archetypal essences in intelligible realms (the world of Ideas)
(p.372-4). ‘Each word … was the inner specific character or essence of its respective reality’ (Beck, 1995, p.58).
The act of naming something facilitates its emanation. Wolfson (1970) quotes Athanasius when he says that ‘the Word,
is a “generated being” (γέννημα) or a “son” and, as such, he is “the proper offspring (γέννημα) of the essence,” (p.53).
The name is the living form in creation that reflects the harmony in archetypal realms. In the Bible, Adam’s commission
ALLS 6(6):94-100, 2015 96
is to name worldly phenomenon. ‘To know is to name; to name is to know;’ (Ryken, Wilhoit, Longman III 2010, p.10).
In Kabbalah there is a ‘direct relationship between letters, names, words and essence’. ‘God in one fashion or another
created the world using language’ (Katz,1995, p111). By naming, there is emanation. The ‘Word’ is a living Form, it is
shape and sound aligned with an archetype. According to Plato, words are instruments and an instrument used in
alignment with its true Form brings harmony (Jowett 1891, p.372). True names’ have potency, they are connected to
‘The One’ (Jowett, 1891; Louth, 2007), indicating the importance of names that are aligned with archetypal realms.
Plato also argues that the true nature of things cannot be known without studying the phenomenon beyond its name
(Jowett 1891, p372). According to Russ (2014), Miller (1974), Sagan (2007) it is possible to explore the interior essence
of phenomenon through a process of internalisation of consciousness. Metaphysical mapping described by Russ (2014,
p.145-149) sources the archetypal essence behind material phenomenon. In Cratylus Socrates claims that words in
different languages can be sourced to similar archetypal essences the the same way an awl made from different iron is
still drawing from the essence of awl-ness (Jowett 1891, p.372). This paper argues that the archetypal essence of the
terms, ‘law’ in Latin and ‘The Word’ in Greek can be traced to the term, lex which, it is argued are referring to similar
phenomenon.
5. Linking 'The Word' and 'the Law'
Since Plato (428–348 BC) at least, the concept of law has been linked to the quest for virtue which means being aligned
with the perfection in the world of Ideas (McCullough, 1981; Lewis, 2008 p.633). Kessler (1944) argues that Plato’s
objective realism rests on his faith in the existence of ‘absolute values [or in] the reality of Ideas, as the cause of true
being and true knowledge’ (p.35). Kretzmann (1988) quotes Cicero when he says that, ‘the very definition of the term
“law” inheres the idea and principle of choosing what is just and true’ (p.100). According to Plato the engine driving
harmony within the world is the quest for virtue resting on principles of justice (McCullough 1981, Jowett 1891,
Rommen, 1998; Kessler, 1944). Justice is achieved through the principle of reason which is known by being aligned
with the world of Ideas. ‘The just law of the perfect state flows from the principle of reason (logos) by a process of
logic (dialectic)’(Kessler, 1944 p.37). Miller (1974) suggests that the divine statutes of law can be traced to ‘the cosmic
order’ and ‘the right reflecting of which brings well-being’ (Miller, 1974, p.51; Ruby, 1986). In essence ‘true law’ is
embedded within the perfection of the world of Ideas. Heraclitus (frag 91) confirms, ‘human law partakes of the law of
nature, which is at the same time a divine law’ (Singh, 1963, p.467; Ruby, 1986). The quest for law is a quest for the
perfection and harmony of the world of Ideas.
Esoteric scholars suggest that ‘the Word’ or logos is the first emanating principle (Miller, 1974). The creative power
with which the divine manifests the creation (Word, Sagan, 2007). ‘The Word’ (lex) to Heraclitus was the principle of
order and knowledge, that gives structure to the creation. According to Singh (1963) ‘The Word’ is what Heraclitus
(535–475 BC) calls the logos, ‘the principle of “fixed measure” which governs the Cosmos’ (p.462). The Stoic
philosophers identified the term with the divine emanating principle pervading the universe (Rommen, 1998). It is
argued that the ‘fixed measure’ described by Heraclitus is what Plato described as a perfect Form or archetype. The
archetypal essence of ‘the law’ (lex) is embedded within the perfection and harmony in the world of Ideas or the world
of archetypes.
To western esoteric philosophers ‘the Word’ (lexis) is a creative force from which the creation emanates (Miller, 1974;
Sagan, 2007; Besant, 1912). It is the divine emanating principle. ‘In the Beginning was the Word’ (John 1:1, Bible,
King James Version). Lex is therefore the principle of emanation. This paper argues that lex is the emanating perfect
Form, with embedded patterns, rules or laws.
This paper argues that ‘The Word’, logos (lex) is an archetype in emanation through the power of Will and ‘the law’
(lex) is the structure, or archetypal patterning embedded within an emanation. It suggests that at their esoteric source,
‘The Word’, logos (lex) and ‘the law’ (lex) are synonymous. Heraclitus said that ‘“the Word” or logos, the principle of
“fixed measure” which governs the Cosmos, [and] the law that regulates the entire natural and human order are
fundamentally identical’ (Singh, 1963, p.462). Rommen (1998) also links them when he says that “the ‘law” emanates
from the logos, which in turn is itself “the law” of things’ (p.36). ‘The law’ is ‘The Word’, and ‘The Word’ is ‘the law’.
‘The Word’ or logos (lex), the emanating principle, is the fixed measure or law (lex) that governs the cosmos.
6. Lex and Lexion in English
By taking advantage of the original Latin words for ‘law’, and Greek word for the ‘creative word’ or logos and to and
prevent confusion with the modern definitions, the term lex is used. For the purposes of this discussion lex is the
emanating force from (what Plato defined as) the world of Ideas. A lex is an emanating archetype. A lexion is defined as
that which upholds the lex. A lexion is the metaphysical essence behind the visible laws, lore, dharma, conditions,
behaviours, rules, beliefs, desires, patterns, principles and conditions that uphold and bear a perfect Form. The lexion is
the metaphysical vehicle for the lex. The lex is perfect, pure, in harmony with the unity of ‘The One’. It is a force that
by its very nature it embodies cosmic, divine or natural laws or principles. Each lex is a emanation of a perfect Form,
expressing itself. The lexion emerges as convergent Will forces align with the emanating perfect Form.
For the purposes of this discussion, lex refers to 1) the eternal, immutable principles behind the laws that govern
creation such as the law of gravity, the law of the seasons, the law that defines the growth patterns of a seed, the cycle
of life and death, the laws of mathematics, astronomy, physics and geometry; 2) it refers to the essential perfect Forms
behind laws constructed by the State, religions and the individual designed to move towards harmony, 3) it refers to the
ALLS 6(6):94-100, 2015 97
perfect Forms behind the lore or body of knowledge that a group holds about traditions, behaviours, obligations and
rights.
Lex is the archetype in motion, it is the emanating principle, emerging in response to a vacuum, a lack, an emptiness or
a lack of fullness. The lex is the ‘perfect’ response to the vacuum, activated by Will forces aligned with its perfect
Form. The lex remains constant while emanating. The lexion forms as Will forces align with the lex. By definition, the
lexion is the metaphysical form which holds, supports and bears that which remains constant and in so doing regulates
the course of change. The lexion is the metaphysical body that carries bears and upholds the lex within intelligible
realms. It is often recognised as the essence or spirit behind an ideology or group.
Take Rock and Roll, for example. Rock and Roll is a movement, a music style, a way of life, an attitude. For Rock and
Roll to exist in creation, in the world of Ideas as defined by Plato, there must be an archetype or perfect Form of Rock
and Roll-ness. Something divine, eternal, immutable and cosmic. Something that is unchanging and perfect. Something
that is the pure essence of Rock and Roll-ness. The Rock and Roll lex is the emanating perfect Form. The Rock and
Roll lexion emerges as multiple forces of Will align with the Rock and Roll lex facilitating emergence. The archetype
‘is’, the lex ‘is becoming’. The lexion upholds, bears and supports the emanating lex.
In a similar way, an organisation established to ‘serve’ is a reflection of a lexion that emerges from the confluence of
forces aligned with the perfect Form or archetype of ‘service’. Experientially the organisational lexion is the essence
behind the beliefs, attitudes, behaviours, lore, laws, dharma, mental frameworks, rules, patterns and customs that uphold
and bear the organisational lex. It is the metaphysical body behind the visible artefacts of culture. It is beyond the scope
of this research to present a detailed model of the phenomenon that is a lexion, its behaviour, nature and metaphysical
structure. The work of Russ (2014), Bodeau (1999) Wink (1986) and Sagan (2007) can be researched in detail and are
discussed briefly below.
7. Previous studies
The phenomenon of a lexion is not new. Within Western esoteric literature, but also drawing on the work of western
philosophy, psychology and sociology, researchers have discussed the phenomenon using different names. For example,
corporate being (Sagan, 2007), metabeing (Bodeau, 1999), egregore, (Delaforge, 1988) a psychic entity of a group
(Dubuis, 2000) corporate angel (Wink, 1986), the metaphysical body of an organisation (Russ, 2014) and meme and
meme-complex, (Dawkins, 2006) are all terms used to describe the phenomenon being discussed.
Scholars within the western esoteric tradition have described the concept of the lexion. Bodeau (1999) defines what she
calls the 'metabeing' as the composite or collective consciousness within societies, groups and organisations. Bodeau’s
work focuses on becoming aware of the 'metabeing'. She considers it important that people become responsible for their
role within it, as organisational dysfunction can be linked to the health and harmony of the 'metabeing'. Sagan (2007)
describes 'corporate beings', as astral beings that manipulate the functioning of organisations. Sagan discusses corporate
culture and describes the influence of upper currents (world trends or emotional waves) that affect the harmony and
destiny of organisations. The western esoteric tradition refers to an 'egregore' or the psychic entity of a group (Dubuis,
2000, p.8; Delaforge, 1988, p.6), primarily relating to traditions such as the Masonic Lodge, esoteric orders and
churches. These groups wanted to understand the relationship between individuals and the consciousness of the group
with the goal of maintaining organisational integrity. From similar western esoteric roots, Wink (1986), a theologian,
draws on the work of Jung to describe the ‘corporate angel’ which encompasses the public face of organisations and the
shadow. Similar to Bodeau, Wink encourages members of the organisation to consciously address the 'corporate angel'
actively. The focus of these writers is to develop an active conscious dialogue and exchange between the spirit of the
organisation and individual members (Russ, 2014). The primary motive is integrity of the group in the long term.
In 1976, drawing from principles of genetics, Dawkins coined the term ‘meme’ as a unit of cultural transmission and
‘meme-complex’ to refer to a stable set of memes working in concert (2006, p.192–6). Memetics is a theory without a
methodology (Aunger, 2006; Edmonds, 2002; Rose, 1998). It draws analogies with principles of genetics to suggest that
memes, like genes, rest on principles of replication, longevity, fecundity and imitation (Wilkins, 1998; Brodie, 1996).
Memetics is based on an analogy (Edmonds, 2005; Atrans, 2001). It does not have etymological roots and to date there
is no way to test the analogies. Spiral dynamics is a management approach based on the meme-complex (Beck and
Cowan, 1996). Here memes are systems of core values or collective intelligence that are active in any group. An
organising principle, they act like an attractor for mini-memes aligned with its vibration. Beck and Cowan describe
memes as the 'amino acids of our psycho-social “DNA”’ that act as the magnetic force which bind ideas into cohesive
thought packages (p.11). Dawkins initiated interest in a phenomenon that needs discussion, study and critique but the
lack of methodological framework and the fact that he is resting on analogies means that his work has tended to create
confusion rather than clarity and has largely stalled in rigorous academic circles (Russ, 2014).
Russ (2014) links the metaphysical and western esoteric definitions of the phenomenon with memetics when she argues
that Dawkins was attempting to define the metaphysical body of organisations when he coined the term meme-complex.
Drawing from the cosmology of Plato, Russ argues that the organisational metaphysical body is a ‘reflection of a
perfect archetype into emanation through the power of the collective Will of people united in a joint purpose. It is the
metaphysical body or the vehicle of thoughts and emotions for an organisation’ (p.284). Russ argues that the
metaphysical body emerges at the confluence of forces within intelligible realms. The definition proposed by Russ is
the closest to that defined as the lexion, but it also lacks the links to linguistic roots.
8. Discussion
ALLS 6(6):94-100, 2015 98
Researchers have attempted to describe and define the phenomenon of the lexion with greater and lesser success. The
common theme is that definitions have generally been limited to defining the phenomenon as some form of collective or
composite consciousness. A psychic being that is both created by and influences the people who make it up (Dubius,
2000; Delaforge, 1988; Bodeau, 1999; Heindel, 1909; Besant, 1912; Wink, 1986). Writers have discussed the
phenomenon, its behaviour and its relationship to its members, but there has been no discussion that properly defines
and understands its nature. The terms psychic entity of a group (Dubius, 2000), corporate being (Sagan, 2007),
metabeing (Bodeau, 1999) and corporate angel (Wink, 1986) are helpful in that they suggest that there is a
consciousness, a being, a group mind but these terms describe the phenomenon. With no linguistic roots and no
theoretical framework, the term meme (rhyming with gene) tends to create confusion (Russ, 2014, p.21; Aunger, 2006;
Edmonds, 2002; Atrans, 2001).
Currently there is no adequate term that describes the collective spirit behind ideologies, organisations, movements or
nations. Current terms do not provide linguistic clues towards what or how the phenomenon comes into being, its
structure or appropriate management. While current terms are useful in the context, they are limiting and at times
misleading. No word has provided a theoretical structure and background for the phenomenon that is a lexion. No term
recognises its true nature as an emanation of a lex, or archetype.
By introducing lexion, management consultants, corporations, movements and nations have a term that aligns with its
etymological roots both practically and metaphysically. The metaphysical roots of lexion can be sourced to essences
behind what is described as ‘the Word’ and ‘law’ in Greek and Latin respectively. The meaning matches the term.
Terminology structures the nature of future discourse, according to Plato it creates and supports harmony within
creation (Jowett 1891). Inappropriate terminology leads to misunderstandings and confusion. Lexion has etymological
integrity and through its introduction to modern English, scholars have a term that facilitates rigorous and well founded
discourse.
9. Conclusion
Lexion provides meaning that resonates through Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic and English (Harper, 2014). This
theoretical framework rests on the work of Heraclitus and Plato particularly, but many other scholars have contributed
to the discourse and refined understandings. The definitions of lex and lexion are aligned with the original definitions
which mean the term sits comfortably within languages that have been influenced by Ancient Greek or Latin.
Describing a lexion as that which upholds or bears an archetype is a modern definition that brings clarity to a
phenomenon that has been shrouded in mystery. The association with esoteric schools, its lack of definition, the lack of
a theoretical framework and the mysterious nature of the phenomenon itself has hindered open and rigorous discussion.
Defining lex as an emanating archetype and the lexion as emerging at the confluence of forces aligned with the lex
(archetype), describes the phenomenon in a way that is aligned with a vast tradition of scholarly research. Introduction
of the terms lex and lexion provides a platform that allows the concept to emanate, to be discussed, critiqued and
developed.

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Notes
Following convention, capital letters have been used in several places to make a distinction in meaning. When referring
to phenomenon at a non-manifested level a capital is used. When referring the manifested level a small case first letter
is used. For example:
• The term perfect ‘Form’ refers to Plato's’ archetype. The capital ‘F’, is used to differentiate it from a
‘form’ in the general sense.
• In a similar way, the ‘Word’ (capital W) refers to the creative impulse from which the creation emanates
as opposed to the word in general usage.
• ‘Will’ is also given a capital letter, when it is used as a noun. When referring to the Will of people as a
force of consciousness a capital is used. The capital is used to differentiate it from will as an auxiliary
verb, as in I will come to the party.
• In a similar way to Form, Ideas are given a capital when referring to what Plato described as the world of
Ideas.
• ‘The One’, and ‘The Good” described by Plato uses capitals to differentiate it from conventional uses of
the terms.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Mandarin, Suzhou Dialect and English:

Multilingualism in Suzhou
Sibing Xu
Department of Foreign Languages, HKU SPACE Global College Suzhou
No. 1, Ren’ai Road, Dushu Lake, Higher Education Town, SIP, Suzhou, P. R. China
E-mail: spr90125@sina.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.101 Received: 03/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.101 Accepted: 06/09/2015

Abstract
This paper explains the situation of Mandarin, Suzhou dialect and English in Suzhou, the relation between language
policy and language use, discusses the positive and negative consequences that multilingualism in Suzhou might have
for the society, and focuses on the change of language use in Suzhou and provides suggestions for the maintenance of
Suzhou dialect. The multilingualism in Suzhou is a new phenomenon of the 21st century, and has led to different
personal attitudes towards language use and language choice. The right balance among the three, Suzhou dialect as the
local language, Mandarin as the national language and English as the global language, is worth researching for long-
term harmonious development.
Keywords: Mandarin, Suzhou dialect, English, multilingualism, Suzhou
1. Introduction
Sociolinguistics is relevant to the relationship between language and the different context in which it is used (Holmes,
2008). As a subject of exploring language variation and social differentiation, it draws on theory and practice from
diverse fields. Within various subfields of sociolinguistics, multilingualism is an emerging phenomenon around the
world. Take Asian as an example, Singapore has four official languages — English, Mandarin, Tamil and Malay; while
many African countries reported that in officially English Nigeria 80 million people use 400 languages (Edwards,
2002). China is a vast dialectal complex including hundreds of local varieties, each of which can be viewed as a distinct
object for research (Norman, 2003). Therefore, this study analyzes language choices and language use in Suzhou, my
hometown in Jiangsu Province, Southeast China, where we interact, shape and switch under the impact of
multilingualism.
The Suzhou Municipal City has been chosen to be the focus of this study for the following reasons. First, with a history
of more than 2500 years and a tradition of splendid ancient civilization, the city is the heart of ‘Wu Culture’ during the
Song Dynasty (Zhi, 1998). Under the impact of Wu Culture, it emerged numerous Wu dialects since ancient times.
Suzhou dialect is considered to belong to well-defined dialect groups Wu and evolves its phonetic features from time to
time. Therefore, the unique form of written and spoken Suzhou dialect is still in use in different situation. Second,
Figure 1 below shows the location of Suzhou in the southwest of Jiangsu Province. It covers an area of 8848 square
kilometers. According to the most recently released statistical data from Administrative Bureau of Suzhou, the
population of Suzhou was 13 million in 2012, which becomes the second largest immigrant city in China. This is a
challenging demographic, social and economic issue for the city; more importantly, the large floating population has
also influenced the language use in Suzhou. In terms of economy, Suzhou has been consecutively ranked among the top
10 fastest developing cities in China. On one hand, Suzhou is attracting numerous international tourists due to its
UNESCO World Heritage status. On the other hand, with the fast development of Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park
(SIP), those foreign enterprises have bought foreign immigrants whose national language is English, thus stimulating
the need of English (Inkpen and Pien, 2006). Therefore, it is a combination of old and new, oriental heritage and
western culture. Fourth, the multilingualism of Mandarin, Suzhou dialect and English in Suzhou has been selected as
the topic of this paper because Suzhou is my hometown where I formerly studied and lived for more than twenty years,
and witnessed rapid urban development and language situation change in Suzhou all these years. Therefore, I am
familiar with the city and its language identity.
ALLS 6(6):101-106, 2015 102

Figure1. The Location of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province (A Part of Wu District in the Past)
(Source: http://www.johomaps.com/as/china/chinamap1.html)

This paper explores multilingualism in a geographic context in China. Focus is upon the Suzhou dialect, Mandarin and
English languages in their political, social and economic contexts in general. Theoretically, we wonder what the
language facts are in the past of Suzhou, what factors it is to prompt the change of language use in Suzhou, and what
development trend the multilingualism in Suzhou will be.
In order to describe positive and negative consequences that multilingualism might have for a society, the central issues
in this paper are as follows:
(1) Explain the situation of Mandarin, Suzhou dialect and English in Suzhou, the relation between language policy and
language use.
(2) Discuss the positive and negative consequences that multilingualism in Suzhou might have for the society.
(3) Focus on the change of language use in Suzhou and provide suggestions for the maintenance of Suzhou dialect.
2. Literature Review
The literature on multilingualism in a regional context in China will be reviewed with particular attention to the
following two parts:
(1) Review theoretical frameworks of language policy in general, and language policy from particular perspective in
Suzhou.
(2) Look at multilingualism in China with particular focus on Suzhou dialect and its proliferation of English.
2.1 Language and Language Policy
What is language? Language, a set of “very specific universal principles which are intrinsic properties of the human
mind and part of our species”, perhaps is the current best answer given by Chomsky (Chomsky, 1986). However, when
we consider multilingualism phenomenon, it is always in several particular languages with particular dialects and
pronounced with particular accents (Downes, 1998). Thus, language, from this perspective, becomes more complex.
According to Spolsky’s model (2006, Figure 2), language policy is composed of three elements: language practice,
language ideology, and language management activities. Language practice is how a group of people selected language,
and accepted rules of language choice and variety within a speech community (Spolsky, 2011). Language ideology can
not only influence national agendas about language policy, but also impact on personal attitudes regarding their choices
of different languages (Yang, 2012). Moreover, language ideology is a prerequisite regarding the role of each language
and reflects its usage order in a multilingual society (Zhou, 2011). In order to reveal the multilingual ideologies in
Suzhou towards the Suzhou dialect, Mandarin and global language — English, the exploration of language policy is
helpful. Based on Shohamy’s study, the most powerful mechanism that puts the ideology into practice is laws and
regulations (2006). Therefore, the specific policy and language use in the context of Suzhou will be discussed.

Figure 2. A Model of Language Policy

ALLS 6(6):101-106, 2015 103
2.2 Mandarin Language Policy
Based on northern dialects and the normative grammar in modal modern-language works, Mandarin, commonly used by
modern Han nationality, takes the pronunciation of Beijing speech as a standard. Mandarin is the most important
communication tool of modern Han nationality, at the same time a statutory national common language (Huang Borong,
2008).
Language policy maintains the language use within a community, and enables powerful groups to facilitate national,
political, social and economic agendas (Shohamy, 2012). In mainland China, Mandarin has been recognized as the
standard language because of the political and cultural significance (Li and Thompson, 1989). After the establishment
of People’s Republic of China in 1949, Beijing became the national centre of politics, economy and culture, playing an
important role in the process of the formation of Mandarin. At the beginning of the 20th century, the vernacular
movement advocated people to write Chinese the way it is spoken, toghether with the national language movement,
which enhanced the representativeness of Beijing speech colloquially. It serves to promote the standardization process
of Mandarin as the national language (Chao, 1971; Duanmu, 2002).
The constitution of China stipulates that the state promotes the nationwide use of Mandarin, out of consideration for its
importance. The promotion of Mandarin may further break down dialect barriers and favour social intercourse. In the
context of more and more international communication, the further promotion of Mandarin will be helpful in reducing
the difficulties of language communication. According to the policies on the promotion of Mandarin in future, the
following points should be noted (Huang Borong, 2008): First, the teaching-in-Chinese schools at different levels use
Mandarin as teaching language. Second, Mandarin should be used as working language in the official activities of
institutions and enterprises.
In fact, the previous language policy focused mainly on the position and role of Mandarin, however, with the
development of ecomomy and culture in resent years, how to banlance effectively the relation between Mandarin and
dialects is facing language policy makers and the topic of this kind does not appear to be fully discussed.
2.3 Suzhou Dialect
China is a populous country with numerous local dialects (fangyan), which can be divided into seven types: northern
dialect (Mandarin dialect), Wu dialect, Xiang dialect, Gan dialect, Min dialect, Hakka dialect and Cantonese (Zhou,
2000). Historically, Suzhou used to be the capital of Wu State three thousand years ago, and its dialect is typical of Wu
region, difficult to be understood by the peoples speaking other dialects, and is also a literary language, in which there
have been so many literatures written from the 14th century onward. In the ancient city of Suzhou, Suzhou Tanci, a
traditional storytelling that combines singing, instrumental music and a mixture of narrative registers and dialogue was
popular, but this art is disappearing gradually because the dialectal variation in Suzhou (Bender, 1998). In modern
Suzhou dialect, the co-existence of old and new style stll exists. The old style is what the older generation of Suzhou
says, and sounds quite pure and proficent, while the new style refers to the variation of Suzhou dialect because of
urbanization and migaration. Facing this rapid change, Suzhou government has carried out a local biligual education
policy with the aim of maintaining local dialect for cultural preservation and economic development.
The using frequency of Mandarin and Suzhou dialect in Suzhou has been investigated and examined through
sociolinguistic analysis (Wang Ping, 2003). Wang has pointed out that, in general, the using of Suzhou dialect is
decreasing while that of Mandarin is increasing. Until the 1950s, the natives just talked in Suzhou dialect to the
outsiders, and basically, all the students spoke Suzhou dialect no matter on what occasions. But now students almost all
speak Mandarin in classroom. There are many reasons leading to such major changes, among those are two primary
reasons: the language policy and the greatly accelerated speed of social development. At present, Suzhou is in a period
of unprecedented development and workers have been pouring in Suzhou from all over the country. According to the
statistics in 2012, the population of migrants in Suzhou outnumbered the local inhabitants. In today’s Suzhou, you'd
better use Mandarin in public occasion when talking to strangers in order to communicate smoothly.
2.4 English in Suzhou
Like elsewhere in the world, the English as a global lingua franca appears in Suzhou with a rapid pace. The expansion
of English is mainly due to two reasons. First, influenced by the modernization and economic progress, the English
education in Suzhou has been promoted even since kingdergarden. Studies from a number of fields demonstrated the
history of English education in China (Adamson, 2004; Jin, 1995; Yong, 1995), the changes in English pedagogy and
Enlish curricula (Hevia, 2003; Mckay, 2008, Zheng, 2008), and English learning attitudes and motivation that influence
English teaching and learning (Yihong, 2007; Yong & Campbell, 1995). These studies have been conducted to provide
us an overall situation of English in China. Second, as a historical and cultural city, the development of international
tourism will impact upon the teaching of English. Suzhou attracted a lot of foreign tourists every year, which has
brought the fashion of learning English. Jaworski (2010) has argued that international tourism has impacted upon the
teaching of global languages such as English (Jaworski and Thurlow, 2010).
Along with the acceleration of globalization, the increasing impact of English in Suzhou is obvious. From the
perspective of research, the relation between Mandarin and dialects, the relation between Mandarin and English, have
been discussed, but more complex languge phenomena concerning the relations between Mandarin, dialect and English,
for example, in Suzhou, are less noticed.
ALLS 6(6):101-106, 2015 104
3. Discussion: Multiligualism in Suzhou
After reviewing the language policy and language usage in multilingual context—Suzhou, the positive and negative
effects will be discussed through political, social, economic and cultural situation in this section.
3.1 Positive Consequence of the Multilingualism in Suzhou
Cook (2002) emphasized the main function of language is to communicate effectively. More than ninety percent of
Suzhou citizens have the bilingual capabilities of Mandarin and Suzhou dialect, and in public, Mandarin is still the vital
tool for daily use. According to a large-scale survey carried out in Suzhou (Weiqi, 2010), it shows that Suzhou dialect is
still preferred as the first language and family communication, in the meanwhile, Mandarin dominates in public
situation (See Figure 3 for the language situation). Therefore, Suzhounese are aware of the practical value of Suzhou
dialect and Mandarin, and shift between these two languages for the convenience of communication. The role and
importance of Mandarin is chiefly responsible for the change from the monolingualism of Suzhou dialect half a century
ago to the multilingualism in Suzhou nowadays. Over the past few years, the promotion of Mandarin has made
remarkable effects, especially in educational fields.

Language Number of People Percentage

Mandarin 48 8.1%
Mandarin and Suzhou Dialect 529 89.8%
Mandarin and Other Dialect 1 0.2%
Figure 3. Language Situation of Suzhou Native Primary and Secondary Students (Weiqi, 2010)

English the world over can be seen as a creation of multilingualism today. It is identified as a foreign language with no
official status in many countries, but is increasingly used for the purpose of wider communication (Jessner and Onysko,
2006). It should be pointed out that, for most well-educated Suzhounese, English is considered to be necessary due to
increased mobility and globalization, and the ability to use English is a skill in increasing demand by employers. The
job market in Suzhou provides more opportunities to English speakers, especially international business. In addition to
the career advantages in international enterprise, the domestic market including tourism, social services and education
also encourages multilingual users. In recent years, the enormous growth of foreign tourists has stimulated economic
and social development, among this process, the multilanguage plays an essential role in giving visitors access to the
heritages, modern lifestyles, and culture and traditions of Suzhou. Take Suzhou Tanci, a style of Chinese professional
storytelling as an example (Figure 4), native tour guides usually switch to Suzhou Dialect or Mandarin to provide
unique cultural experience to tourists. Many service staffs from hotels, restaurants and airlines are required to master
English fluently in order to offer active support for visitors. In addition, mass media nowadays has a greater impact on
the daily life in Suzhou. For instance, Suzhou Daily (local newspaper) follows the Mandarin style and syntax with
special dialectal section and English section. There are also several television and radio broadcasts in Suzhou featuring
English programs and dialectal programs, which has a profound impact on the widespread of languages because the
media are such an integral part of our daily life. Edward (2008) emphasized that the media play an active role in the
standardization of spoken and written language, and the process of multicultural globalization.

Figure 4. Suzhou Tanci

3.2 Negative Consequence of the Multilingualism in Suzhou

In Wang’s (2003) study, Suzhou dialect has achieved its dominant position until the 1950s. At that time, a majority of
the immigrants from the north Yangtze Delta engaged in Suzhou’s manual labor or service industry due to historical
reasons. But native people still insisted in speaking mother tongue (Suzhou dialect) to them although they could not
understand sometimes. According to my father’s recall, teachers at that time hardly used Mandarin in classroom, and
ALLS 6(6):101-106, 2015 105
even Chinese teachers spoke little Mandarin, if spoke, with a dialectal accent. All citizens used Suzhou dialect during
their daily life, and Mandarin could be heard only from broadcasts or films.
However, it is quite another story now, and in fact, students almost all speak Mandarin in classroom. With the process
of globalization, the status of Suzhou dialect has reduced to a condition of minority language (Jiang & Ji, 2008).
Through the analysis of language use and attitudes of speakers in economically developed and traditional Suzhou,
Mandarin has acquired its dominant role while English has become a “high language”. The promotion of Mandarin and
proliferation of English does not come without adverse effects.
First and foremost, it renders a host of indigenous language obsolete. The balance between the promotion of Mandarin
and the maintenance of Suzhou dialect is an important task for language planners. Under condition of the successful
popularization of Mandarin, even Suzhou dialect with a significant influence has been threatened, so an issue should be
taken into account seriously: in what position should dialects be? The fact is that Suzhou dialect use has declined
considerably among the younger generation, and its power has been challenged. Speaker’s choice of language
constructs their group identity, in places where there is speech community there will often be same social norms too,
about legislation, politics and unity. Although the promotion of Mandarin nationwide has laid its foundations in the
interests of national unity, being multilingual might strike the balance of regional order, especially under the present
flow of migrants from other provinces and foreign visitors.
Furthermore, compared with English and Mandarin as higher status, Suzhou dialect user has been referred to “lower”
social class; the discrimination based upon their language use will be probably associated with people’s occupation,
education and social relationship.
Finally, the expansion of Mandarin and Chinese has eroded the local cultural heritage and cultural identity. For
instance, Kunqu and Pingtan, two traditional operas among the oldest and most influential arts in Suzhou have been
afflicted with embarrassing situation. Especially young people, do not appreciate the traditional art, and even some
native people, can hardly enjoy it because the linguistic variation. Many operas and other folk arts use dialect as a
communication tool, so the extinction of those dialects will influence the maintenance of traditional arts in the future.
4. Conclusion
Speaking multiple languages enables communications with a larger number of people, and also develops the society
into cosmopolitan city. The global spread of English has brought economic development, cultural assimilation and
English education. Especially in recent years, the growth of regional interest in Suzhou was affected mostly by tourism
industry and international business, which has resulted in the prevalence of multilingualism as a multicultural symbol in
Suzhou Municipal city. However, in the meantime, the loss of local language has widespread repercussions on society
as a whole. Bourdieu (1991) argued that saving market is helpful to save its language. In the developing Suzhou, the
tourism market has been growing with a fast speed, and the Suzhou local government has implemented specific
language policies to enhance the role of Suzhou dialect. It was suggested that teaching material aiming at maintaining
Suzhou dialect for children should be compiled together with the introduction of local history and tradition, as language
and culture are constantly related. Some linguists also pointed out that if it was possible to adjust the policy of Mandarin
promotion from kindergartens to primary school in order to leave spaces for native children’s mother tongue—Suzhou
dialect (Wang Ping, 2003).
In short, the multilingualism in Suzhou is a new phenomenon of the 21st century, and has led to different personal
attitudes towards language use and language choice. The right balance among the three, Suzhou dialect as the local
language, Mandarin as the national language and English as the global language, is worth researching for long-term
harmonious development.

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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Acoustic Analysis on the Palatalized Vowels of

Modern Mongolian
Sangidkhorloo Bulgantamir
The National University of Mongolia, The School of Sciences, Faculty of Humanities,
Department of European Studies Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mogolia
E-mail: sbulgantamir@yahoo.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.107 Received: 15/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.107 Accepted: 04/09/2015

Abstract
In Modern Mongolian the palatalized vowels [ȧ, ɔ̇, ʊ̇] before palatalized consonants are considered as phoneme
allophones according to the most scholars. Nevertheless theses palatalized vowels have the distinctive features what
could be proved by the minimal pairs and nowadays this question is open and not profoundly studied. The purpose of
this work is to determine the acoustic and articulator features of the vowels preceding the palatalized consonants and the
corresponding plain vowels of Modern Mongolian, Khalkha dialect. In the introduction, the definitions on the
palatalized vowels and the previous traditional, experimental analysis of the palatalized vowels are discussed.
Therefore, in the second section we presented the results of comparison of the short palatalized vowels and the
corresponding plain vowels: (1) methods of the experimental study, (2) results of the acoustic features of palatalized
and plain vowels. In result of this observation the formants, the length and the pitch of the short palatalized vowels
differ more or less in comparison with corresponding plain vowels.
Keywords: Mongolian, Khalkha dialect, vowel, palatalized, plain, acoustic
1. Introduction
In phonetics, palatalization refers to any articulation involving a movement of the tongue towards the hard palate.
Palatalization has phonemic or allophonic in different languages. In Mongolian, the palatalized vowels occur before
palatalized consonants and before front vowel [i] in second syllable. In Mongolian the palatalized consonants [pʰʲ, pʲ, tʱʲ,
tʲ, gʲ, mʲ, nʲ, ɮʲ, xʲ, rʲ, wʲ] have contrastive distribution: am (mouth) – amʲ (life); xar (see) – xarʲ (come back home); pot
(think) – potʲ (being); ʊr (overgrowth) - ʊrʲ (invite). But the palatalized vowels are considered phonetic and have
complementary distribution (Vandui, 1961; Moomoo, 1979; Luvsanvandan, 1999; Tsoloo, 2008; Nadmid, 1978;
Ramstedt,; Vladimirtsov, 1987; Poppe, 1955; Sanjeev, 1959; Svantesson et all., 2005; Puthaval, 2011). But some
scientists say the opposite: the palatalized vowels are phonemic while the palatalized consonants are phonetic
(Tomortseren, 1970). From the historic phonetics point of view, the vowel [i] in the second syllable influences and
palatalizes not only preceding consonant but also initial vowel:
CM (Modern Mongolian) xȯnʲĭ / xȯnᶨ (sheep) < MM (Middle Mongolian) qonʲin <
AM (Ancien Mongolian) qonʲi < PM (Proto-Mongolian) qonʲin

[i] in non initial syllables was reduced and while [i] was lost, the palatalized consonant became phonemic, which
influences on preceding pharyngeal vowels. This phenomenon demonstrates the abundance of regressive assimilation in
Mongolian. The influence of front vowel like [i] palatal would be strong: high F2 vowels would have the greatest
fronting effect on adjacent sounds or neutralize it had become allophonic or phonemic. The Khalkha dialect has seven
vowels: [ɐ, ɔ, ʊ, e, o, u, i]. The non-pharyngeal vowels [e, o, u] never occur before palatalized consonants, but only
pharyngeal vowels [a, ɔ, ʊ] suffer the palatalization. In Modern Mongolian the palatalized vowels [ȧ, ɔ̇, ʊ̇] are phonetic
(allophonic) since they occur only before palatalized consonants. In this study on palatalized vowels, we stick to only
phonetic elements of identification, with the exception of phonological pertinence. Of course, the taking into account of
palatalization will prove to be especially valuable at the phonological analysis, but it is necessary to identify it first as
phonetic facts.
When the pharyngeal vowels [a, ɔ, ʊ] are followed by a palatalized consonant, their pronunciation is changed1. Then the
result of this study will help them to find solutions to resolve it. The data of investigation may be used on computational
phonology, e.g. automatic recognition, text-to-speech synthesis, and then it can be used to improve the software of text-
to-speech of Mongolian language designated for the deaf people. In this way we try to give a description of the main
phonetic features as stress, intensity, pitch and formants.

1Mongolian as being characterized by a distinction between front vowels and back or pharyngeal vowels. The vowel harmony rules
are strict in Mongolian. The vowel i was neutral to vowel harmony, it can occur in either class. These pharyngeal vowels become
more closed, centralized and palatalized.
ALLS 6(6):107-110, 2015 108
In traditional phonetics many scientists have studied the palatalization of the pharyngeal vowel in Khalkha in
phonological and historical perspectives. For example, Academician Luvsanvandan (1999) determined that the place of
articulation of the vowels before [i] is in front. Also there may be mentioned researchers Vladimirtsov (1987) who
indicated the nuance and the change of their pronunciation under the influence of [i] and Poppe (1955) who compared
this change in the different dialects as Ordos, Khalkha, Buriat, Chahar and Kalmyk. Professor S. Moomoo (1979) that
defined the phonetic system of Mongolian by experimental means in Russia. Although, he studied only the consonantal
palatalization. Juha Janhunen (2003, p.185) divided Mongolic dialects into two groups based on the feature of
palatalness of their phonological systems, particularly of consonantal palatalization. These two well-defined groups are
palatalization dialects (Khalkha and Chakhar) and umlaut dialects (Khorchin, Kharachin and Juu Uda).
There are few experimental studies on the vocalic palatalization of the Mongolian. Only Svantesson et al., in their
studies on the phonology of Mongolian, made the acoustic comparative analysis of the palatalized long vowels [ä: ɔ̈: ʊ̈:]
and the diphthongs [ai ɔi ʊi], (Svantesson et al., 2006, p.10) concluded that the pronunciation of long and short vowels
before the consonants palatalized change considerably and the final part of the vowel is close to i.
2. Acoustic analysis
2.1 Methodology of the experimental study
The source of words for this data is a large dictionary Mongol xelnii delgergui tajlbar tol’ published by Mongolian
Academy of Science in 2008. Around 54 high-frequency words are chosen and recorded in the phonetic laboratory of
Inner Mongolia University in 2011. The instrumental phonetic investigation is based on acoustic data of those isolated
monosyllabic words2 recorded by a male speaker, S1. In addition, data gathered from two males and a female speaker in
order to check the measurements obtained from S1. All the speakers are native and from Mongolia3. The recordings
were analyzed in the ESPS/Waves+ environment using the speech analysis program Praat 5.2.214
2.2 Results
2.2.1 Vowel length

Figure 1. Word duration (ms). Figure 2. Vowel duration (ms).

In Figure 1, when we compare the duration of the same type words (e.g., VC am / am' and CVC dal / dal'), the duration
of the words with palatalized vowel is shorter than of the corresponding words without. We also compared the duration
of the palatalized and plain vowels in Figure 2 where it can be concluded that the duration of palatalized vowels may be
shorter than their corresponding plain vowels.
2.2.2 F1 and F2
We can see in Figure-3, Figure-4 that F1 of the palatalized vowel [ȧ, ɔ̇, ʊ̇] is decreasing and his F2 is increasing. The
parameters here are the average of the all fifty four words. Furthermore when we observe F1 from the final part of the
palatalized vowel, it is more closed and front than the rest.
Moreover it should be noted that the disparity between plain [ʊ] and palatalized [ʊ̇] is smaller than [ȧ, ɔ̇]. We discuss it
below in the figure 5.

2 VC/CVC type monosyllabic words are chosen.

3 Speaker 1: D. Naranjargal, m., age 27, khalkha; Speaker 2: A. Bilegsaikhan, m., age 20, khalkha;
Speaker 3: Dz. Enkhbayar, f., age 25, khalkha.
4 Software was written by Paul Boersma and David Weenink, Professors of Phonetic Sciences in the Institute of Phonetic Sciences of

the University of Amsterdam.

ALLS 6(6):107-110, 2015 109

Figure 3. Average F1 (Hz) of the plain and palatalized vowels Figure 4. Average F2 (Hz) of the plain and palatalized vowels

Figure 5. F1-F2 (Hz) of the plain pharyngeal ([a, ɔ, ʊ]) and palatalized ([ȧ, ɔ̇, ʊ̇]) vowels of Mongolian

In Figure 5 we can see the change of every pharyngeal vowel and the difference of change degree between [ȧ, ɔ̇] and
[ʊ̇]. This disparity may be related to the feature of [round] of vowel [ʊ̇], which is shown by F3. But in this case, F3 is
almost equal for [ɔ] (2531 Hz) and [ʊ] (2566 Hz). According the acoustic theory of speech production (Fant, 1960),
when the constriction is in the middle, labialization leads to the lowest F2 value and the degree of the effect of
labialization is larger when the constriction is fronted than when the constriction is back. Hence, [ʊ] is more protruded,
back and closed than [ɔ]. When the sound is the most rounded, back and high, it is more insensitive to the palatalization.
Moreover, Moosmüller’s (2006) study on the aspects of vowel formant interpretation found the following: constriction
locations are less sensitive to small displacements, whereas displacements in constriction degree yield monotonous
changes in formant frequencies. According to this conclusion, the constriction degree of [ȧ, ɔ̇,] may be more important
than [ʊ̇].
2.2.3 Pitch
The pitch was measured at the beginning, middle and end of the vowels. In the beginning and middle the pitch was
almost similar for palatalized and plain vowels. (Figures 6, 7)

Figure 6. Pitch in the beginning of vowels. Figure 7. Pitch in the middle of vowels.
Series 1 – corresponding plain vowels; Series 1 – corresponding plain vowels;
Series 2 – palatalized vowels Series 2 – palatalized vowels
ALLS 6(6):107-110, 2015 110
But in the end of the palatalized vowels the pitch was more falling than their plain vowels. (Figure 8)

Figure 8. Pitch in the end of vowels.

Series 1 – corresponding plain vowels; Series 2 – palatalized vowels

Those observations approve what Svantesson et al. (2005) assume that when these vowels (long or short) are followed
by a palatalized consonant, their pronunciation is changed so that the final part of the vowel becomes more [i]-like. But
it is less explicit and less perceptive for short vowels than long vowels.
3. Conclusion
 The measurements show the palatalized vowels contrast with the corresponding plain vowels in the isolated
monosyllabic words.
 Palatalized vowels are more closed than their plain vowels. E.g., [а] is near low and back vowel, palatalized [ȧ]
is middle or low middle and central vowel; [o] middle and back, palatalized [ȯ] high middle and central, [ʊ]
low middle and back, palatalized [ʊ̇] near high and back.
 The sound [ȧ] is most influenced by the palatalization while the sound [ʊ̇] is less influenced. As a deduction,
we could conclude that when the sound is the most rounded, back and closed, it is more insensitive to the
palatalization.
 The length of palatalized vowels is shorter of 30 % than the plain vowels.

References
Boë, L.J. (1972). Introduction à la phonétique acoustique, Grenoble, France: Travaux de l’Institut de Phonétique de
Grenoble.
Bulgantamir, S. (2014). Acoustic analysis of vowels, Acta Mongolica, 14 (385), 19-35.
Crystal, D. (2008). A Dictionary of linguistics and phonetics, Singapore, China: Fabulous Printers Pte.
Fant, G. (1970). Acoustic theory of speech production, with calculations based on X-ray studies of Russian
articulations. The Hagues, Netherlands: Mouton.
Janhunen, J. (2003) Mongolic languages, New York, Unites States of America: Routledge.
Ladefoged, P. (2004). Phonetic Data Analysis: An Introduction to Fieldwork and Instrumental Techniques, Malden,
Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing.
Bold, L. (2008). Mongol xelnij delgergui tajlbar tol’, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: Bembi san.
Möömöö, S. (1979). Mongol xelnij avia züi, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: National Press.
Möömöö, S. (2009). Xel shinjlelijn onol, xėrėglee, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: Admon.
Moosmüller, S. (2006). Some relevant aspects of vowel formant interpretation, Retrieved from
https://www.kfs.oeaw.ac.at/publications/MS2006_vowel_formants_GLS65.pdf.
Nadmid, J. (1978). Mongol xelnij örgöltöt üjeijn jerijn bogino egshig, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: National Press.
Poppe, N. (1955). Introduction to Mongolian Comparative Studies, Helsinki, Finland: Suomalais-ugrilainen Seura.
Puthuval, S. (2011). Comparative Phonology of Regional Varieties of Mongolian, Retrieved from:
http://courses.washington.edu/lingclas/451/puthuval_draft6.pdf
Sanjaa, J., Nadmid, J. (2008). Mongol xelnij aviazüj ba avialbarzüj, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: Press of the University of
Education.
Svantesson, J.-O., Tsendina, A., Karlsson, A., Franzén, V. (2005) The phonology of Mongolian, New-York, United
States of America: Oxford University Press.
Tömörtseren, J. (1970). Xalxijn ayalguunij egshig avianij tarnaishral, SLL Xel zoxiol sudlal, 4, 143-150.
Tsoloo, J. (1976). Orčin üeijn mongol xėlnii avia züi, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Vandui, E. (1961). Mongolyn utga zoxiolyn xelnij avialbar (phoneme), SLL Xel zoxiol sudlal, III, 6, 3-17.
Vladimircov, B. Ja. (1989). Sravnitel’naja grammatika mongol’skogo pis’mennogo jazyka i xalxaskogo narecija:
vvedenie i fonetika, Moscow, Russia: Nauka.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Impacts of Presenting New Words in Semantically-

Related Sets on Vocabulary Learning
Xingrong Wang
School of English, Tianjin Foreign Studies University
No. 117 MachangRoad, Hexi District, Tianjin 300204, China
E-mail: wangingod@163.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.111 Received: 03/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.111 Accepted: 08/09/2015

Abstract
This paper mainly explores the impacts of presenting new words in semantically-related (SR) sets on vocabulary
learning. 38 students from two classes of Grade 2 in Taiyuan Foreign Language School (Senior High School Section)
participate in the whole process. The same vocabulary items unknown to all students are taught to them in 4 lessons.
The difference between the experimental group and control group is that words are taught in SR sets in the former and
in the latter words belonging to the same SR sets are taught in different lessons. Independent Samples T-test is
employed to see if there would be a significant difference between the two groups’ performance in the English-Chinese
translation tests of those words. The result shows that there doesn’t exit a significant difference between the two groups
in SHT test, but in the LT test two weeks later, SU group performs significantly better than SR group. The research
findings may provide some enlightenment for foreign language researchers.
Keywords: Semantically-related (SR) sets, Senior high school students, Semantic field theory, Interference theory
1. Introduction
1.1 Importance of the Problem
Vocabulary learning is important in Second Language Acquisition (SLA). As the famous linguist Wilkins once said,
“Without grammar, very little can be conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed” (1972, p. 111). Then
there comes a question: As vocabulary learning is of such great importance, which way should teachers adopt to present
vocabulary items so as to best benefit the learning?
Presenting vocabulary in SR sets could be seen in many EFL textbooks (Pu 2004, p. 3). Some vocabulary books also
put words of a certain category together to facilitate memorizing (e.g. TOEFL Vocabulary Classified). Besides, many
writers suggest teaching words in SR sets and have their justifications (Nation, 2000, p. 6).
Although many theorists and practitioners endorse this way of presenting vocabulary, there is not enough empirical
evidence to support this position. In recent years, many researchers found that presenting vocabulary in SU sets led to
the best outcome of students, while a minority of them found the contrary was better. However, some of these studies
used artificial words rather than words from a natural second language. And some provided different words to the
experimental and control groups. Besides, few studies in this area have taken senior high school students as subjects;
therefore, in the present study, whose purpose is similar to the previous ones, 38 senior high school students were
chosen as the subjects and the same new English words were presented to both groups in different manners.
1.2 Theoretical Background
Semantic field theory is based on an assumption that the vocabulary of a language consists of many interrelating
networks of relations between words, not of a long random list of words. These interrelating networks are semantic
fields (Channell, 1981, p. 117). It was psycholinguists who established the concept of semantic field (AlShaikhi, 2011,
p. 17) and it was J. Trier, a German Scholar, who brought the semantic field theory to its puberty in the 1930s (Guo,
2010, p. 51). According to Trier’s theory, vocabulary in a language is semantically related and forms a complete lexical
system, which changes constantly, so we should study the words as an integrated system, only in which a word is
meaningful (cited in Wu, 1988, pp. 94-95). In Linguistics: A New Course Book, the relations between words could be
divided into different categories: synonymy (e.g. answer-reply, deep-profound), antonymy (e.g. pass-fail, married-
single), homonymy (e.g. flour-flower, toe-tow), hyponymy (e.g. vegetable: potato, cabbage and carrot), meronymy (e.g.
body: head, neck and leg) and etc. (Liu and Wen, 2006, pp. 120-126).
Interference theory puts forward a different opinion that presenting words in SR sets could not facilitate vocabulary
learning process. The interference theory was formulated by McGeoch and McDonald. In their study, it was found that
when students were presented with synonyms, they performed poorest (1931, p. 587). According to Robert Waring, this
finding, along with others, led to the formation of “Interference Theory”, which states that “when words are being learnt
at the same time, but are too ‘similar’ or share too many common elements, then these words will interfere with each
ALLS 6(6):111-118, 2015 112
other thus impairing retention of them”(1997, pp. 261-262). The interference theory provides considerable explanation
to the poor performance of the SR group in many studies.
1.3 Related Studies
The research on the impact of presenting new words in SR sets on SLA started with Tinkham. He presented related and
unrelated artificial words to 20 nonnative adult advanced-level English speakers and found that the participants learnt
unrelated words more quickly than related words (1993, pp. 371-380).
Waring in 1997 replicated Tinkham’s study in 1993 and the result of his study was the same with Tinkham’s (1997, pp.
262-263).
Finkbeiner and Nicol got the same result as the above two. In the study, they also used artificial words as the material
for 47 undergraduates, but they presented the same 32 words from 4 categories for both groups. In SR group, related
items were blocked into groups of eight, while in SU group, words were scrambled within a block. However, as the 32
items came from 4 categories, it is inevitable that words of the same category may appear in the same block. This
situation also happened in Hashemi and Gowdasiaei’s study (2003, pp. 369-383).
Instead of using artificial words, Papathanasiou in Greece used 120 English words with 60 related sets and 60 unrelated
sets. The result showed that adult beginners performed significantly better in the SU vocabulary tests than in the related
ones, while children of intermediate level showed no significant difference between them (2009, pp. 313-322).
The research by Hashemi and Gowdasiaei showed a very different result. 60 students ranging from 20 to 30 in two
classes in Iran had been taught 100 words and expressions from 13 different lexical sets in different ways in four
lessons, respectively. The breadth and depth of their knowledge of the words were tested before and after the
instruction. The results showed that students in the SR group achieved better results than students in the SU group
(2005, pp. 340-361).
While in China, there were only a few researches in this area and their conclusions all support that of Tinkham. One
was conducted by Pu, in which 100 students of the first year in junior high school were chosen as the subjects. 50
students were taught 20 SU sets and the others were taught 20 SR sets. Students’ knowledge of the words were tested
before and after the instruction (2004, pp. 30-41). Another was made by Zhang and Sheng. 80 university freshmen were
taught 20 new words in SR sets and 20 new words in SU sets. Immediate and delayed tests were given after the
instruction (2009, pp. 18-23).
From the review of the related studies, it can be found that in many studies concerning this topic, words for SR group
and SU group are different. Some presented the same words to both groups, but in SU group the words of the same SR
sets may appear in the same lesson.
2. Research Design and Methodology
2.1 Research Question
This study aims to address the following research question: Are there significant differences between presenting new
words in SR sets and in SU sets to high school students in the SHT and LT tests?
2.2 Sample Description
55 students from two classes of Grade 2 in Taiyuan Foreign Language School (Senior High School Section) in Shanxi,
China took the pretest and participated in the material collection part. However, only 38 of those participants attended
all the sessions, obeyed all the instructions and remained to the last, with 19 in Class One as SR group (the experimental
group) and 19 in Class Two as SU group (the control group). They have learnt English for 7 years and the English
proficiency levels of the two groups, as defined by their mid-term English exam scores, were found to be roughly equal.
2.3 Material Collection
The paper test has two parts. The first part is about basic personal information--- class, sex, years of learning English
and student ID number. In the second part, 105 English words are presented with a blank after each one. Students are
required to put a “√” in the blank if they know its meaning. This part is designed in the purpose to collect the material
for the study. All the words are GRE vocabulary, with at least one third of them appearing on a newspaper for senior
high school students, namely Shanghai Students’ Post. Besides, these words form 31 SR sets, which belong to five
types of relationships---synonymy, hyponymy, homonymy, antonymy and meronymy. The words are presented
sporadically on the paper. 60 words are expected to be collected as the final material for the study. The material must
have two features. First, the material must be words that are unknown to all the students, to ensure that in the SHT and
LT tests, if one writes down the meaning of a word, it is not from his/her previous storage of vocabulary, but is learnt
from the instruction session. Second, in the material, there shouldn’t be any single word which has lost its counterpart(s)
in a SR set (see Appendix I.).
2.4 SHT and LT Tests
Both tests adopt L2-L1 translation, which is because Nation said it “has the advantages of being quick, simple, and
easily understood” (cited in AlShaikhi, 2011, p. 48). One point is given to a student if he/she gives the right Chinese
translation to an English word. The right translation is the translation which is taught in class.
ALLS 6(6):111-118, 2015 113
2.5 Procedures
The study was conducted during normal English class hours and their English teacher was present during all the
treatment phase.
Four days before the treatment, students spent 25 minutes doing the papers for the material collection in class. It was
found only 39 out of 105 words were unknown to all students. Among the 39 words, some lost their counterparts in the
SR set, so some other words were added to make a total of 56 vocabulary items from 22 SR sets. The added words were
tested before every lesson to make sure they were new to the subjects.
Four 20-minute lessons were given to each group to teach the 56 vocabulary items with about 14 per lesson. There was
a two-or-three-day interval between two lessons. Before each lesson, the vocabulary items to be learnt in that lesson
were written on the blackboard, along with their Chinese translation. For the added words, a star mark was written
before it and students were asked whether they knew them. Among all the added words, “emolument” was known to
one student, so the pair of antonyms containing it---“expenditure” and “emolument” was deleted from the total 22 SR
sets, leaving 54 words as the final material. Of the 20 minutes, 15 minutes were used for teaching the new words. The
instruction for both classes includes the pronunciation and the meaning of every word, and the sentences containing it.
For the SR group, words belonging to the same SR sets were taught together in each lesson (see Appendix II.). For the
SU group, words belonging to the same SR sets were taught in different lessons (see Appendix III.).
After the 15 minutes, students were given 2 minutes to review the words. Then the blackboard was cleaned, the SHT
test papers were handed out and students were given three minutes to do the L2-L1 translation. After that, students
handed in the papers, no matter they finished it or not. Two weeks after the instruction ended, the participants took the
LT test with the same 54 items presented sporadically on the paper.
3. Research Findings and Discussion
3.1 Data Analysis
The data collection includes the data coming from the pretest (their mid-term exam), the SHT test and the LT test. The
data for this study are analyzed by SPSS 17.0.
The pretest, which is actually their mid-term exam, was aimed to ensure the rough equality of the proficiency of the two
groups. The total mark of the test paper is 150.

Table 1. A Comparison of the Scores for the Pretest between SR Group and SU Group
Group N Mean Std. Deviation T Sig
Pretest 1 19 137.1579 5.38788 1.910 .064
2 19 133.8947 5.14128

Table 1 shows that the mean score of SR group (m=137.1579, std=5.38788) and the mean score of SU group
(m=133.8947, std=5.14128) are not significantly different (t=1.910, p=.064>.05).

Table 2. A Comparison of the Scores for the SHT Test between SR Group and SU Group
Group N Mean Std. Deviation T Sig
SHT test 1 19 48.6316 4.37430 1.478 .148
2 19 46.0526 6.22248

The full scores for both the SHT and LT tests are 54. The results of the SHT test show that the mean score of SR group
(m=48.6316, std=4.37430) is higher than that of SU group (m=46.0526, std=6.22248); however, no significant
difference (t=1.478, p=.148>.05) is found between the two groups.

Table 3. A Comparison of the Scores for the LT Test between SR Group and SU Group
Group N Mean Std. Deviation T Sig
LT test 1 19 14.2632 9.35618 -2.381 .023
2 19 22.5789 12.00609

The results of the LT test show that the mean score of SR group (m=14.2632, std=9.35618) is lower than that of SU
group (m=22.5789, std=12.00609) and significant difference (t=-2.381, p=.023<.05) is found between the two groups.
ALLS 6(6):111-118, 2015 114
4. Discussion & Conclusion
The present study investigated the impacts of presenting new words in SR sets on vocabulary learning. The results
showed that SR group performed better than SU group in the SHT test, but the difference was not significant. On the
other hand, two weeks later, the results of the LT test showed SU group performed better than SR group and the
difference was significant.
The above result suggests that presenting vocabulary in SU sets may assist the learning of new words better than in SR
sets. This result is in agreement with those of previous researches by Tinkham’s in 1993, Waring’s in 1997 and
Papathanasiou’s in 2009, illustrating that presenting high school students with new words grouped in SR sets impedes
rather than facilitates the process of learning. It should be mentioned that the result reinforces the positions of the
researchers above since in this study the same new words from natural language were given to both groups in different
manners, which previous studies lacked.
The result of the study also adds new testimony to the “interference theory”, which believes less vocabulary gains are
expected when the words are presented in SR sets. However, the result is not in line with the “semantic field theory”,
which claims that vocabulary teaching should make associations between SR words. Some guess when presented with
new words, intermediate learners only need to add them to an existing storage, so presenting vocabulary in SR sets is
best for them (Papathanasiou, 2009, p. 319); however, the finding of this study is against that assumption.
Though psychological researchers provide arguments that words in our brain are related in associative networks (cited
in Hashemi and Gowdasiaei, 2005, p. 343), it does not necessarily mean presenting vocabulary items in SR sets
facilitates the vocabulary learning process. In this study, presenting vocabulary in this way seems not beneficial to the
learners.
Although SU group performed significantly better than SR group in the LT test, SR group performed a little better than
SU group in the SHT test. The explanation for this is that in the SHT test with only about 14 words presented each time,
there are some cases when words in the same semantic sets share a similar meaning with a nuance of difference, and
students are not required to write the difference down, so the Chinese translations are the same for several words, thus
elevating students’ burden of memorizing. But this situation could only happen in the SHT test. When all the 54 words
were presented together in a sporadic manner in the LT test, students in SR group face difficulty recognizing them.
4.1 Recommendations for Further Study
There is still much space left for further study. Firstly, there were 55 students from two classes at the beginning of the
study, but at last, only 38 remained. The size of the sample is relatively small. If more subjects are involved, more
reliable results might be achieved.
Secondly, because of the limited time for the study, the criterion for the choice of words is that the vocabulary items are
unknown to all students; however, some words are not often used at an intermediate level. It might have influence on
the result of the study. In further studies, the choice of the vocabulary items could be more compatible to the students’
English level.
Thirdly, the form of the tests was only about to check students’ grasp of the meanings of words, rather than their usages.
Further study could measure the vocabulary depth of students’ gains of target words in different ways, such as oral tests,
sentence-making and so on.
It is hoped that this study could provide some enlightenment for foreign language researchers. Course designers could
organize the words according to their normal use, rather than in contrived SR sets. Teachers might try different ways of
presenting new words, such as presenting SR items at different times or in different contexts. Students might explore
ways to avoid the interference when learning new words.

Acknowledgement: I give thanks to my mentor Ru Wang who gave me a lot of good advice in the whole process.

References
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learners. Colorado State University: Unpublished M.D. thesis.
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10.1093/elt/XXXV.2.115, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/elt/XXXV.2.115.
Finkbeiner, M., & Nicol, J. (2003). Semantic category effects in second language word learning. Applied
Psycholinguistics, 24(3), 369-383. doi: 10.1017/S0142716403000195, http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0142716403000195.
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unrelated vocabulary instruction. RELC Journal, 36(3), 341-361. doi: 10.1177/0033688205060054,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0033688205060054.
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Liu, R-Q., & Wen X. (2006). Linguistics: A new course book (pp.120-126). Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and
Research Press.
McGeoch, J. A., & McDonald, W. T. (1931). Meaningful relation and retroactive inhibition. The American Journal of
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Papathanasiou, E. (2009). An investigation of two ways of presenting vocabulary. ELT Journal, 63(4), 313-322. doi:
10.1093/elt/ccp014, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccp014.
Pu, H-Y. (2004). Effects of presenting new words in semantically related sets versus semantically unrelated sets on
vocabulary acquisition. Northwest Normal University: Unpublished M.D. thesis.
Tinkham, T. (1993). The effect of semantic clustering on the learning of second language vocabulary. System, 21(3),
371-380. doi: 10.1016/0346-251X(93)90027-E, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0346-251X(93)90027-E.
Waring, R. (1997). The negative effects of learning words in semantic sets: A replication. System, 25(2), 261-274. doi:
10.1016/S0346-251X(97)00013-4, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(97)00013-4.
Wilkins, D. A. (1972). Linguistics in language teaching (p.111). Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Wu, Q-G. (1988). Introduction to semantics (pp.94-95). Changsha: Hunan Education Publishing House.
Zhang, L., & Sheng, Y. (2009). A study of the influence of semantically-relatedness of word-sets on L2 vocabulary
acquisition. Foreign Language Learning Theory and Practice, (4), 18-23.

Appendix I. Material Collection

第一部分 个人基本信息
1. 班 2.性别:男○女○ 3.学习英语 年 4.学号
第二部分 单词测试
同学们，该部分的设计是想了解你是否认识下列单词。这些单词是 GRE 词汇，其中有些已出现在高中生的阅
读材料中。这些单词有一定难度，你不认识没有关系，这是正常现象。请同学们在自己确定认识的单词后面打
勾。（不认识或隐约记得但不确定的单词后请不要打勾）

summon wary ubiquitous linger compensate

capitalize pledge complement distinctive revenue
mimic blaze evacuate sophisticated grieve
dilemma bicker deference hoax fantasy
predator stalk vulnerable profile robust
hail prompt chameleon indigenous hull
prototype rampant dissolve circumspect scant
lag atone exert violate compliment
prestigious expenditure simulate tornado regress
naive gloomy bottleneck squabble adoration
deception utopia prey lurk fragile
guise virile hale boost badger
petal acquired paradigm pandemic prudent
sparse postpone offset utilize infamous
tempest withdraw kernel plight wrangle
contempt delusion mirage facade burly
dwindle clam sprout exotic specimen
prevalent discreet adjourn supplement notorious
blizzard quandary dispute affront falsehood
phantom vigorous configuration impair grouse
pollen drought ostrich sap elate
谢谢同学们的合作
ALLS 6(6):111-118, 2015 116
Appendix II. Treatment for SR Goup
The First Lesson
I synonymy
wary 谨慎的 在认为可能有危险或问题的情况下留神 Public are wary of GM foods
prudent 谨慎的 在金融、财务方面 a prudent investment
discreet 谨慎的 在说话、办事上谨慎 a discreet protest
circumspect 谨慎的 carefully consider all circumstance to avoid error or unfavorable results

utopia 乌托邦 a society with perfect political and social system

hallucination 幻象 Was the figure real or just a hallucination?

II hyponymy 上下义
tempest 暴风雨/雪
avalanche 雪崩 an avalanche of papers 雪片般的试卷

III homonymy 同音异形异义

discreet 谨慎的
discrete 分离的、不相关的 a discrete random variable

IV antonymy 反义
dwindle 逐渐减少 dwindling consumer confidence
accrue 增加（esp. money or interest） Interest accrued to the company from loans.

gradable antonym 可分等级的反义词

affront 侮辱 be affronted by… an affront to sb.
disparage 轻视 look down upon
extol 颂扬 extol sb. to the skies
hallow 把…尊为神圣 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Halloween

The Second Lessson

I synonymy
sparse 稀少的 数量少、密度小 his sparse hair
scant 稀少的 数量少 the scant attendance at concert

stalk 悄悄地跟踪 A man stalked her and eventually killed her.

lurk 潜伏、暗藏 The snake lurks in the grass.

robust 强壮的、强劲的 Australia is known for high living standards and robust economy
vigorous 强壮的、强劲的（与 robust 可以互换）

II homonymy
kernel 核 the peach kernel
colonel (空军、陆军)上校 Colonel Mitchell

III meronymy 整体部分关系

pollen 花粉
sap 树（液）; 活力 the sap of youth
stalk 茎
kernel 核
ALLS 6(6):111-118, 2015 117
IV blending of synonymy and antonymy (近义反义)混杂
evacuate 疏散 Nearly 3000 nearby residents were evacuated.
muster 召集（军队）muster an army
convene 集合（商讨、开会）convene a summit meeting

The Third Lesson

I synonymy
bicker （为小事）争吵 constantly
squabble （为小事）争吵 noisily
wrangle 争吵 wrangle over sth./ with sb.

II hyponymy
ostrich 鸵鸟，逃避现实的人
badger 獾，纠缠 v. Dog packs constantly badger her about her private life.
grouse 松鸡，抱怨 grouse about excessive taxation 抱怨苛捐杂税
fledgling（刚会飞的）幼鸟，初出茅庐的人 fledgling democracies 新兴的民主国家

III blending of synonymy and antonymy（近义反义）混杂

quandary 困境 George was in a quandary---should he go or not?
plight 苦境 the plight of the homeless
bottleneck 瓶颈 the bottleneck of production
weal 顺境 whether for weal or woe,…

The Fourth Lesson

I synonomy
guise 外表，伪装 under the guise of
configuration 外形 fish of nondescript configuration

prevalent 普遍的 Sports are prevalent in America society.

rampant 猖獗的 rampant cheating
pandemic 流行的（病） a pandemic disease

offset 补偿，抵消 The gains offset the loss 得失相当

compensate 补偿 The school apologized and the parents were compensated.
One can compensate insufficiency of knowledge with morals; while he cannot compensate moral deficiency
with knowledge.

respite 缓期执行（死刑）respite a murderer

adjourn 休会 to stop a meeting or an official process, esp. a trial for a period of time
postpone 推迟 put off

II antonymy
fragile 易碎的、脆弱的 fragile emotion
stalwart 强壮的、结实的 a stalwart son

grieve 感到悲哀 It is too late to grieve when the chance is past.

elate 使兴奋 His good grades elate his mom. elated
ALLS 6(6):111-118, 2015 118
Appendix III. Treatment for SU Group
The First Lesson
tempest elate badger
kernel prudent adjourn
pandemic quandary sparse
hallow wrangle discrete
configuration evacuate .

The Second Lesson

affront guise bicker
muster hallucination circumspect
fragile plight scant
accrue grouse prevalent
pollen robust

The Third Lesson

disparage ostrich offset
stalk postpone vigorous
grieve wary dwindle
avalanche weal

The Fourth Lesson

utopia lurk . rampant
discreet sap stalwart
extol fledgling respite
squabble bottleneck compensate
colonel convene
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Genre Analysis and Writing Skill:

Improving Iranian EFL Learners Writing Performance
through the Tenets of Genre Analysis
Nazanin Naderi Kalali (Corresponding author)
Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas Branch, Bandar Abbas, Iran
E-mail: nazaninnaderi66@yahoo.com

Kian Pishkar
Faculty member of Islamic Azad University, Jieroft Branch and PhD Candidate of ELT, University of Isfahan, Iran

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.119 Received: 02/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.119 Accepted: 11/09/2015

Abstract
The main thrust of this study was to determine whether a genre-based instruction improve the writing proficiency of
Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 30 homogenous Iranian BA learners studying English at Islamic Azad University,
Bandar Abbas Branch were selected as the participants of the study through a version of TOEFL test as the proficiency
test. The selected participants were 15 females and 15 males who were randomly divided into two groups of
experimental and control. The both experimental and control groups were asked to write on a topic determined by the
researcher which were considered as the pre-test. The writing of the students were scored using holistic scoring
procedure. The subjects received sixteen hours instruction—the experimental group using a genre-based pedagogy and
the control group through the traditional methodology which was followed by a post-test—the subjects were, this time,
asked to write on the same topic which they were asked to write before instruction. Their post-writings were also scored
through the holistic scoring procedures. In analyzing the data, t-test statistic was utilized for comparing the
performances of the two groups. It was found that there is statistically significant difference between the writing ability
of the participants who go under a genre-based instruction and who don’t. The study, however, didn’t find any
significant role for gender.
Keywords: genre analysis, writing skill, holistic scoring procedure, pre-test, post-test, t-test
1. Introduction
Writing skill as a sub-skill of literacy skills, according to Wall (1981), “range from mechanical control to creativity,
with good grammar, knowledge of subject matter, awareness of stylistic conventions and various mysterious factors in
between” (cited in Gholaminejad, Moinzadeh, Youhanaee, & Ghobadirad, 2013, p. 53). Hence, one of the issues
emphasized by gener analysis is the notion of schemata.
To this end, O’Malley and Chamot (1990) point out that schemata, prior knowledge, and information processing
influence not only the declarative knowledge but also the rate and extent of the information processed by a reader or a
writer. Effectively, culture, similar schemata and prior knowledge, according to O’Malley and Chamot (1990), need to
be considered in the recent models to literacy skills including writing skill.
Bartlett (1932) argues that schema are fundamental in constructing the meaning (cited in Wagoner, 2013). He adds that
schema underpins the "active organizations of past reactions and experiences which are always operating in any well-
developed organism" (Bartlett, 1932, P.201). Bartlett (1932) underscores the fact that world knowledge, language
knowledge, and the insights regarding the texts and forms, i.e. genre are among the information clarified by schema
which in its turn influence the process of literacy skills.
Rumelhart (1980) clarifies that genre function as "a network of interrelations that is believed to normally hold among
the constituents of the concept in question" (p.34). It means that genre, according to Rumelhart (1980), represent "the
generic concept stored in memory" (p. 171).
Notwithstanding, there are two types of schemata, namely, content schemata and formal schemata (Bartlett, 1932).
Whereas, content schema deals with the background knowledge of the readers or writers; the formal schema or textual
schema deals with the formal properties of the texts, including rhetoric or organizations (Bartlett, 1932). Hence, content
schemata, effectively, includes the genres or different types of texts, language structures, vocabulary, grammar and
level of register (Carrell, 1987). Carrell (1987) argues that the focus of formal schemata is on the whole discourse of the
text, whereas, the focus of the content schemata is on the linguistic features of the sentences of the text.
It seems that genre theory has some potential for improving the literacy skills of the students among which reading skill
is worth mentioning as the review of literature denotes (e.g. Alidib, 2004; Shishehsaz, 2006; Minaabad & Khoshkholgh,
ALLS 6(6):119-130, 2015 120
2012). Effectively, genre analysis helps the students to be consciously aware of the genre particular to any text which
seem affect the process of writing production, for example, the notion of schemata is crucial in the processes of writing
which constitutes an element of people's cognition (Bartlett, 1932).
Neverthesles, there is no doubt regarding the crucial role of writing skill for Iranian EFL learners since the learners need
to deal with English writing in their lives, for example as a project assignment, or writing occupational request. The
Iranian EFL learners, who are not instructed in terms of the writing skill, are often lag behind their language-majority
peers in dealing with writing assignments and this issue influences their progress in their majors, since this gap remains
with them throughout their lives. Some researchers argue that the learners can achieve grade-level literacy skills
provided that they receive the effective writing instruction (e.g. Waits, Campbell, Gau, Jacobs, Rex, & Hess, 2006).
The above introduction highlights the necessity for conducting a study since it seems that the Iranian EFL learners have
some challenges in dealing with literacy skills. Accordingly, the researcher attempts to investigate the potentials of
genre analysis in order to provide some bases for improving the writing skill of Iranian EFL learners. To this end, the
study tried to answer the two following questions:
1. Are there any differences between the writing ability of the participants who go under a genre-based
instruction and who don’t?
2. Are there any differences between the performances of males and females in the two groups?

Based on the raised questions the following hypotheses were suggested:

1. There is no difference between the writing ability of the participants who go under a genre-based instruction
and who don’t.
2. There is no difference between the performances of males and females in the two groups
2. Review of Literature
2.1 Genre Analysis: Introductory Remarks
The introduction of genre analysis was emerged by the works of Russian Formalists in the 1920s. Early genre analysis
was, in effect, literary critics who were following the perspectives of de Saussure (Duff, 2000). In fact, the early genre
analysis was focusing on the formal features of the discourse which have a dynamic nature (cited in Duff, 2000).
Hence, Swales (1990) as well as Bakhtin (2004, 2010, and 2011) are among the researchers who played crucial roles in
developing the field of genre analysis. Halliday's (1985) notion of systemic functional linguistics and Halliday and
Hasan's (1976) notion of cohesion can be considered the main backgrounds of modern genre analysis. In modern genre
analysis, linguistic choices which are determined by register, field and mode seem to be paramount.
Halliday (1973) argues about three meta-functions or macro-functions of language as the ideational, the interpersonal,
and the textual (cited in Kumaravadivelu, 2008). Ideational function, based on Halliday (1973), refers to “the
individual’s meaning potential and relates to the expression and experience of the concepts, processes, and objects
governing the physical and natural phenomena of the world around” (cited in Kumaravadivelu, 2008, p. 8).
Interpersonal function, as the second meta-functions introduced by Halliday sheds light on the “An individual’s
personal relationships with people” (cited in Kumaravadivelu, 2008, p. 8) and textual meta-functions to “the linguistic
realizations of the ideational and interpersonal functions enabling the individual to construct coherent texts, spoken or
written” (cited in Kumaravadivelu, 2008, p. 8).
Hence, the interaction between the three meta-functions of ideational, interpersonal and textual which explicates the
role of situational and cultural contexts in genre analysis (Muntigl & Gruber, 2005). Kumaravadivelu (2008) points out
that meaningful interaction embedded in a sociocultural milieu is fundamental for language learning in Halliday’s view
which seem to be in line with genre analysis.
Effectively, systemic functional genre analysis is a social one which considers not only the text but also the context in
which the text is happened which leads into different language patterns (Muntigl & Gruber, 2005). Social-based genres,
according to Muntigl and Gruber (2005), demand six common features of “social-based genres, namely, goal-
orientation, stages or phases, culturally-laden, fuzzy borders, macro genres and semiotic modes” (pp. 3-5).
It is worth mentioning that Swales (1990) is among the researchers to genre analysis which has focused on cognitive
schemata. Bhatia (2004) emphasizes on the shared purpose as well communicative event as the indispensable elements
of any genre. He clarifies that it is the communicative purpose which ascertain the linguistic feature of the genre. For
Bhatia (2004), linguistic features of the genre as well as conventions are crucial alongside the roles considered by
communicative event and shared purpose. To this end, Bhatia (2008) explicates that “although the writer has a lot of
freedom to use linguistic resources …, he must conform to certain standard practices within the boundaries of a
particular genre" (Bhatia, 2008, p. 14). Bhatia (2004) elaborates that:
In more recent years, genre analysis has developed further in the direction of a more comprehensive
exploration of social space to raise a number of other interesting issues, in particular those that
question some of the basic assumptions about the integrity of generic descriptions.’ (p. 22)
ALLS 6(6):119-130, 2015 121
The aforementioned issues suggested that both Swales & Bhatia considers genre through the connection between
"discourse structures to communicative purposes" (Bhatia, 2004, p. 5). Furthermore, Bhatia (2004) observes
conventions as another characteristics of genre which need to be considered. Bhatia (2004) explicates that genre:
refers to language use in a conventionalized communicative setting in order to give expression to a
specific set of communicative goals of a disciplinary or social institution, which give rise to stable
structural forms by imposing constraints on the use of lexica-grammatical as well as discourse
resources.’ (p. 23).

Additionally, Bhatia (2010, p. 32) considers “genre as a configuration of text-internal and text-external factors”. For
Bhatia (2010), text-external properties of genre considers “the notion of inter-discursively as distinct from inter-
textually, which is primarily viewed as appropriation of text-internal resources” (p. 32).
Nevertheless, Bhatia (2010) argues about a multi-perspective model to genre analysis which underscores the role played
by context. To this end, he considers “three levels of realizations as textual, genre-specific, professional practice, and
professional culture” (Bhatia, 2010, p. 33) as the following diagram (Figure 1) illustrates:

Figure 1. Levels of Genre Realization (Bhatia, 2010, p. 34)

Bhatia (2004) argues about a four spaces model which represents a socio-critical perspective as the diagram (Figure 2)
shows. Bhatia (2004), in this model, considers four worlds of discourse, i.e. “the world of reality (Le. the world of
discourse in action) , the world of private intentions (Le. an exploitations of discourse by expert and established
writers), the world of analysis (Le. the role of analytical tools) and the world of applications” (p. 18).
Hence, Bhatia (2004), resorting to this disarm, argues that a multi-perspective model captures the various frameworks
used for discourse analysis. Bhatia (2004) explicates that discourse analysis can be represented in diverse ways “as
discourse as text, discourse as genre, discourse as professional practice, and discourse as social practice” (p. 18).

Figure 2. The four spaces framework (Bhatia, 2004, p. 19)

ALLS 6(6):119-130, 2015 122
2.2 Writing Skill: Theoretical Definitions
Writing is, in effect, the locus in which the writer portrays one’s identity (cited in Doyle & Song, 2005). Ivanic (1998)
argues that writing is composed of the "writer’s portrayal of himself or herself, the reader, their relationship, the writer’s
commitment to the ideational content, their assessment of the reader’s knowledge and beliefs” (cited in Doley & Song,
2005. 94-95).
Homstad and Thorson (1994) state that writing is "a support skill" (p. 6) that is "used to reinforce the acquisition of
grammar" (p. 1)—the perspective followed by the Grammar-Translation Method—or to memorize the correct
language structures followed by Audio-Lingual Method.
The "ideas from writing-to-learn, writing across the curriculum, and writing for academic purposes movements in
composition and English as a Second Language (ESL) have all had an impact on thinking about the place of
writing in second language education" (Homstad &Thorson, 1994, p. 6).
The last three decades show that many researchers have tried to investigate the literacy skills in the domain of second or
foreign language for an example, Nivales (2011) made a study to determine the way through which the second language
writers made use of hedging devices. Hence, 30 undergraduate theses at the Institute of Arts and Sciences of Far Eastern
University were the corpus of her study. To this end, Nivales (2011) explored the introduction and conclusion parts of
the theses using Hyland's (2004) and Mojica’s (2005) categorizations of hedges. Her study revealed that "psychology
writers appear to be more detached while mass communication writers seem more committed" (p.35). Her study also
showed that there were no difference in the frequency of hedges in the Introduction and Conclusion parts of the theses
under investigation. Nivales (2011) argues that second language learners should be consciously raised to consider using
hedging devices in their academic writing since they influence the acceptance of the learners in the academic
community.
Effectively, writing skill is not "a naturally acquired skill" (Myles, 2002, p.1), but "learned or culturally transmitted
as a set of practices in formal instructional settings or other environments" (Myles, 2002, p.1) practice and
experience have positive influence on writing skill.
Myles (2002) argues that writing skill demands the capability to express some information narratively or
descriptively and to transform it argumentatively. Writing skill may demand a range of sub-skills from the more
mechanical to the more complex act of composing (Spigelman & Grobman, 2005). Hence, writing skill is a
productive skill which similar with the speaking skill which demands an "interaction between continuously
developing knowledge and continuously developing text" (Myles, 2002, p. 12). It means that academic writing
pertains "conscious effort and practice in composing, developing, and analyzing ideas" (Myles, 2002, p.1).
Hence, writing skill seems to be a fundamental process in language learning. Chastain (1988) points out that "in
advanced composition courses, the emphasis is on writing as communication, although increased knowledge of the
language system is one of the by-products of writing to express one's ideas" (p. 244). There are two main
approaches in teaching the writing skill, namely, the product approach and process approach (Sun & Feng, 2009).
It seems that any approach in teaching writing need to be selected and adopted based on the characteristics of the
students, the writing assignment, or even the curriculum or syllabus (Spigelman & Grobman, 2005).
The Product approaches to writing refers to the traditional approaches whose emphasis was on the ultimate writing
which is accomplished in three stages, i.e. reading and highlighting the features of genres, organizing the ideas, and
producing the end result, i.e. composition (Steele, 2004).
The Process approaches to writing, on the other hand, emphasizes on a number of class activities with the aim to
foster language use, namely, brainstorming, discussing, drafting, editing and writing (Steele, 2004). Table 2.3
numerates the characteristics of each approach comparing to the other one:

Table 1. Process vs. Product Approaches to Writing (Steele, 2004, p.3)

Process Writing Product Writing
 text as a resource for comparison  imitate model text

 ideas as starting point  organization of ideas more important than

ideas themselves
 more than one draft
 one draft
 more global, focus on purpose, theme, text type,
i.e., reader is emphasized  features highlighted including controlled
practice of those features
 collaborative
 individual
 emphasis on creative process
 emphasis on end product
ALLS 6(6):119-130, 2015 123
Steele (2004) argues that both approaches are beneficial provided that they be applied appropriately, for example,
formal letters or postcards is best instructed using a product-driven approach; whereas, discussion essays or narratives
using the process-driven approaches.
Nunan (1999) argues that process-oriented approaches to writing underpin the roles of writing processes, meaning
making, invention and multiple drafts which appear to be beneficial for the second language learners who are capable to
implement revision strategies.
He also adds the process of writing learning may be influenced by the learning strategies which are influenced
somewhat by the social and cognitive factors.
Effectively, writing proficiency is affected by a number of factors including, schemata, and educational, social or
cultural experiences, knowledge of rhetoric, genres as well as topics of the writing tasks assigned to, along with the
learners' commands of the second/foreign language (Myles, 2002; Langer & Flihan, 2000).
The following deals with two models to language writing which were originally designed for first language writing but
were transferred to the second language writing, namely, Flower and Hayes' (1981) model and Bereiter and
Scardamalia's (1987) model (cited in Deane, Odendahl, Quinlan, Fowles,Welsh, & Bivens-Tatum, 2008).
Flower and Hayes’ (1981) model was a shift from the traditional models whose main thrust were based on linear steps
in writing to a hierarchical relationship between different parts to address the recursive nature of writing. Flower &
Hayes’ model has composed of three main components of “the task environment, the writer’s long-term memory, and
the writing processes” (Flower & Hayes, 1981, p.369).

The following diagram (Figure 3) illustrates the chief components of The Flower & Hayes' (1981) model:

Figure 3. Flower & Hayes' (1981, p.370) model of cognitive processes used during revision by the National
Council of Teachers of English

One of the factors which is underscored by Flower & Hayes' (1981) model is the rhetorical factor which highlights the
difficulties a language learner go through in dealing with writing skill. Flower & Hayes' (1981) consider two
components for writing task, namely, rhetorical situation and writer’s goals. Rhetorical situation involves audience,
topic, assignment, and writer's goals demand reader, the writer's personality, the construction of meaning, and the
production of the formal text. It seems that Flower & Hayes' model, according to Myles (2002), involves "students'
strategic knowledge and the ability of students to transform information . . . to meet rhetorically constrained purposes"
(p. 28).
Hence, Flower & Hayes' model in line with genre analysis addresses the social dimension of writing. Swales (1990), for
an instance, argues that writing "should not be viewed solely as an individually-oriented, inner-directed cognitive
process, but as much as an acquired response to the discourse conventions . . . within particular communities" (p. 4).
Carl Bereiterand & Marlene Scardamalia (1985) proposed another model called compare, diagnose and operate (CDO)
planning stage, developed from the evaluative and revising processes of Flower & Hayes in 1981 (cited in Becker,
ALLS 6(6):119-130, 2015 124
2006). In designing and developing their model, Bereiterand &Scardamalia (1985) underpin the actual text written. In
other words, Bereiter and Scardamalia (1985), according to Becker (2006), argue that any writer including the language
learners in writing make a comparison between their mental text with what they have written during revision, recognize
the problems; and function on the text to complete the revision phase.
The above mentioned two models to writing have served as the main theoretical basis for using the process approach
in both L1 and L2 writing instruction. Hence, in these two models, the emphases are given to the processes the
writers including the language learners go through which is accomplished in pre-writing, drafting, revising, and
editing, multiple drafts and peer-group editing activities which also involves collaborative brainstorming, choice of
personally meaningful topics, or strategy instruction. The following numerates some empirical studies on writing
skill by implementing the potentials of genre analsysis.

Sabouri, Zohrabi, &Vafa (2014) examined the influence of genre-based methodology to teaching writing in EFL
contexts. To this end, 40 EFL learners were selected as the participants of the study who were randomly divided into
two groups of experimental and control. The experimental group was instructed using the genre-based writing
techniques and the control group through the traditional one. Their study revealed significant differences between the
two groups with the supremacy of the experimental group. Arancon (2013) applied the SFL genre theory in analyzing
the essays of students. His study showed that there are particular lexical-grammatical errors based on three macro-
functions. Hence, he argues that genre-based instruction with the perspective of SFL is influential in improving the
difficulties the Business English as an L2 go through in writing skill. He, particularly, argues that “better control of the
canonical forms of the genre, they could start to be more unconventionally creative, but within the language system”
(Arancon, 2013, p. 245).
Amogne (2013) made a study to improve the students’ writing skills through the genre approach. In his study, Amogne
(2013) examined the extent to which EFL students majoring English “improved their argumentative essay writing skills
as they were exposed to a genre based writing practice with their writing teacher” (p. 242). The findings of his study
showed that “students had serious problems of critiquing or rebutting opposition views and coming up with stronger
refutations even after their exposure to genre based argumentative essay drafting” (Amogne, 2013, p. 242). His study
also showed significant improvement in students’ writing skills regarding “identifying the lexica-grammatical features
and overall rhetorical (genre) structure of argumentative essays. The participants’ reaction toward the approach was
positive” (Amogne, 2013, p. 242).
Elashri (2013) made an investigation to explore the influence of genre-based approach on writing ability of the EFL Al-
Azhr Secondary Students as well as their attitudes towards writing. Hence, two groups of experimental and control went
under instruction—the experimental group using a genre-based approach and the control group using a traditional
approach. To this end, he adopted and utilized a writing performance test, a holistic scoring rubric, an analytic scoring
rubric and a writing attitude scale as the instruments of the study. His study showed “evidence for the effectiveness of
using genre-based approach in developing students' writing performance and attitudes towards writing” (Elashri, 2013,
p. 2).
Rezvani, Aqdam, &S aeidi (2012), adapting a semi-experimental pre-test/post-test assessment, studied the effect of a
genre-based approach on writing ability of Iranian EFL students. To this end, 54 Iranian EFL students went under five
weeks instruction which resulted into significant influence of genre-based instruction “on task-based writing
achievement” (Rezvani, Aqdam, &Saeidi, 2012, p. 589).
Ahn (2012) explored the influence of implementing a genre-based method to improve the writing ability of Year 5 and
6, L2 primary school students. Hence, the students went through 10 weeks instruction which two lessons were covered
in any week. Through the course, two types of genres, namely, report and essay writing were instructed. The students’
writing samples were compared before they go under instruction and after the instruction. Hence, his study revealed that
“the teacher’s active scaffolding processes at the early stage of the cycle benefited students by making them aware of
the different ways texts are organized for different communicative purposes” (Ahn, 2012, p. 2). Furthermore, his study
showed that “students’ confidence level increased and the approach encouraged a positive attitude towards writing”
(Ahn, 2012, p. 2).
Rahman (2011) numerates the beneficences of genre-based approach on writing ability of EFL students. He argues that
“the use of generic patterns can complement the dicta prescribed by the Process approach, and coordinating the
approaches offers learners genuine opportunities to develop skills to reproduce coherent and cohesive texts” (Rahman,
2011, p. 8).
Hyland (2007) argues about the great advantages of genre-based methodology in teaching with writing. He emphasizes
that “an understanding of the ways language is used to create meanings in writing empowers teachers by offering them
ways to analyze texts, to reflect on the workings of language, and to provide more robust and targeted support for
learners” (Hyland, 2004, p. 162). Hyland (2007) regards genre-based approaches as a major response to the needs of
learners who are learning writing as a second or foreign language ability since, according to Hyland (2007, p. 163) “a
well-formulated theory of how language works in human interaction has become an urgent necessity in the field of
teaching second language writing”.
ALLS 6(6):119-130, 2015 125
3. Method
The main thrust of the study was to implement the tenets of genre analysis in teaching writing skill. To this end, two
experimental and control groups were designed as the baseline of the study (the experimental group went under a genre-
based instruction on on writing skill and the control group was instructed writing skill utilizing a traditional model).
In terms of the context of the study, Iranian EFL learners were the selected population who were selected from Islamic
Azad University, Bandar Abbas Branch. It should be mentioned that the selected participants were sophomores and
juniors who had passed at least 50 credit hours and whose their age range was between 21 and 25 years old.
After a sixteen hours instruction, the both experimental and control groups were asked to write on a topic (the effects of
smoking). Their scores were put in SPSS version 21 which was analyzed using t-test statistic. It is worth mentioning
that both groups took previously their pretest, i.e. the same writing test.
Hence, the baseline for selecting this population as the population was convenience. The selected learners were
homogeneous in terms of the native language as well as in terms of the language courses and the amount of credit hours
presented to them. Effectively, the participants were 30 Iranian BA learners studying English at Islamic Azad
University, Bandar Abbas Branch. The selected participants composed of 15 females and 15 males (experimental group:
8 females and 7 males; control group: 7 females and 8 males).
The 60 Iranian BA learners were selected out of 70 learners who were studying English as a foreign language (EFL) at
Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas Branch. In fact, the 70 participants took the adapted TOEFL test. After scoring
and descriptive statistics, the ones whose scores were one standard deviation above and below the mean were selected
as the participants of the study which in this case 60 ones received the scores between one standard deviation above and
below the mean.
The selected participants were randomly divided into two groups, experimental and control groups (they were randomly
divided in order to guarantee that the samples are the representative of the population which highlights that the results
of the study is generalizable for the whole population).
The two groups went under a sixteen hours instruction. Effectively, the experimental group received instruction on
writing based on a genre-based instruction and the control group received instruction on writing utilizing a traditional
model. The classes were held for two sessions per week, each session was two hours, for a total of 16 hours over four
weeks. This study was quantitative and experimental survey.
The following sheds light on the steps in teaching writing to the experimental group:
1. Brainstorming: teacher suggested a topic (for example, marriage and its challenges), the participants—each one—
said something regarding the topic which the teacher wrote on the board.
2. The learners, were asked to write a free composition on the topic;
3. In third stage, the teacher distributed several authentic forms of writing among the learners which differ in terms of
formality, structure and context and asked them to detect the differences among different versions.
4. The learners discussed their points of view regarding different aspects of the exposed written materials;
5. The learners were asked to compare their compositions with the authentic versions through which they noticed the
gaps in their writing ability;
6. The learners were asked to write on the topic several versions based on the distributed authentic writings as
homework;
7. Their writing were encoded and discussed by teacher in order to consciously raised the learners to be equipped for
improving their writing ability;
The following sheds light on the steps in teaching writing to the control group:
1. Introduce and brainstorm the topic
2. Increase range of vocabulary and write on the board
3. The learners were asked to write on the topic the teacher presented to them, while teacher provided the appropriate
support in terms of language and linguistic deficiency the learners went through.
The variables of the study were reading comprehension, writing ability and genre-based instruction. The sex and age as
well as the major of the participants were controlled in order to provide more dependable results.
In analyzing the data, t-test statistic was utilized which is a statistical technique for comparing the means of two
independent populations to determines whether the performances of groups are significantly different or not. It is worth
mentioning that there are two types for t-test statistic, paired-t-test statistic and independent sample t-test statistic.
Paired-t-test statistic is utilized for comparing the progress of one group on pre-test and post-test; whereas, the
independent sample t-test statistic is utilized for comparing the performance of two independent groups. In this study,
the researcher utilized the both t-test statistic. In effect, the Paired-t-test statistic was utilized to investigate each group
on the both pre-test and post-test. The independent sample t-test statistic was utilized to compare each two groups
(reading experimental group vs. reading control group, writing experimental group vs. writing control group; reading
experimental group, vs. writing experimental group) on the pre-test and post-test separately.
ALLS 6(6):119-130, 2015 126
4. Results
30 EFL learners—15 learners in the experimental group and 15 ones in the control group—took the pre-writing test.
Table 1 demonstrates the descriptive statistics of each group in detail:

Table 2. Pre-writing Test: Experimental vs. Control

group N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Pre-writing =exp. 15 1.7333 .96115 .24817
=ctrl 15 1.4000 .50709 .13093

According to table 1, the mean score of the experimental group who took the pre-Writing test was 1.73 with the
standard deviation of 0.96. In addition, the participants in the control group had the mean score of 1.40 and the standard
deviation of 0.50. It is worth mentioning that the writings of the learners were scored out of 5 and the reading test out of
20. In a similar vein, t-test statistic was utilized to compare the performances of the two groups of experimental and
control on the pre-writing test.

Table 3. T-test & Pre-writing Test: Experimental vs. Control

Levene's Test for

Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error Difference
F Sig. t df tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper
Pre- Equal variances
7.866 .009 1.188 28 .245 .33333 .28059 -.24143 .90809
writing assumed
Equal variances
1.188 21.233 .248 .33333 .28059 -.24979 .91646
not assumed

The p-value, as table 3 shows, is 0.245 which indicated to the non-significant differences between the two groups on the
pre-writing test due to the fact that its value is higher than the cut score of 0.05.
The performances of the two genders were also compared on the pre-writing test. Table 4 demonstrates the descriptive
statistics of their performances.

Table 4. Pre-writing Test: Females vs. Males

gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Pre-writing =female 15 1.6000 .91026 .23503
=male 15 1.5333 .63994 .16523

According to table 4, the standard deviation of females who were in the writing groups was 0.91 and their mean score
was 1.60. Furthermore, the standard deviation and mean score of the males in the writing groups were 0.63 and 1.53,
respectively. T-test statistic was utilized to compare the both genders on the pre-writing test which resulted into table 5:

Table 5. T-test & Pre-writing Test: Females vs. Males

Levene's Test for

Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error Difference
F Sig. t df tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper
prewriting Equal
variances 2.502 .125 .232 28 .818 .06667 .28730 -.52183 .65517
assumed
Equal
variances not .232 25.122 .818 .06667 .28730 -.52489 .65822
assumed
ALLS 6(6):119-130, 2015 127
This t-test as other previous run t-test statistics indicated to the non-significant differences between the two groups of
genders since the p-value is 0.818 and quite above the cut value of 0.05. The next section is devoted to the results of the
post-tests.

After a sixteen hours instruction, the writing-based groups, in a similar vein, took the same writing test they had taken
before instruction as the post-writing test. The descriptive statistics of the performances of the two groups writing-based
experimental and control were put in table 6.

Table 6. Post-writing Test: Experimental vs. Control

Group Statistics
gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Post-writing =female 15 3.3333 .61721 .15936
=male 15 2.6667 .48795 .12599

The mean score of the experimental group, according to the table, is 3.33 and their standard deviation is 0.61. The
control group has the mean and standard deviation of 2.66 and 0.48, respectively.
In a similar vein, independent t-test was run to determine whether the two groups of experimental and control had
significantly different performances on the posttest after instruction which lead to table 7:

Table 7. T-test & Post-writing Test: Experimental vs. Control

Levene's
Test for
Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error Difference
F Sig. t df tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper
Post-writing Equal
variances 1.155 .292 3.282 28 .003 .66667 .20315 .25053 1.08280
assumed
Equal
variances 3.282 26.584 .003 .66667 .20315 .24953 1.08380
not assumed

Table 7 indicated to significant differences between the performances of the two groups of experimental and control on
the post-writing test. It means that genre-based instruction influenced the process of reading proficiency of the writing-
based participants.
Paired-sample t-test was run to compare the differences between the performances of the participants before and after
writing instruction as table 8 shows:

Table 8. T-test & writing Test: pre-writing vs. post-writing

Paired Differences
95% Confidence Interval
Std. Std. Error of the Difference Sig. (2-
Mean Deviation Mean Lower Upper t df tailed)
Pair prewriting -
.78333 .73857 .09535 .59254 .97413 8.215 59 .000
1 phase

According to the table, there are significant differences between the writing-based groups before and after instruction
which indicated to the efficiency of writing instruction. In the next phase, the both genders who took in the two writing-
based instructional groups are compared. Table 9 illustrates the performances of the both genders on the writing post-
test.

Table 9. Post-writing Test: Females vs. Males

Group Statistics
gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Post-writing =female 15 3.1333 .74322 .19190
=male 15 2.8667 .51640 .13333
ALLS 6(6):119-130, 2015 128
According to table 9, the mean score of the females is 3.13 and their standard deviation is 0.74. Moreover, the mean and
standard deviation of the males are 2.86 and 0.51 respectively. In a similar vein, t-test statistic which is appropriate for
comparing the two independent groups was utilized which resulted into table 10.

Table 10. T-test & post-writing Test: females vs. males

Levene's Test for
Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error Difference
F Sig. t df tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper
Post- Equal
writing variances 2.409 .132 1.141 28 .263 .26667 .23367 -.21199 .74532
assumed
Equal
variances not 1.141 24.962 .265 .26667 .23367 -.21463 .74796
assumed

Considering the information in the table shows that the differences between the two genders who went under writing
instruction are non-significant since the p-value is above the cut score of 0.05.
5. Discussion and Pedagogical Implications
Likewise, the results of this study showed that genre analysis is capable in improving the writing skill which are in
harmony with the previous studies. It means that, a genre-based framework needs to be implemented in the traditional
teaching methodology on designing and developing a piece of writing through the utilized rhetorical schemata. In fact,
the learners in the experimental group outperformed comparing their counterparts due to consideration of the discourse
community, topic, setting, and function of the texts they were asked to write.
Teaching literacy skills has been emphasized by many researchers, for example, Hyland (2007) numerates the great
advantages of genre-based methodology in teaching writing. He argues that “an understanding of the ways language is
used to create meanings in writing empowers teachers by offering them ways to analyze texts, to reflect on the workings
of language, and to provide more robust and targeted support for learners” (Hyland, 2004, p. 162).
Put it in a simpler way, genre-based approaches in teaching writing in a foreign or second language, according to
Hyland (2007), is a major response to the needs of learners which provides “a well-formulated theory of how language
works in human interaction” (Hyland, 2007, p. 163).
Hyland (2004), as one of the influential figures in supporting a genre based writing instruction, numerates the
advantages of a genre based writing instruction as explicit, systematic, needs-based, supporting, empowering, critical
and consciousness raising. He argues that explicit advantage of a genre based writing instruction refers to clarifying
“what is to be learned to facilitate the acquisition of writing skills” (Hyland, 2004, p. 10). Systematic advantage of a
genre based writing instruction refers to providing “a coherent framework for focusing on both language and contexts”
(Hyland, 2004, p. 10). Needs-based advantage, according to Hyland (2004, p. 10), “ensures that course objectives and
content are derived from students’ needs” (p. 10). Supportive advantage, according to Hyland (2004, p. 10), enables the
teacher to play “a central role in scaffolding student learning and creativity”.
Empowering advantage refers to the access which a genre based writing instruction provides “to the patterns and
possibilities of variation in valued texts” (Hyland, 2004, p. 11).
Critical advantage, on the other hand, explicates “the resources for students to understand and challenge valued
discourses” (Hyland, 2004, p. 11). Last but not least, consciousness raising help the teacher to improve his/her
“awareness of texts” in order to be able to “confidently advise students on their writing” (Hyland 2004, p. 11).
The second questions of the study tried to investigate the role of gender on the writing ability of the participants which
asked whether there are any differences between the performances of males and females in the two groups who go
under writing instruction. The results of the study showed a neutral role for gender which means that the both females
and males performed similarly.
It was concluded that a genre-based approach which highlights the context of situation and culture is beneficial in
improving the literacy skills of Iranian EFL learners. It seems that implementing a genre-based approach in teaching
writing skill may lead to promising results in which the writing skill is improved greatly. It seems that the promising
results of genre analysis is rooted in clarifying the discourse community and contextual situation it highly explicates.
For example, in terms of writing, Yi (2009) argues that writing should be viewed as “the ability to perform writing tasks
for a given purpose, satisfy a given discourse community with regard to the structure and content of the discourse, and
communicate functionally” (Yi, 2009, p. 61).
Effectively, the results of the study indicated to the four principles suggested by Swanson (2003, p. 15) to be
implemented in teaching classes, i.e., “the importance of meaning in language study; the essential need for authentic
ALLS 6(6):119-130, 2015 129
research corpora; the necessity of investigating language variation; the existence of both routine and creativity in
language production”.
Notwithstanding, the results of this study also showed significant improvements in the writing ability of Iranian EFL
learners who went under the genre-based instruction which are in line with the review of literature (e.g.Sabouri,
Zohrabi, & Vafa, 2014; Arancon, 2013; Amogne, 2013; Elashri, 2013; Rezvani, Aqdam, & Saeidi, 2012; Ahn, 2012;
Rahman, 2011).
In a nutshell, the writing ability of the learners who received a genre-based instruction showed to be statistically
improved comparing the ability of their counterparts who were instructed using the traditional model. The results of the
study also showed that gender played a non-significant and neutral role. In fact, genre analysis as a direction in which
the community context, audiences, linguistic choices and markers are being clarified seems to be beneficial in
equipping the learners with the necessary strategies to deal with writing skill. However, there are many elements which
affect the writing skill of the learners; apparently, implementing genre analysis is beneficial.
Hence, the results of the study supported the arguments of some researchers like Badger and White (2000) who argue
that writing skill is appropriately instructed using the principles of the genre analysis which has combined with the
process-approach to writing in which using a set of revision processes is emphasized. They add that writing task may be
reviewed from two viewpoints simultaneously, i.e. from the viewpoint of the writer and of readers which resulted into
improved wring tasks.
This point is worth mentioning that in a genre analysis perspective to writing skill, there is an interaction among text—
writing task, learner and genre—discourse community, linguistic choices which apparently influence the process of
literacy skills which this study proved some merits in implementing a genre-based pedagogy in teaching writing skills.
The pedagogical implications of the study are as follow:
 Equipping the learners to construct or comprehend the meaning in its situational and cultural context resorting
the principles of genre analysis
 Considering the association between form and meaning in its appropriate context and utilize the suitable
markers;
 Utilizing multi ways the EFL learners are capable in comprehending and constructing meaning;
 The learners also learn to consider the discourse community which highlights the collaborative nature of
literacy skills;
 Facilitating the development of sub-specific skills crucial in the both literacy skills;

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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Syntactic Dependencies and Verbal Inflection:

Complementisers and Verbal Forms in Standard Arabic
Feras Saeed
Unaizah Community College, Qassim University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
E-mail: ferasaeed@yahoo.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.131 Received: 09/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.131 Accepted: 15/09/2015

Abstract
This paper investigates the syntactic dependency between complementisers and verbal forms in Standard Arabic and
provides a new analysis of this dependency. The imperfective verb in this language surfaces with three different forms,
where each form is indicated by a different suffixal marker attached to the end of the verb as (-u), (-a), or (-Ø). The
occurrence of each suffixal marker on the verb corresponds to the co-occurrence of a particular type of Comp-elements
in the C/T domain. I argue that these morphological markers on the three verbal forms are the manifestation of an Agree
relation between an interpretable unvalued finiteness feature [Fin] on C and an uninterpretable but valued instance of
the same feature on v, assuming feature transfer and feature sharing between C/T and v (Pesetsky & Torrego 2007;
Chomsky 2008). I also argue that the different verbal forms in Standard Arabic are dictated by the co-occurrence of
three types of Comp-elements: i) C-elements; ii) T-elements which ultimately move to C; and iii) imperative/negative
elements.
Keywords: feature transfer/sharing, verbal forms, complementisers, finiteness, syntactic dependency, Standard Arabic
1. Introduction
The verb in Standard Arabic inflects for several categories; and in some cases a single morpheme encodes information
of more than one category. Broadly speaking, the verb in Standard Arabic has three major paradigms: i) the imperative,
ii) the perfective, and iii) the imperfective.
The imperative verb is associated with commands and orders and usually has two forms: i) the positive form, and ii) the
negative form. The positive/negative distinction on the imperative verb is manifested in the form of two different
prefixal markers, whereas suffixal inflection on the imperative verb stands for subject-verb agreement.
The perfective verb is associated with past tense temporal interpretation and can only have suffixal inflection. While
verb-endings in the perfective form stand for subject-verb agreement, tense/aspect is usually expressed via certain
vocalic changes to the verb stem.
The imperfective verb is associated with present, future, or non-finite temporal interpretation, and can have prefixal as
well as suffixal inflection. While prefixal inflection on the imperfective verb usually stands for subject-verb agreement,
the morpho-syntactic nature of suffixal inflection on this verb is still an unsolved puzzle. The imperfective verb surfaces
with three different suffixal markers attached to the end of the verb as (-u), (-a), or (-Ø). These three verbal forms have
been traditionally dubbed by Arab grammarians: the indicative form, the subjunctive form, and the jussive form. These
three labels are merely cover terms and do not necessarily represent real mood. Understanding the nature of these
suffixal morphological markers on the three verbal forms of the imperfective verb in Standard Arabic and what they
stand for constitute the core part of the syntactic investigation in this paper.
It is important to point out that while the imperative and perfective verbs tend to preserve the same morphological
marker without alternation, be it a prefix or a suffix, irrespective of the syntactic context in which these verbs occur (Al-
Balushi 2011), the morphological marker on the imperfective verb, especially the suffixal marker, varies according to
the syntactic context in which the verb occurs. Therefore, this paper will investigate the different syntactic contexts that
correspond to the occurrence of the three different morphological forms of the imperfective verb in Standard Arabic.
This paper is divided as follows: in the second section, I discuss the main characteristics of the three imperfective verbal
forms in Standard Arabic. In the third section, I evaluate the three major approaches in the literature that have tried to
account for the three different morphological markers on the imperfective verb. In the fourth section, I provide a new
analysis of verbal forms in Standard Arabic based on the notion of feature transfer/sharing (Pesetsky & Torrego 2007;
Chomsky 2008). In the fifth section, I examine the syntactic context of two types of Comp-elements in Standard Arabic.
The last section summarizes the main findings and arguments of this study.
2. Verbal Forms in Standard Arabic
Verb-endings on the imperfective verb in standard Arabic create an inexplicable type of inflection which is realized on
three verbal forms, traditionally known as the indicative, the subjunctive, and the jussive. These verbal forms occur in
ALLS 6(6):131-140, 2015 132
tensed and non-tensed contexts as well as main and embedded clauses. Each verbal form is characterized by the co-
occurrence of particular Comp-elements which seem to dictate the type of morphological marker on the verb. In the
following sub-sections, I discuss the characteristics of each of these verbal forms.
2.1 The Indicative Form
The indicative form of the verb in Standard Arabic is usually realized by the suffixal marker -u1:
1) yaktub-u resaalat-an kullayaum
3m.write-ind letter-acc everyday
‘He writes a letter everyday’
2) taktub-u resaalat-an kullayaum
3f.write-ind letter-acc everyday
‘She writes a letter everyday’
This verbal form can occur after future modals/particles like sa- and sawfa:
3) sa-tughadir-u ghadan
will-3f.leave-ind tomorrow
‘She will leave tomorrow’
4) sawfa tughadir-u ghadan
will 3f.leave-ind tomorrow
‘She will leave tomorrow’
It also occurs in interrogative sentences:
5) li-maatha takrah-u-hu
for-what 2.hate-ind-him
‘Why do you hate him?’
6) maatha tureed-u min-hu
what 2.want-ind from-him
‘What do you want from him?’
The indicative verbal form can also occur in passive structures:
7) tulaff-u bi-inaayatin houl ar-ragabah
3f.wrap-ind with-care around the neck
‘It should be wrapped carefully around the neck’
8) yustaxdam-u li-zeenati
3m.use-ind for-decoration
‘It is used for decoration’
In addition, the indicative verbal form can occur in main clauses that are headed by the sentential complementiser inna:
9) inna-hu yanaam-u katheeran
Comp-he 3m.sleep-ind a lot
‘(Indeed), he sleeps a lot’
It can also occur in embedded clauses that are headed by the subordinating complementiser anna:
10) adhun-u anna-ha tanaam-u katheeran
1.think-ind Comp-she 3f.sleep-ind a lot
‘I think that she sleeps a lot’
However, the indicative verbal form cannot occur in embedded clauses that are headed by certain Comp-elements such
as an, kay, li, likay:
11) *yureed-u an yaktub-u resaalat-an
3m.want-ind to 3m.write-ind letter-acc
‘He wants to write a letter’
12) *igraa kay tafham-u
2.read in-order-to 2.understand-ind
‘Read in order to understand’
13) *nagraa-u li-nataalam-u
1.read-ind for-1.learn-ind
‘We read to learn’
14) *izraa likay tahsud-u
2.sow in-order-to 2.reap-ind
‘Sow in order to reap’
Nor can it occur after negative auxiliaries such as lan and lam:

1 For expository purposes, the three morphological markers under study will be glossed as: -u ind, -a sub, and –Ø jus. The gloss of
these markers is merely indicative, to keep up with the traditional description, and does not represent real mood.
ALLS 6(6):131-140, 2015 133
15) *lan taktub-u resaalat-an
won't 3f.write-ind letter-acc
‘She will not write a letter’
16) *lam yaktub-u resaalat-an
didn't 3m.write-ind letter-acc
‘He did not write a letter’

Table 1. The full paradigm of the indicative forms.

Singular Dual Plural
First person aa-ktub-u na-ktub-u na-ktub-u
1-write-ind 1-write-ind 1-write-ind
Second+masculine ta-ktub-u ta-ktub-aa-n ta-ktub-uu-n
Second+feminine ta-ktub-ii-n ta-ktub-aa-n ta-ktub-n-a
Third+masculine ya-ktub-u ya-ktub-aa-n ya-ktub-uu-n

Third+feminine ta-ktub-u ta-ktub-aa-n ya-ktub-n-a

2.2 The Subjunctive Form

The subjunctive form of the verb in Standard Arabic occurs mainly in embedded clauses that are headed by the Comp-
element an. The subjunctive verbal form is realized by the suffixal marker -a:
17) yureed-u an yanaam-a
3m.want-ind to 3m.sleep-sub
‘He wants to sleep’
18) tureed-u an tanaam-a
3f.want-ind to 3f.sleep-sub
‘She wants to sleep’
The subjunctive form of the verb occurs when preceded by certain Comp-elements such as kay, li, likay and hatta:
19) yadrus-u kay yanjah-a fi l-emtihani
3m.study-ind so-that 3m.pass-sub in the-exam
‘He studies to pass the exam’
20) yaeesh-u li-yakul-a
3m.live-ind in-order-to-3m.eat-sub
‘He lives to eat’
21) tukafeh-u likay taeesh-a
3f.struggle-ind in-order-to 3f.live-sub
‘She struggles in order to live’
22) yadrus-u hatta yanjah-a fi l-emtihan
3m.study-ind in-order-to 3m.pass-sub in the-exam
‘He studies in order to pass the exam’
Another distinct characteristic of the subjunctive verbal form is that, unlike the indicative form, it can actually occur
after the negative auxiliary lan:
23) lan tathhab-a ila s-soog-i
won’t 3f.go-sub to the-market-gen
‘She will not go to the market’
The subjunctive form of the verb occurs, also, when the clause is headed by negative Comp-elements such as kay-la,
likay-la, and hatta-la (Ryding 2005: 610–611):
24) kay-la yabga-a gawiyyan
so-that-not 3m.remain-sub strong
‘So that, it does not remain strong’
25) likay-la tadxul-a l-maktab-a
in-order-that-not 3f.enter-sub the-office-acc
‘In order that she does not enter the office’
26) hatta-la yasgut-a fi l-hufrat-i
so-that-not 3m.fall-sub in the-hole-gen
‘So that, he does not fall in the hole/pit’
However, this verbal form cannot occur in main clauses, or after the complementiser inna:
27) *tanaam-a katheeran
3f.sleep-sub a lot
ALLS 6(6):131-140, 2015 134
‘She sleeps a lot’
28) *inna Zayd-an yanaam-a katheeran
Comp Zayd-acc 3m.sleep-sub a lot
‘(Indeed), Zayd sleeps a lot’
Nor can it occur in embedded clauses that are headed by the complementiser anna:
29) *aa-dhun-u anna Zayd-an yanaam-a katheeran
1s-think-ind Comp Zayd-acc 3m.sleep-sub a lot
‘I think that Zayd sleeps a lot’

Table 2. The full paradigm of the subjunctive forms.

Singular Dual plural
First person aa-ktub-a na-ktub-a na-ktub-a
1-write-sub 1-write-sub 1-write-sub
Second+masculine ta-ktub-a ta-ktub-aa-Ø ta-ktub-uu-Ø
Second+feminine ta-ktub-ii-Ø ta-ktub-aa-Ø ta-ktub-n-a
Third+masculine ya-ktub-a ya-ktub-aa-Ø ya-ktub-uu-Ø
Third+feminine ta-ktub-a ta-ktub-aa-Ø ya-ktub-n-a

2.3 The Jussive Form

The jussive verbal marker is phonologically null; and this verbal form usually occurs after certain negation particles
such as lam, lamma and laa:
30) lam tanam-Ø ilbaarehata
didn’t 3f.sleep-jus last night
‘She did not sleep last night’
31) lamma yathhab-Ø baad
hasn’t 3m.go-jus yet
‘He has not gone yet’
32) laa tafgid-Ø al-amal
not 2.lose-jus the-hope
‘Do not lose hope’
In addition, the jussive verbal form is used in imperatives:
33) tamarran-Ø kullayoum
2.exercise-jus everyday
‘Exercise everyday’
Moreover, the jussive form occurs after some conditional particles such as in:
34) in tadrus-Ø tajtaaz-Ø al-imtihaan
if 2.study-jus 2.pass-jus the-exam
‘If you study, you pass the exam’
Furthermore, this verbal form occurs after wh-adverbs:
35) mahma yahsul-Ø laa tagif-Ø
whatever 3m.happen-jus not 2.stop-jus
‘Whatever happens, do not stop’
36) aynama aathhab-Ø aa-jed-Ø sadeeg-an
wherever 1.go-jus 1.find-jus friend-acc
‘Wherever I go, I find a friend’

Table 3. The full paradigm of the jussive forms.

singular dual Plural
First person aa-ktub-Ø na-ktub-Ø na-ktub-Ø
1-write-jus 1-write-jus 1-write-jus
Second+masculine ta-ktub-Ø ta-ktub-aa-Ø ta-ktub-uu-Ø
Second+feminine ta-ktub-ii-Ø ta-ktub-aa-Ø ta-ktub-n-Ø
Third+masculine ya-ktub-Ø ya-ktub-aa-Ø ya-ktub-uu-Ø
Third+feminine ta-ktub-Ø ta-ktub-aa-Ø ya-ktub-n-Ø

3. Literature Review
ALLS 6(6):131-140, 2015 135
There have been several attempts in the literature to account for these morphological markers that appear on the
imperfective verb in Standard Arabic. However, all the previous accounts adopt one form or another of the following
three approaches to these markers: i) these are tense markers, ii) case markers, or iii) mood markers. In the three sub-
sections below, I briefly evaluate the main claims of three recent accounts of verbal morphology in Standard Arabic.
3.1 Syntactic Dependency and Tense (Gallego, 2010)
Gallego (2010) investigates the syntactic configuration of phases and proposes that head movement is an instance of
phase extension or what he terms ‘phase sliding’. He also examines null subject languages (NSLs) in order to
investigate whether Chomsky’s (2007, 2008) and Pesetsky and Torrego’s (2001, 2007) systems can be used to account
for their syntactic intricacies with regard to dependencies between C/T and v in the CP phase. After pointing out the
problems of adopting either Chomsky’s analysis of assuming that the C/T-v dependency is based on agreement features,
or Pesetsky and Torrego’s analysis of contending that the C/T-v dependency arises because they all share the feature T,
Gallego provides a new analysis that explains the dependency between C/T and v. Gallego argues that C, T, and v can
actually share one and the same feature, i.e., [Tense] which can surface in three values: past, present, and future. The
reasoning he provides for choosing tense to be the feature that is shared by C, T, and v, is that “[Tense] is a deictic
formative that affects the clause as a whole.” (Gallego 2010: 102). He reiterates that “The syntactic C-T-v dependency
is established through [tense]” (Gallego 2010: 103). To demonstrate this dependency graphically, Gallego presents the
following representation:
37) [CP C[TENSE] [TP T[TENSE] [vP EA v[TENSE]...]]]
To account for verbal morphology and head movement in (NSLs), Gallego argues that the head C has an interpretable
unvalued feature [Tense]. C acts as a probe to value its own [Tense] feature against an uninterpretable valued instance
of [Tense] on v. To avoid problems of intervention effects that might arise because of the head T, the verb undergoes
head movement to the left of T where the C probe can check its [Tense] feature against v. Both C and v establish an
Agree relation to value the [Tense] feature on C. The benefits of this analysis, he argues, is that not only verbal
morphology and its dependency on C can be explained, but also head movement in null subject languages receives a
straightforward explanation. He terms verb movement to T as ‘phase sliding’, assuming that this obligatory movement
of the verb in null subject languages actually slides or extends the boundary of the vP phase into TP.
Apparently, Gallego’s (2010) proposal that tense is a feature on C which gets valued through matching or checking with
the verb faces some theoretical as well as empirical challenges.
Theoretically, it has been argued that the head T actually carries a valued [Tense] feature, because it is T that encodes
the tense interpretation of the clause (Biberauer & Roberts 2010). If this is true, then Gallego’s assumption that the head
C probes v to value its [Tense] feature is untenable. Gallego’s [Tense] feature seems to be a formal feature that needs
checking via Agree, just like other formal features. This assumption, actually, does not seem to offer anything new to
account for verbal morphology, apart from the new terminology of the same feature.
In addition, Gallego’s assumption minimizes the role of the functional category TP and relegates it to a mere dummy
element or a place holder of properties that belong to C. Therefore, vacating the head T of all other features leaves us
with a vacuous functional head in the syntactic skeleton which is parasitic on what is thrown out of C; a situation that
should call for the elimination of this dummy head which cannot be a phase head, nor a holder of any type of features.
Does tense truly belong to C, much like ϕ-features? Chomsky (2007) sketches two possible answers to this question:
What is true of agreement features appears to hold as well for Tense: in clear
cases, T has this feature if and only if selected by C, though C never (to my
knowledge) manifests Tense in the manner of ϕ-features in some languages. If
that is basically accurate, then there are two possibilities. One is that Tense is a
property of C, and is inherited by T. The other is that Tense is a property of T, but
receives only some residual interpretation unless selected by C (or in other
configurations, e.g., in English-like modal constructions). (Chomsky 2007: 20.)

In fact, Chomsky (2007) reports empirical and conceptual motivation in favor of the second option, noting that
inheritance is not forced, since tense is interpretable.
Empirically, this account of featural dependency which is based on tense cannot explain the appearance of the same
morphological marker on the verb in tensed and non-tensed contexts alike. For example, in simple declarative sentences
the verb surfaces with the indicative marker -u as a suffix:
38) yaktub-u resaalat-an kullayaum
3m.write-ind letter-acc everyday
‘He writes a letter everyday’
Similarly, in passive sentences, the non-tensed verb can also surface with the same indicative marker:
39) yustaxdam-u li-zeenati
3m.use-ind for-decoration
‘It is used for decoration’
ALLS 6(6):131-140, 2015 136
If Gallego’s (2010) proposal is on the right track, the verb in passive sentences in Standard Arabic should not have this
marker in this context, or at least it should have a different morphological marker that appears on non-tensed verbs.
The other empirical problem with Gallego’s account is that, though Standard Arabic is a null subject language and
supposedly should comply with his analysis, this language does not have a specific morpheme or marker that indicates
tense. The verb in this language inflects for aspect, not tense, that is why verb categories are divided into perfective and
imperfective (Ryding 2005). Tense and aspect in Standard Arabic is expressed via certain vocalic changes to the verb
stem:
40) The perfective verb kataba ‘wrote’: k-a - t- a- b-(a)
C-V-C-V-C
The verb kataba above can be glossed as the past tense of the verb ‘write’. The verb stem has three consonants and two
vowels. The final bracketed vowel is an agreement marker, hence not important to the discussion here. Now, if we
compare the perfective verb stem above to its imperfective counterpart below, we find out that the latter verb stem
undergoes some vocalic changes, by which the first vowel is omitted and the second vowel changes from a to u (the
bracketed prefix ya- on the imperfective verb is an agreement marker and the bracketed suffix -u is an indicative
marker, hence not important to the discussion here):
41) The imperfective verb yaktubu ‘write’: (ya)-k-t - u- b-(u)
C-C-V-C
This is not the only pattern of vocalic changes to the verb stem in Standard Arabic. There are many patterns which
depend on the number of consonants in the verb stem and the type of vowel in the initial and final positions.
Thus, it is clear that there is no specific morphological marker for tense in Standard Arabic, and no corresponding
verbal form as well. It is argued that in this language “Tense is inferred from context or other parts of the clause”
(Ryding 2005: 606). If verbs in this language can carry tense, there will be only two tenses: past and non-past.
However, the imperfective verb under study shows three verbal forms: indicative, subjunctive and jussive, and it is
difficult to account for these three different forms by taking them to denote three different tenses. Haywood and
Nahmad (1962: 95–96) states:
Arabic, in common with other Semitic languages, is deficient in tenses, and this
does not make for ease in learning. Moreover, the tenses do not have accurate time-
significances as in Indo-European languages. There are two main tenses, the Perfect
al-maaDii, denoting actions completed at the time to which reference is being
made; and the Imperfect al-muDaari, for incompleted actions.

3.2 Syntactic Dependency and Case (Al-Balushi, 2011)

Al-Balushi (2011) investigates Case assignment or checking in Standard Arabic and argues that structural Case is not
licensed via agreement as has been proposed in the literature (Chomsky 2001 and subsequent work). He also argues
against the assumption that Case is a tense feature [uT] on the DP as proposed by Pesetsky and Torrego (2001).
Actually, Al-Balushi revives the traditional view towards verbal forms in this language which has been advocated by
Arab grammarians for a long time. This traditional view stipulates that, like nouns/DPs, verbs in Standard Arabic are
assigned Case, which Al-Balushi calls Verbal Case [VC]. He assumes that the VC-assigning particles are Comp-
elements and [VC] is valued on both T and v by a valued instance of the same feature on the head Fin, which in turn
enables T and v to value the [Case] feature of the subject and object as nominative and accusative, respectively. Thus,
the DP is licensed by the same feature that licenses the verb, which is [VC].
In fact, the first problem to note in Al-Balushi’s analysis is the claim that verbs can have a Case, just like DPs. Under
minimalist assumptions, it is argued that:
Structural Case is not a feature of the Probes (T, v), but it is assigned a value under
agreement, then removed by Spell-out from the narrow syntax. The value assigned
depends on the probe: nominative for T, accusative for v (alternatively ergative-
absolutive, with different conditions). Case itself is not matched, but deleted under
matching of ϕ-features. (Chomsky 2001: 6.)

Actually, Al-Balushi’s account of verbal morphology in Standard Arabic is a reproduction of the traditional account
proposed by Arab grammarians which is based on the phonological similarity between the two markers that surface at
the end of DPs as well as verbs in this language.
Moreover, Al-Balushi stipulates that while the head Fin has an unvalued [tense] feature in declarative sentences, it has
only an unvalued [mood] feature in imperative, jussive and subjunctive sentences. In addition, he claims that there are
two versions of the inflectional head in Standard Arabic: one with a [VC] feature, as in verbal and copular sentences,
and the other without a [VC] feature, as in verbless sentences. This unusual categorization of functional heads amounts
to a sheer redescription of the facts in this language, and it is clear that these stipulations are unmotivated and dubious at
best.
ALLS 6(6):131-140, 2015 137
The interesting claim made by Al-Balushi is that there are two types of finiteness: I-finiteness and C-finiteness. These
two types actually correspond to two types of sentences in Standard Arabic: a) sentences which have verbs and b)
verbless sentences. However, he links the availability of verbs in sentences to the finiteness of C/Fin. If the sentence is
C-finite, there will be a verb in the sentence; however, if, instead, the sentence is I-finite, verbs will not be licensed in
this sentence. Syntactically speaking, we have an instance of a look-ahead problem. Under minimalist assumptions, the
v/V heads enter the derivation earlier than the C/Fin heads; therefore, how could C-finiteness license verbs, if verbs
were not part of the lexical array in the first place?
3.3 Syntactic Dependency and Mood (Fassi Fehri, 2012)
Fassi Fehri (2012) investigates verbal morphology in Standard Arabic and argues that this language can be classified as
a tense language rather than an aspect language, as has been documented in the literature. In his discussion of the
aspect/tense categorization in Standard Arabic, he argues that “Verbal morphology exhibits two contrasting finite forms
characterized by person placement (as a suffix for past, and prefix for non-past), internal vocalic changes of the verb
stem, and (suffixed) mood marking in the present” (2012: 5). Thus, Fassi Fehri starts his discussion by assuming that
verbs in Standard Arabic inflect for tense differently. While tense shows on the perfective verb as a suffix, it shows as a
prefix on the imperfective verb. However, his idea of tense is quite unclear and most of the time tense is coupled or
hyphenated with aspect. Also, if tense or aspect can be prefixed on the imperfective verb and mood is suffixed on the
same verb, one wonders about agreement markers position. Again, Fassi Fehri mentions in his discussion that person
feature is usually suffixed on the imperfective verb. This actually leaves number and gender features unaccounted for.
Fassi Fehri’s discussion of verbal morphology takes another turn when he argues that the prefixal marker on the
imperfective verb is a mood marker (2012: 77):
42) ta-y-ketb-u. l-ebra.
ind-3-write-pl the letter
“They write the letter.” or “They are writing the letter.”
He contends that in the sentence above tense is expressed by a discontinuous affix, with a prefixal person feature and a
suffixal number and gender features. Moreover, he argues that “The first prefix [t-] there expresses indicative (or realis)
mood, as opposed to subjunctive or jussive (or more generally irrealis), marked by its absence.” (Fassi Fehri 2012: 77).
This analysis of verbal inflection on the imperfective verb seems to be messy and confusing. To start with, Fassi Fehri
does not provide any syntactic account of how these verbs end up with this type of morphological markers. Second, at
the beginning of his discussion he mentioned that mood is expressed as a suffix, however, he ends the discussion by
postulating that prefixes can also denote mood, a dubious claim at best.
It seems that what Fassi Fehri is trying to highlight is that mood is usually expressed on the imperfective verb either as a
prefix or a suffix, interchanging positions with tense/agreement markers “Mood can be introduced as distinct
information from tense, which anchors the latter in a realis or irrealis world. I take the subjunctive/indicative/jussive
marking as an additional mark of richness which potentially triggers movement associated with different semantic
interpretations” (2012: 255).
4. New Analysis
I argue that the morphological markers on the three verbal forms in Standard Arabic are the manifestation of an Agree
relation between C/T and v. I assume that the head C in this language has an interpretable unvalued finiteness feature
[Fin] which probes an uninterpretable valued instance of the same feature on v, assuming C/T-v feature transfer and
feature sharing (Pesetsky & Torrego 2007; Chomsky 2008). The valuation of the finiteness [Fin] feature is realized
morphologically on the verb as -u, -a, or -Ø. The new account proposes that what has been described as ‘mood markers’
or ‘tense markers’ are actually the manifestation of an Agree relation between C/T and v to value the finiteness feature
[Fin]. The feature [Fin] is a formal feature that marks the syntactic dependency between C/T and v. This [Fin] feature is
usually triggered on a Comp element, and the valuation of this feature against a valued counterpart on v is manifested in
the three verbal forms in this language.
In fact, it has been argued that the strong syntactic dependency between C/T and v can be expressed not only through
the transfer and sharing of phi-features, but also finiteness features. It is argued that both phi-features and finiteness
features can be spelled-out on C in the same manner they are spelled-out on v. For example, phi-features can be
expressed on C in West Flemish (Gallego 2010: 91):
43) a. kpeinzen [CP C dan-k (ik) morgen goan ] (West Flemish)
think-1.sg that-1.sg I morgen go-1.sg
I think that I’ll go tomorrow’
b. kpeinzen [CP C da-j (gie) morgen goat ] (West Flemish)
think-1.sg that-2.sg you tomorrow go-2.sg
I think that you’ll go tomorrow’
Similarly, finiteness features can be spelled-out on C in the English examples below:
44) a. John thinks [CP C that [TP Mary T is fine ]]
ALLS 6(6):131-140, 2015 138
b. John wants [CP C for [TP Mary T to be fine ]]
It is to be noticed that the examples above show the syntactic dependency between the type of complementiser in C and
the verbal form in the embedded sentence. While the complementiser that selects a finite verb, the complementiser for
selects a non-finite or infinitival verbal form.
It is clear from the examples above that finiteness as a feature starts on C (cf. Rizzi 1997) and then transferred to T and
shared with v. Platzack (2013: 7) argues that “The functional head C comes with an interpretable but unvalued feature
for finiteness, iF. Since this feature is unvalued, it probes its c-command domain for a valued finiteness feature, uF+”.
4.1 C Selects Finite T
There are complementisers in Standard Arabic that co-occur with the indicative form of the verb. These C-elements
include the complementisers anna and inna which usually head a finite clause:
45) inna-hu yanaam-u katheeran
Comp-he 3m.sleep-ind a lot
‘(Indeed), he sleeps a lot’
46) adhun-u anna-ha tanaam-u katheeran
1.think-ind Comp-she 3f.sleep-ind a lot
‘I think that she sleeps a lot’
The finiteness nature of the above examples is manifested, in part, in the tensed verb in the embedded clause. When a
clause is preceded by either of these two complementisers, the verb can surface in present or past tense:
47) inna-hu naam-a katheeran
Comp-he slept-3m a lot
‘(Indeed), he slept a lot’
48) adhun-u anna-ha naam-at katheeran
1.think-ind Comp-she slept-3f a lot
‘I think that she slept a lot’
This configuration is obtained when C transfers its features to T and the C/T complex probes for the [Fin] feature. This
occurs usually in finite clauses where T is selected by C and can inherit its features (Ouali 2008). This configuration
occurs in simple present-tense sentences and in sentences that are headed by complementisers like anna or inna where
the [Fin] feature is realized morphologically on the verb as the suffix -u.
4.2 C Selects Non-Finite T
On the other hand, there are Comp-elements which co-occur with the subjunctive verbal form. These Comp-elements
include an, li, kay, likay, hatta and lan. The clause that is headed by these functional elements seems to be non-finite:
49) tamann-a an tanaam-a al-fataat-u
wished-3m to 3f.sleep-sub the-girl-nom
‘He wished the girl would sleep’
50) *tamann-a an naam-at il-fataat-u
wished-3m to slept-3f the-girl-nom
‘He wished the girl slept’
This configuration is obtained when the embedded C selects a non-finite T, i.e., when the embedded clause lacks tense.
In this configuration, non-finiteness in the C/T domain is indicated on the verb by the suffixal marker -a which is
licensed via Agree relation between C/T and v. Thus, the subjunctive form of the verb is signalled by the co-occurrence
of Comp-elements like an, kay and li.
4.3 T is not Selected by C
The jussive verbal form is realized by a null morpheme on the verb. A viable explanation would be to assume that the
head of vP is not probed by C in the first place, and that is why the verb surfaces without inflection for [Fin]. One could
argue that the reason for this configuration is that the jussive form usually occurs in adjunction phrases, e.g., wh-
adjuncts and conditional adjuncts which are assumed in the literature to enter the derivation post-cyclically (Chomsky
2001). It is important to note that some elements that dictate the jussive form of the verb such as lamma and the
imperative marker laa are actually pure negation markers, not Comp-elements, hence the absence of any suffixal
inflection on the verb in clauses that are headed by these Neg-particles. The only problem under this analysis is the case
of lam which seems to be a Comp-element, though with no corresponding morphology on the verb. In this regard, I
assume that lam first merges with a Neg phrase and then moves to C, along the lines proposed in Pesetsky and Torrego
(2001, 2007), and hence the absence of verbal inflection with this Comp-element.
5. On Two Types of Comp-Elements in Standard Arabic
The important claim that I intend to emphasise here is that while the null marker on the jussive verbal form entails the
absence of Agree relation between C and v, the other two forms, i.e., the indicative and the subjunctive, provide
information of the type of Comp-element that is heading the clause. In this regard, I argue that while the indicative form
of the verb is triggered when the Comp-element selects a finite T, the subjunctive form of the verb is manifested when
the Comp-element selects a non-finite T. This amounts to saying that Standard Arabic has two types of Comp-elements:
ALLS 6(6):131-140, 2015 139
finite and non-finite. Ultimately, the occurrence of either type of Comp-elements is manifested on the verb through a
different suffixal marker.
Alternatively, one can argue that in the case of the subjunctive verbal form, the Comp-elements heading the clause start
in the derivation as T-elements and then move to C, along lines discussed in Pesetsky and Torrego (2001, 2007).
In fact, there are many properties that set these two types of Comp-elements aside. I briefly note the main differences
between the two sets through comparing anna and an as representative Comp-elements of their respective type. Let’s
look at the examples below:
51) arad-tu l-walad-a [an] yahdhur-a l-haflat-a
wanted-1 the-boy-acc C 3m.attend-sub the-party-gen
‘I wanted the boy to attend the party.’
52) arad-tu [an] l-walad-a yahdhur-a l-haflat-a
wanted-1 C the-boy-acc 3m.attend-sub the-party-gen
‘I wanted the boy to attend the party.’
The examples above show that no lexical subject may intervene between the functional particle an and the verb of the
embedded clause. If an were a complementiser, there would be no problem in placing the subject after the
complementiser, as in the case of the complementiser anna:
53) dhanant-u [anna] l-walad-a yureed-u n-nauma
thought-1 C the-boy-acc 3m.want-ind the-sleep
‘I thought that the boy wants to sleep.’
54) *dhanant-u l-walad-a [anna] yureed-u n-nauma
thought-1 the-boy-acc C 3m.want-ind the-sleep
‘I thought that the boy wants to sleep.’
Another characteristic of non-finite complements that are headed by the an-type Comp-elements in Standard Arabic is
that such clauses can have a nominative subject:
55) tamannai-tu [an] yajtaz-a t-tullaab-u l-imtihaan-a
wished-1 C 3m.pass-sub the-students-nom the-exam-acc
‘I wished the students would pass the exam.’
However, anna-type Comp-elements cannot have a nominative subject in the embedded clause. Instead, the subject of
the embedded clause surfaces with a compulsory accusative marker:
56) tamannai-tu [anna] t-tullaab-a ejtaaz-u l-imtihaan-a
wished-1 C the-students-acc pass-3 the-exam-acc
‘I wished that the students passed the exam.’
57) *tamannai-tu [anna] t-tullaab-u ejtaaz-u l-imtihaan-a
wished-1 C the-students-nom pass-3 the-exam-acc
‘I wished that the students passed the exam.’
Moreover, some an-type Comp-elements in this language can actually occur in embedded clauses that are headed by
another Comp-element of the anna-type. These elements include the negative Comp-elements lam and lan:
58) tamannai-tu [anna] l-walad-a [lam] yahdhur-a l-haflat-a
wished-1 C the-boy-acc C 3m.attend-sub the-party-acc
‘I wished that the boy didn’t attend the party’
59) atamann-a [anna] l-walad-a [lan] yahdhur-a l-haflat-a
wish-1 C the-boy-acc C 3m.attend-sub the-party-acc
‘I wish that the boy won’t attend the party’
However, the co-occurrence of these negative Comp-elements with other Comp-elements of their same type like an or
kay renders the sentence ungrammatical, as they seem to be competing for the same position or head:
60) *ureed-u [an] [lan] yahdhur-a l-walad-u l-haflat-a
want-1 C C 3m.attend-sub the-boy-nom the-party-acc
‘I want the boy not to attend the party’
61) *tamannai-tu [an] [lam] yahdhur-a l-walad-u l-haflat-a
wished-1 C C 3m.attend-sub the-boy-nom the-party-acc
‘I wished the boy didn’t attend the party’
ALLS 6(6):131-140, 2015 140
To negate a clause that is headed by a Comp-element of the an-type, the language has another pure negation marker laa.
Compare the two examples above with the examples below:
62) ureed-u [an] laa yahdhur-a l-walad-u l-haflat-a
want-1 C Neg 3m.attend-sub the-boy-nom the-party-acc
‘I want the boy not to attend the party’
63) tamannai-tu [an] laa yahdhur-a l-walad-u l-haflat-a
wished-1 C Neg 3m.attend-sub the-boy-nom the-party-acc
‘I wished the boy didn’t attend the party’
These characteristics of the an-type Comp-elements suggest that these elements or particles might have started in the
derivation as T-elements, but later moved to C, along the lines discussed in Pesetsky and Torrego (2001, 2007). If this
line of argumentation is on the right track, then an and the other Comp-elements in its category might have started in
the derivation as T-elements heading non-finite clauses.
6. Conclusion
In this paper, I investigate the C/T-v syntactic dependency in Standard Arabic and the consequential effect on verbal
forms in this language. The imperfective verb in this language has three different forms, dubbed the indicative, the
subjunctive, and the jussive. The labels (indicative, subjunctive, jussive) are cover terms for these verbal forms and do
not represent real mood. These verbal forms are indicated by three different morphological markers that surface as
suffixal inflection on the verb (-u, -a, -Ø) and co-occur with three different types of functional particles. In recent
literature, there have been three main approaches to account for these morphological markers: the first approach takes
them to be tense markers (Gallego 2010), the second treats them as verbal case markers (Al-Balushi 2011), and the third
takes them to be mood markers (Fassi Fehri 2012). In this paper, I argue that verbal morphology in Standard Arabic is
affected by functional particles residing in the C/T domain. I argue that the morphological markers on the three verbal
forms are the manifestation of an Agree relation between an interpretable unvalued finiteness feature [Fin] on C/T and
an uninterpretable but valued instance of the same feature on v, assuming feature transfer and feature sharing between
C/T and v (Pesetsky & Torrego 2007; Chomsky 2008). I also argue that the various verbal forms in Standard Arabic are
mandated by the co-occurrence of three types of functional elements: C-elements, T-elements which ultimately move to
C, and imperative or negative elements.

References
Al-Balushi, R. (2011). Case in Standard Arabic: The Untraveled Paths. PhD thesis. University of Toronto.
Biberauer, T. & Roberts, I. (2010). Subjects, Tense and Verb-Movement. In T. Biberauer, A. Holmberg, I. Roberts &
M. Sheehan (eds.), Parametric Variation: Null Subjects in Minimalist Theory, pp. 263-303. Cambridge: CUP.
Chomsky, N. (2001). Derivation by phase. In M. Kenstowicz (ed.), Ken Hale: A Life in Language, pp. 1–52. Cambridge
MA: The MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. (2007). Approaching UG from below. In U. Sauerland & H.-M. Gartner (eds.), Interfaces + Recursion =
Language? Chomsky’s Minimalism and the View from Syntax-semantics, pp. 1–30. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Chomsky, N. (2008). On phases. In C. Otero et al. (eds.), Foundational Issues in Linguistic Theory. Essays in Honor of
Jean-Roger Vergnaud, pp. 134–166. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.
Fassi Fehri, A. (2012). Key Features and Parameters in Arabic Grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Gallego, A. J. (2010). Phase Theory. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Haywood, J. A. & Nahmad, H. M. (1962). A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press.
Ouali, H. (2008). On C-to-T ϕ-feature transfer. In R. D’Alessandro et al. (eds.), Agreement Restrictions, pp. 159–180.
Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Pesetsky, D. & Torrego, E. (2001). T-to-C movement: Causes and consequences. In M. Kenstowicz (ed.), Ken Hale: A
Life in Language, pp. 355–426. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.
Pesetsky, D. & Torrego, E. (2007). The syntax of valuation and the interpretability of features. In S. Karimi et al. (eds.),
Phrasal and Clausal Architecture. Syntactic Derivation and Interpretation, pp. 262–294. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Platzack, C. (2013). Head movement as a phonological operation. In Lisa Cheng & Norbert Corver (eds.), Diagnosing
Syntax, pp. 21–43. Oxford: OUP.
Rizzi, L. (1997). The fine structure of the left periphery. In L. Haegeman (ed.), Elements of grammar: Handbook in
generative syntax, pp. 281-337. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Ryding, K.C. (2005). A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

The Function of Native American Storytelling as Means of

Education in Luci Tapahonso’s Selected Poems
Widad Allawi Saddam (Corresponding author)
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
E-mail: wedad.saddam@yahoo.com

Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya

Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.141 Received: 14/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.141 Accepted: 19/09/2015

Abstract
Native American storytelling has become a very vital issue in education. It preserves Native American history for the
next generation and teaches them important lessons about the Native American culture. It also conveys moral meanings,
knowledge and social values of the Native American people to the universe. More importantly, Native American
storytelling teaches people not to be isolated, and the key issues discussed in this paper are borrowed from the selected
poems of Native American Luci Tapahonso: ‘The Holy Twins’ and ‘Remember the Things that you told.’
Keywords: folklore, narrating, Native American, oral tradition, storytelling
1. Introduction
In Native American literature two opposing cultural modes are linked: the oral tradition of the People and the written
tradition of the white man. The oral tradition is rooted in the ancient voices of the tribes, their stories, myths and rites
that give rise to an art which, while adhering to its own rules and laws, nonetheless adjusts to the passing of time and
"comes up different every time" (Erdrich,1988: 31). At the opposite pole is the written record which, with its static,
immutable page, imposes itself on the oral tradition and, in so doing, distorts it. (Secco, 1992: 59) Greg Sarris described
Storytelling forms as an important part of Native American culture. He stated that:
Storytelling is a fundamental aspect of culture, and stories are used in a number of ways and for a
multitude of purposes. Stories can work as cultural indexes for appropriate or inappropriate
behaviour. They can work to oppress or to liberate, to confuse or to enlighten”. (Sarris, 1993: 4)
One primary purpose why Native American stories are being told is to preserve Native American history, their culture
and identity for the next generations of their own people. As Nabokov (2002) explains:
For many Indian peoples, their sense of history and its conduct are not just secular or abstract
pursuits. For them, no less than for any modern or New historian, the "doing of history" can
become a pathway to rediscoveries of identity, home and inner purpose” (ix).

Stories serve as a means of education passed from the elders to the youngsters and convey moral meanings – children
learn from them about their tribes, about famous warriors but also about moral rules and customs. As there was usually
no written history of the tribe in the past centuries, everything was passed through storytelling.
Native American verbal art was an oral performative tradition in which stories were used as a means for the preservance
and delivery of cultural knowledge and societal values. Native American used stories and ceremonies to entertain and
teach the audience. An oral storyteller or spiritual leader performed to pass the cultural knowledge from one generation
to another. According to Shelley Stigter: “From colonial contact and to the present, the oral tradition has developed
from an oral into a written literary form in which Native American authors now revitalize and maintain past oral
traditions or allusions to oral traditions.”(Stiger, 2005: 1)
However, the role of storytellers was much greater than this and had a tight relationship with Indians’ life. Storytellers
educated people “about the ―roles of trees, the ―roles of medicinal plants, and the ―behaviors of animals and people
when they speak about nature”. (Schulhoff, 2010: 54) For the dominant white culture, these stories; folklores have little
to no value in the modern world. (Ibid.)
Young people study the scene and why it is formed the way it is, the reason creatures are molded the way they are and
why they carry on the way they do. They likewise look into the plants; what plants might be utilized at what time of the
year, how they could be utilized and what amount you could use at one time. The children additionally look into how
they should carry on with nature. When they develop more seasoned they translate these things with a deeper
understanding. So these stories are extremely significant to the future generation. (Schulhoff, 2010: 54) Folklore is
stuffed with Native American social rationales about the common world, its uses, and its implications. These
ALLS 6(6):141-145, 2015 142
enlightening stories are not kept private. They are however taught, told again and again, as their capacity to standardize
youth and fortify this perspective to grown-ups (Berkes, 1999: 23).
American Indians were, because of necessity, very practical peoples whose physical survival was often in jeopardy.
They delighted in jokes and funny tales, but many of their stories dealt with very serious social, moral, environmental,
and psychological problems central to their immediate wellbeing. The violent, impossible and weird features of their
narratives were not escapist fantasizing, but a means for imagining real and common situations, feelings, attitudes,
beliefs of the utmost importance to the functioning of their societies. They thought of storytelling as an exercise. Indian
stories were intended to highlight and evaluate the deepest personal emotions and the most fundamental social
structures that allowed a community to function productively and enduringly. (Kroeber, 2008: 6).
But these violent exaggerations with which their stories were bound, were means for arousing awareness of private
feelings that few of us ever express publicly. What seem to us absurdities are dramatizing modes to enable Indian
listeners to explore in their minds the most essential and sacred principles of the institutions upon which their society is
founded and depends for its successful continuance. (Ibid.)
For us, stories are usually light entertainment, trivial amusements, with which we while away – waste – time. For
Indians, storytelling was their most important cultural activity. Every one of their most sacred rituals was rooted in a
narrative. Storytelling articulated the foundational systems and commitments by which each unique cultural life was
formed, and at the same time it was the primary means by which those systems and commitments could be examined so
as to be better understood, sustained, modified, and improved. (Ibid.)
Their narratives seem to us strange because they are far more culturally serious than the stories we read and watch on
television, and they demand far more daring, adventurous, and ultimately responsible imagining that we are trained to
bring to our story responses. We cannot begin to comprehend the power of these narratives until we recognize that
nothing that is strange or exaggerated in them is told simply for superficial effect. (Ibid)
Native American storytelling was focused on helping people understand their place in the natural world. Native
American tales were part metaphorical, part real, part spiritual, part mythological, part instructional and part
transformational. Most of all, however, they were entertaining and memorable to the audiences who heard them. This
guaranteed these stories would be remembered and passed down to the coming generations, who needed to understand
who they were, where they had come from, and why the world is the way it is, if they were to survive and prosper in the
challenging times that were – and still are - always just ahead. (‘Storytelling Traditions of Native Americans’, 2004)
2. Storytelling as a Traditional Approach to Education
Narrating is one of the soonest method for societal correspondence (Tooze, 1959: 24). Around American Indians,
narrating is a method for correspondence and additionally excitement. Utilizing narrating to transmit instructive
messages is a universal pedagogical system polished by numerous American Indian tribes (Moody, 1984: 8). The
American Indian society is looked after through recounting stories, especially on the grounds that it is a society
dependent upon oral instead of composed custom. The spoken word is the thing that gives life and meaning to Indian
history and traditions. Songs, chants, curing rites, prayers, lullabies, jokes, personal narratives, and stories most
importantly are the means by which Indians transmit the heritage of their most significant lessons from one generation
to the next. (Hodge, 2011)
American Indian stories address each believable circumstance. They are insignias of living religion and regularly allude
to an inventor who is aided by supportive creatures. They demonstrate the starting point of the area, seas, individuals,
creatures, plants, the sun, the moon, planets, stars, fire, and ice. Stories likewise give solid structure to the qualities and
practices that connect to current eras with their progenitors. They indicate antiquated social requests and everyday life,
how families are sorted out, how political structures work, how men chase and fish, and how power is partitioned
between men and ladies. Stories are filed for suitable and improper practices; they give illustrations to copy or to evade.
They show kids and remind grown-ups where they fit in, what their social order wants of them, and how to live
agreeably with others and be mindful, commendable parts of their tribes. (Ibid)
In spite of the fact that American Indian stories give stimulation, their basic role is to teach. There may be a given time,
spot, and individual to recount a given story. Oral histories and other unique sorts of stories were frequently the right of
specific families, elderly folks, heads, and medication individuals. These people had parts that obliged particular sorts
of information. These storytellers were instructors who imparted the history and memory that held the tribe's group
shrewdness; they were prepared to present stories in ways that reflected antiquated learning. Their crowd was relied
upon to listen mindfully from starting to end, to take in these stories for future eras, and to support the coherence of the
story through time.(Ibid.)
Stories are often used for teaching and sometimes to disciplining people about important cultural issues, especially
among Native Americans who live in close proximity to each other. In her interview with Jim Meadows, Luci
Tapahonso said:
“Well, I think in Navajo tradition, it is probably different in that stories are used to teach, to instruct, may be
sometimes to discipline, to show the listener how the experience is similar to or not as unusual as one may
think. And this would be in terms of where a person or situation in which a person might be feeling isolated or
a person might be feeling bad about a certain situation, and the story is told to show that this has happened
before and to show how someone has managed to get free of whatever situation it is.” (qtd. In Brill de
Rameriz142)
ALLS 6(6):141-145, 2015 143
In other words, Tapahonso emphasizes that Native American people often share their common experiences to learn
from each other, and their stories often provide them with good insight for their future undertakings.
Part of the values of the Natives is their wisdom and ability of teaching and applying healing powers among their family
members. In ‘A Radiant Curve’, Luci Tapahonso has told some traditional Dine stories with the central theme of
illustrating her family’s wisdom of keeping traditional Dine values and the significance of such wisdom to her family
members as well as to the Dine Nation. By the occasional usage of the Dine language in her short stories, Tapahonso
has expressed the significance of traditional ceremonial events within nuclear families which are extended to people
that are not blood relatives. Mixing several Dine texts with short definitions in her stories, such as ‘Shisóí’ – to mean
‘my daughter’s child’ at one instance and ‘my grandson’ at another instance, Luci was able to demonstrate the
importance of the Dine language to the characters of her story and to her family in real sense. Tapahonso has mixed the
characters of her short stories with the members of her family to express the strong bonds of love that exist among
Native American families – such as husbands and wives, parents and children as well as grandparents and
grandchildren. Furthermore, by incorporating the Dine language in her poetry collections and explaining the Dine texts
promptly Tapahonso is able to keep her non-Dine readers on track. Tapahonso was also able to show the significance of
storytelling to her family and to the Dine people in general.
Through storytelling, adults and children interact within the family, with the adults being considered as the teachers and
the children as students. Tapahonso’s choice and use of words does not only imply what happened in the past but also
what happens when the Natives come together as a tribe or a family –a central holy space (Dean Reader:89). This in
essence is Tapahonso’s important contribution to the Native American world by translating the culture of the natives
into her poems because “translator is like a messenger that must understand the message fully and transfer it to the TL
[target language] in way that seems appealing to the reader”(Babaee, Wan Yahya, & Babaee, 2014:17) and “the process
of translation enriches the literary learning experience; … and ways by which one culture differs from another, and
ways one can bridge cultural gaps.” (Merican & Hashim, 1994:150).
In Tapahonso’s ‘Remember the Things They Told Us’ the significance of remembering the counsel of the ‘The Holy
People’ was echoed. Counsels like nurturing the children and observing the taboos of pregnancy were highlighted.
Tapahonso wrote that the Native mothers should not forget to place pollen on their children’s tongues and bury their
infants’ stomach knobs properly.
Before this world existed, the holy people made themselves visible
by becoming clouds, sun, moon, trees, bodies of water, thunder
rain, snow, and other aspects of this world we live in. That way,
they said, we would never be alone. So it is possible to talk to them
and pray, no matter where we are and how we feel. Biyázhí daniidlí,
we are their little ones. (1-5)

Tapahonso wanted her fellow Diné women to remember the teachings of the Holy People – their ancestors and also pass
them across to the generations after them in order to sustain the Dine culture. To Tapahonso, passing on of the cultural
stories and heritage of the Diné tribe can sustain the younger children more than milk would do. Tapahonso further
advised the Navajo children to remember the treasures and the good tidings that the Holy People left for them to inherit
and to also remember the important lessons they were taught by those loving ancestors. She then recalled some of the
teachings – ‘never cook while angry, so as not to transfer the discord to the food’. According to the ancestral teachings
of the Natives, if one cooks food while angry, one’s anger would be transferred to the food and whoever eats the food
would become angry. Hence, they were taught to think of good things while cooking.
Tapahonso’s writing was characterized by a resonant tune that depicted her love for the Navajo culture and her keen
attachment with the beauty and strength of her people and her homeland (Cline, 1997):
Since the beginning, the people have gone outdoors at dawn to pray,
The morning light, adinídíín, represents knowledge and mental awareness.
With the dawn come the holy ones who bring blessings and daily gifts,
because they are grateful when we remember them.

When you were born and took your first breath, different colors
and different kinds of wind entered through your fingertips
and the whorl on top of your head. Within us, as we breathe,
are the light breezes that cool a summer afternoon,
within us the tumbling winds that precede rain,
within us sheets of hard-thundering rain,
within us dust-filled layers of wind that sweep in from the mountains,
within us gentle night flutters that lull us to sleep.
To see this, blow on your hand now.
Each sound we make evokes the power of these winds
and we are, at once, gentle and powerful. (6-20)
ALLS 6(6):141-145, 2015 144
In her poem, ‘The Holy Twins’ Tapahonso tells about the profound distress of the Native American children and the
expectant insistence that they exhibited as they grew older, evolving with an understanding of their moments of
youthful predicaments, being enslaved into a strange world. The narrative facade of Tapahonso’s ‘The Holy Twins’,
tells of the fatality of an entire community that became casualties of rabies because they were surrounded by dogs and
haunted by the bereavement of the survivors of the events who were predominantly children. The truths in Tapahonso’s
story lines connect one generation of the Native Americans with another and reflect the notion of resistance against
colonial intrusion and the loss of lives and cultural heritage.
Ours was play-filled childhood; irrigation ditches ran deep
During the summers. We played in the water and dirt, then inscribed
ABCs and numbers onto the smooth ground. Our cat Polly died
Of rabies; then all the pets had be shot, some in the rib cage
As they thrashed in panic (1-5)

Tapahonso’s ‘The Holy Twins’ shows that no one is exempted from the pain of losing their loved ones, or dying
themselves in spite of their years of existence, skin color or belief. Over the centuries and across all civilization these
agony has remained unavoidable in human history. The last words in each of the lines of the poem inscribe a general
understanding of the poem’s tone in minds of the readers. Her choice of words such as “deep,” “die,” “cage” and
“bruise,” reverberates the foreseeable agony of the “loss and love” of cherished lives cited in the poem’s concluding
lines.
Mark this down, we’ve paid our dues. Our hearts are inscribed
With loss after loss. For some reason, after everything, our rib cages
Held up and continued to cradle tender hearts. They must have figured
That all the prayers and careful teachings would prevent bruises
That would weaken us. Our love for those homely animals was deep. (31-35)

3. Conclusion
This paper has attempted to underscore the moral meanings, knowledge and social values of the Native American
people to their younger generations and the universe as a whole, on the basis of some selected works by Luci
Tapahonso. The paper has highlighted on the link between two opposing cultural modes: the oral tradition of the people
and the written tradition of the white man. The paper has also underlined the essence of Native American stories as
means by which they attempt to preserve their culture and identity for the next generations of their own people.
Implications of the Native American folklore in the current age of civilization is that it educates the youngsters and
convey moral lessons and meanings about tribes and customs of the ancient people. Overall, Tapahonso’s writings have
shown that the Native American people often share their common experiences to learn from each other, and their stories
often provide them with good insights for their future undertakings. Hence, her writing is characterized by a resonant
tune that depict her love for the Navajo culture and her keen attachment with the beauty and strength of her people and
her homeland.

References
Babaee, S., Wan Yahya, W.R. & Babaee, R. (2014). Creativity, Culture and Translation. English Language Teaching, 7
(6). pp.14-18.
Berkes, F. (1999). Sacred Ecology: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Management Systems. Philadelphia: Taylor
& Francis.
Brill de Rameriz, S. (1999). Contemporary American Indian Literature & the Oral Tradition. Tucsan: U of Arizona P.
Erdrich, L. (1988) Tracks. New York: Holt.
Hodge, F. S., Pasqua, A, Marquez, C.A. & Geishirt, B. (2011). Utilizing Traditional Storytelling to Promote Wellness in
American Indian Communities. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3098048/
Kroeber, K. (2008) Native American Storytelling: A Reader of Myths and Legends. Malden: Blackwell Pub.
Merican, F., & Hashim, R.S. (1994). The translation process: making links and enhancing literary appreciation. A View
of our own ethnocentric perspectives in literature. UKM, Bangi: Fakulti Pengajian Bahasa, pp.145-152.
Moody, LE. & Laurent, M. (1984). Promoting health through the use of storytelling. Health Education.
Nabokov, P. (2002). A Forest of Time: American Indian Ways of History. New York: Cambridge.
Sarris, G. (1993). Keeping Slug Woman Alive: A Holistic Approach to American Indian Texts. Berkeley: University of
California.
ALLS 6(6):141-145, 2015 145
Schulhoff, A. M. (2010). More Than Bows and Arrows: Subversion and Double-Consciousness in Native American
Storytelling. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of
Sociology College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida.
Secco, A. (1992). The Search for Origins through Storytelling in Native American Literature: Momaday, Silko,
Erdrich.” RSA Journal 3.
“Storytelling Traditions of Native Americans’’ (2014 ). teachercertification.org. QuinStreet, Inc.,
http://www.teachercertification.org/generalteaching/storytelling-traditions-of-native-americans.html
Tooze, R. (1959). Storytelling. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Arabic and English Consonants:

A Phonetic and Phonological Investigation
Mohammed Shariq
College of Science and Arts, Methnab, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia
E-mail: Shariq7771@gmail.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.146 Received: 18/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.146 Accepted: 15/09/2015

Abstract
This paper is an attempt to investigate the actual pronunciation of the consonants of Arabic and English with the help of
phonetic and phonological tools like manner of the articulation, point of articulation, and their distribution at different
positions in Arabic and English words. A phonetic and phonological analysis of the consonants of Arabic and English
can be useful in overcoming the hindrances that confront the Arab EFL learners. The larger aim is to bring about
pedagogical changes that can go a long way in improving pronunciation and ensuring the occurrence of desirable
learning outcomes.
Keywords: Phonetics, Phonology, Pronunciation, Arabic Consonants, English Consonants, Manner of articulation,
Point of articulation
1. Introduction
Cannorn (1967) and Ekundare (1993) define phonetics as sounds which is the basis of human speech as an acoustic
phenomenon. It has a source of vibration somewhere in the vocal apparatus. According to Varshney (1995), Phonetics
is the scientific study of the production, transmission and reception of speech sounds. It studies the medium of spoken
language. On the other hand, Phonology concerns itself with the evolution, analysis, arrangement and description of the
phonemes or meaningful sounds of a language (Ramamurthi, 2004). Phonology, according to Simpson (1972), is the
statement or description of the lingual stoically relevant suprasegmental features, the phonetic system, Allophones, their
distribution and the phonological structure. Ekundare (1993) simply puts phonology as “The study of the properties of
the sound system of a language which speakers have mastered or internalized by the time they are competent users of
it”.
However, the entire sound system works towards the production of what we know as language. Language has been
variously defined. Some of these definitions are listed here:
 ‘Language is a system of conventional spoken or written symbols by means of which human beings, as
members of a social group and participants in its culture, communicate.’—Encyclopedia Britannica
 ‘Language is the expression of ideas by means of speech sounds combined into words.’—Henry Sweet (an
English phonetician and language scholar).
 ‘Speech is the representation of the experience of the mind.’—Aristotle (Greek philosopher).
 ‘A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group cooperates.’—Bloch and
Trager (American linguists).
 ‘Language is undoubtedly a kind of means of communication among human beings. It consists primarily of
vocal sounds. It is articulatory, systematic, symbolic and arbitrary.’—Derbyshire
2. Literature Review
One of the very early EFL studies on Egyptian learners gives an enlightening insight into the problem area of
suprasegmentals for Arabic speaking English learners. Richard Beym in English as a Foreign Language in Egypt
(1956) has this to say about Arabic speaking learners of English: “In teaching Arabic speakers to speak English one
must consider intonational patterns. The intonational pattern that Arabic speakers use in their own language are often
carried over into English… This is due to the fact that some important phonological aspects of the foreign language has
not been presented to the Arabic speakers”.
Further, and more significantly for the current study, he says: “Spoken Arabic…has no gliding pitches except in the
terminal syllable of an utterance. The continuum of pitch sequences in Arabic is not a smooth flow, one leading into the
next, producing a jump like sequence. This Arabic phenomenon produces (when carried over) a choppy, sing song
English. With rare exception, such supra-segmental phonemes of English are not taught…
A major phonetic stumbling block in teaching English to the Arabic speakers is the problem of avoiding non-
permissible variations in vowel quality. In spoken Arabic the emphatic consonants (sometimes called velarized or
retroflex consonants) have a strong influence upon preceding or following vowels…In attempts to produce the vowel
sound in “sear” when sating “sir”. The cause of this coloration (a phonemic distinction in English) is that the English
word is heard to begin with what is recognized by the Arabic speaker as the non-emphatic spirant consonant.
Numerous studies have been conducted ever since in different languages the world over to measure and analyse the
interference of the mother tongue on English in L2 or EFL speakers. In a larger context, such studies enable the L2 or
ALLS 6(6):146-152, 2015 147
EFL teaching community to identify and check the areas of interference and bring the EFL speaker’s language closer to
that of the native speaker. In fact in the United States, where a Master’s Degree is offered in TESOL, topics in
Phonology represent important opportunities for preparing language teachers to meet the speech intelligibility needs of
L2 learners. John M. Murphy (1997) aptly highlighted the significance of learning sound systems in an article based on
a survey of these courses.
In an EFL study in Japan, Riney et al. (2000) studied Segmentals and Global Foreign Accent. They investigated the
relationship between global foreign accent and a more discrete feature of pronunciation- the substitution of the Japanese
flap [ɾ] for English liquids [r] and [l]. The principal finding was a strong negative correlation between percentages of
Japanese flap substitutions and accent ratings. In simple words it meant that when speech samples where the English
liquids were substituted by the Japanese flap were rated for accentedness, the outcome was not significant. The
discussion, however, addressed debate over teaching segments versus supra-segments and related pedagogical priorities.
In another article on modification of the sound of a word or morpheme when juxtaposed with another, especially in
fluent speech, Elizabeth Zsiga (2011) presents the results of an acoustic study of nasal assimilation and gestural overlap
at word boundaries in Korean and Korean-accented English. Twelve speakers of Seoul Korean recorded phrases
containing obstruent# nasal and obstruent# obstruent sequences in both Korean and English. Nasalization of the word-
final obstruent, predicted by the rules of Korean phonology, occurred in 93% of obstruent# nasal sequences in Korean
and in 32% of such sequences in Korean-accented English, a rate of application higher than that reported in most other
studies of external sandhi alternations in nonnative speech. Acoustic analysis found categorical nasalization in the L1
Korean productions, but both categorical and gradient nasalization, along with a high degree of inter- and intra-speaker
variation, in the L2 English productions.
3. Speech sounds: A research problem
Whereas for the layperson there are two classifications of speech sounds or phonemes of English: vowels and
consonants literature on the subject classifies them into a larger number of categories. According to Trager and Smith as
quoted by Varshney, there are forty five phonemes for English. These are:
9 simple vowels
3 semi vowels
21 consonants
4 stresses
4 pitches
1 plus juncture
3 terminal juncture In Arabic, however, the number of consonant phonemes or sounds is 28 and of vowel sounds is a
mere 3 (or 6 if we also count all of the longer and shorter sounds). Further, the feature of length applies to both
consonants and vowels in Arabic whereas it applies only to the vowel sounds in English. As opposed to English, Arabic
is rich in three particular sounds, viz. uvular, pharyngeal and pharyngealized.
Speaking of historical linguistics, English and Arabic belong to two different language families. This may account for
the diverseness of the two languages. English, much like German, Flemish, Dutch and Norwegian, belongs to the
Germanic group of Indo European family of languages. Arabic is a member of the Afro Asiatic or Hamito Semitic
family of languages: a family that flourished in north Africa and southwestern Asia. It shares the dias with Egyptian,
Berber, Cushitic and Chad.
Given these facts, it is not surprising that English poses a major challenge for the average Arabic speaking learner.
However, it is a challenge that can be overcome with identification of sound differences between the two languages.
4. Articulators
Articulators are those organs of speech which take part in the production of speech sound. We describe them in
categories; active articulators (mobile articulators) like, tongue, lower lip etc. and passive articulators (immobile
articulators) like- upper lip, teeth, hard palate, soft palate, uvula, pharynx, alveolar ridge etc.

Figure 1. Articulators or organs of speech

(Peter Roach, 2009)
 ALLS 6(6):146-152, 2015 148

Arabic consonants
Point Bilabial Labiodentals Dental Alveolar Palate- Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyng Glottal Labio-
alveolar eal velar
Manner

Plosive ‫ ﺏ‬b ‫ ﺕ‬t /‫ ﺩ‬d ‫ ﻙ‬k ‫ ﻕ‬q ‫ ﺀ‬ʔ

‫ﻁ‬tˁ/‫ ﺽ‬dˁ
Nasal ‫ ﻡ‬m ‫ ﻥ‬n
Affricate ‫ ﺝ‬ʤ
Fricative ‫ﻑ‬ f ‫ ﺙ‬Ɵ/‫ ﺫ‬ð ‫ ﺱ‬s/‫ ﺯ‬z ‫ ﺥ‬x/‫ ﻍ‬Ɣ ‫ ﺡ‬ħ ‫ ﻩ‬h
‫ ﻅ‬ðˁ ‫ ﺹ‬sˁ
Tap/ flap ‫ ﺭ‬r
Lateral ‫ﻝ‬ l
Frictionl ‫ ﻉ‬ʕ
ess
continua
nt
Approxi ‫ ﻱ‬j ‫ ﻭ‬w
mant/
Semi-
vowel

Figure 2. Arabic IPA Chart

Where symbols appear in pair, the one on the left represents a voiceless consonant and the one on the right represents a
voiced consonant

4.1 Place of articulation

The place or point at which active articulator comes in contact or obstructs with passive articulator is referred as place
or point of articulation.
4.2 Manner of articulation
The manner of articulation specifies the kind of closure or narrowing involved in the production of a sound. In other
words, it specifies the kind of stricture (or constriction) involved in the articulation of a sound (Sethi & Dhamija 2010).
A comparison between Arabic and English consonants is discussed below:
ALLS 6(6):146-152, 2015 149
Bilabial—plosives
The lower lip comes in contact with the upper lip and produces an obstruction in the production of it. The articulators
are the two lips in the production of bilabial consonants. The point of articulation is lips. On the other hand, it involves a
stricture of complete closure. The air passage is closed at some point in the vocal tract which builds the air pressure
behind the closure. Finally the closure the closure is suddenly eliminated with sudden release of air with some explosive
noise. The result of manner of articulation is a plosive consonant.
Examples: The distribution of the consonant [‫[ ]ﺏ‬b] is found in all the three positions in Arabic as in [ ‫ [ ] ﺑﺎﺳﻢ‬ba:sɪm]
‘happy, a male’s name’ at initial position, [ ‫ [ ] ﺍﺑﺘﺪﺍﺀ‬ɪbtadaʔ ] ‘beginning’ at medial position and [ ‫ [ ] ﺻﻌﺐ‬sˁaʕb ]
‘difficult’ at final position. Similarly in English, bit [ bɪt ] at initial, lable [ leɪbəl ] at medial and nib [ nɪb ] at final
position is occurred.
The IPA Chart represents another bilabial plosive which is on the left side of [b] that is [p]. Both [p] and [b] are found
in English while there is only [b] in Arabic. Arabic learners are found having difficulty in the pronunciation of it. The
difference is of voicing; [p] is a voiceless bilabial plosive while [b] is a voiced bilabial plosive. [p] occurs in all the
three positions in English words like; put [pʊt] at initial position, complete [kəmpli:t] at medial position and tip [tɪp] at
final position.
Bilabial—Nasals
The consonant [m] is found both in Arabic as well as in English. The point of articulation is lips. It is called as nasal
because the basic characteristic of it is that the air escapes through the nose. In nasal consonants, however, air does not
pass through the mouth; it is stopped by a complete closure somewhere in the mouth. In this case the soft palate is
lowered and the path of nose remained open in the production of it. It is also found in all the three positions in Arabic
and English. The examples are: [‫[ ]ﻣﻜﺘﺐ‬məktəb] ‘office’ at initial position, [‫[ ]ﻃﻤﺎﻃﻢ‬tˁəma:tˁəm] ‘tomato’ at medial
position and [‫[ ]ﻛﻢ‬kəm] ‘how much’ at final position. In English man [mæn] at initial position, campus [kæmpəs] at
medial position and come [kʌm] at final position occurred.
Labiodentals—fricatives
The lower lip comes in contact with the upper teeth, thus the consonants are referred as labiodentals. For example [f]
and [v] are bilabial fricatives but [f] found in Arabic and both [f] and [v] in English. The term fricative is referred
because the air escapes through a narrow passage and makes a hissing sound. These are also termed as continuant
fricative, because we can continuously produce friction by throwing air outside. [f] is a voiceless consonant while [v] is
voiced.
[f] occurs in all three positions of the words in Arabic like; [‫[ ]ﻓﺮﻳﻖ‬fəri:q] ‘team’ at initial position, [‫[ ]ﺳﻔﺮ‬səfər] ‘travel’
at medial and [‫[ ]ﺧﻮﻑ‬xəʊf] ‘fear’ at final position. This is also so in English like: face [feɪs] at initial, comfort [kʌmfət]
at medial position and cuff [kʌf] at the final position. The consonant [v] also occurs in all three positions in English
like; very [veri:] at initial position, ever [ɛvə] at medial position and thrive [Ɵra:ɪv] at final position.
Dental—plosives
The active articulator is the tip of the tongue and the passive articulator is the upper teeth in the production of dental
consonants. The closure in the mouth is released suddenly and air escapes with some explosive noise. These are four in
all [‫ ] ﺕ‬voiceless, [‫ ]ﺩ‬voiced, [‫ ]ﻁ‬voiceless and [‫ ]ﺽ‬voiced. These all occurs in all the three positions. Examples are:
initial- [‫[ ]ﺗﺎﺝ‬ta:ʤ] ‘crown’, medial- [‫[ ]ﻛﺘﺎﺏ‬kɪta:b] ‘book’ and final- [‫[ ]ﺑﻴﺖ‬beɪt] ‘house’ [‫ ]ﺩ‬occurs at initial- [‫[ ]ﺩﺏ‬dʊb]
‘bear’, [‫[ ]ﻫﺪﻑ‬hədəf] ‘goal, target’ and [‫[ ]ﻳﺪ‬jəd] ‘hand’, [‫ ]ﻁ‬occurs at initial- [‫[ ]ﻃﻔﻞ‬tˁɪfl] ‘child’, -medial- [‫[ ]ﻗﻄﺮ‬qətər]
‘Qatar country’ and -final[‫[ ]ﻧﻔﻂ‬nəftˁ] ‘oil’ and [‫ ]ﺽ‬occurs at initial- [‫[ ]ﺿﻌﻴﻒ‬dˁəʕi:f] ‘weak’, ‘old’, -medial- [‫]ﺃﺧﻀﺮ‬
[əxdˁər] ‘green’ and -final[‫[ ]ﺃﺭﺽ‬ərdˁ] ‘land’, ‘ground’.
English has one voiceless [t] and one voiced [d] dental plosives and they occurs all the three positions. [t] occurs at
initial- tap [tæp], -medial- stop [stɑp] and –final pit [pɪt] while [d] at initial- dog [dɔg], -medial- model [mɑdl] and –
final good [gʊd].
Dental—fricatives
Tip of the tongue comes in contact with lower and upper teeth so these sounds are called dentals. It involves a stricture
of close approximation; there is a narrow gap through which air comes with an audible friction and the term given to
these consonants is fricative. In Arabic these are [Ɵ], [ð] [ðˁ] while English has two of them [Ɵ] and [ð] where one is
voiceless and the other is voiced. The examples with their distribution in Arabic are; at initial- [‫[ ]ﺛﻌﻠﺐ‬Ɵəʕləb] ‘fox’, -
medial- [‫[ ]ﺃﻧﺜﻰ‬ʊnƟə] ‘female’ and -final[‫[ ]ﺣﺪﻳﺚ‬ħədi:Ɵ] ‘talk’. While [‫ ]ﺫ‬at initial- position as in [‫[ ]ﺫﻛﺮ‬ðəkər] ‘male’, -
medial- [‫[ ]ﺇﺫﺍ‬ɪða] ‘if’ and -final [‫[ ]ﻟﺬﻳﺬ‬ləði:ð] delicious. The consonant [ðˁ] initially occurs in [‫[ ]ﻇﻞ‬ðˁələ] ‘shadow’, -
medially- [‫[ ]ﻧﻈﻴﻒ‬nəðˁi:f] ‘clean’ and –finally [‫[ ]ﺣﻔﻆ‬ħəfəðˁ] ‘save’. In English [Ɵ] also occurs initially- in three [Ɵri:], -
medially-
this [ðɪs], -medially- in other [ʌðə].
Alveolar—nasal
In the production of these consonants, the active articulator is the blade or tip of the tongue and the passive articulator is
the teeth ridge or alveolar ridge. That is why these consonants are called as alveolar consonants. The air releases
through the nose because the soft palate is lowered and the air path to the mouth is blocked, so the term is referred as
nasal. This consonant is [n] which is found both in Arabic as well as in English. The examples from Arabic are;
ALLS 6(6):146-152, 2015 150
initially- [‫[ ]ﻧﻤﺮ‬nəmr] ‘tiger’ –medially- [‫[ ]ﺃﻧﺖ‬əntə] ‘you’ and -finally [‫[ ]ﻟﺴﺎﻥ‬lɪsa:n] ‘tongue’. In English it is found at
initial position- night [na:ɪt], -medially- connect [kənekt] and –finally gone [gɔ:n].
Alveolar—fricatives
The tongue comes in contact with alveolar ridge and air escapes with friction through a narrow gap from the oral cavity.
In Arabic these are [s] voiceless, [z] voiced and [sˁ] voiceless but in English [s] and [z], voiced and unvoiced, are found.
The examples from Arabic are; [s] initial- [‫[ ]ﺳﺎﻋﻪ‬sa:ʕa] ‘hour’, -medial- [‫[ ]ﻋﺴﻞ‬ʕəsəl] ‘honey’ and -final [‫[ ]ﺭﺃﺱ‬ra:s]
‘head’, [z] initial- [‫[ ]ﺯﺭﺍﻓﻪ‬zəra:fah] ‘giraffe’ –medial- [‫[ ]ﻭﺯﻳﺮ‬wəzi:r] ‘minister’ and -final [‫[ ]ﻣﻮﺯ‬moz] ‘banana’. [sˁ]
initial- [‫[ ]ﺻﺪﻳﻖ‬sˁədi:q] ‘friend’, -meidla- [‫[ ]ﺣﺼﺎﻥ‬ħɪsˁa:n] ‘horse’ and -final [‫[ ]ﻧﺺ‬nəsˁ] ‘text’.
From English, examples include [s] at initial- spice [spa:ɪs], -medial- disagree [dɪsəgri:] and at –final position ice [a:ɪs].
The alveolar fricative [z] occurs at initial- in zoo [zu:], -medial- design [dɪza:ɪn] and at –final position please [pli:z].
Alveolar—tap
The tongue touches the alveolar ridge and in the production of a tap, tongue moves towards alveolar ridge, makes a
momentary contact, and immediately withdraws to its position of rest. The consonant produced is alveolar-tap [‫ ]ﺭ‬in
Arabic and [ɾ] in English. The examples of this consonant in Arabic are; initially- [‫[ ]ﺭﺑﻴﻊ‬ɾəbi:ʕ] ‘spring’, -medially-
[‫[ ]ﺑﺮﻕ‬bəɾq] ‘lightning’ and –finally [‫[ ]ﺻﻐﻴﺮ‬sˁəɣi:ɾ] ‘small’. In English it occurs initially- in risk [ɾɪsk], -medially- harm
[ha:ɾm] and –finally matter [mætəɾ]. The [ɾ] sound often found in British English when the letter r occurs between
vowels as in very (Sethi & Dhamija, 2010).
Alveolar—lateral
The tongue touches alveolar ridge, it involves a stricture of partial closure. There is a partial at some point in the
mouth, so that the airstream can escape on one or both sides of the contact. There is a contact between the tip of the
tongue and the centre of the teeth ridge; but there is no such contact, at least on one side, between the rim of the tongue
and the upper side teeth. The consonant [l] found in all three positions in Arabic; at initial- position [‫[ ]ﻟﺤﻢ‬ləħm] ‘meat’,
at –medial- position [‫[ ]ﻗﻠﺐ‬qəlb] ‘heart’ and at –final position [‫[ ]ﺣﺒﻞ‬ħəbəl] ‘rope’. In English it is found at initially in the
word like lie [la:ɪ], -medially- only [oʊnli:] and -finally in kill [kɪɫ].
It should be noted that the realization of [l] in the word lie is different from the realization of [l] in the word kill. The
sound in lie is what we called a ‘clear l’ while the sound in kill is what we called a ‘dark l’. The phonetic symbol for this
sound is [ɫ].
Palatal—affricate
The front of the tongue comes in contact with hard palate of the roof of the mouth, so the sounds are produced with this
obstruction called palatal. The production of affricates is similar to that of plosives. There are three stages called;
closing, compression and release. But, the release is sudden in case of plosives while it is gradual in production of
affricates. The closure part of the affricate is represented by a plosive, and the release part, fricative is produced at the
same point. Thus, the affricate is represented by two letters used in phonetic transcription.
There are two affricates in English those are voiceless palatal-alveolar affricate [tʃ] and voiced palatal-alveolar affricate
[dʒ] while Arabic has only one that is voiced palatal-alveolar affricate [‫[ ]ﺝ‬dʒ].
In Arabic [dʒ] occurs in all the three positions in words like; at initial position [‫[ ]ﺟﻨﻮﺏ‬dʒʊnu:b] ‘south’, at –medial-
position [‫[ ]ﺷﺠﺮﺓ‬ʃədʒərah] ‘tree’ and at –final position [‫[ ]ﻋﻼﺝ‬ʕɪla:dʒ] ‘treatment’. The voiceless palatal-alveolar
affricate [tʃ] also occurs in all the three positions in English in the words like; chair [tʃɛə] at initial, achieve [ətʃi:v] at
medial and march [mɑtʃ] at final position. The voiced palatal-alveolar affricate also occurs in all the three position in
words of English like; jump [dʒʌmp] at initial position, soldier [səʊldʒə] at medial position and village [vɪlɪdʒ] at final
position.
Palatal—approximant
The front of the tongue comes close to the hard palate, the roof of the mouth. But, the tongue is not as close to the roof
of the mouth as in case of fricatives. In this case the narrowing is of a lesser degree. The articulators do not come so
close together so that no audible friction is there in the production of this sound. This sound is also referred as
frictionless continuant and more often called approximant. The sound is [j] in English and [‫ ]ﻱ‬in Arabic. It is also called
a semi-vowel, which is essentially very short approximant. It is very rapid glide towards, or from, a vowel of greater
stable duration. It differs from both approximants and vowels in that it is momentary in nature, and cannot be
lengthened (Sethi & Dhamija, 2010).
[j] sound occurs at initial and medial position only, it doesn’t occur at final position both in Arabic as well in English.
The examples are; [j] at initial position [‫[ ]ﻳﺪ‬jəd] ‘hand’, at medial position [‫[ ]ﺟﻴﺪ‬dʒəɪjəd] ‘good’. In English it is found
in words like; yes [jes] initially and lawyer [lɔ:jər].
Velar—plosive
The active articulator, back of the tongue, comes in contact with passive articulator soft palate or velum and produce
obstruction in the production of these sounds, so they are called as velar consonants. The air which is blocked at some
point in the oral cavity, releases suddenly with some explosive noise and we hear a plosive consonant. Arabic has one
velar-plosive that is [‫[ ]ﻙ‬k] which is voiceless. But, English has one more sound which voiced in nature that is [g].
ALLS 6(6):146-152, 2015 151
The examples from Arabic are; [‫[ ]ﻛﺒﻴﺮ‬kəbi:r] ‘big, large’ at initial position, [‫[ ]ﺣﻜﻮﻣﺔ‬ħʊku:mah] ‘government’ at medial
position and [‫[ ]ﻣﻠﻚ‬məlɪk] ‘king’ at final position. In English it occurs word initially in cool [ku:l], word medially in
maker [meɪkər] and word finally in bake [beɪk]. The voiced velar-plosive [g] occur word initially in good [gʊd], word
medially bigger [bɪgə] and word finally in mug [mʌg].
Uvular—plosive
The active articulator, back of the tongue, comes in contact with passive articulator uvula and produce obstruction in the
production of this sound, so it is called as uvular consonant. The air releases with an explosive noise and the term is
referred to it is plosive. Uvular plosive [‫[ ]ﻕ‬q] is not found in English but it is common sound in Arabic and found in all
the three positions of words. It is found at word initially in [‫[ ]ﻗﻠﻢ‬qələm] ‘pen’, word medially in [‫[ ]ﺑﻘﺮﺓ‬bəqərah] ‘cow’
and word finally in [‫[ ]ﻃﺮﻳﻖ‬tˁəri:q] ‘road’.
Uvular—fricative
In the production of these sounds the active articulator, back of the tongue, comes in contact with the passive articulator
uvula, but the air escapes with friction, so the term is referred to them is uvular-fricative. These are also not found in
English but very natural in Arabic. These sounds are voiceless [‫[ ]ﺥ‬x] and voiced [‫[ ]ﻍ‬ɣ] in Arabic. The voiceless
uvular-fricative [x] occurs at word initially in [‫[ ]ﺧﺒﺰ‬xʊbʊz] ‘bread’, word medially in [‫[ ]ﻣﺨﺘﻠﻒ‬mʊxtəlɪf] ‘different’ and
word finally in [ ‫[ ﻧﺴﺦ‬nəsəx] ‘copy’. The voiced uvular-fricative also occurs at word initially in [‫[ ]ﻏﺎﺯ‬ɣa:s] ‘gas’, word
medially in [‫[ ]ﻳﻐﺴﻞ‬jəɣsəl] ‘wash’ and word finally in [‫[ ]ﻓﺮﺍﻍ‬fɪra:ɣ] ‘empty’.
Pharyngeal—fricative
With regard to the point of articulation, this consonant is articulated with the tongue root against the back of the throat
(the pharynx), thus known as pharyngeal. Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by
constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence. This pharyngeal fricative
is voiceless and found in Arabic but not in English, which is [‫[ ]ﺡ‬ħ]. It occurs in all the three positions in Arabic words.
The example of it at word initially is [‫[ ]ﺣﺮﻳﻖ‬ħəri:q] ‘fire’, word medially in [‫[ ]ﺻﺤﺔ‬sˁəħah] ‘health’ and word finally in
[‫[ ]ﺗﻔﺎﺡ‬tʊffəħ] ‘apple’.
Pharyngeal—frictionless continuant
Its manner of articulation varies between approximant and fricative, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal
tract at the place of articulation, but generally not enough to produce much turbulence in the airstream. The place of
articulation of this consonant is pharyngeal, which means it is articulated with the tongue root against the back of the
throat (the pharynx). It not found in English but natural in Arabic. The letter in Arabic is [‫ ]ﺡ‬and the phonetic symbol of
it is [ʕ]. It is found in all the three positions in Arabic words as in [‫[ ]ﻋﻠﻢ‬ʕɪlm] ‘knowledge’ word initially,[‫]ﻣﻌﻠﻢ‬
[mʊʕəllɪm] ‘teacher’ word medially and [‫[ ]ﺳﻤﻊ‬səməʕ] ‘hear’ word finally.
Glottal—plosive
The glottal plosive is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or the glottis. This consonant is plosive because
the air is stopped entirely at some point and released suddenly. It is found in all the three positions in Arabic words like;
word initially in [‫[ ]ﺃﺏ‬ʔəb] ‘father’, word medially in [‫[ ]ﻓﺌﺔ‬fɪʔə] ‘category’ and word finally in [‫[ ]ﺳﻤﺎﺀ‬səmaʔ] ‘sky’. In
English, the glottal stop is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh!. For most United States English speakers,
a glottal stop is used as an allophone of /t/ between a vowel and a syllabic "n", as in button [ˈbɐʔn̩] except when talking
slowly.
Glottal—fricative
The articulators for the glottal sounds are the vocal cords. This type of sound is produced by an obstruction, or a
narrowing causing friction, but not by vibration between the vocal cords. Thus the air escapes from the lungs with an
audible friction through a narrow glottis. The soft palate in this case is raised. This consonant is found in Arabic
represented by [‫ ]ﻩ‬and in English by [h]. The phonetic symbol for this sound is [h]. It is found in all the three positions
in Arabic words like; [‫[ ]ﻫﺎﺗﻒ‬ha:təf] ‘phone’ at initial position, [‫[ ]ﻧﻬﺮ‬nəhər] ‘river’ at medial [‫[ ]ﻭﺟﻪ‬wədʒəh] ‘face’ at
final position. In English it occurs at initial position as in half [ha:f] and at medial position in behave [bɪheɪv]. It does
not occur word finally.
Labiovelar—approximant
In the production of this consonant the back part of the tongue is raised toward the velum while rounding the lips. it is
produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulence.
The type of approximant is glide or semivowel. The term glide emphasizes the characteristic of movement (or 'glide') of
[w] from the [u] vowel position to a following vowel position. It found in all the three positions in Arabic like; [‫]ﻭﺯﻥ‬
[wəzən] ‘weight’ at word initially, [‫[ ]ﺩﻭﺍﺀ‬dəwəʔ] ‘medicine’ and word finally in [‫[ ]ﻫﻮ‬hʊwə] ‘he’. In English it occurs at
word initially in west [west] and word medially in sweet [swi:t]. It does not occur word finally.
5. Recommendations
1. The correct pattern of word accent in English should be maintained in EFL courses.
2. The consonant /p/ which is missing in the Arabic phonic system should be acquired.
3. The correct pattern of stress and rhythm in English should be taught to the EFL learners to the exclusion of the
typical Arabic pattern.
ALLS 6(6):146-152, 2015 152
4. The voiceless plosives /p/, /t/, /k/ should be aspirated when occurring at the word initial stage to bring the
learners’ speech production closer to that of the native speakers.
5. The correct distribution of English consonants and vowels should be encouraged in th learners by the use of a
pronouncing dictionary.
6. Learners should be given ample practice in pronunciation of the vowel sounds which are invariably replaces by
diphthongs (a characteristic they superimpose from the mother tongue).
6. Conclusion
It is obvious that the language as a medium of communication plays an important part in our life and this cannot be
overlooked. Language learning starts with the sound system of a language. As discussed earlier in this paper, language
is an essential asset to human beings in which speech is primary. It is necessary for the language learners to be trained
the way by which Arabic and English sounds are pronounced with accurate consideration to their places and manner of
articulation. It is with this aim that the similarities and dissimilarities between Arabic and English consonantal sounds
have been elaborated to mark the problems faced by the EFL learners in Saudi Arabia. The teachers can prepare the
remedial help for the English learners to get over the problem of pronunciation. However, language learning, and
specifically foreign language learning, is a long process that requires continuous and comprehensive training and
evaluation of both the teachers and learners. With this presumption as the starting point, pedagogical changes followed
by in and pre service training of EFL teaching community can go a long way to ensure desirable outcomes for the
learners.

References
Adetunji, B., Waheed, R.O. (2010). Phonetic and Phonology in Comparative analysis of Arabic and English Language.
Nigerian Journal of Research and Production 17(2).
Al-Hattami, A.A. (2010). A Phonetic and Phonological Study of the Consonants of English and Arabic. Language in
India,10.
Al-Saqqaf, A.H., Vaddapalli, M.K. (2012). Teaching English Vowels to Arab Students: A Search for A Model and
Pedagogical Implications. International Journal of Educational Science and Research, 2.
Cannor, J.D.O. (1967). Better English pronunciation. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ekundare F. (1993). Phonetics: An introductory handbook. Ibadan: Commercial Printing Works.
Ramamurthi, L. (2004). A History of English Language and Elements of Phonetics. Chennai: Macmillan India Limited.
Roach, P. (2009). English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sethi, J., Dhamija, P.V. (2010). A Course in Phonetics and Spoken English. New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.
Simpon J.M. (1972). Notes on phonology: Ordinary class in linguistics and Phonetics, Scotland: University of Glasgrow
Press.
Syal, P., Jindal, D.V. (2013). An Introduction to Linguistics. New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd
Varshney, R L. (1995). An Introductory Textbook of Linguistics and Phonetics. Bareilly: Student Store
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

On (De) Personification in Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition

Ahmad El-Sharif
Department of English Language and Literatur, Al-alBayt University, Jordan
E-mail: a.el-sharif@aabu.edu.jo

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.153 Received: 15/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.153 Accepted: 21/09/2015

Abstract
In this paper, I discuss the themes of personification and de-personification in the Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition from
a cognitive linguistic viewpoint. Instances of personification and de- personification in Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition
are analysed following approaches of conceptual metaphor theory and critical metaphor analysis. The analysis reveals
that the two linguistic phenomena are eminent in the language of the Prophet Muhammad. Personification, for instance,
is frequently used for ontological purposes to portray and conceptualise non-human entities such as abstract concepts,
body parts, and human deeds. De-personification, on the other hand, is used to evoke more prevalent ideological
implication whereby people are classified into a hierarchical scale according to the degree of their faith and the nature
of their deeds and behaviours.
Keywords: Personification, Islam, Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition, Conceptual Metaphor Theory
1. Introduction
Personification is a common linguistic phenomenon that can be found in almost in all types of discourse. This linguistic
phenomenon is broadly recognised as a discursive device by which some human qualities, traits, and dispositions are
bestowed upon inhuman creatures, inanimate objects, ideas and abstract notions. The term ‘personification’ (or
anthropomorphism from the Greek (ānthrōpos) “human” and (morphē) “form”) was coined in the mid of the
seventeenth century (Peter, 2004). In rhetoric, ‘personification’ typically refers to the instance in language where the
speaker or the writer refers to an inanimate ‘character’ using the actions and personalities typically attributed to
humans. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theories defines personification as a figure of speech
used to give a human form, to humanize inanimate objects, abstract entities, phenomena, and ideas (Cuddon, 1998).
In folk literature, for instance, personification is traditionally used to represent abstract and immaterial ideas and
perpetual natural phenomena. The function of personification here is likened to that of metaphor where we describe
something by comparing it to something more recognizable. For instance, abstract concepts, emotional states, and
natural forces are bestowed human characteristics in myth and literature (See Paul De Man, 1988 (cited in Paxson,
1994)). Many cultures conventionally understand death in terms of human qualities. Thus, death is perceived as a
gluttonous devourer, a destroyer, or a separator supernatural force that reflects the same intrinsic human qualities and
portrayed using the folk image of the ‘Grim Reaper’ (See Bender, 1894; Hamilton, 2002). In addition, fiction across
cultures attributes human qualities to animals, plants, and inanimate objects. Thus, we have animals and plants which
can talk, think, love, and even invent tools. The moral messages of such fiction, such as Aesop’s fables and the
Grimms’ fairy tales, exhibit some human traits by personifying animals and plants and making them behave like
humans. Besides, personification is constantly employed in fiction to commercialise ideological messages. For example,
George Orwell’s Animal Farm and its criticism to communism and totalitarianism through the language and actions of
‘empowered’ farm animals.
Modern conceptual theories of metaphor regard personification as a key component and product of the metaphorical
apparatus used in language, discourse, and thought. Craig Hamilton proposes “a metaphor in language normally reveals
a related conceptual metaphor in thought” (Gibbs, 1996: 311); thus, the reason people resort to personification is that
because they first think in personification (Hamilton, 2002). Where a conceptual metaphor is represented in terms of an
abstract Target domain and a concrete Source one, personification, as a conceptual representation, involves a prevalent
overlap with other metaphorical domains on the other. Back to earliest definitions of personification, it is perceived as
the attribution of human features to inanimate objects (Leech, 1969). Herein, personification in contemporary theories
of metaphor is recognised as a tool which the one is essentially use as ornamentation trope and for the goal of
persuasion (Lakoff and Turner, 1989). Personification was then described in relation to the EVENTS ARE ACTIONS
metaphor, which allows us to “conceive of agentless events as if they were caused by agents” (Lakoff and Turner, 1989:
36). What is most remarkable is how several metaphorical domains can be also understood in terms of their common
characteristics with personification (See Eubanks, 2000; Gibbs, 1994; Grady, 1997; Kovecses, 1995). George Lakoff
(1987) points to several conceptual metaphors of ‘life’ and ‘death’ using ‘time’ as a depiction of human experiences
reflected through the conceptual metaphor TIME IS A THIEF. In other instances, personification extends its scope to
overlap with other generic metaphorical domains such as JOURNEY, CONFLICT, NATURAL DISASTERS, or
ANIMAL conceptual domains. Metaphors from such domains of experience involve some basic reflections and
ALLS 6(6):153-164, 2015 154
generalisations of personification once we regard the actions, or the processes, which the Target domains are engaged
in. In this regard, personification can be identified with a more basic units of meaning associated an animate or human
agency as in nouns, adverbs, and mostly adjective and verbs (Dorst, 2011: 120). These generalizations can be
understood on the basis of the Halliday’s transitivity perspective which looks into the ideational function of the text and
the manner by which ideas are transmitted through language. Transitivity then is used to represent ‘ ‘processes’ or
‘experiences’: actions, events, processes of consciousness and relations’ (Halliday, 1985: 53). To elaborate, once we
probe the relationship between the BULIDING conceptual (Source) domain and PERSONIFICATION (as another
Source domain), a number of semantic generalisations can be inferred to transmit the scheme of ‘building’ through
personification. Herein, on the basis of the transitivity of the involved processes, personification can be considered an
established ‘base-model’ of the BULIDING metaphorical domain. This base-model provides an implicit cognitive and
rhetorical basis for other conceptual models such as THEORIES ARE BUILDINGS of the following sort:
 The laws which construct the basis of this theory are indefensible.
 His argument demolishes the theory from its basis.
 The principles which govern the theory are very constrained.
In spite of the fact that these metaphorical expressions are conventionally analysed as parts of the conceptual metaphor
THEORIES ARE BUILDINGS, the processes of constructing, demolishing, and governing are human ‘material
processes’ (according to Structural Functional Linguistics)(1) which are implicitly refer to human activities which are
used concurrently with the BUILDING metaphorical domain. Such understanding of personification in terms of
conceptual metaphors is reflected in discourse studies, where “impersonal construction of agency” in action/activity
verbs is viewed as one of the central features of discourse (See Biber, 1988; Dorgeloh & Wanner, 2009; Master, 1991).
2. Personification in Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition
The analysis of personification in the Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition and language shows that the ‘semantic tension’
(Charteris-Black, 2004) they echo reinforces the several metaphorical elaborations to cover other metaphorical domains.
These elaborated images of personification reflect Prophet Muhammad’s rhetoric in his lexical selections. These
selections are reflected in terms of the different sorts of actions and processes used to convey and emphasize the
required message in the Saying and amplify its persuasive power. As highlighted in the following sections, it is found
that personification in the Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition (henceforth PMT) and language primarily involves the
personification of abstract concepts, body parts, and inanimate objects.
2.1 Personification of Abstract Concepts
Personification of ideas and abstract notions makes a distinctive mark of human language and thought. Through ages,
various people have assigned human qualities to intangible concepts such as courage, wisdom, war, time, life and death.
To comprehend their essence of the intangible, people in different cultures have mapped their imagination with their
ordinary and essential modest knowledge and experiences. Personified abstract concepts such as birth, hope,
knowledge, time, and death are then engaged in explaining and apprehending the matrix of complex connections
between people and their experiences. Consequently, the personified experiences have been essentially ‘embodied’
through myths and folk tales which constituted the set of the alleged assumptions, beliefs, and principles that give
acceptable explanations for humans’ questions about what they experience but cannot comprehend. Eventually, these
personified experiences become established mental representations stored in memory of individual humans and society
(Roth and Frisby, 1986: 19).
Early Islamic society was not an exception in this respect. Pre-Islamic Arabs had in their memory the remnants of their
ancient myths and folk tales. In addition, their feverish enthusiasm to poetry and rhetoric has amalgamated their
metaphors in their both spontaneous and prompted verbal interaction. Thus, early Islamic discourse has benefited from
early Arabs’ metaphorical competence in ontologically understanding and conceptualising the abstract in terms of the
concrete. For instance, CONDUIT metaphors are used to explain the meaning of God worshiping and the performance
of most rituals involves. Thus, AlSalat (‘daily prayers’) is metaphorically understood as a person’s
COMMUNICATION with (and remembrance) of God. Personification also plays a vital role in recognising the
significance of ritual practices and explaining the morals behind their performance and conception. Here, distinctive
human traits make abstract concepts understandable and more convincing and sound. In the Prophet Muhammad’s
Tradition, concepts such as knowledge, poverty, anger, marriage, heaven and hell are systematically conceptualised in
terms of human traits. The cycle of time, for instance, is personified using human qualities and behaviours from the
conceptual domain of MOVEMENT ALONG A PATH using the image of ‘walking’. The idea is illustrated by the
Prophet when he elucidated the time of breaking the fast:
1. When the night approaches on this side and the day retreats on that side and
the sun sets, he who fasts has reached the time to break it. (Mishkat, n.1954, p.
416)(2)

Muslims fast the ninth month of the Hijri calendar by abstaining from eating and drinking from dawn to sunset. While
the concept of fasting itself is not deemed problematic to the observant Muslim, the duration of fasting and the time it
begins and ends may cause certain amount of confusion for the common Muslim observant. Herein, the Prophet asks his
Muslim believers to rely on the sound judgement of their senses in observing the duration of fasting. The cycle of day
ALLS 6(6):153-164, 2015 155
and night here is understood by personifying the two notions and depicting their alternation through images of walking
expressed through the acts of ‘approach’ and ‘retreat’. The ontological depiction of time passage and the alternation of
day and night as a moving person from a distance involve diverse ideas about the manner by which we conceptualise
time passage. The passage of time is conventionally conceptualised as a movement from one location to another. In
Master Metaphor List, Lakoff (1991) describes time as an object that moves from a point ahead an observer, and he
suggests that examples from English such as “When Tuesday comes. . .”, “Three o’clock is approaching”, “Thursday
passed without incident”, and “The witching hour is near” involve the employment of the conceptual metaphor TIME
IS SOMETHING MOVING TOWARD YOU (Lakoff, 1991: 76).
In the Saying above, both ‘night’ and ‘day’ stand for a salient facet of the daily passage of time and are portrayed as two
‘objects’ involved in a linear movement towards a target. However, ‘approaching’ and ‘retreating’ (in Arabic aqbala
and adbara respectively) are human, or at least animates, traits and not these of inanimate objects’. These two traits
indicate a movement of an animate in relation to a referential point to an observer; and here it is the observant fasting
Muslim. In addition, the derivative qualities of Arabic verbs can give us more elaboration about the nature and manner
of the actions involved. Both verbs (aqbala and adbara) indicate the side from which the moving person is observed.
The verb (aqbala) ‘to approach’ indicates that ‘night’ is recognised from the front side (qubl) of ‘a person’s face’ while
moving towards his side. On the other hand, ‘day’ is represented as leaving the scene (adbara) ‘to retreat’ and turning
its back (dubr) to the observer. Thus, the implied inference of the two body parts, the face and the back, extends the
personified image of the ‘night’ and ‘day’ by giving them the human characteristic of moving from one place to another
(see Al-Mu’jam al-Waseet 2004, s.v. aqbala and adbara). It is worth adding that the complementary antonymic
relationship between the two verbs ‘to approach’ (aqbala) and ‘to retreat’ (adbara) implies that both night (allayl) and
day (annahaar) are not in comparative scale; in other words, they, like black and white, they make the semantic relation
of complementary antonyms as they cannot be in the same time or place together. To do away with any doubt from the
part of the observant fasting Muslim about the ‘gray’ area where both day and night may meet, the Prophet emphasises
through his personified image of ‘day’ and ‘night’ that they do not eventually co-occur at the same time. Thus, fasting is
broken the moment when day leaves and night enters.
Instances of time personification in the PMT are not always opaque and traceable as it is in the Saying above. Certain
Sayings involve a sort of implicit mapping of bodily qualities which are best recognised through other elaborations of
the same metaphor in the corpus compiled of the Prophet’s Sayings. For example, the fasting month of Ramadan is
personified again as a person moving in a direction. This image can be implicitly recognised when the Prophet describes
the beginning of the fasting month as a process of ‘coming’ or ‘entering’. The Prophet says:
2. When Ramadan begins [enters] the gates of heaven are opened. (Mishkat,
n.1956, p. 417)
3. Ramadan, a blessed month, has come to you during which God has made it
obligatory for you to fast…. “(Mishkat, n.1962, p. 418)

The two Sayings implicitly portray Ramadan as being involved in two sorts of linear movement: ‘entering’ (dakhala)(3)
and ‘coming’ (ataa). The two human traits suggest the physical and deliberate movement of a human-like figure from a
point ahead of an observer to his location. In addition, both verbs ‘to enter’ (dakhala) and ‘to come’ (ataa) in Arabic are
prominently associated to human reasonable and deliberate actions rather than other creatures or inanimate objects.
Remarkably, most uses of the verbs (dakhala) and (ataa) come with human figures when they are used literally (Al-
Mu’jam al-Waseet, 2004: ‘dakhala’ and ‘ataa’), and this entails that Ramadan is portrayed as human figure in the PMT,
and it is the conceptual metaphor TIME IS SOMEONE MOVING TOWARD YOU who conspicuously operates within
it.
The ontological personified representation of time, ‘day’, ‘night’, and ‘Ramadan’, as moving persons has a significant
implication to the point by which Islamic discourse regards time. Such images emphasize the proposition of time’s
inevitability, a fact that necessitates the inevitability of God’s worshipping. Islamic faith states that fasting during the
month Ramadan is an obligatory ritual (‘a ‘rukn’ pillar of Islam’) that occurs at a precise time of the year. In few
explicit cases, such as illness and travelling, the Muslim may be exempted from fasting. Nobody can change the passage
of time, or avoid its course, and the personified month of Ramadan is moving in a planned and predestined course
towards the observer. Metaphorically, time shall reach the observer’s location, and pass it, and the observer can never
obstruct or interfere with its course. Accordingly, several rituals and practices of Islam are coincide with specific
temporal signs and predestined points. For instance, fasting the month of Ramadan, obligatory charity (‘zakaat’), and
pilgrimage to Mecca are related to predestined specific time of the year. Therefore, the observant Muslim realises that
such rituals and practices are inescapable and unalterable duties when their time is due.
Similar to time, ethical traits, moral values, vices and virtues are also personifies in the PMT. Personification here
involves the mapping between intrinsic human actions and abstract spiritual concepts; the Prophet says:
4. Three follow the dead two returning and one remaining with him. His people,
his property and his deeds follow him, but his people and property return
while his deeds remain. (Mishkat, n.5167, p. 1073)
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The Saying above involves the personification of human deeds as the companion who follows the one from birth to
after death. As the human deeds are bestowed with the human capacities of directional movement and free-will, they are
given the qualities of the faithful companion who doesn’t abandon his companion at death but continues the
companionship to the afterlife. This metaphor is an inherent elaboration of the generic conceptual metaphor LIFE IS A
JOURNEY to the more specific HUMAN DEEDS ARE A COMPANION IN THE LIFE JOURNEY where the one’s
actions and deeds are represented as travellers in their shared life journey. The metaphor here reflects the intrinsic
relationship between a person and his actions which can lead to his salvation. As the one’s own righteous or erroneous
actions and deeds will follow him to the Day of Resurrection, these action will be defending their doer before God;
defending involves peaking, and speaking is another sort of human capacity.
In addition to the movement example, the Prophet personifies in his Tradition ethical values by attributing to them
intrinsic human qualities. Both what is reputable (ma’rouf) and what is disreputable (munkar) are given the human
characteristic of speaking:
5. By Him in whose hand Muhammad’s soul is, what is reputable and what is
disreputable are two creatures which will be set up for mankind on the day of
resurrection. What is reputable will give good news to those who followed it
and will promise them good, but while what is disreputable will tell them to
go away they will be unable to keep from adhering to it. (Mishkat, n.5154, p.
1070)

As the acts of ‘giving good news’ (bash-shara) and ‘promising’ (wa’ada), and ‘telling’ (qaala) are all human
capacities, such metaphorical image accentuates the proposal of the life-long relationship between a person and his
actions and deeds stated in Saying (4) above. This time, what is reputable (ma’rouf) and what is disreputable (munkar)
are portrayed as possessing the human capacity of speaking and defending their doer.
Following the COMPANION image which allegorically depicts the one’s actions and deeds as a faithful companion or
a false one, we may propose the conceptual personification metaphors GOOD HUMAN DEEDS ARE A FAITHFUL
COMPANION and BAD HUMAN DEEDS ARE A FALSE COMPANION. These two conceptual metaphors are
common in the Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition, and they can be extensively found in several genres of religious and
moral discourses. The Prophet also relates ‘what is reputable’ with two positive actions: ‘giving good news’ and
‘promising them good’ which convey pleasant qualities of social relationships. ‘Giving good news’ (bashshara) and
‘promising’ (wa’ad) are marked traits in Arabic; they are always used to convey pleasant and positive news.
Accordingly, the Prophet accentuates here that faithful companions are ones who bring their companions what makes
them feel pleased and contented. Bad and false companions, on the other hand, if they are not harmful, are disinterested
in their relationships with their companions. This disappointing conduct is reflected by the use of the synonymous verb
‘to tell’ (qala) which is used to share either pleasant or distressing news. This proposal is plainly emphasized by a
connection between the virtue of ‘modesty’ (haya’a) and its outcome ‘goodness’ (khair) in the following Saying:
6. Modesty produces [brings] nothing but good. (Mishkat, n.5071, p. 1053)

Personifying ‘modesty’ and attributing to it the human ability of ‘producing good’ contrasts with other negative vices.
In another Saying, both ‘niggardliness’ and ‘oppression’ are represented as two harmful vices and allegorically
personified as the one who is capable to bring destruction and calamity to their bearer:
7. Beware of oppression, for oppression (zulm) will produce excessive darkness
(zulumat) on the day of resurrection; and beware of niggardliness, for
niggardliness destroyed your predecessors, inducing them to shed one
another’s blood and to treat things forbidden them as lawful. (Mishkat, n.1865,
p. 394)

In this Saying, ‘niggardliness’ is considered as a counterpart of ‘oppression’, and the first two actions (‘producing’ and
‘destroying’) are not overtly understood in terms of human actions. However, the third action ‘inducing’ (‘hamalahum’)
explicitly signifies an intrinsic human rational capacity that cannot be performed by non-humans. Such a metaphoric
scenario can be regarded as an allegorical representation that has immense command of illustrating complex ideas and
concepts in a material and tangible way. As it is widely acknowledged, allegory works on communicating a message by
means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation (Kinoslita, 2004). Accordingly, following the
FAITHFUL COMPANION and FALSE COMPANION metaphors, good human action, deeds, and qualities stand for
good forces of prosperity and welfare for their doers; they can be portrayed as supporters for the believer. Thus, we
have the conceptual metaphor GOOD HUMAN DEEDS ARE ONE’S OWN SUPPORTER. On the other hand, bad
human deeds and qualities stand for the evil force of self-destruction; they can be portrayed as a destructive force for
the sinner. Thus, we have the conceptual metaphor BAD HUMAN DEEDS ARE ONE’S OWN DESTROYER.
In this regards, the personification of such bad desires aims to control them. For instance, people tend to personify their
passions using images of the enemy in the battlefield in order to seek aid to fight them back (See Lewis, 1958 (cited in
Dodson, 2008)). In addition, personifying ‘oppression’ and ‘niggardliness’ aims to put across another moral lesson; the
ALLS 6(6):153-164, 2015 157
connection between personification and other images from the metaphorical domain of LIGHT (darkness) draws
attention to the viciousness of darkness. Markedly, metaphors from the domain of LIGHT in addition to the preceding
SUPPORTER and DESTROYER metaphors are easily traceable in different genres of religious and moral discourses.
Personifying human actions and deeds in the PMT serves a significant purpose; both sound and vicious actions and
deeds conventionally reflect the one’s personality and control his behaviours; thus explained metaphorically in terms of
a man’s actions. These actions are deliberate and purposeful, and they imply the sort of outcome that human deeds can
bring to their bearer. The frequent occurrence of the conceptual metaphor HUMAN DEEDS ARE A COMPANION IN
THE LIFE JOURNEY and its other metaphorical entailments in the PMT induces the discourse recipient to focus on his
own actions and deeds during his journey from birth to death to the hereafter.
2.2 Personifying Body parts
One of the distinguished features of the Prophet Muhammad’s language is the adept extension of conventional
metaphorical images onto creative one. The personification of human body parts in the PMT is noteworthy in its
creativity.
Remarkably, most body parts mentioned metaphorically in the Prophet Muhammad’s discourse do not conform to
conventional EMBODIMENT schemes. In several genres of discourse, body parts are conventionally used to stand for a
metonymic representation of an entity by mentioning its parts (Allan, 2008: 10-13; Panther and Thornburg, 2007: 242;
Rash, 2006: 78). Antonio Barcelona (2000:16) points out that “the distinction between metaphor and metonymy is
scalar, rather than discrete: they seem to be points on a continuum of mapping process”.
In Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition, it is patent that most of body part metaphors can be classified under the metonymic
representation THE PART FOR THE WHOLE where the body parts represent their owners. Personifying body parts
here visibly take place when attributing a human quality or behaviour to the body part without overtly referring to its
metonymic use. In this regard, body parts are frequently used in the Prophet’s Tradition to bestow human qualities,
traits, and behaviours which can be categorised in terms of their righteousness. For example, Islam considers fornication
(‘az-zenaa’) a severe breach to the religion and society’s ethical codes. People who commit adultery and fornication
would be severely punished in their life and on the Day of Resurrection if they did not repent and ask forgiveness for
what they committed. The Prophet emphasises that there are several premises which could lead the one to commit
adultery and fornication. These premises, the Prophet states, are the result of the partaking of many body parts in
committing these acts:
8. God has decreed for man his portion of fornication which he will inevitably
commit. The fornication of the eye consists in looking, and of the tongue in
speech. The soul wishes and desires, and the private parts accord with that or
reject it.”. (Mishkat, n.86, p. 24)
In the Saying above, the Prophet Muhammad personifies body parts by metaphorically bestowing upon them the
capacity of performing diverse acts of fornication. He elaborates the personification image by saying that the acts of
‘wishing’, ‘according’, ‘rejecting’, ‘desiring’, and ‘committing fornication’ are all human activities performed by body
parts ‘on behalf’ of their owner. Here, the basic meanings of these processes are mostly relatively as mental-activity
verbs, and hence bodily-related to the human mind and free-will. Within the context of this Saying, the basic meanings
of these processes are more abstract and seem to overlap between a mental-activity verbs and a verb of facilitation and
causation (See Biber et al., 1999: 363) in addition to perceptive activity. The Prophet accentuates by such images how
the different body parts share with private parts the same guilt of fornication because body parts are not separate parts,
but they act according to their owner’s wants and desires. The personification of the sorts of fornication which body
parts commit suggests that metaphorical fornication is not different in its severity to the sensual one. Thus, premises and
actions that could lead to fornication are as sinful as committing sensual fornication.
The metonymic representation THE PART FOR THE WHOLE consistently reflects the manner in which the body parts
are used to represent their owner. Meanwhile, it is found that the language of the Prophet Muhammad personifies body
parts to map metaphorical relationships which illustrate how body parts contribute in dominating, rather than mirroring,
their owners’ actions and deeds. This idea is illustrated in the following Saying:
9. When a man gets up in the morning all the limbs humble themselves before
the tongue and say, “ Fear God for our sake, for we are dependent on you; if
you are straight we are straight, but if you are crooked we are crooked.”
(Mishkat, n.4838, p. 1009)

The Prophet here draws a symbolic scenario of the human-like relationships between the different body parts. Since the
tongue makes metonymy for human talk, the prophet emphasizes the severity of what the tongue utters on its owner’s
fate. The personified image of the tongue goes in parallel with the moral position conveyed from the word ‘straight’;
herein, we have a mapping between the conceptual metaphor MORALITY IS STRAIGHTNESS, and the personified
image of the tongue; ‘straightness’ is deemed an ideal human value which the tongue must observe.
In addition to the above, body parts are personified by showing their mutual relationships. For example, the following
Saying personifies the two hands and showing them competing, whereby each hand performs sound deeds (‘sadaqa’,
giving alms) and conceals what it gives from the other one:
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10. There are seven whom God will cover with His shade on the day when there
will be no shade but His: a just imam [ruler]; a young man who grows up
worshipping God;...and a man who gives alms concealing it so that his left
hand does not know what his right hand bestows. (Mishkat, n.701, p. 142)

As it’s perceived in Sayings no. 8 and 9, the actions of ‘knowing’, ‘bestowing’, and ‘concealing’ in the Saying above
are intrinsically associated with human capacity. In this Saying, the Prophet incites his follower against hypocrisy and
self-pride when giving alms. The finest kind of alms, according to the Prophet, is one given or distributed to the needy
in private. The moral proposition of the personified image here is that good deeds, like almsgiving, should not be for
one’s self-pride and pretence.
Humans are characterised by reasonable thinking and free-will, and their actions and deeds are then deemed either
sound or evil. The personification of body parts illustrated above attributes partial responsibility to the body parts and
that they, figuratively, have the free-will to control their owner’s behaviours. Herein, the personification of body parts
in the PMT gives the impression of injustice against the entire body parts because of what one body part did. In this
regard, such proposition is refuted by the metaphor THE HUMAN BODY IS A CONTAINER and the metonym THE
PART FOR THE WHOLE. One can understand from these mappings that although all body parts function
independently, they are subject to their container’s commands and control. Thus, the entire body is collectively
accountable of the actions of its body parts.
The ‘ties of relationships’ are consistently represented in the Tradition of the Prophet Muhammad using the metonym
ar-rahm (‘the womb’). The word ‘rahim’ in Arabic is derived from the root ‘rhm’ which makes also the root of rahma
and rahiim (‘mercy’ and ‘merciful’ respectively). Meanwhile, the metonymic representation of the ‘ties of
relationships’ in terms of ar-rahm (‘the womb’) is frequently represented in the PMT using images of personification.
The three Sayings below illustrate such proposition:
11. Three will be under the Throne on the day of resurrection: the Qur’an which
will contend with men, having an exotic and an esoteric meaning; the trust; and
ties of relationship [ar-rahm, lit.’the womb’] which will say, ‘God join those
who joined me and sever those who severed me’! (Mishkat, n.2133, p. 452)
12. When God had finished creating all things, ties of relationship [ar-rahm,
lit.’the womb’] arose and seized the loins of the Compassionate One. He said,
“Stop!” and they said, “This is the place for him who seeks refuge in Thee
from being cut off.” He replied, “Are you not satisfied that I should keep
connection with him who keeps you united and sever connection with him who
severs you? “ They [ar-rahm, lit.’the womb’] said, “Certainly, O Lord,” and
He replied, “Well, that is how things are. (Mishkat, n.4919, p. 1025)
13. Ties of relationship [ar-rahm, lit.’the womb’] are tied to the Throne and say,
“With him who keeps me united God will keep connection, but with him who
severs me God will sever connection.” (Mishkat, n.4921, p. 1025)

The Prophet uses the metonymy of the womb to stand for blood ties of relationship. This involves the affectionate
relationship between the child and his parents, brothers, siblings, and relatives. In addition to their emotional appeal,
such social relationships construct the bases of all social structures in the Muslim society. What is more, the rendition of
the Arabic ‘rahm’ into English ‘ties’ implies that the relationships between relatives and members of the same family
are not casual and temporary; instead, it is a binding relationship of blood that cannot be, and should not be, resolved.
Personification here is most useful in the division under amplification and in appeal to pity (Demetrius, 1927 (cited in
Paxson, 1994: 13)).
Our body parts play a crucial role when creating an ontological meaning or building an ideological discourse message.
Human capacity to deduce meaning and understand the content of a discourse considerably relies on body part
metaphors. The relationship between the personified body parts and their associated actions and deeds can be seen as
involving a metaphorical relationship in which the human body is seen as a container for its parts. Body parts have in
common the human capacity to act; entailing that both the source and target domain of the metaphorical mapping
involve human actions. It follows that the mapping process between abstract concepts to concrete images of people who
are performing certain actions extends the understanding capacities of the discourse recipient. In all, the source domains
associated with the most frequent instances of personification in the PMT seem to be related to the (human) body,
specifically, in its capacity to create, handle, move and perceive. Accordingly, the common source domain of the
perceived conceptual mappings of personification is the intrinsic human capacities.
2.3 Personifying Inanimate Objects
Aristotle ones describes personification as ‘Homer’s common practice of giving metaphorical life to lifeless things,
(Aristotle, 1954 (cited in Paxson, 1994: 12)). In this lies the real meaning of personification when life is bestowed upon
lifeless objects. Inanimate objects are also personified the PMT by bestowing upon them different intrinsic human
capacities and behaviour. The variety of the personified objects can be illustrated through the variety of metaphorical
ALLS 6(6):153-164, 2015 159
and semantic domains which are involved in personification. In the PMT we notice that several non-living entities,
places, commodities, and natural elements are bestowed with the human capacities of performing actions and having the
free will. The following Sayings illustrate:
14. The last hour will not come before Medina drives away its wicked people as
the bellows drives away the impurity of iron. (Mishkat, n.2740 , p. 588)
15. The wind comes from God’s mercy bringing blessing and punishment, so do
not revile it, but ask God for some of its good and seek refuge in Him from its
evil. (Mishkat, n. 1516, p. 317)
16. Usama b. Zaid said: God’s messenger sent us to some people of Juhaina, and I
attacked one of them and was about to spear him when he said, “There is no
god but God.” I then speared him and killed him, after which I went and told
the Prophet. He said, “Did you kill him when he had testified that there is no
god but God?” .... [and he] reported as saying several times, “How will you
deal with ‘There is no god but God’ when it comes on the day of resurrection
?”. (Mishkat, n. 3450, p. 734)
17. Jabir said that the area round the mosque was vacant and that the B. Salima
wanted to remove near the mosque, but when the Prophet heard of that he said
to them, “I have heard that you want to remove near the mosque.” They
replied, “Yes, messenger of God, that was our desire.” He said, “B. Salima, if
you keep to your present houses, your footprints will be recorded [by your
houses](4); if you keep to your present houses, your footprints will be
recorded.” (Mishkat, n. 700, p. 142)

The first Saying (no. 14) illustrates a metaphorical relationship that involves the general metonymic principle THE
WHOLE FOR THE PART. The Prophet’s home town (Medina) is metonymically bestowed with human qualities and to
stand for its inhabitants following the metonym THE PLACE FOR ITS INHABITANTS. Thus, the act of ‘driving
away’ of the wicked will be performed and achieved by the inhabitants of Medina. Remarkably, this image involves a
matrix of mappings between different metaphorical domains where the personification image, the metonym, the action
of ‘driving away’ (tanfi), and the image of the ‘bellows’ all reflect the metaphor A MUSLIM COMMUNITY IS A
CONTAINER. This conceptual metaphor is derived from the political metaphor A STATE IS A CONTAINER.
Medina, where the Prophet and his followers live, is portrayed as the smith who drives away the impurity of iron, or the
‘wicked people’. This matrix of metaphorical images and mappings entails the Prophet certainty of the action of
‘driving away’ because it is attributed to the town rather than to its inhabitants. Accordingly, the action is depicted
everlasting rather than temporal, and it is then not associated with specific time and specific people.
In Saying no. 15 above, the wind is bestowed the human capacity of bringing either the good or the bad to mankind.
The wind is a natural phenomenon, and the Saying induces Muslim to accept what the wind brings as a demonstration
of God’s will. The wind is personified here to give it the image of the servant who subdues to the orders of his master.
Therefore, both people and the wind are depicted as the SERVANTS of God; a metaphorical mapping that is common
in Islamic religious discourse.
Meanwhile, Saying no. 16 involves the personification of the expression of al-Shahadah (‘testimony’) ‘there is no god
but God’. This expression is considered the first pillar of Islam, and it signifies the faith or belief in the Oneness of God
and the conclusiveness of the ‘prophethood’ of Muhammad. This expression is considered as the Muslim’s own
declaration of his belief in God and that the chief purpose of life is to serve and obey God. al-Shahadah is personified
as a defendant who will come on the Day of Resurrection to defend the one who uttered it in full faith in his life because
it is a testimony of the person’s faith and submission to God’s orders. In this regard, the Prophet accentuates the
severity of what his companion Zaid did by hastily killing a man who said al-Shahadah. The Prophet blames Zaid, and
his followers, who may wrongly judge the faith of others. Uttering al-Shahadah, according to the Islamic faith, signifies
that the person now affiliates himself to Islam; thus, his blood must not be shed. The personification of al-Shahadah
following the metaphor GOOD HUMAN DEEDS ARE A FAITHFUL COMPANION re-emphasizes the relationship
between what we say in our life because what we say makes either sound or bad deeds. These deeds will come on the
Day of Resurrection to defend their doers and prove either their belief or disbelief in God.
In Saying no. 17, the Prophet Muhammad creatively personifies the houses of those who observe prayer at mosque.
Living at a distance from the mosque, Bani Salima finds it difficult to observe all the five prayers at mosque. The
Prophet promises his followers here that their reward will be boosted because their houses record their footprints when
they go to the mosque. The personification of the houses explicitly complements and emphasises the previous point
about how sound actions and deeds are the Muslim’s GOOD COMPANION.
The Personification of non-living entities in the PMT emphasizes that God’s will is inevitable and must be achieved
regardless of time or inadvertent circumstances. In addition, the personification of places (Medina and houses) and the
testimony expression ‘no god but God’ puts emphasis on the prominence of God’s justice in his judgement. God
recruits different SERVANTS to record peoples’ actions and deeds; and among them, in addition to the angels, he has
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employed those inanimate objects who act justly on behalf of God. These SERVANTS are depicted as objective and
faithful to their duties to God when they record what people do.
3. De-personification
De-personification is the opposite of personification; it is the removal of intrinsic human qualities of the de-personified
person and substituting them with qualities conventionally attributed to non-humans or an inanimate objects. Generally,
metaphors of de-personification can be analysed in terms of other metaphorical domains. However, it is found that most
instances of de-personification in the PMT involve unconventional sorts of mapping between the conceptual domains to
enhance their persuasive power. De-personification in the PMT can be categorized as involving animals, plants, and
inanimate objects.
3.1 De-personification Involving Animals
The purpose of de-personification involving animals varies according to the context. For example, it can be used to
dignify a name by bestowing upon him an animal’s well-liked sound behaviour or trait. For instance, courage is a
deemed an admired quality of the lion and bestowing it to a man gives him a heroic eminence (e.g. Achilles jumped as a
lion). Cowardliness, on the other hand, is a dishonourable attribute; it is used to denigrate somebody by using a
conventionally disrespected animal that is known for this conduct (e.g. you should not hide your head in the sand like
an ostrich; and he ran from the place like a chicken).
De-personification involving animals occur occasionally in the PMT especially when categorising people according to
their belief and faith. The believers, on one hand, are de-personified favourably by attributing to them admired and
sound animal traits. On the other hand, sinners and disbelievers are given detestable traits. For example, the Prophet
says:
18. I [the Prophet] may be likened to a man who kindled a fire, and when it lit up
the neighbourhood insects and these creeping things which fall into a fire
began to fall into it. He began to prevent them, but they got the better of him
and rushed into it. Now I am seizing your girdles to pull you from hell, but you
are rushing into it. (Mishkat, n. 149, p. 41)

The Prophet metaphorically characterises sinners by the conceptual metaphor SINNERS ARE INSECTS WHO FALL
INTO FIRE which makes an extension of the conceptual GREAT CHAIN OF BEING metaphor. This metaphorical
mapping is used to classify beings or entities on the basis of a hierarchal vertical scale; or a ‘gradation principle’ (see
Rash, 2006: 115). Naturally, divine beings are situated at the top of this hierarchical scale, and they are followed by
human beings. The lowest degree is allocated for lower forms of beings such as insects and bacteria (Rash, 2006: 115).
Accordingly, insects and ‘creeping things’ are used here to demean a name or a group of people because they are
characteristically considered creatures of inferior hierarchy in the animal kingdom. The Saying above extends this
metaphorical hierarchical scale in which the Prophets, and the believers, are positioned in an elevated hierarchal status
and the sinners in an inferior one. According to the Prophet’s GREAT CHAIN OF BEING metaphor, human deeds are
the norm by which his status is being judged according a hierarchical scale and good actions and deeds are categorized
in terms of GOOD IS UP and the bad ones are categorized by BAD IS DOWN metaphor.
The de-personification image above shows how people’s destiny is plotted in accordance with their status and deeds in
life. Sinners and disbelievers who refuse the God messenger’s guidance will fall, by their own will and deeds, into hell
in the same manner as the insects and creeping things do. The metaphor SINNERS ARE INSECTS illustrates here the
triviality, ignorance, and lack of reasonable judgement in the part of sinners, and this reflects their insignificance. In
addition, the image of the sinners’ persistence to commit sinful deeds contrasts with what the Prophet tries hardly to do
in saving them from falling into fire. The phrase ‘got the better of him’ accentuates the Prophet’s devotion to his
mission in protecting mankind from their ignorance and obstinacy which may lead to their eternal punishment and fall
into Hell. This contrast between what the prophets do and the reaction of ordinary people to the Prophets’ endeavour
puts emphasis on the importance of prophets to mankind. For instance, the LIHGT metaphor here refers to the message
of Islam that replaces darkness pre-Islamic period.
On the other hand, the believers are constantly bestowed with favoured animal traits. To illustrate, camels and horses
are admired animals in Arabic culture; thus, they occupy a higher position in their GREAT CHAIN OF BEING
hierarchy. The Prophet refers to the qualities and fine traits of these animals to underline several fine qualities that his
followers acquired by joining Islam. The Prophet says:
19. The believers are gentle and kindly like a tractable camel which when guided
lets itself be guided and when made to sit even on stones does so. (Mishkat, n.
5086, p. 1055)
20. The believer and faith are like a horse with the stake to which it is tethered,
which moves round and then returns to its stake, for the believer is negligent
and then returns to faith. Feed the pious with your food and confer your
kindness on the believers. (Mishkat, n. 4250, p. 900)
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The Prophet emphasizes here the fine qualities of the believers by comparing them to the fine qualities of camels and
horses. He praises by such comparison the believer’s blind and willing obedience of his Lord in the same manner the
tractable camel subdues to his owner. This obedience originates from the believer’s absolute faith on God not because
of pain as one may wrongly infer from the metaphorical image. This proposition accentuates the fact that de-
personification aims chiefly to foreground the idea of obedience rather than the status of the believer. The same is true
about Saying no. 20 where the de-personification of the believer as a horse points at how true believers are bound to
their faith. Accordingly, once the believer commits a sin and been led astray, his true faith restrains him from
continuing in his sinful deeds, and he will be returned towards the true path.
Meanwhile, believers are sometimes de-personified in the PMT by comparing their wrong deeds to unfavourable
animals’ behaviour. In this case, the wrong deeds are overtly emphasised to put emphasis on the severity of the sin. For
example:
21. If anyone helps his people in an unrighteous cause, he is like a camel which
falls into a well and is pulled out by its tail. (Mishkat, n. 4909, p. 1022).

The Prophet points her to the severity of tribalism and intolerance which was common at his age. The Prophet
condemns by this image the one who pride himself by his ethnic or tribal affiliations. Those who praise the social status
of their tribes or defend them in their wrong doings are compared to the ones who try to pull out a camel that is
entrapped in a well by its tail. Here, the behaviour of the boasting man in the metaphoric scenario is what is mostly
emphasized. Meanwhile, the de-personification of the tribe as a fallen camel aims to demonstrate the gravity of
tribalism and intolerance and its actual status; but the animal itself is not reviled.
It can be perceived that images of de-personification involving animals in the PMT generally portray sinners and
disbelievers using ostracized and pejorative qualities and traits of animals. The believers, on the other hand, are de-
personified by being bestowed with fine and admired qualities and traits of well-liked animals. De-personification here
is drawn from following several metaphoric images and scenarios which are based on the GREAT CHAIN OF BEING
and GOOD IS UP and BAD IS DOWN metaphors. These conceptual metaphors have their roots in different types of
discourse. In religious language and discourse, these metaphors convey a large variety of moral messages especially
through the categorization of people according to their fine or bad actions and deeds. Such categorization is primarily
aligned on the basis of the degree of these people’s faith and belief in God.
3.2 De-Personification Involving Plants
Plants and trees are indispensable elements of life; they provide food and shelter for many species including humans,
and they stir up our delight by their smell, taste, and sight. Consequently, it is not out of the ordinary that plants are one
of the most favoured domains used metaphorically in language.
The Prophet Muhammad frequently de-personifies both the believers and the disbelievers using images from the
PLANTS conceptual domain with the believers are more frequently depicted. This can be attributed to the proposition
that the fine qualities of plants and trees are more salient than the bad ones; if there is any. For instance, the believers
are constantly bestowed with the most admirable qualities of plants such as good flavour, odour, and resilience. The
Prophet says:
22. The believer is like a plant which is continually swayed by the wind, for the
believer is continually afflicted by trial; but the hypocrite is like a cedar tree
which does not shake till it is cut down. (Mishkat, n. 1542, p. 323)
23. A believer who recites the Qur’an is like a citron whose fragrance is sweet
and whose taste is sweet, a believer who does not recite the Qur’an is like a
date which has no fragrance but has a sweet taste, a hypocrite who does not
recite the Qur’an is like the colocynth which has no fragrance and has a bitter
taste, and the hypocrite who recites the Qur’an is like basil whose fragrance is
sweet but whose taste is bitter. (Mishkat, n. 2114, p. 447)

The two Sayings metaphorically distinguish different types of people, believers and hypocrites, according to their faith
in God by foregrounding behaviours and traits and compare them to different qualities of trees and plants; such as their
firmness, taste, and fragrance. Saying no.22 puts emphasis on to the sturdy character of the cedar tree in a negative
rather than a positive way when attributed to the hypocrites. The wooden stem of the cedar tree wood is recognised by
its capability to stand against hard natural phenomena like winds and rainy weather. However, this fine quality of the
cider tree is negatively fore-grounded in the de-personification image of hypocrites because string wind can break, or
even uproot, it. Hypocrites, or infidels, cannot stand hardships and calamities of time despite of their apparent strength
because of their lack of faith. Meanwhile, Saying no. 23 too is filled of positive de-personification images involving
plants which can be perceived through the senses of smelling and tasting. Here, the Prophet illustrates the intrinsic
qualities of people in terms of their faith and recitation of the Holy Quran. Different types of fruit are used here to
classify people according to their faith to reflect how the Prophet perceives his people, the Arabs. The Prophet promotes
in his set of images what Arabs already knew and recognised by their senses and experiences and provokes them to
liken their experiences with his own proposition about the different types of people.
ALLS 6(6):153-164, 2015 162
Metaphors from the domain of plants and fruits in the Prophetic Tradition extend the intended meanings of the de-
personification metaphor to elaborate several unconventional meanings at the expense of the most salient ones. The
embodied experiences of smelling and tasting which may arouse strong feelings make sensual experiences most suitable
for being used metaphorically and in different kinds of discourse (Rash, 2006: 132). For example, Saying no. 23 above
employs images from the conceptual metaphor BELIEVERS WHO RECITE QURAN ARE FRUITS which can be
regarded as an elaboration of the conceptual metaphor PEPOLE ARE PLANTS. Depicting a true believer who recites
the Quran as a citron attracts the listener’s attention to the different external and internal qualities of this fruit such as its
attractive odour, colour, and soft skin rather than any other lamentable qualities. Herein, the significance of this image
for the discourse is highlighted through our knowledge that this fruit was mostly known and preferred by Arabs for its
sweet taste and for its use in medication. Then, the one who recites the Holy Quran is compared to the physician who
heals diseases.
3.3 De-Personification Involving Inanimate Objects
De-personification in the PMT involves bestowing features and actions of different inanimate objects on people. Most
metaphors here are mapped through processes attributed to inanimate objects such as BUILDING. For instance, The
Prophet refers to the BUILDING conceptual domain to describe the fine qualities of different categories of people such
as their solidarity, firmness, and strength. He says:
24. The way in which I may be compared with the prophets is by a castle which
was beautifully constructed, but in which the place of one brick was left in-
complete. Sightseers went round admiring the beauty of its construction with
the exception of the place for that brick. Now I have filled up the place of that
brick, in me the building is completed and in me the messengers are complete.
(Mishkat, n. 5745, p. 1231)
25. Believers are to one another like a building whose parts support one another.”
He then interlaced his fingers. (Mishkat, n. 4955, p. 1032).

In Saying no. 24, the BUILDING metaphorical domain is used to illustrate the Prophet’s status as the last prophet.
Meanwhile, the process of building can be seen as a representation for the continuity of the divine message and its
timelessness. Herein, the Prophet implies that his message is not ‘new’, but it is a continuation of what other prophets
already accomplished. In Saying no. 25, the Prophet accentuates the idea of solidarity between members of Islamic
society by depicting Islamic society as the one human body whose parts are affected by the infection that may hit any
other organ. This image follows the metaphor THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY IS A BODY which is an elaboration of
the metaphor A STATE IS A CONTAINER and A BODY IS A CONTAINER. These two conceptual metaphors
illustrate the inherent mutual relationships between the different components of society in which the people’s (the
contained) individual and self-centred interests are marginalised in favour of the group’s (the container) interests.
4. Conclusion
In terms of function, the Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition constitutes a very important body of Islamic religious
discourse. Analysing instances of personification and de-personification as parts of metaphorical language in such
discourse reveals their prevalent overlap with different conceptual metaphorical domains. In addition, the Prophet
Muhammad’s Tradition constitutes a heterogeneous body of themes and topics which has a variety of messages and
purposes. This fact makes the Prophet Muhammad’s Tradition and religious discourse, unlike political discourse,
difficult to be dissected in order to reveal a particular evocative ideological implication. Conversely, the metaphors
involving de-personified images can be interpreted as conveying ontological meaning and carrying a more prevalent
ideological implication. Given the ubiquity of the first assumption, the second assumption is illustrated whereby people
are classified into a hierarchical scale according to the degree of their faith and the nature of their deeds and behaviours.
Taking the two assumptions above, one can hinge on Webster’s argument in such comparable respect that authors
would use personification as a means of explaining the abstract and of persuading the reader of the importance of the
image personified (Webster, 1954 (cited in Dodson, 2008)), and the same, I argue, can be said about de-personification.
The frequent use of personification in the PMT may thus be one area that distinguishes religious language and discourse
in terms of the manner metaphor-related verb use can be perceived. Such proposition can be consolidated by posing that
active verbs with inanimate (personified) subjects in religious language and discourse exert the predominant functions
of indicating both causation and explaining.
In terms of form, it is noticed that the personified images employed by the Prophet Muhammad that they follow
consistent patterning regardless of their conceptual domains. In the first respect, the Prophet tends to personify abstract
concepts, body parts, and human deeds by overtly showing both the source (the vehicle) and the target (the topic)
domains of the personification image. Then, he elaborates the message by explaining, in a few words, the common
respect of the analogy between the source and target domains (the ground). This strategy makes the Prophet’s message
and proposition in the Saying lucid and concise and simple to recognise and comprehend. Despite that, the personified,
and de-personified, images engross a variety interpretations and implications.
Commenting on the necessity of personification in PMT, personifications, as a type of metaphorical language, can be
seen as an exceptionally concise, readily imaged, and easily remembered means of communicating moral and didactic
messages and shaping thought and faith. The peculiar advantage of personification in religious language and discourse
ALLS 6(6):153-164, 2015 163
relies on its vividness and ‘memorability’. Moreover, personifications are interesting to the listener in a way in which
direct expressions are not. The personified images in PMT resemble masquerades in which the goal is to see through the
disguises to the human beings underneath. In the religious context, such disguise (or mental-masking) can entail some
degree of excitement and emotional involvement. This emotional involvement may in turn be related to the assumptions
that the believers dream about a heavenly world where everything is morally perfect and different from what they
experience in their earthly life. In addition, personifications also provide a more effective means of shaping thought that
can defy counterexamples which come readily to mind. Images of personifications have a fable-like quality that
inspires suspension of disbelief and that makes it difficult to question the underlying moral and religious messages, and
sometimes ideologies. One may suggest that the personified images of abstract concepts such as human deeds, virtues
and vices may be challenging in their inferences; especially, once non-human entities are bestowed the gift of ‘life’
rather than any other intrinsic human capacity. For example, Sayings 5, 11, 12, 13, and 16 involve bringing life to
inanimate non-human entities at the world of the ‘unknown’ or on the Day of Resurrection. Such images could be
subject to a variety of religious inferences and interpretations regarding the literal or metaphoric ‘truth’ of these
scenarios; a question that should be addressed by other disciplines in addition to linguistics and discourse analysis.

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Notes
(1) Systematic Functional Linguistics is a linguistic theory that examines the functions that language performs in terms
of the purposes it serves in a society (See Michael Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar (Halliday, 1994)).
(2) All the translations of the sayings are obtained from James Robson’s translation of Mishkat Al-Masabih; the first
number after the Saying indicates the saying’s number according to the Arabic version; the second number indicates the
page number in Robson’s translation.
(3) The literal translation of the Arabic verb (dakhala) is ‘entered’, but the translation has ‘begin’ to signify that the
fasting month of Ramadan is time notion that has a beginning and an end.
(4) The literal translation of the phrase is “your houses record your footprints”, and it occurs in the active mode, not
passive mode.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Important Points on Rewriting Old Stories for Children

Maryam Jalali
Department of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
E-mail: jalali_1388@yahoo.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.165 Received: 26/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.165 Accepted: 28/09/2015

Abstract
Various works with different genres can be applied to rewrite classic literature. Versified stories, unreal fictions and real
stories are identified as texts which can be rewritten in a new texture. The first rewritten texts have been published long
ago. The authors and researchers have been more knowledgeable in this regard particularly in the last two decades in
order to carry out a remarkable development in this field. It should be considered that there are talented authors who
realize the capability of these texts while analyzing them. As a matter of fact, this capability is referred to being
recreated and turning into a new texture and structure. It seems as if these myths are supposed to step into a new
universe where it is founded on written speech. This recreation is emerged because the society needs to take a look at its
past in a modern version because modern children are going to read them.
Keywords: Rewriting, Old Story, children’s literature, contemporary
1. Introduction
The addressee identifies the literature because if a work doesn’t have any addressee, it sounds as though it has never
been existed. Various addressees and needs have made literature be consistent and creative. Meantime, it is essential to
pay attention to the needs and tendencies of children and adolescents. Since they have their specific characteristics of
their age and have a different competency to fathom and read literature, they need to be particularly noticed. A
successful rewriter is the one who knows the needs and specifications of his time and addressee then he can make the
best out of this. The old stories and myths of ancient Iran are so precious that must be recreated by very expert ones to
shimmer their glory and magnificence. The content and the theme can be retained but in a new structure. These points
cannot guide the author; they should be dealt with the text literacy, though. And the author would better ask himself the
following questions from the viewpoints of an adolescent:
 What are his possible themes?
 What structure and plot amuse him?
 What are his prominent figures? And how they should be introduced?
 How the symbols and descriptions of the texts should be?
 How should the language and syntactic structure of the text be?
 How can the scene design make him interested in the text?
In case the author scrutinizes the above points, he can motivate children and adolescents to follow their native art and
literature. In contrast, if he neglects the point above while rewriting the stories, he can change children and adolescents
into ones who have no ambition to read the precious classic texts of their native land. We are hopeful that the rewriters
take this regard seriously to create Valuable quotations for the young adult generation.
The following five factors are introduced to evaluate children and adolescents books.
1-The content and texture quality;
2-The quality of the structure;
3-Language and type of writing;
4-The quality of the illustrations;
5- The quality of representation.
As these factors are very general, they seem ambiguous. For example; the quality of texture and structure are too related
to be separated from one another. The quality of texture and structure holds items such as plot, point of view,
personification, description, interaction and, etc.
Language is the most dominant factor in comparison to content, texture and structure. A formalist theorist believes that
non-familiarization is remarked as one of the most necessary story techniques. (Mohammadi,1996: 62) Recreation or
non-non-familiarization is the most important element making a work prominent. This recreation is mostly observed in
the content, texture and structure, but it is more tangible in texture and structure.
ALLS 6(6):165-169, 2015 166
In this regard, Babak Ahmadi says:” non-familiarization is happened through point of view, language applicability and
plot assessment. The author is able to single out particular moments of the story, mix them together in the plot and
create such astonishment’ (Same, p. 63). According to Piaget, non-familiarization is referred to human’s getting used to
objects, phenomena and animal and human interactions (Same, p.15). Recreation is actually recognized as a human
reaction in various situations and it is introduced as non-familiarization that it is the furthest place crossing the
addressee’s mind and it is against the mind’s defined reaction; It might be the author’s art to be able to create a new
world. Curiosity and the anxiety to explore new horizons are considered as the most significant factors absorbing an
adolescent to the stories exposing him to new experiences. It is recommended to separately scrutinize the intended
factors.
2. First Factor: Content and Theme
The rewriter usually borrows the content and theme from the original author and he doesn’t make any changes in it. So,
it is not possible to interpret it. However, the important issue is how the rewriter specifies and chooses the type of story
and processes it for his intended age group?
Mantvani states in his book- new trends in child literature- that ‘’although the children literature is not purely focused
on pedagogical approaches, it is a pedagogical phenomenon in its place because it is a way reaches child from me to
us’’. (Jafarzadeh, 1984,p. 26) Reza Rahgozar says’’ children should first learn about their childhood life and then they
should try to comprehend issues not related to their childhood but vital for their future life like getting aquatinted with
other nations and religions (Rahgozar,1987,p. 31-32).
Alipur quotes from Farrokh Sadeghi, a pioneer in children literature, two pints about texts suitable for children:
1-Texts should be coped with the age and easy to read.
2-The stories shouldn’t directly induce training but try to enhance the social, historical and literal
awareness. (Alipur, 1979, p. 15)
In fact, many people believe the pedagogical responsibility as an inevitable part of the child literature. Plato
declares in this regard that:
Mothers and caregivers should be obliged to retell stories that we have accepted them. We
should consider that stories nurturing children’s soul is much more influential than their
physical training. (Plato, 2000, p. 130)
3. Second Factor: Language and Syntax/ Punctuations
Roland Barthes writes in his book-criticism and the fact of language importance- that:
A writer is the one who is concerned to language and seeks through the depth of the language
not the instrumentalism or the beauty. (Barthes, 1998, p.9)

It is clearly understood that language and way of writing is counted as the most important factor distinguishing child
and adolescent literature from the adult one. However, there are some differences in choosing the proper words and
syntax for the child and adolescent texts. In fact, simpler words should be used for younger ages.
What is the characteristic of a simple language?
According to Rahmandust, a simple language is the one which is easy to understand and the reader doesn’t deal with the
meaning of words but get involved with the sense and the spirit of the text. (Rahmandust, 1990, p. 22)
Today, different computer games, expansion of children social interactions and awareness, the domain of language
application in various age groups are changing the boundary of the children’s official language, so it is perfect to record
such changes in order to contribute child literature. For example; this recognition can help the author write in a pattern
which is comprehensible for illiterate children or the poorly educated ones and avoid difficult words and complicated
expressions. In case his readers at very young ages, much simpler words must be chosen. Being familiar with the words
expansion of children’s official language is regarded as one of the most important knowledge. It is necessary for
children researchers get to know with this knowledge:
The most important criteria for choosing words are based on the situation, topic, consistency and the cultural
recognition of children and adolescents’’ (Jalal, 2014,p.32)

One of the factors of not reading the text properly is related to the absence or mistakes in punctuations. Persian
literature is very flexible in that any pausing can change the meaning or make it ambiguous. Therefore, this point must
be precisely considered for children and adolescents age groups.
4. Third Factor: Texture and Structure
This is a general criterion and its subdivisions creating a story should be analyzed. They include: plot, personification,
description or text symbols, interaction and so on. However, they are placed in the plot.
ALLS 6(6):165-169, 2015 167
5. Plot
From terminological point of view, plot is referred to the setting in which the author arranges the events to reach to his
desirable ending. A plot consists of consecutive events which goes to climax and expected ending in the challenge of
forces in contrast. (Irani, 1985, p. 164)
David Chambers illustrates the plot structure as below:

Tension Trying to resolve

Start Result

The most important part of the story is the beginning of it because it is the point absorbing the addressee. His is more
prominent among children and adolescents because uninteresting subjects make them feel bored. Elizabeth Bytes on the
importance of the beginning part of the story believes that: ‘it is necessary to start a story dull at the first. The reader
should be attracted to the story at the first lines or at the first two or three paragraphs or the first half of the page of the
story. Describing the setting, type of story or the potential struggle might be required; however, they should be
appropriately presented. The reader wants to know where his position is, he wants to accompany with the story
characters and live with them.’’(Hejazi,2001,p.109).
The second important point is to logically introduce the events and make the believable. It means that the story events
should look real. As the matter of fact, writer is the one who changes the strangest events into real one for the addressee.
Isaac Siger thinks that children pay more attention to this issue than adults. (Same, p. 111)
The question is that how it is possible to make the plot believable and attractive? The interactions are considered as the
most influential instrument in this regard.
6. Interaction
Mohammadi suggests some categories in his psychology book:
1-Main/auxiliary;
2-Verbal/nonverbal;
3- Real/imaginary;
4-Conceret/ abstract;
5- Asleep/awake;
6- Individual/in group.

He believes that adolescents are more eager to mind interactions because they constantly assess the situations.
(Mohammadi, 1996, p.150)
What are the story core and interactions?
Prop thinks that after the beginning part of any fiction, a chain of functional interactions run the fiction. (Prop1989,
p.78)
The specifications of these interactions include:
1-other interactions are formed on the axis of these ones or are considered as an action of them.
2- Functional interactions are the fundamentals from one situation to another.
The rewriter remarks the total point of the original author. The rewriter might not change the sequence of actions, but
some parts of the plot might be more prominent for the sake of today’s needs. For example; romantic interactions
should be considered more in texts written for adolescents. The original author might have been more interested in
describing the sceneries, jungles and palaces because of that time requirements, in contrast to the present addressee who
are enthusiastic in palace description more. So, this gap should be filled the rewriter’s art of writing.
7. Text symbols/Description
Description or the symbol is regarded as one of the factors making the plot more absorbing and magnificent:
Mohammadi believes that if the interaction controls the movements of the structure, the symbols fundamentally express
these movements and informing the reader about the situation of the story interactions and making the story language
more tender are identified as the important functions of symbol. (Same,p. 156)
ALLS 6(6):165-169, 2015 168
Symbols can contribute the author to indirectly convey the information and the messages and also make the reader
imagine deeper. This is more significant for young adults because young adults are not interested in taking and listening
to advices, they want to experience and comprehend everything by themselves.
Furthermore, a great part of the story scenes depends on symbolizing. Hal believes that scene is made the best through
imagination (Fard, 1998). This is true. Since we can’t imagine a scene, we can’t put the symbols into practice and
illustrate it for the addressee. It is necessary to point out that conversation can help create the scene which shall be
discussed in personification section.
Mohammadi scrutinizes the symbols from three aspects:
1- setting: place, time of interaction
2- Characters
3- language (real or virtual, assimilation, metaphoric) the story language can be defined both in simple or
compound patterns (Mohammadi1996, p.159-160).
A critic should consider and assess two points: matching symbolizing in plot and theme; correctly applying symbols due
to his addressee’s needs and capabilities.
8. Personification
The methodology of the children literature criticism represents the children character in two main ways:
1- Applying the real personality without any changes in the physical appearance and/or his behaviors
2- Practicing some of the human attributes and treatments in shape of plant, animal characters, natural phenomena
and creatures made by human mind (Same. p.174)
These characters can be applied for adolescents, but what makes the characters more attractive is how they are
presented. They should be real like from appearance, behavior, mental, mind, and religious and family viewpoints.
The oddest characters can also be believable. For example; if they are immortal, this should be clarified for the
addressee in order to be acceptable. Holistically, this issue has been considered in old stories.
Another significant aspect is introducing the character and his specifications to the addressee. Narration or conversation
is really applicable in this regard. It is obvious that most of human personalities are implied due to his social status and
mental characteristics. This is only possible through the author’s thorough recognition of the character.
This technique can be directed into a consecutive character presentation and quotations are avoided. Quotations prevent
innovation and attraction from the text. Moreover, the reader feels tired of just getting information. This matter is more
obvious in adolescents. Whenever, his power of thinking and imaging is taken away from him. He gets bored of
listening. Adolescents are not usually fond of listening to stories depriving their curiosity and recognition power.
According to Bakhtin, writer creates the character to make conversation, so human is first a speaker in story character
(Okhovat, 1993, p.126-127). Robin Carr minds conversation as a perfect instrument to enrich the story he also believes
that conversation feeds back personification. (Fard, 1998, p.136) Conversation increases the interactions in the story
which copes with the adolescents’’ moods. J.N.Hooke divides character presentation into 9 categories. They can be
classified into direct, indirect and mixed ones. (Hejazi, 2001,p.114).
Direct: talking about the character- it holds explaining the character and his environment
Indirect: Character speaks- it is about whatever others say about the character.
Mixed: clarifying the character’s thoughts- it represents the character and doesn’t judge him and defines his reactions
towards others and visa-versa.
It is not recommended to use direct method a lot, while indirect method is very significant. It is hard to present character
based on this method. Mixed method seems to be a good way of introduce the characters. Direct method doesn’t get the
power of analyzing and thinking from the addressee. It helps him recognize better. It is not limited like the indirect and
conversation method.
The rewriter loans the character from the original writer. What matters is how it is nurtured according to the addressee’s
needs. For instance; the rewriter is better to pay more attention to characters absorbed more by the addressee and not to
be a narrator in character presentation. It is better to let the characters to be introduced according to their behaviors and
speech.
Due to adolescents’’ personalities, it is simply recognizable what types of characters please them. They are mostly
interested in the characters who are superpower, hero and unbeatable and non-human with extraordinary capabilities.
9. Conclusion
Mansur Yarvisi considers that rewriter is the one who represents the cultural Values and human supreme thoughts and
nurture the artistic competency of a nation specifically the children and adolescents (Yarvisi, 2007,p.113). The question
is that can rewriting take such responsibility. The truth is that children and adults have a unique power of artistic talent;
they are only attracted by new speeches. Isaac Singer thinks that adults are simply fallen asleep magnetically.
University students are more simply convinced to learn something difficult. While children aren’t philanthropic enough
to study a book in order to help his society develop, a child is very selfish just to read an interesting story giving him the
ALLS 6(6):165-169, 2015 169
sense of astonishment (Hejazi, 2001,p.107). The author believes that since rewriting is very essential, a great deal of
researches is required to be done in this regard and rewriting techniques should be done due to the age groups. Persian
literature really needs researchers who are well – informed with the psychological issues in literature to create
magnificent stories best meet the needs of their addressees.

References
Alipur, M. (2006). Ashnaee ba adabiate kudakan-an introduction to children literature. Tirgan publication.
Barythe, R. (1998). Naghad VA haghighat-criticsm and truth. Translated by Shirin dokht Daghighian. Markaz
publication. Tehran.
Chambers, D. (1987). Ghesse guee VA namayeshe khalagh-Retelling story and creative presentation translated by:
Soraya Ghezelayagh. Published by markaze daneshgahi.
Rampuri, G. Mohammadebene J. (1984). loghatnameye ghiasol loghat- Ghiasol loghat dictionary. Edited by: Mansur
Sehat. Published by: Amir Kabir.
Colin, H. (2001). A history of childhood children and childhood in the west from medieval to modern times. Cambridge:
polity Press.
Hejazi, B. (2001).Adabiate kudak Va nojavan- Children and adolescent literature aspects and specifications. Published
by: Roshangaran and Motaleate zanan. Tehran.
Irani, N. (1985). Dastane taarif. abzarha VA anasor-the story of definitions. Instrument and element. Published by:
Kanune paraVareshe fekrie kudakan VA nojavan. First publication.
Jafarnezhad, F. (1984). 39 essays about children literature, child book committee. Tehran.
Jalali, M. (2014). Shakheshaye eghtebas dar adabiate kudak VA nojavan (Adaptation in children’s literature). Tehran:
Taravat publication.
Mohammadi, M. (2000). Naghde adabiate kudak VA nojaVan-methodology of the criticism of children and adolescent
literature. Published by: Sorush.
Okhovat, A. (1993). Dastur zabane dastan-story grammar. Farda Publication. Isfahan.
Plato. (2002). Jomhuriat- Republicanism. Translated by: Foad Rohani. Publisher: Elmi Farhangi.
Prop, V.Y. (1989). Rikht shenasi ghesehaye parian-Morphology of fairies tales. Translated by: Badri, Fereidun.
Published by Tus.
Rahmandust, M. (1990). Adabiate kudak VA nojavan makhuse reshtehaye tarbiat moalem-adabiate Farsi, omure
parvareshi VA honar-children and adolescent literature special for elementary training courses centers-Persian
literature, training affairs and art. Published by: vezarate amuzesh VA parvareshi.
Rahgozar, R. (1987). VA amma baad- and hereafter. Published by: Hozeye honari. Tehran.
Shoarinezhad, J. (1995). Aliajbar, adabiate kudakan- children literature published by: Ettelaat. Tehran.
Zarrinkub, A.K. (1975). naghde adabi-Litrary criticsm. Published by: Amir Kabir. Tehran.
Yarvisi, M. (2007).Ttabassome shokufeha-the smile of the blossoms. Published by: Jahad daneshgahi.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Ego is a Hurdle in Second Language Learning:

A Contrastive Study between Adults and Children
Shumaila Abdullah
Department of English Literature & Linguistics
University of Baluchistan, Quetta, Pakistan
E-mail: Shumaila_abdullah914@yahoo.com

Javed Akhter (Corresponding author)

Department of English Literature & linguistics
University of Baluchistan, Quetta, Pakistan
E-mail: sangatjavedakhtar@gmail.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.170 Received: 22/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.170 Accepted: 30/09/2015

Abstract
The aim of this research paper is to find out by comparing and contrasting between the adults and children in second
language learning process how language ego of adult learners affects them to learn second language, and how it
becomes a barrier for them in second language learning process. Nowadays learning English as foreign and second
language is one of the most dominant socio-cultural requirements of people for seeking employment, foreign tour,
business, education and other basic communicative purposes. Therefore, English as foreign and second language is
definitely necessary for everybody because it is one of the most urgent socio-cultural pre-requisites of the Post-modern
era. It is commonly observed during teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Pakistan, that language ego
hinders the adults to learn it properly. Therefore, children are more successful L2 learners than the adults are. Children
learning L2 use to reproduce construction process just as they do in their L1 learning and they have the ability to
cognize and reproduce new and novel utterances. The compare and contrast between adult and child second language
learner will be highlighted in this research paper, which may be helpful for teachers, researchers and scholars on the
subject.
Keywords: Second Language Learning Process, Adult Learner, Child Learner, Language Ego, Critical Period and
Puberty Period
1. Introduction
The Importance of a language as the only source of communication cannot be denied in any human society of the
world. Pakistan is a multilingual country where Urdu language is a lingua franca. It is not only spoken language in
Pakistan but also a medium of education. In addition, a large number of people cannot communicate in Urdu language
or even understand it in the various regions of the country. There are about 72 national languages spoken in the different
areas of Pakistan. English language has been a constitutional language of Pakistan since 1971. It is also official
language and medium of education and instruction. It is frequently used in educational institutions as a medium of
instruction and offices as an official language. Therefore, English language has its own importance as an international
language in this regard. Moreover, learning of English language is actually a need and demand of time.
However, English has been learned as second or foreign language in Pakistan. Nevertheless, Learning of English as
second or foreign language is by no means an easy task but it is very complex process in multilingual country as
Pakistan. However, it is commonly observed that a child is more successful L2 learner as compare to an adult. He is not
only successful in learning a second language but also third or more and this ratio decreases with the age, as after 12
years of age to which the linguists terms critical age, the learning becomes slow because of ego. In the learning process,
a school or English language classroom plays a vital role where facilitators encourage a child at every step to boost up
his self-confidence. A child does not care of committing mistakes of grammar, accent and spelling so that he may
definitely learn second language without any shyness, ego and hesitation. There is no trace of emotional interference in
child’s mind that develops with increasing of the age. Therefore, the ratio of learning a second language in children is
higher. That is why children might have some secrets of success in language learning as they are not analysing and
monitoring themselves too much. Moreover, they are not analysing the strict grammatical rules and regulations, and
they do not allow their native language to interfere in their process of second language learning. It is much and most
important factor of all. Children are not being too worried about their egos. Because they use a creative process of
construction in second language learning just as they do so in acquiring their first language. However, age is a major
factor determining success in learning a second or foreign language. Children are capable of acquiring second language
rapidly with little effort. They can become highly proficient, even native-like speakers of second language.
ALLS 6(6):170-173, 2015 171
Whereas, in the case of adult second language learners, who crossed the premises of critical period and reached the
boundary of puberty period, second language learning process becomes comparatively slow. The critical period
hypothesis (CPH) as proposed by Lenneberg (1967) opines that primary language acquisition must occur during a
critical period that ends at about the age of puberty with the establishment of cerebral lateralization of function. A
strong implication of CPH is that the processes involving in any language acquisition, which takes place after the age of
puberty, will be qualitatively different from those involved in first language acquisition. A commonly drawn, though
not necessary, corollary of CPH is that any language learning that takes place after the age of puberty will be slower and
less successful than normal first language learning (Krashen, 1975, Lenneberg, 1967, 1969 and Scovel, 1969). Adult
second language learners are indeed less likely than young children to master second language are. They are doomed to
failure. In this sense, it can easily be observed that their second language learning ability is affected badly. Therefore,
language ego is one of the major factors that hinder the adults to learn a second language. It does not mean that
language ego is only one specific factor to hamper second language learning. In addition, many other factors hamper a
person to learn second language. However, the most dominate factors in this regard, is ego, which generates powerful
feelings in the mind of adult that hamper or makes the learning process slower and slower. For this reason, adults are
not as successful L2 learners as children are because more they think little they speak. They are actually afraid of
speaking as they think that people might make fun of them if they will not pronounce the words correctly, make
grammatical mistakes. If fluency will not be there the people would crack jokes on them, what if they did not answer
well That is why, ego raises such questions in the mind of an adult L 2 learner and that is how it slowdowns the learning
process and proves that he is not getting fruitful results.
Nevertheless, children have no such feelings. They do not care of what are they going to speak and how they are going
to speak and what the others are going to think about them. They learn without any hesitation and that is why they learn
and master a second language more easily and affectively rather than adult L 2 learners. According to Harley, children,
learn languages better than adults do (Haley, B., 1986, p. 4).The great advantage of children is their mental flexibility to
learn languages, which adults are lacking. Therefore, children produce native like-accent in second language learning.
This is a great hindrance in case of adults to produce native like- accent in second language learning. As H. D Brown
observes, “Children who acquire a second language after the age of five may have a physical advantage in the phonemic
control of second language is physically possible yet that mysterious plasticity is still present. It is no wonder that
children acquire authentic pronunciation while adults generally do not, since pronunciation involves the control of so
many muscles” (Brown, H.D., 1994, p. 5). Thus, the involvement of language ego has come to influence badly and
negatively in second language learning process. It makes the development of language learning skill impossible in
adults. It curbs the language competence, proficiency, fluency and accuracy in adult second language learners. For this
reason, mostly the adult second language learners are afraid or stressed when using the language in oral way while on
the other hand a child learner never feel stressed and for the very same reason he learns in no time because of lacking
language ego.
2. Literature Review
Language ego is a dominant factor, which influences the second language learning process of adult second language
learners in our country. There is a lot of material on the subject. “Intercultural Competence in Young Language
Learners: a case study” Thesis by Robyn A. Moloney submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of
Education, at the University of Sydney, September 2007, is a brilliant study on the subject, which proves logically that
young children are interculturally competent learners rather than the adults. Aladdin Assaiqeli wrote a research paper
entitled “Theories of language learning: A contrasting view” in which he discussed many theories of language learning
but touched the issue of language ego slightly. The critical hypothesis (CPH) as proposed by Lenneberg (1967), opines
that primary language acquisition must occur during a critical period that ends at about the age of puberty with the
establishment of cerebral lateralization of function. Any language learning after the age of puberty will be slower and
less successful than normal first language learning (Krashen 1975, Lenneberg 1967, Scovel 1969). Children are superior
to adults in acquiring the sounds of L2 (Asher, J. & Garcia, R, 1969; Olson & Samuels, 1973; Seliger, Krashen, &
Ladefoged, 1975; Oyama, 1976; Snow & Hoefnagel-Hohle, 1977). Krashen, Scarcella & Long wrote a lot on child-
adult differences in learning second language acquisition. (Krashen, Scarcella & Long, 1982). The present research
tends to highlight the compare and contrast between adults and children in second language learning in the light of
brilliant language learning theories of these linguists to prove that language ego is a great hindrance and hurdle in the
adult second language learners to learn second language.
3. Discussion and Debate
In fact, Language learning is a “logical problem”, as formulated by Chomsky, has for centuries baffled and intrigued
linguists, researchers, and language teachers and practitioners everywhere in the world. Different explanatory proposals
and various theories have been expounded in endeavours to account for this marvellous human phenomenon, and
indeed “the greatest intellectual feat anyone of us is ever required to perform” (Bloomfield, 1933 cited in Fromkin and
Rodman, 1998:, p. 317). However, language is deeply rooted in the socio-cultural ethos of social formation in which
human behaviour is formed in a specific psychological form. Moreover, second language Learning is a pre-requisite of
the socio-economic conditions of Pakistani society. One cannot deny this fact that English is one of the international
languages of the world, second language in many countries and foreign language in Pakistan and other countries of the
world. Therefore, learning of English as a second and foreign language is a demand of education, science, technology
and business of Post-modern era. Its frequent use in the offices, educational institutions, business hubs and for other
ALLS 6(6):170-173, 2015 172
communicative purposes in Pakistan makes it more essential to learn. That is why a large number of public and private
schools are not only emphasizing and claiming to learn English as a second or foreign language but also putting all their
efforts to get the fruitful results and English is being taught as main compulsory subject in Pakistan from primary to
higher education level. Therefore, learning a language is definitely an art. Children are considered to be naturally gifted
artists, who learn English as a second language within no time but when the critical period ends and the puberty period
starts they begin to develop psychological and emotional interference, shyness, hesitation, anxiety and ego in their
behaviour, so they become slower in their second language learning process. Brown describes that language ego can be
damaging to language learning as follows:
“At, these inhibitions are heightened in the trauma of undergoing critical physical, cognitive and emotional changes.
Their egos are affected not only in how they understand themselves, but also on how they reach out beyond themselves,
how they relate to others socially, and how they use the communicative process to bring on affective equilibrium”
(Brown, H. D., 1994, p. 70).
Thus, language ego is one of the psychological interferences that hinders and causes handicap in adults to learn second
language. Guiora (1972) was the first linguist, who discovered the notion of language ego, claiming that this agent
occurs when the learner is aware of the limitations and boundaries of a language. Therefore, language ego refers to the
very personal nature of New Language Learning and is associated with the fear of making mistakes. These mistakes
work as internal and external threats to one’s ego. Ego boundaries, according to M. E. Ehrman, “are the degree to which
individuals tend to compartmentalize their experience, which effects receptivity to outside influences such as new
languages and cultures. Learners, like others, try to build set of defences to protect the ego. In classroom, students’
learning preferences depend on how thick or thin their ego boundaries are, Students with thin ego enjoy content-based
learning where the focus is on what is being said more than how it is said. Many of them prefer non-linear approaches
to learning and enjoy unexpected learning events. Students with thick ego boundaries, on the other hand, prefer a clearly
structured curriculum and display some discomfort with role-playing and similar suspenses of everyday identity”
(Ehrman, M. E. 1999, p. 69).
On the contrary, a child learns a new language in the same way, as he is least bothered about the limitations and
boundaries just as an adult second language learner has produced in his mind. Children develop knowledge through
active participation in their learning process. Their cognitive development is a product of mind “achieved through
observation and experimentation” (Chambliss, J.J, 1996). However, second Language learning requires social
interaction and without interacting socially, it is not possible to learn second language. For the very same reason
children learn more actively and efficiently a second language as they are not ruled by their ego. They are confident,
bold, frank enough, and not afraid of interacting with the others. However, an adult second language learner feels
hesitant, stressed and sometimes afraid of the people resulting in failure or most of the time these barriers make him
slower and handicap second language learner. Language ego is one of the most effective elements that interfere with the
adult’ oral production and grammatical syntax in the second language learning and personal and emotional factors are
outcome of that ego which affects the learning in adults. Age difference is of great importance in second language
learning. It largely determines the extent to which the second language learner retains the faculties that made it possible
for him to learn his first language. Therefore, children learn languages quickly and better than adults do. According to
Harley, children, learn languages better than adults do (Haley, 1986, p. 4). The great advantage of children is their
mental flexibility to learn languages, which adults are lacking. Therefore, children produce native like-accent in second
language learning. This is a great hindrance in case of adults to produce native like- accent in second language learning.
As H. D Brown observes:
“Children who acquire a second language after the age of five may have a physical advantage in the phonemic control
of second language is physically possible yet that mysterious plasticity is still present. It is no wonder that children
acquire authentic pronunciation while adults generally do not, since pronunciation involves the control of so many
muscles” (Brown, H.D., 1994, p.51).
On the contrary, self-confidence is an important element of second language learning process if a person really wants to
achieve something. Being confident means let one go ego, accept the new challenges and to leave behind all egoist
feelings, thoughts and flaws in the personality. As Brown defines self-confidence as "The belief that learner has that he
is capable of doing a task, which is a factor in the success of attaining the task" (Brown, 2001, p. 62). In this manner,
age is the strongest predictor of second language learning. Therefore, children are considered the most proficient
learners of L2 than adults. They learn and learn, no matter what. Children are not afraid of taking risks and this quality
lacks in the adult learners due to their language ego that force them to speak fluently, accurately and without
committing a single grammatical mistake. Therefore, they prefer to remain quiet in the presence of others. They
complain that they were demotivated when people show negative attitude towards their language performance.
Therefore, they would be unsuccessful L2 learners if they utter anything incorrect and do not learn lesson from their
mistakes. On the contrary, children might have some extraordinary linguistic power, possessing the secrets of language
learning. These aspects cannot be denied that they learn more effectively than the adult learners as they are not afraid of
committing linguistic mistakes, they do not monitor themselves as the adults do, they are not analysing their grammar,
not letting the native language interfere much and most important of all not being too worried about their egos.
In fact, language input is also as important factor in the process of second language learning in which learner learns
second language as it is to the first language learner. However, teacher input might do well to be as deliberate, but
meaningful, in their communications with adult students as parental input to the child. Therefore, the role of input is
ALLS 6(6):170-173, 2015 173
undoubtedly very important in this respect. Krashen has put forward the input hypothesis that reveals the importance he
places on input. Input by the teacher can really be helpful to reduce egoist feelings of an adult learner, having
somewhere in the mind so that that may not be deep rooted in their personalities. Therefore, comprehensive input is
always required in second language learning. Children learning L2 use in a productive construction process just as they
do in their L1 learning and they have the ability to cognize and reproduce new and novel utterances. Adult learner lacks
this quality. In fact, a great difference between adults and children is an innate disposition. An infant learns second
language in a way as he acquires his native language. On the contrary, an adult second language learner fails to do so
because he reaches the height of developmental stage of his personality, in which he enters into a new zone of
monitoring his linguistic mistakes where his ego rules him.
4. Conclusion
This research study tried to prove the importance of learning English as a second language, which is one of the socio-
cultural pre-requites of Post-modern era, in which we live. Therefore, a contrastive comparison is conducted between a
child and an adult second learner, which clearly declares that a child is more proficient and successful L2 learner as
compare to an adult. His skill of second language learning is affected when he crosses the borders of critical period and
enters the premises of puberty period where he starts to develop psychological and emotional feelings as language ego,
anxiety, hesitation and shyness. There are many reasons behind that and ego is one of the most important factors that
hinder the ability of second language learning in adults. Thus, age is the strongest predictor in the process of second
language learning. The more number of cases of the post-pubertal subjects with slower language proficiency may be
found around us, which make it easy to draw a general conclusion that the post-pubertal second language learning is
greatly affected by language ego.
However, numerous efforts can be made to bring the positive changes in the behaviour of adult L2 learners while
learning English as a second language in English language class. It could be in the form of input, by giving them self-
confidence and not highlighting their mistakes in the presence of the others in classroom. Therefore, one must let go the
false beliefs and baseless assumptions that form the language ego in adult second language learners and damages their
personality. As a result, the present study suggests the solution of this problem, that motivation of teacher and
classmates, aptitude of adult second language learners, ways of instructions and teaching methodology of the learned
and motivated teacher as well as classroom atmosphere may prove helpful for adult second language learners to learn
second language in the classroom. If these steps will be taken, they are helpful for adult second language learners to
overcome their language ego.

References
Aladdin, A. (2013). Theories of language learning: A contrasting view. Scholarly Journal of Scientific Research and
Essay (SJSRE, 2(3), pp. 34-43, March 2013 Available online at http:// www.scholarly-journals.com/SJSRE ISSN 2315-
6163 © 2013 Scholarly-Journals.
Asher, J. & Garcia, R. (1969). The optimal age to learn a foreign language. Modern Language Journal 53, pp. 334-342.
Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of Language Learning Teaching. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. New York: Pearson
Longman.
Chambliss, J.J. (1996). Philosophy of Education: An Encyclopaedia. New York and London: Garland Publishing
Company.
Ehrman, M. E. (1999). “Ego boundaries and tolerance of ambiguity in second language learning”: In Arnold, J. (ed.),
Affect in Language Learning. Cambridge: CUP (P. 68-86).
Fromkin, V., Rodman, R. (1998). An Introduction to Language (6th edn.). USA: Rinehart and Winston.
Harley, B. (1986). Age in Second Language Acquisition. England: Multilingual Matters Ltd., Lightbown, P.M. and
Spada, N. (1999). How Languages Are Learned. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Krashen, S. (1975). The critical period for language acquisition and its possible bases. In D. Aaronson & R. W. Rieber
(eds.), Development psycholinguistics and communication disorders. New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
Lenneberg, E. (1967). Biological foundation of language. New York: Wiley
Moloney, Robyn A. (2007). Intercultural Competence in Young Language Learners: a case study. Thesis submitted in
partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Education, at the University of Sydney, September 2007.
Olson, L. & Samuels, S. (1973). The Relationship between age and accuracy of foreign language pronunciation.
Journal of Educational Research, 66, pp. 263-268.
Oyama, S. (1976). A sensitive period for acquisition of a non-native phonological system. Journal of Psycholinguistic
Review, 5, pp. 261-284.
Scovel, T. (1969). Foreign accents, language acquisition and cerebral dominance. Language Learning, 19, pp. 245-253.
Seliger, H.W., Krashen, S.D., & Ladefoged, P. (1975). Maturation consonants in the acquisition of second language
accent. Language Sciences, 36, pp. 20-22.
Snow, C., Hoefnagel-Hohle, M. (1977). Age Differences in the pronunciation of foreign sounds. Language and Speech,
20, pp. 357-365.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

An Etymological Study of Mythical Lakes in Iranian

Bundahišn
Hossein Najari (Corresponding author)
Shiraz University, Eram Square, Shiraz, Iran
E-mail: najari@shirazu.ac.ir

Zahra Mahjoub
Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
E-mail: z.mahjoub@hotmail.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.174 Received: 30/07/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.174 Accepted: 02/10/2015

Abstract
One of the myth-making phenomena is lake, which has often a counterpart in reality. Regarding the possible limits of
mythological lakes of Iranian Bundahišn, sometimes their place can be found in natural geography. Iranian Bundahišn,
as one of the great works of Middle Persian (Pahlavi) language, contains a large number of mythological geography
names. This paper focuses on the mythical lakes of Iranian Bundahišn. Some of the mythical lakes are nominally
comparable to the present lakes, but are geographically located in different places. Yet, in the present research attempt
is made to match the mythical lakes of Iranian Bundahišn with natural lakes. Furthermore, they are studied in the light
of etymological and mythological principles. The study indicates that mythical lakes are often both located in south and
along the "Frāxkard Sea" and sometimes they correspond with the natural geography, according to the existing
mythological points and current characteristics of the lakes.
Keywords: mythological geography, Bundahišn, lake, Iranian studies, Middle Persian
1. Introduction
Discovering the geographical location of mythical places in our present-day world is one of the most noteworthy
matters for mythologists. As the setting of a myth bears an unrealistic geography, in myths a place is the reflection of
typical forms of myths which come into being in imaginary and unrealistic places (Vaheddoost 1379AH/2000: 369).
However, it is impossible to find an exact conformity between natural geography and mythical geography or to
precisely locate the place of an unreal within the real world (Mokhtari 1379AH/2000: 99). In Pahlavi literary works it
has been mentioned about mythical geography, among which Bundahišn1 is replete with names fluctuating between
mythical and natural geographies; consequently, it is believed that no exact match occurs between mythical and natural
geographies. Conversely, there is another idea according to which mythical geography has root in natural geography, so
it can be traced to the reality. The present research is an attempt to find the possible conformity between natural
geography and mythical geography of lakes in Iranian Bundahišn.
Myth in Bundahišn is linked with Creation (Genesis) that begins with a drop of “water”, by virtue of Islamic and Jewish
sources “water” is the substance of Creation (Mirfakhraie 1366AH/1987: 194). Being an indication of immensity of the
nature and taking a dominant position in myths, water is the second physical creature of Ūrmazd (Bahar 1387AH/2000:
45). At the outset of creation, the land was dry and no sign of water could be seen, then Tištar2 fashioned clouds, by the
wind departed them to the sky, thus rain started and continued thirty days, so water covered all the Earth and rose up to
the height of a man. Afterwards, the wind spread all that water and directed it to the boundary of the Earth, from which
“Farāxkard” Sea, three major seas, thirty minor seas, and two lakes originated (Gholizadeh 1387AH/2008: 23).
Farāxkard Sea, the vastest sea, covers one third of the Earth`s surface and its water is the most desirable and superior in
comparison with others because of its warmth and purity. Inside this vast sea there exist one thousand seas called
“čašmagān Ardwīsūr” or “Xānīgān sea” (Tafazzoli 2001: 201). Any sea has an aquifer into which enters water and runs
to the sea, length and width of each aquifer and sea is equal to forty days horse-riding or 16oo Farsang3. Everyday water
streams from čašmagān Ardwīsūr to the south (Gholizadeh 1387AH/2008: 181). In religion, čašmagān Ardwīsūr are
named “Sea-Source” because ,similar to the eyes of men, they are sources of waters, and are called “lake” too, such as

1 The greatest historical-religious work written in Pahlavi language, its original name might be “Zand- āgāhīh” meaning
“information based on Zand”. The name reveals that it has been the main source for translations and interpretations of
Avesta. It is well-known because of its chapters related to “Creation” (Tafazzoli 1386AH/ 2006: 143).
2 Great angel of rain.
3 Each Farsang equals 6240 m
ALLS 6(6):174-182, 2015 175
Čēčast Lake, Sōwar Lake, Xwārazm Lake, Frazdān Lake, Zarrēnōmand Lake, Astwāst Lake, Husraw Lake, Sadwēs
Lake, and Urwēs Lake (Bahar 1390AH/2011: 77).
Lakes as myth-making phenomena of the nature own a special position in Pahlavi and Avestan scripts. As a result, a
large number of Iranian mythologists like to get acquainted with these natural phenomena. Nevertheless, a small
number of studies done on this area, among which Bahar`s research (1362AH/1983) is more detailed and coherent.
However, there are still many things to understand about the mythological lakes and they need a deeper insight in this
field. One of the most interesting issues is to offer a description based on etymological study of mythical lakes in
Iranian Bundahišn to think through the subject matter comprehensively. The current research seeks to investigate
whether there is any conformity between mythological lakes and natural lakes. Due to the objectives of the study, any
lake is surveyed individually and etymological and mythical outcomes about each lake are cited separately. Moreover,
the position of lakes in mythology and geography is defined.
2. Review of literature
As is apparent from the title, this research focuses on the geography of Iranian Bundahishn. Foreign scholars who have
enormous interest in this area, have done considerable amount of investigation on the mythical and historical geography
of Iran and central Asia, a great number of which have been examined and used in this study which we will now allude
to. Kiepert and McMillan (1881) has done a research on ancient world geography. Modi (1889) has examined ancient
geography of Persia based on the Pahlavi book of Shahrestanhaye Iran. A paper has been presented by Le Strange
concerning the historical geography of Islamic countries, whose Persian translation is based on the second English
edition of the work which is a condensed review of the research and writings done by old Muslim geographers.
Benveniste (1939) has described Aryan territories and regions such as Kharezm, Sogdiana etc. in a paper including a list
of its various geographical features. Marquart (1947) has studied and investigated many geographical areas close to the
mythical river of Veh Rood and Arang. The geographical and climatic conditions of Haroiva with regard to Manichean
texts has been taken into consideration by Henning in 1947. Another research been done by Whitehouse in 1970 which
is a survey on the monuments, geographical location and transaction conditions of the port of Siraf. Brunner (1986)
studied the etymology and the features of the mythical Arang River, linking them to the field of natural geography. In
1987, Gnoli inspected the customs and the geographical location of the east of Iran from the past up to the present, in
addition to examining the geography of Avesta. Hewsen (1987) studied the mythical lakes, Hrazdan and Frazdan, and
characterized and compared the two. The geography of Balkh throughout history was probed by Balland in 1988.
Planhol, in 1990 studied the historical geography of the Caspian Sea and the raids of different tribes happening around
the area. Schmitt has also done a significant research in 1990 which is about the areas near the Black sea and how the
invasion of different folks to these areas caused the Black sea to have many dissimilar names. In 1993, Gnoli
investigated the mythical river of Dāiti. He has also done a research regarding Hamun Lake in literature and mythology
in 2003. Sarkhosh Curtis and Stewart carried out their research on the emergence of the Persian Emperor and Avestan
geography, taking into account the mythical geography in their studies as well. Cereti (2007) studied the 10th and 12th
chapters of “Bundahišn”. An investigation was done by Panaino (2013) into the geographical location and the
etymology of Kayanse in mythology, along with description of the events taking place in the vicinity of this lake in the
Apocalypse and at the time of Zoroaster. Gharashi (1380H/2001) has dug into Indo-Iranian mythology, as well as the
geography of its ancient or mythological mountains, seas, rivers, and lakes.
3. List of the mythical lakes in Bundahišn
3.1 Astwāst Lake
This lake possesses pure water unremittingly flowing into seas. Its water is so bright and glorious that one may not
distinguish it from sunshine. It is used to adorn dead bodies appropriately in Frašegird. In Bundahišn and Vendidad, the
name of this lake is mentioned besides Frazdān Lake, Zarrēnōmand Lake, Husraw Lake and Sadwēs Lake; although,
their location remains unsaid (Gholizadeh 1387AH/2008: 80). Its location is supposed to be in the south of Iran,
probably in Sistan, because aforementioned lakes are assumed to be there. Although its name is not mentioned in
Avesta, in Zamyād Yašt a mountain named Aδutauuås(ca)4 is cited that its name is so similar to this lake.
According to Iranian Bundahišn:
- “war ī Astwāst rāy paydāg kū āb ī a-winast ast andar zrēhīhā hāmwār hamē tazēd” (Pakzad 1384AH/2005:
165).
- “it is apparent that Astwāst Lake owns a pure water unremittingly running into seas” (Bahar 1390AH/2011:
77).
Astwāst → probably its old form was a + √staw + √ās + ta-, according to which it is a composition of Avestan and
Parthian languages, and is apparently an adjective used as a proper noun.
a-: this is perhaps from Avestan employed as prefix of verb (Reichelt 1911: 221). staw- : present stem originated from
Old Iranian root staw-, Sanskrit root stu- (Mayrhofer 1996: 757) derived from Indo-European root steu- “to praise

4 It means “full of flowing waters” (Humbach 1998: 77); in addition, it is translated as “(a mountain) dominating
waters” (Pourdavoud 1377AH/1998, vol.2: 329). It is probably derived from stem Aδutauuah- and suffix ca- meaning
“also”. Change of δ in Avesta into s in Middle Persian can be seen in Urwēs too. Aδutauuah- is probably composed of
Aδu- “to flow” (Humbach 1998: 77) and tauuah- (neutral noun) “power/strength” (Bartolomae 1904: col.639). this
word is derived from Old Iranian root tu “ to be able” (Mansoori 1384AH/2005: 420)
ALLS 6(6):174-182, 2015 176
loudly” (Pokorny 2007: 2966), Avestan root stu- “to praise” (Bartholomae 1904: col.1593). ās-5 is the present stem of
āsīdan infinitive that means “ to rise (sun)”, this word is Parthian and is derived from Old Iranian ā-, ṇsa- (Hassandoost
1383AH/2004: 28) is derived from Sanskrit root naś- “ to reach” (Mayrhofer 1996: 27), Avestan root nas- “ to reach”
(Bartholomae 1904: col.1055). ta- adjective suffix (Jackson 1968, p.219). Ultimately, considering purity of water and its
holiness in Frašegird and also in line with the aforesaid analysis, one may come to the concept of “praising glitter” for
the word.
3.2 Urwēs6 Lake
According to Bundahišn, Urwēs Lake is at the top of Hugar Mountain, and Splendor of God (Farrah-ī Īzadi) at dawn
comes to Urwēs Lake and Spentä Mainyu receives it (Bahar 1390AH/2011: 114). Some mythologists believe that this
river is a split of Hāmun Lake. However, Humbach and Vogelsong presumably estimate the route of the river to be
between Sistan and Herat, where Ghaznī River joins Arghandab through “Āb Īstade” and “Lora River” (Sarkhosh
Curtis- Stewart 2005: 40)
As stated in Iranian Bundahišn:
- "war ī Urwēs pad Hugar ī buland" (Pakzad 1384AH/2005: 166).
- “Urwēs Lake is at the top of Huger” (Bahar 1390AH/2011: 77).
Urwēs → a proper name, equivalent to Avestan uruuaδā- (feminine noun) (Bartholomae 1904: col.1537); derived from
Sanskrit root vreś- “to whirl” (Mayrhofer 1996: 598); derived from Indo-European root ųreiќ “to rotate” (Pokorny 2007:
3352). Avestan root uruuaēs- “to turn” (Bartholomae 1904: col.1533). The literal meaning of this lake is “whirlpool” or
“having a spiral route”, probably at the top has a spiral route (Meyers & O'conner 1983: 629).
3.3 Čēčast7 Lake
Čēčast is a mythical lake in the east of Iran compared with “Ūrmia Lake” today (Cereti 2007: 56), birthplace of
Zoroaster based on an account. It is said that length and width of Čēčast is four Farsang. According to Zādspram, Čēčast
gained a particular holiness due to Azargoshasb during Sassanid era (Tafazzoli 1990: 107). It is narrated that
Azargoshasp has been formerly near a city in Azerbaijan called Ganzak, then around 5th century Azargoshasp was
moved from Ganzak to Takht-e Soleymān and since that time Zoroastrian priests (Mobad) communicated with Čēčast
(Boyce 2000: 289). There is an account according to which in Kai Khosrow era near this mythical lake placed an Idol
Temple, for some reason was ruined by his order and Azargoshasb Fire Temple was constructed in its place
(Pourdavoud 1377AH/1998, vol.1: 213).
According to Iranian Bundahišn:
- "war ī Čēčast pad Ādurbādagān garmāb ud jud-dad kū-š tis gyānōmand andar nē bawēd u-š bun ō zrēh ī
Frāxkard paywast ēstēd" (pakzad 1384AH/2005: 163).
- “Čēčast Lake is in Azerbaijan, a salty dead water holds no living creature, its root joins Farāxkard” (Bahar
1390AH/2011: 77).
Čēčast8→ a proper noun, its Avestan equivalent is čaēčasta- (masculine noun) (Bartholomae 1904: col.575). Its
decomposed form may be čaē + čas + ta- ; seemingly an adjective used as a proper noun here.
čaē- : perhaps a verb root, derived from Old Iranian root kai- (čai) “ to move/flow” (Cheung 2007: 229); derived from
Indo-European root kēi- “to move” (Pokorny 2007: 1571). čas- probably present stem derived from Old Iranian kas-a.
Old Iranian root kas- “to appear” (Mansoori 1384AH/2005: 225), derived from Sanskrit root kāś- (Mayrhofer 1996:
346). Avestan root kas- means “to see” (Bartholomae 1904: col.459). -ta is an adjective suffix (Jackson 1968: 219).
Overall, the concept of “showy flow” may be understood from the name of the lake.
3.4 Husraw Lake
Husraw9 Lake is located in Azerbaijan near Old Fire of Husraw i.e. Azargoshasp Fire Temple. Some believe it is near
Čēčast Lake. Also, In Avesta its name is mentioned. It is narrated in Zamyād Yašt that Afrāsīāb went down in
Farāxkard Sea three times to obtain the Farrah, each time a Lake split from Farāxkard, first time Husraw Lake, second

5 It is also believed to be derived from Avestan root san “to ascend/rise” (Cheung 2007: 330).
6 Also Urwēš, runs to Kiyanse Sea, as it is supposes to be equal with Hāmun Lake, Urwēs might be another name for
“Hirmand” (Gholizadeh 1387AH/2008: 101). In Avesta a river entitled as uruuaδā- (Humbach 1998: 142), and in
Zamyād Yaøt this river is called as “having a lot of pasture” (ibid.49).
7 Čaēčasta- is supposed to mean “glowing brightness” (Bartolomae 1904: col.575), some equate “Kabudan” sea with

Čēčast Lake and say “glowing brightness” is not appropriate for it. It is believed that plenty of salt made it glow and is
purple because of its salts (Houtsma 1993: 1037), and is used for its salts to cure illnesses (Behzadi 1368AH/1989:
267). The word Xonjast is mentioned in Shahnameh to refer to the sea in which Afrāsīāb got concealed (pourdavoud
1377AH/1998, vol.1: 213). In past, this lake was also called “Armaniye”, “Shahi”,”Tala”,” Shur Darya”( salt sea), and
“Rezaiye”( Gholizadeh 1387AH/2008: 183). Some sources equal this lake with Farakhkard (Tafazzoli 1990: 107).
Nyberg assumes that it is the same with šēčīkān (Nyberg 1974: 186). This lake is also called Garmab “having warm
water”, in Avesta it is described as “deep and vast” (Boyce 2000: 289).
8 Also Čēčist in Middle Persian (Nyberg 1974: 54)
9 Some believe it is probably Van or Swan (Oshidari 1398AH/2010: 400).
ALLS 6(6):174-182, 2015 177
time vaŋ́hazdā, third time aβždānuua (Humbach 1998: 46). In other words, Husraw Lake is made of the water came
from Farāxkard (Gholizadeh 1387AH/2008: 336).
According to Iranian Bundahišn:
- "war ī Husraw pad čahār frasang ō Čēčast" (Pakzad 1384AH/2005: 165).
- “Husraw Lake is four Farsang far from Čēčast” ( Bahar 1390AH/2011: 77).
Husraw10 → a proper name composed of hu11+sraw.
sraw12: a noun, equivalent to Old Iranian sarawah- “ speech” (Mansoori 1384AH/2005: 383), Avestan srauuah- , a noun
“ speech/word”; (Bartholomae 1904: col.1643), Middle Persian sraw “word/charm” (Mackenzie 1388AH/2009: 137),
Modern Persian sorw¦, sorowd (Mo'in 1375AH/1996, vol.2: 1877).In total, it means “good fame” (Humbach 1998: 137).
3.5 Xwārazm13 Lake
It is recounted this lake gives advantage and pleasure (Cereti 2007: 59). The location of Xwārazm Lake or Xive H¦liye
is supposed to be in a cold region at the west of Turkestan and south of Kazakhstan. Its features are being vast and
holding blue water with a little salt. In Avesta and Behistun Inscription, only the name of Xwārazm Land is stated,
where is at low height and this lowness increases in the lake area (Rapoport 1991: 511). Ibn-e Roste is the first Arab
geographer pointing to this lake as “Bohayre Xwārazm”. “Russian Sea” was its next name and was known as “Blue
Sea” as well (Spuler 1986: 250).Some equate it with “Aral Lake” (Cereti 2007: 59).

According to Iranian Bundahišn:

- "war ī Xwārazm rāy gōwēd kū awiš be dād ēstēd Ahrišwang ī xwāstag ud tuwāngarīh ud xwābrīh ud
abāyišnīgīh ud hu-rāmīh" (Pakzad 1384AH/2005: 164).
- “it is uttered about Xwārazm Lake that Ahrišwang has given it authority, delight, competency and liveliness”
(Bahar 1390AH/2011: 77).
Xwārazm14 → a proper noun, equivalent to Old Persian hUvārazmī- [hu “good” + vāra “?” + zmī “land” ]( Kent 1953:
177) and Avestan xvāirizam- (feminine noun) (Bartholomae 1904: col.1878). This word is probably composed of xwār15
+ a + zm.
xwār: adjective, derived from Old Iranian form xwa- āθra- (Mansoori 1384AH/2005: 513), Sogdian xwỷr (xuyār-) “
mean , easy, light, low” (Gharib 1383AH/2004: 440), Middle Persian xwār- “ light, easy, mean, low” (Mackenzie
1388AH/2009: 165), and Modern Persian xār (Mo'in 1375AH/1996, vol.1: 1447). a- is an infix kept from Old Iranian in
the form xwāra- in this word. zm, a noun equivalent to Avestan zam- ( feminine noun) (Bartholomae 1904: 1662).
Ashkanid Pahlavi zmyg (zamīg) (Boyce 1977: 104). Middle Persian zamīg “land” (Mackenzie 1388AH/2009: 169).
Modern Persian zami, zamin “land” (Mo'in 1375AH/1996, vol.2: 1747). Although there are different denomination
reasons for Xwārazm, the author believes the concept “low land” is appropriate because Xwārazm Lake is situated in an
area that is low at height.
3.6 Zarrēnōmand Lake
Perhaps in the past, there existed a lake in Hamadan and Saveh region called Zarmand16, today the area called Zarand of
Saveh17 may be resulted from that name. In Xwarshed Nyāyesh also Zarrēnōmand is cited as a lake or pool that means

10 Avestan equivalent hu-sravah- (Mansoori 1384AH/2005: 383), Sanskrit su- śravas- (Mayrhofer 1996: 784),
Avestan hoasrauunah- (masculine noun) (Bartolome 1904: col.1738), Pazand xusrūb (Nyberg 1974: 104), Ashkanid
Pahlavi hwsrwg (husrōg) “famous/renowned” (Boyce 1977: 49), Middle Persian Husraw “well-known” (Mackenzie
1388AH/2009: 91), and Modern Persian Xosrow (Khalaf-e Tabrizi 1361AH/1982, vol.2.: 748).
11 Hu- : prefix, Avestan equivalent hu- hū- (adverb or noun prefix) (Reichelt 1911: 278), and Sanskrit sū- “good”

(Mayrhofer 1996: 734).

12 Derived from Old Iranian sraw- “to listen/call” (Mansoori 1384AH/2005: 383). Sanskrit root s`rav- (Mayrhofer 1996:

666). Avetan root sru- “to listen” (Bartolome 1904: col.1643).

13 Except Bundahišn, the name of this lake is mentioned in no Pahlavi script (Cereti 2007: 59).
14 It is read as Xuārizm (Nyberg 1974: 221). There are 3 hypothesizes about the concept of this word: 1) Hollow land 2)

Sun land 3) Easy war. it is related in Shahnameh that Kai Khosrow attacked Afrāsīāb to take his father`s revenge.
Shideh the commander of Turan`s Army fought with Kai Khosrow and lost, then Kai Khosrow seized Xwārazm, this is
the reason of calling it “easy war” (Khosrobeigi 1368AH/1989: 75), its equivalent in Pazand razm “war” (Nyberg 1974:
169), Ashkanid Pahlavi rzm(razm) (Boyce 1977: 80).
15 Also used to mean “sun”, Avestan huuar- “sun” (neutral noun) (Bartolomae 1904: col.1874). Soghdian xwyr (xuwer,

xoyr) “sun” (Gharib 1383AH/2004: 441). Ashkanid Pahlavi xwr (xwār) (Boyce 1977: 101), Middle Persian xwār “sun”
(Mackenzie 1388AH/2009: 165).
16 Some take it as Zāyandé-Rūd of Isfahan, and some as Zarmand river of Sistan (Pourdavoud 1347AH/1998, vol.2:

345). Perhaps it is zarənumaitī- in Zamyād Yasht (Bartolomae 1904: col.1683), zarənumaitī is a river like Arghandab
that joins Helmand River and flows to Kiyanse Sea, for this reason Helmand in Bundahisn is called Zarrēnōmand
(Gnoli 2003: 171).
17 The meaning of Saveh in most dictionaries is indicated as “gold dust”, related to zarənumaitī and Zarrēnōmand.
ALLS 6(6):174-182, 2015 178
“having gold”. The water of Zarmand points to water in which dust of gold is solved and is used for Judgment of Īzad
(God) (Razi 1385AH/2006: 306).
"war ī Zarrēnōmand pad Hamadān" (Pakzad 1384AH/2005: 165).
“Zarrēnōmand Lake is in Hamadan” (Bahar 1390AH/2011: 77).
Zarrēnōmand18 → the primary form of this word might be zarr- + -ēn- + -ōmand.
Zarrēn19 : A attributive adjective functioning as a noun, derived from Avestan zarənaēna- “gold” (Bartholomae 1904:
col.1683), Sogdian zyrnynyy (zirnēnē) “golden” (Gharib 1383AH/2004: 472), Pazand zarrīn (Nyberg 1974: 230),
Ashkanid Pahlavi zarnyn (zarnēn) (Boyce 1977: 105), Middle Persian zarrēn (Mackenzie 1388AH/2009: 170), and
Modern Persian zarrin (Mo'in 1375AH/1996: 1738). –ōmand possessive adjective suffix “to have/ hold” adding to a
noun (Abolghasemi 1377AH/1998: 69). Based on aforementioned discussions the concept of the lake name is “having
gold”.
3.7 Sadwēs20 Lake
In accordance with the Selections of Zādspram, Sadwēs is a lake close to Farāxkard Sea that pushes back impurities and
filths from the salty sea in order to let what is bright and pure enter Farāxkard and čašmagān Ardwīsūr
(Rashedmohassel 1385AH/2006: 43); moreover, band of Sadwēs Lake is fastened to Sadwēs Star that guards seas and
regions of the south (Afifi 1374AH/1995: 557) and is called Lord of Depth too (Bahar 1390AH/2011: 89), this is
perhaps why the tide is related to it. Based upon Bundahišn, two winds blow from the front of the Moon and their place
is in Sadwēs Lake, one is known as the pusher and the other as the puller. Tiding happens when the puller blows and
sinking takes place as soon as the pusher blows (ibid. 74). Some introduce this lake as Sadwēs Gulf which is found
between Farāxkard Sea and Pūīdīg (Max Müller 1880: 87), since Farāxkard is in the south and alongside Alborz,
Sadwēs must be in this area as well (Rashedmohassel 1385AH/2006: 43). Cereti links Sadwēs21 with Strait of Hormuz
and Oman Sea (Cereti 2007: 55). The author believes that the lake is probably placed at the south, because relying on
the myth this lake is neighboring Farāxkard and Farāxkard itself is situated in the south as discussed previously.
According to Iranian Bundahišn:
- "mayān ī ēn zrēh ī Frāxkard ud ān ī Pūīdīg pahlūg zrēh dārēd kē war ī Sadwēs xwānēnd" (Pakzad
1384AH/2005: 142).
- “Between this Farāxkard Sea and alongside that Pūīdīg there is a sea called Sadwēs Lake” (Bahar
1390AH/2011: 73).
Sadwēs → a proper noun, probably composed of two parts: sad22 + wēs
wēs: a noun, equivalent to Sanskrit viś- “house” (Mayrhofer 1996: 584), Old Persian viθ- “house” (Kent 1953: 208),
Ashkanid Pahlavi wys (wis) “village” (Boyce 1977: 97),Middle Persian vis- “ village” (Mackenzie 1388AH/2009:
137); derived from Sanskrit root veś- “ to dwell/arrive” (Mayrhofer 1996: 584), and Avestan root vis- “to serve”
(Bartholomae 1904: col.1314). In general, it might mean “having hundred servants” or “having hundred houses”.
3.8 Sōwar23 Lake
About creation of this lake it is related that after Ahriman`s attack to the water and water’s defense several lakes came
into being, one of them was Sōwar. Sōwar pushes away any dirtiness and remains pure and bright, and it is so profound
that if something falls into it never reaches the end of the lake. Āzar Barzin Mehr had been initially placed on the beach
of this lake, that’s why it was called Āzar Sudi Mehr or Mehr Sud. Since Āzar Barzin Mehr`s building had been in
Rivand Mountain near Nishapur, therefore the location of this lake must be at Khorasan (Gholizadeh 1387AH/2008:
280). It is also supposed that Sōwar Lake is situated in Abar-Šahr from which luxury, bounty; joy, honor, and liberty are
originated. Monshizade relates it with “Sabz or Sowz Spring” in the north east of Nishapur placed at Binālud Mountain
(Cereti 2007: 56). Sabz Spring is mentioned as Sow Spring in Shahnameh (Salem 1383AH/2004: 149).
According to Iranian Bundahišn:
- "war ī Sōwar pad Abar-šahr būm pad sar ī kōf ī Tōs. čiyōn gōwēd kū sūd bahr ud hu-čašmīh ud wehīh
abzāyišnīgīh ud rādīh aziš be dād ēstēd" (Pakzad 1384AH/2005: 164).
- “Sōwar Lake is placed in Abar-šahr at the top of Tus Mountain; it is thought that benefit, good heartedness,
plenteousness and truth are created from it” (Bahar 1390AH/2011: 77).

18 Avestan equivalents zarənumant, zaranumant- (Bartolomae 1904: col.1683).

19 Derived from Avestan root zar- “to grow old” (Bartolomae 1904: col.1669).
20 In Avesta only Sadwēs star is mentioned, not the lake (Cereti 2007: 55). Avestan form for the star is satauuaēsa-

(masculine noun) (Bartolomae 1904: col.1556). In Pahlavi scripts a lake is also mentioned as Sadwēs.
21 Aras River, which is a source, comes out of Asnavand Mountain and runs to D¦iti (Rashedmohassel 1385AH/2006:

143). According to another idea, Sadwēs Lake is a blue shallow lake covered with fog, whose place is on the top of a
mountain said to be Hara (Meyers-O’Conner 1983AH/2004: 630).
22 A number, Sanskrit equivalent śatá- (Mayrhofer 1996: 606), Avestan sata- (Bartolomae 1904: col.1555), Sogdian st-

(sat) (Gharib 1383AH/2004: 362), Ashkanid Pahlavi sd [sad] (Boyce 1977: 81), Middle Persian sad (Mackenzie
1388AH/2009: 132), and Modern Persian sad (Mo'in 1375AH/1996, vol.2: 2135).
23 The name of this lake is not mentioned in Avesta (Cereti 2007: 56).
ALLS 6(6):174-182, 2015 179
Sōwar → a proper noun, probably composed of two parts: Sō + war
The original form of this word might be sūd + bahr.
sūd24: a noun, derived from Old Iranian form sūta- “advantage, benefit” (Bailey 1979: 429), Sogdian swt (sūt) (Gharib
1383AH/2004: 366). Pazand sūd (Nyberg 1974: 181). Ashkanid Pahlavi swd (sūd) “benefit, bounty” (Boyce 1977: 83).
Middle Persian sūd (Mackenzie 1388AH/2009: 139).Modern Persian sūd (Mi'on 1375AH/1996, vol.2: 1946).
bahr25: a noun, Pazand equivalent bahar “part, portion” (Nyberg 1974: 43).Ashkanid Pahlavi bhr (bahr) (Boyce 1977;
27), Middle Persian bahr (Mackenzie 1388AH/2006: 49), and Modern Persian bahr (Mo'in 1375AH/1996, vol.1:
611).Totally, name of this lake bears concept of “beneficent”.
3.9 Frazdān26 Lake
This lake is situated in Sistan and apparently equals Hāmun Lake (Cereti 2007: 56). Its feature is that if an abstinent
free-man drops something into it, the lake accepts it; otherwise the lake would throw it out (Oshidari 1389AH/2010:
367). It is narrated in Zand-i Vohuman Yasn that Hūshidar will be born beside Frazdān Lake. As stated in Pahlavi
scripts, when Salm and Tūr murdered Iraj, Fereydūn took Iraj`s born daughter to the lake, nurtured and trained her
secretly till Manūchehr was born (Christensen 1377AH/1998: 511).
According to Iranian Bundahišn:
- "war ī Frazdān pad Sagestān. gōwēnd kū āzād mard-ē(w) ahlaw kē tis-ē(w) andar awiš abganēd padīrēd ka nē
ahlaw abāz ō bērōn abganēd" (Pakzad 1384AH/2005: 77).
- “Frazdān Lake is located in Sistan, it is said if a well-doer man throw something in it, the lake accepts it; in
the case the man is not an abstinent free-man the lake give the thing back” (Bahar 1390AH/2011: 77).
Frazdān → a proper noun, Avestan equivalent Frazdānu- (masculine noun) (Bartholomae 1904: col.1005), perhaps
entered Middle Persian as fra27-+zdā-+ nu-.
Zdā- : probably is a reduplicated stem, derived from Old Iranian dadā- ; from Old Iranian dā- “to put/create” (Bailey
1979, p.156). Sanskrit root dhā- (Mayrhofer 1996: 786), derived from Indo-European root dhē- (Pokorny 2007:
733).Old Persian root dā- “to put/throw” (Kent 1953: 188). Avestan root dā- “to create” (Bartholomae 1904: col.727).
nu-: a noun suffix, the same form as its Sanskrit equivalent (Jackson 1968: 223). The author believes that based on
mythical features and aforementioned ideas, concept of the name of this lake is perhaps “to throw (something)
forward”.
4. Conclusion
The position of mythical lakes mentioned in Bundahišn, in the most central point of Iranian mythical world is Xvaniras.
Lots of these lakes are situated at south and adjacent to Farāxkard Sea that occupies one third of this earth. Therefore, it
is logical to imagine this vast sea occupies some parts of the south of Xvaniras, and from this sea all the seas, lakes and
rivers originate that flow to it after running all around the world. Within this vast sea, there exist one thousand seas
called “seas` sources”. According to Bundahišn there are a few sources (springs) named “lake” too, these sources look
like “man`s eyes” because they are sources of water as well. Each of these sea-sources or lakes hold a particular name
based on their features and this could be considered by means of a descriptive and an etymological study, for instance
Xwārazm Lake is placed at a low height region and this matter is obvious by its name; in addition, Sōwar Lake is
beneficent and bountiful in accordance with its name. Possibly, one had better not equate mythical geography of these
lakes with their natural geography as the world of myth owns a completely different geography, and a geography which
is mixed with myths is not the same as the natural one. Nevertheless, this research is an attempt to find the possible
location of these lakes in our real world by means of comparing and contrasting Pahlavi and mythical scripts. Although
in reports earned from these sources some paradoxes are always detected, presented evidences and offered etymological
and mythical descriptions to some extant may help us estimate the orientation of these lakes in the real world by
approximation. Moreover, etymological approach to the names of mythical lakes reveals reasons and importance of
their naming process. For the reason that it seems myths and region-specific features play an important role in naming
process of geographical places, and this fact is observable significantly about names of mythical lakes.

24 Derived from Old Iranian saw-/su- “beneficial” (Bailey 1979: 429), Sanskrit root sav- (Mayrhofer 1996: 623),
Avestan root sū- “to be beneficial” (Bartolomae 1904: col.1561).
25 Derived from Old Iranian root bag- “to part” (Mansoori 1384AH/2005: 86); Avestan root bag- (Bartolomae 1904:

col.921).
26 Some compare it with “Gowd-i Zarreh” and say it is originating from Farāxkard Sea (Cereti 2007: 56). Yousti

believes this lake is “Ab-i Īstade” that can be found at the south of Ghaznī in Sistan (Max Muller 1880: 86). Bartolomae
says Justi is wrong and this lake is a river in Armenia called Hrazdān (Bartolomae 1904: col.1005), and is the center of
Kotayk Province and a river holding the same name passes through the city (Hewsen 1987: 150). On the other hand,
Bartolome equates this lake with the Avestan lake Fradaθā (Bartolomae 1904: col.1005), some claim this is farāh-rud at
south west of Afghanistan (Balland 1999: 237). Before this lake, Kai Goštasp makes some vows and wishes to defeat
his enemies (Russell 1985: 450).
27 An adverb, or verb prefix in Avestan language (ibid. 974), and its Sanskrit equivalent is prā- “afore, front”

(Mayrhofer 1996: 173).

ALLS 6(6):174-182, 2015 180
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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Rhetorical Impact through Hedging Devices in the ‘Results

and Discussion’ Part of a Civil Engineering Research Article
Minoo Khamesian
Sanaati Noushirvani University, Iran
E-mail: khamesian2006@yahoo.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.183 Received: 02/08/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.183 Accepted: 05/10/2015

Abstract
It is common knowledge that hedging devices as a rhetorical technique common in all persuasive writing are
considerably important in scientific discourse, for they are tools which facilitate presenting claims or arguments in a
polite, acceptable and respectful manner. In addition, they are discoursal resources available to a scientific writer’s
propositions to express uncertainty, skepticism, and open-mindedness.
Research articles are an important means of communication between different members of a discourse community, and
will be convincing to a certain extent only when authors are able to employ rhetorical conventions, such as hedging
devices, persuasively. However, hedging is a problematic aspect in EAP learning since rarely are the learners able to
hedge their statements appropriately, engineering students not being an exception.
Therefore, this article tends to linguistically analyze the function of rhetorical impact of using hedging devices in the
results and discussion part of a civil engineering research article published in the Asian Journal of Civil Engineering
(Building & Housing) to conclude that a greater and more systematic attention should be given to hedging devices
considering their importance in EAP. The implication is that students, especially the Non Native English Speakers, be
taught how to recognize and effectively use hedging devices in their writing as they do not seem to be familiar with
hedges and therefore find it particularly difficult to hedge their statements appropriately.
Keywords: hedging devices, discourse community, linguostylistic analysis, Civil Engineering Research Articles
1. Introduction
It is said time and again that in communicative situations within which a negotiation between the writer and the reader
is implied in academic contexts, hedging is generally used as an important rhetorical strategy to mitigate the strength of
scientific claims in order to reduce the potential threat that new claims make on other researchers (Meyers, 1989).
Hedging is also used to provide researchers with community acceptance for a contribution to disciplinary knowledge by
illustrating familiarity with the discourse conventions of a specific academic community (Hyland, 1994, 1998).
In scientific writing the use of hedging devices is of paramount importance for claims to be confirmed by members of
any discourse community as they allow scientific writers to present statements with appropriate accuracy, caution and
humility. Hedging also helps to negotiate the perspective from which conclusions can be accepted (Hyland, 1996).
Numerous studies show that hedging represents more than one word in every 50, or one hedge in every two or three
sentences, although the distribution is explained by the different rhetorical purposes of texts (Skelton, 1988; Hanania
and Akhtar, 1985). This is what according to Hyland (1995) is an indication of a level of frequency far higher than
many characteristic features of scientific discourse, which traditionally attract much attention in ESP/EAP courses.
According to Hyland (1994) the functions of hedges can be summarized as:
1. Expressing claims with certain degree of caution, modesty and humility.
2. Diplomatic negotiation of the claim when referring to work of colleagues and competitors.
He also maintains that when an author wants to develop his hypothesis into knowledge, he is required to achieve
acceptance from the audience. To fulfill the goal, the author needs “linguistic and rhetorical means of persuasion”
(Hyland, 1994, p. 435) and this may be the basis for the use of hedging.
Hyland (2008) also maintains that since writers are limited to simply guide readers to a particular interpretation rather
than to demonstrate proof, readers are always able to refute their interpretations. Consequently, being persuasive in
academic writing means being able to anticipate possible negative reactions to one’s claims. To this goal, familiarity
with the persuasive practices of the discipline, encoding ideas, employing warrants, and framing arguments in ways that
the potential audience will find most convincing is crucial. In this respect, credibility can also be conveyed by
establishing a professionally acceptable persona and an appropriate attitude, both to the readers and to the arguments.
Briefly speaking, persuasion in academic writing involves using language to relate independent beliefs to shared
experience.
Persuasion, then, is accomplished when ‘the language we speak with’ enables the author to present his viewpoints
ALLS 6(6):183-186, 2015 184
and/or suggest a commentary. Being aware of this will provide the author with recognizing and choosing the rhetorical
options available in their fields to appeal to readers from within the boundaries of their disciplines.
2. Linguostylistic Analysis1
Being a noteworthy rhetorical device in acknowledging the role of readers in the authorization of claims, a better
understanding of hedges can provide insights into the interactional nature of academic writing and ways of persuading
readers of the author’s arguments (Hyland 2005).
Otherwise stated, since EAP register is based on the function of message and calls for ‘clarity of purpose’ and ‘lucidity
of exposition’, it is believed that, hedges can be of paramount importance in this respect.
Hedging is likely to be used in different rhetorical contexts within a scientific article in order to convey persuasive
effect and also to enhance the knowledge claims of the author. In addition, it might set up a strong protective position
from which a highly protective position is defended. In this respect, hedging may be realized through various linguistic
cues in the Introduction, Result, and Discussion sections, in general, throughout the research paper.
What follows is the linguostylistic analysis of ‘discussion & results’ part of a civil engineering research article
successfully published in the Asian Journal of Civil Engineering (Building & Housing), 2011, available at
WWW.BHRC.AC.IR/PORTAL/DEFAULT.ASPX?TABID=415, with respect to lexical hedges.
Concentrating on lexical hedges in our work, we classify them into five categories, namely modal verbs, lexical verbs,
modal adverbs, modal adjectives, and modal nouns.
As to analyzing the functions of the hedging devices in the text under analysis, we will start with modal verbs as it is
believed that linguists have generally been pre-occupied with them. We should hasten to add that the peculiarity
encompasses ‘may’, ‘might’, ‘can’, and ‘could’, with the predominance of ‘may’, and ‘can’ over the other two.
In the examples adduced below, it is worth notifying that the modal verb ‘may’ shows tentativeness and the authors’
lack of confidence in the truth of proposition rather than the possibility in terms of natural facts (root may).
It may be related to the less sensitivity of ultrasonic pulse to the changes in hydrated cement paste.
In addition, the drying of cube specimens at 105oC causes microcracking and may remove some of the combined water
resulting in changes in the microstructure of concrete in case of initial surface absorption test.
It may not be a significant quantity to react with entire calcium hydroxide liberated from cement hydration, and thus to
maximize the production of secondary hydration products.
Clearly, in all the extracted sentences, the rhetorical function of ‘may’ seems to refer to toning down the degree of
confidence invested in the accuracy of what has been stated. In the following samples the use of ‘might’ appears to be
the same as ‘may’, just being the past form of it.
Table …. also shows that the crushing value of quarry waste was much higher than that of crushed granite stone and
mining sand. Therefore, quarry waste was weaker than mining sand and might contribute to reduce the compressive
strength of concrete.
It might cause to reduce the compressive strength of concrete.
As far as the rhetorical impact of using ‘can’ is concerned, it is worth adding that ‘can’ is used mostly for the expression
of "ability and legitimacy", as the following examples adapted show, i.e. they imply that the deduction arrived at in the
study is legitimate.
It can be seen from Figure … and Figure …. that the ultrasonic pulse velocity of FAQW concrete was lower than that of
CQW and SFQW concretes in both curing methods.
The variation of ultrasonic pulse velocity with compressive strength can be seen in Figure …..
The overall findings of the initial surface absorption test reinforce that the incorporation of quarry waste into flowing
concretes demotes the quality of concrete, which can be compensated using an efficient mineral admixture such as
silica fume.
As far as ‘could’ is concerned in the following examples, it is used as an alternative to express possibility with a high
degree of tentativeness, helping the author to invest his utterances with the degree of tentativeness he finds suitable. E.g.
In case of fly ash, the pozzolanic reaction mostly occurs at later stage of hydration. But it could not take place since the
concrete specimens became dry.
Conversely, fly ash could not produce any significant improvement in ultrasonic pulse velocity.
Turning to the concept of ‘lexical verbs’, we should hasten to add that they are used to perform such acts as doubting
and evaluating rather than describing. There may often be an even more common exponent than auxiliaries. As in our
text, they are more frequent than auxiliaries with the prevalence of ‘indicate’, and ‘observe’ over the others present in
our text, i.e. ‘imply’; ‘suggest’, and ‘tend’. Lexical verbs, in our text, characteristically occurred as markers of
tentativeness in reports of the author ́s own work and also indicated the limits to accuracy or applicability of the
presented information. In many cases, they appeared in the sentences with inanimate subjects, such as findings, data or
results:
It indicates that the porosity of cover concrete was increased in presence of quarry waste.
ALLS 6(6):183-186, 2015 185
It is obvious from Figure ….. that the variation was similar to that observed in case of dynamic modulus of elasticity
and compressive strength.
It indicates that the variation was identical for both test conditions.
Similar findings were observed in a previous research of Zain et al.
It indicates that the porosity of cover concrete was increased in presence of quarry waste.
Indubitably, verbs like “indicate” carry less subjective connotations than cognition verbs such as think, believe and
suspect. They are also more easily combined with inanimate subjects.
We further continue with the category of modal adverbs. According to Hyland (2008) this category can be concentrated
on disjuncts as “down toners” (e.g. usually, slightly, almost, etc.), which are able to lower the force of the verb they
modify, with the higher frequency of “slightly”, such as the following examples in our analysis:
However, the rate of increase in ultrasonic pulse velocity was identical in both curing methods, as the trendlines had
almost the same slope.
Also, the slope of the trendlines indicates that rate of increase in dynamic modulus of elasticity was slightly higher in
case of water curing.
It was observed that the air content of CQW concrete was slightly higher than that of control concrete. Further
discussion on flowability and air content of the concretes is beyond the scope of the present paper.
And, “style” and “content” disjuncts, the former (e.g. generally, in general, etc,) conveying that “a generalization is
being made”, and the latter (e.g. likely, apparently, perhaps, etc.) conveying “comment on the truth-value of what is
said.”
The modulus of elasticity of aggregates is generally higher than that of hydrated cement paste.
The reasons are probably the same, as discussed in case of compressive strength.
This is perhaps due to the reason that the surface zone of the concrete cubes was dealt for initial surface absorption
whereas both dynamic modulus of elasticity and ultrasonic pulse velocity were determined using the central zone of
concrete cylinders.
We should hasten to add that what all modal adverbs, as hedging devices, have in common is being used to express
degrees of tentativeness between the absolutes of ‘true’ and ‘false’, i.e. the information presented applies, although
conclusive statements cannot be made.
As far as modal adjectives are concerned, we should hasten to add that they are less frequent than the modals analyzed
so far. However, what follows is the one, namely “partial” used in the article under analysis.
These values were even higher than those of OPC (control) concrete, thus giving an indication that the inclusion of
20% quarry waste as a partial replacement of sand did not affect the flowability of the concretes.
In this respect, it is worth adding that this category comprises the items that may be found “when the language user ‒
for one reason or another ‒ does not want to indicate the precise extent to which the information applies” (Varttala,
2001). However, the part under analysis is almost devoid of this category.
As Varttala (2001) points out, adjectives expressing probability or marking the information as uncertain or tentative are
closely connected to modal adverbs and some sentences with modal adverbs can be paraphrased with structures
involving corresponding adjectives. The context in which the modal adjectives are found is quite similar to those of
adverbs, however, as mentioned this category is almost absent in our analysis.
Last but not least, as far as modal nouns are concerned, they all share a component of tentativeness and represent that
what has been said should not be taken categorically and is based on subjective view or limited knowledge (indication,
observation).
These values were even higher than those of OPC (control) concrete, thus giving an indication that the inclusion of
20% quarry waste as a partial replacement of sand did not affect the flowability of the concretes.
3. Conclusion
The linguostylistic analysis of the research article reveals that, rhetorically hedges in scientific writing indicate the
author’s anticipation of the possibility of opposition to his statements. As a consequence, writing for science can be
considered a blend of facts and evaluation since the author attempts to present information as fully, accurately and
objectively as possible.
Science tends to concern generalizations rather than individualization, resulting in allocating greater weights to the
methods, procedures and equipment used rather than the argument. Modals are able to both reinforce the impersonal
view of science and to allow scientists to see themselves as discovering truth rather than constructing it (Hyland, 2009).
Hedges here also tend to assist the author to avoid personal responsibility for his statements in order for his reputation
to be protected as scholar and to restrain the likely damage resulting from errors. This is associated with Lakoff’s2
perspective who considers hedges as similar to “fuzziness” (Hyland 1998), but in this case, hedges were used to blur the
relationship between the subjects and their propositions when referring to tentative possibilities.
Last but not least, we should hasten to add that in our analysis hedges contributed to the development of the writer-
ALLS 6(6):183-186, 2015 186
reader relationship, i.e. to address the need for deference and cooperation in gaining reader approval of the author’s
claims. This is in line with Hyland (1998:35) who maintains, “hedges appeal to readers as intelligent colleague, capable
of deciding the issues, and indicate that statements are provisional, pending acceptance by one’s peers.”
Suffice to say, hedges have an important role in a form of discourse featurised by uncertainty and frequent
reinterpretation of how natural phenomena are understood. Hedging is also of paramount importance to scientific
writers due to the widely held belief that, even the most assured propositions have an inherently limited period of
acceptance which makes the categorical assertions of truth decidedly hazardous.
Considering the importance of hedging devices in academic writing, there might be “a need for greater and more
systematic attention to be given to this important interpersonal strategy” (Hyland, 1994, p.244). This implies that the
students must be taught how to recognize and effectively use hedging devices in their writing, especially for Non Native
English Writers who are probably not familiar with hedges, and therefore, find it particularly difficult to hedge their
statements appropriately. In other words, EAP learners will not be able to participate fully and successfully in the world
of academic research unless they are familiar with the appropriate use of hedges.

References
Hanania, E. A. S., & Akhtar, K. (1985). Verb form and Rhetorical Function in Science Writing. A Study of MS Theses in
Biology, Chemistry and Physic. English for Specific Purposes, 4, 49-58.
Hyland, K. (1994). Hedging in Academic Writing and EAP Textbooks. English for Specific Purposes, 13, 239-256.
Hyland K., (1995). The Author in the Text: Hedging Scientific Writing. Hong Kong Papers in Linguistics and
Language, 18.
Hyland, K., (1995). Hedging in Scientific Research Articles. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing
Company.
Hyland, K. (2005). Prudence, Precision, and Politeness: Hedges in Academic Writing. Quaderns de Filologia. Estudis
Lingüístics, 5, 99-112.
Hyland, K. (2008). Persuasion, Interaction and the Construction of Knowledge: Representing Self and others in
Research Writing. Institute of Education. University of London.
Hyland, K. (2009). Writing in the Disciplines: Research Evidence for Specificity. Taiwan International ESP Journal,
1(1), 5-22.
Myers, G. (1989). The pragmatic of politeness in scientific articles. Applied Linguistics, 10,1- 35.
Skelton, J. (1988). Comments in academic articles. Grunwell, P. (Ed.), Applied linguistics in society, London:
CILT/BAAL, 98-108.
Varttala, T. (2001). Hedging in Scientifically Oriented Discourse: Exploring Variation According to Discipline and
Intended Audience. Electronic Dissertationhttp://acta.uta.fa.

Notes
1. The method of linguostylistic analysis includes the semantic and the metasemiotic levels. On the semantic level
linguistic units are regarded as such, as part of the emic system of language. In other words, understanding the general
linguistic content, or nominative (direct) meanings of linguistic units is the point. However, this will be a preliminary
linguistic investigation from which to pass on to the metasemiotic, or stylistic analysis proper. On this level the focus is
on linguistic elements which have become more or less expressive due to certain connotative overtones. The method of
linguostylistic analysis is such a universal method that can be applied to all kinds of texts, irrespective of register.
Intellective texts which, by definition, aim at passing on pure information can also be subjected to the mentioned
analysis. As is shown by scholars, scientific texts, apart from semantic utterances, may also contain a certain amount of
metasemiotic utterances and are therefore analyzable in terms of both levels (Gasparyan & Knyazian 2002).
2. See Lakoff, G. Hedges: A Study in Meaning Criteria and the Logic of Fuzzy Concepts//Journal of Philosophical
Logic, 1973, vol. 2, 458-5-8.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Analysing ESL Students’ Perceptions towards Oral

Communication for Social and Occupational Purposes
Fauzilah Md Husain
School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia
11800 Penang, Malaysia
E-mail: fauzilah@usm.my

Malini Ganapathy (Corresponding author)

School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia
11800 Penang, Malaysia
E-mail: malinik@usm.my

Akmar Mohamad
School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia
11800 Penang, Malaysia
E-mail: akmar@usm.my

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.187 Received: 06/08/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.187 Accepted: 09/10/2015

Abstract
Fundamental principles of public speaking and appropriate organisational structure of ideas for occupational and social
communication are vital aspects for undergraduates as a pathway to overcome employers’ grievances on graduates’ lack
of communication skills (Malaysia Education Blueprint, 2015). This study was undertaken to explore the perceptions of
a group of ten students at a tertiary institution in Malaysia to see how they utlise the theories and practice of effective
communication skills beyond their course entitled “Oral Communication for Social and Occupational Purposes”. Semi-
structured interviews were conducted with the participants. The study found that these students gained knowledge about
effective communication for social and occupational purposes. The findings also indicate that students have benefitted
in relation to communication in a formal way especially to higher authorities, and sharpening their communication and
presentation skills. However, there were shortcomings that need to be addressed, particularly related to methods of
teaching Oral Communication for Social and Occupational Purposes, time constraint in preparing for the tutorial
sessions and producing a good quality video.
Keywords: Social and Occupational, Communication, Oral skills, Theories and Practice
1. Introduction
The advent of digital technology has reinforced the significance of English as a medium of communication globally
irrespective of social, linguistic and cultural origins. Communication skills facilitate a myriad of life opportunities. The
higher education sector is held liable to develop students’ oral communication skills which impact on their academic
performance, professional development, personal and social efficacy that will prepare them for their workplace
environment. It also underpins the development of a highly skilled, innovative workforce as a critical enabling factor for
social, cultural, and economic growth. Mechraoui et al. (2013) reiterate that the current forces of transformation in the
labour market has resulted in employees not just being able to have industry-related technical knowledge but be able to
relevantly apply soft skills that enable them to think critically, communicate well and handle problem solving situations.
These soft skills are industrial prerequisites for current job employment.
Malaysian tertiary students are knowledgeable but in terms of applying it in the real world is questionable (Kadir et al.,
2014). The Malaysia Education Blueprint (2015:6) advocates that tertiary institutions have to ensure that their courses
are able to harness “graduates with directly employable skills, values and behaviours that match industry demand”.
Currently, the standards of graduates are incompatible with employers highlighting that graduates lack the requisite
knowledge, skills and attitudes. There is a dire need to address this mismatch as technological severance diversifies
industries and reforms the nature of jobs available.
It is evident that there is a pressing need for graduates to master job market skills that encompass critical thinking and
communication skills, and English language proficiency that are vital for success in the 21st century. Employers lament
that graduates fall short of displaying good communication in English and lack soft skills (Malaysia Education
Blueprint, 2015). One of the initiatives of higher education institutions is to offer English for Occupational Purposes
with the aim of preparing students with vital employability skills. The purpose of the present study was to explore the
perceptions of English as a Second Language (ESL) to students at a tertiary institution in Malaysia to see how they
ALLS 6(6):187-194, 2015 188
utilise the theories and practice of effective communication skills beyond their course titled “Oral Communication for
Social and Occupational Purposes”.
2. Literature Review
While the literature on the university course, Oral Communication for Social and Occupational Purposes is scarce, there
has been some research shedding light on the topic. Literature states that communication skills are considered as one of
the desired skills in new graduates by employers (Cappel, 2011; Gray, 2010; Kavanagh & Drennan, 2008). A study
conducted by Robles (2012) identified communication skills as the top 10 soft skills perceived as the most important by
49 business executives and these skills can be promoted by educators in their curriculum to improve the employability
of graduates. The literature has also identified oral communication skills as the most pertinent and predominantly used
at the workplace (Mohamad Zasfirul Zainal Abidin, 2010; Stapa et al., 2008; Luna, 2004).
In a study to investigate the relevance of the tertiary English language proficiency curriculum to the workplace, Talif
and Noor (2009) used structured interviews to solicit the opinions of students at four public tertiary institutions of
higher learning in Malaysia. 86 final year students who were involved in industry-linkage programmes that lasted
between four and six months were interviewed. Most of the students from one of the universities were satisfied with the
English language courses provided by the university in preparing them for work. The findings indicate that a high
degree of speaking ability is required to perform a majority of the tasks at workplaces. 86% of their respondents
mentioned that public speaking skills were important in building confidence to deliver an effective oral presentation.
The respondents felt that they needed to work on their confidence level when giving presentations and they would like
to improve their speaking and discussion skills before their graduation.
Hanafi Zaid and Kamarudin (2011) investigated the present and future Oral Communication Needs of Mechanical
Engineering undergraduate students at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Most of the students in the study admitted that
they lacked confidence to communicate. The results obtained in the study show that the students believed that giving
presentations which are formal is one way of practising their communication skills. The students also perceived being
able to participate in group discussions as a potential future need for the workplace.
Moreover, a study was conducted to investigate the types of English oral communication difficulties and
communication strategies of Diploma of Hotel Management students at UiTM (Radzuan & Kaur, 2011). A convenience
sampling method was used to select the respondents where a questionnaire was administered among the 100 Diploma of
Hotel Management students at a UiTM branch campus in Penang, Malaysia. 16 students out of 100 respondents
volunteered to participate in the focus group interviews and journal writing. Findings revealed that students had limited
vocabulary as they think in Malay and translated their ideas into English. This is one factor which created difficulties in
oral communication. In addition, the journals revealed that students took a long time to process and plan for their
English oral presentations. They stated that they needed more time to write the sentences before producing them. Time
constraint was a key challenge for students in this course.
Additionally, a study was carried out to investigate the factors which create anxiety among 44 final year University
Malaysia Pahang engineering students when giving their Undergraduate Research Project (URP) Oral Presentations
(Zulkurnain & Kaur, 2011). Students are required to deliver their URP in English as part of graduation requirements.
Each student was given 15 minutes for presentation and another 15 minutes for the Question and Answer session. Focus
group interviews were conducted with the 44 students. All the interviews were recorded and transcribed manually. The
key finding highlighted that one of the sources of anxiety was the low English proficiency of the students. This had a
negative effect on their oral presentation which, in turn, also affected the overall marks obtained for their URP.
Besides, Masmaliyeva (2014) conducted a study among 21 undergraduate students in a first year Advanced English
Speaking class in the Department of English Language and Literature at a large Mid Anatolian Public University in
Turkey. The objective of the research was to investigate their perceptions regarding oral presentations. Data was
collected through surveys, video recordings of students’ oral presentations, observations and taking note of students’
class attendance. Although anxiety has been identified by researchers as a negative aspect of delivering oral
presentations, 90% of the respondents stated that they were comfortable when delivering oral presentations. The
majority of the participants stated that they thoroughly enjoyed their class. They also reported that their confidence
increased as a result of repeatedly making presentations. This led to students’ better fluency and accuracy. Previous
studies have indicated that one of the challenges of using oral presentations in the classroom is boredom. This aspect
was reflected in this study where 16% of the participants reported that they felt bored during oral presentations.
In another study by Al-Nouh, Abdul-Kareem and Taqi (2015) which investigated college students’ perception of the
difficulties they faced in oral presentations used as a form of assessment, advocated pertinent insights on challenges
faced by students during the course. The participants were 500 college students undergoing a four-year pre-service
teacher education program at the College of Basic Education in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Data was collected through a
questionnaire and interviews with instructors. One of the findings portrayed that about 40% of the students said they
“sometimes” dislike oral presentations. The study also indicated that 41.9% of the students “always” brought their oral
presentation notes although they were well-prepared for the presentations. 39.2% of the respondents reported “always”
feeling worried, even if they had made preparations for the oral presentations. 55.7% said they felt apprehensive of oral
presentations. The data also revealed problems such as lack of fluency, grammar, and vocabulary knowledge in which
students translate from Arabic to English. However, it is interesting to note that students evaluated themselves as having
confidence in their abilities.
ALLS 6(6):187-194, 2015 189
Furthermore, a study to investigate students’ perceptions of the development of their communication skills during the
English classes was conducted at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Niš, Serbia
(Živković, 2014). The findings of the study show that students perceived the importance of oral presentations in
developing communication skills for future professional surrounding. The students believed that doing oral
presentations would help develop their communication skill which is an essential skill for career advancement.
One more study conducted by Ramírez (2010) investigating students’ perception regarding the development of their
oral skills during the ‘Professional Development Program for Teachers of English’ in Colombia. A questionnaire was
designed to investigate students’ perception of the development of their skills in speaking English. Semi-structured
interviews and class observation were also used in collecting data. The respondents were 45 students between the ages
of 17-25. The majority of the participants indicated that they perceived that their oral skills had improved in terms of
pronunciation and intonation. However, they were still fearful of making mistakes when participating in class
discussions and were not confident. The students perceived their grades positively.
Last but not the least, a study to investigate the English communicative skills of 130 fourth year undergraduate
engineering students was conducted at two public universities in Thailand by (Rajprasit, Pratoomrat, & Wang, 2015).
The aim of the study was to identify the perceptions of Thai engineering students in a government university, and the
problems they experienced with both the English language and their communication abilities. The qualitative and
quantitative methods were used to analyse the data. Data was collected through a survey and instructors’ interviews
showed that although students perceived their English proficiency as ‘fair’, they reported that they had difficulties with
their productive skills, such as speaking and writing, in English communication. Of all the four skills, it was found that
the students performed best in reading and the worse skill was speaking. The data also revealed that these students had
unrealistic language learning goals. Thus it can be concluded that the final-year students may face difficulties with
communicating in the workplace.
This study seeks to present ESL students’ perceptions towards their course: Oral Communication for Social and
Occupational Purposes in one public research university in Malaysia.
2.1 Research Question
The study was guided by the following research questions:
1. What are students’ perceptions of Oral Communication for Social and Occupational Purposes?
2. What are the challenges of Oral Communication for Social and Occupational Purposes?
3. Methodology
3.1 Research Design
The study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews to provide reliable, detailed and accurate observation of ESL
Students’ Perceptions towards Oral Communication for Social and Occupational Purposes.
3.2 Research Sample
The research sample involved ten ESL final year students from a research university in Malaysia. As a measure of
safeguarding the privacy of the students involved in this study, their names will not be revealed. Instead, the student
will be named as Student A, Student B, Student C, Student D, Student E, Student F, Student G, Student H, Student I and
Student J. The students were chosen based on purposive sampling where their test grades were taken into account.
Students with low grades of C and D were chosen on the premise that if low achievers benefitted from the course.
Based on this criterion of selection, ten students were identified.
3.3 Research Instrument
The research instrument used in this study was a semi-structured interview which was constructed based on the
Instructional Planning of the course and items that were necessary to match the research objective of the study. An
interview schedule was constructed in order to enable the formulation of appropriate questions that will facilitate the
collection of the required data to answer the research questions. A phenomenological qualitative analysis was used to
analyse the data gathered from the interviews through an emergent strategy which is vital to allow the method of
analysis to follow the nature of the data itself. The responses provided by the students were transcribed and analysed
deductively.
3.4 Procedure
Students were interviewed at the end of the course which was week 14. Each student was interviewed on an individual
basis in the researchers’ office. Each researcher interviewed three students and one researcher had interviewed four
students. Students were asked on their subject matter experience, the practicality of the theories, positive and negative
experiences of the course, benefits of the course and challenges experienced during the course.
4. Findings and Discussion
The interviews were analysed to determine emerging themes among responses. The following themes were identified:
1. Subject matter experience
2. Cost benefits for future occupational purposes
3. Cost benefits for future social purposes
ALLS 6(6):187-194, 2015 190
4. Theoretical applications for future occupational purposes
5. Theoretical applications for future social purposes
6. Issues and challenges experienced during the course
The results of the interviews will be discussed according to the emerging themes. Each theme is discussed in turn.
4.1 Subject Matter Experience
This theme represents the students’ experience with the content of the course. Overall, the students felt that they had
acquired new knowledge and were able to apply the theories learnt during the discussions in their tutorials. They
enjoyed exchanging thoughts and opinions with group members and listening to the opinions of other students during
tutorials.
The students also felt that they “learnt about effective communication for social and occupational purposes”, “learnt
what should and should not be said” and “learnt to convey messages effectively”. However, there were students who
found “some theories difficult” and “not know how to apply them”. Some thought that the lectures were “too long” and
“packed with information” and they found it “hard to maintain focus”. A few had difficulty with the lecture and tutorial
contents as reflected in the following extracts:
“Sometimes, I knew the theories, but I didn’t know how to apply them. So the lecturer should create
more chances for the students to practise.” (Student B)

“I was not sure about the theories. I felt nervous during the forums in tutorials.” (Student E)

The students expressed a lack of confidence in their ability to interpret the tutorial and assignment
requirements. Student F said,
“I had to read a lot from several sources such as lecture notes, additional materials from the lecturer and online
articles. Therefore, I took a lot of time reading and also preparing the answers for the questions. Sometimes I
misunderstood the questions.”

Student C stated that he lacked confidence but also added:

“I was nervous at first. I was quite fine later after a few tutorials.”
Generally the students viewed their experience with the subject matter in a positive light. They did “enjoy
preparing for the tutorials” and felt that the activities that were related to the subject matter were “valuable
lessons for the future” as expressed in the following extracts:
“The theories are related to my future occupational life and I will be able to apply the theories without
any trouble. I enjoyed the activities during tutorials and lectures.” (Student J)

“I learned how to put all the theories and knowledge that I got from my lectures into practical use in
tutorials. There were a lot of group interactions, group work and projects.” (Student H)

“I got to learn the theories and guidelines about effective communication, socially and
professionally.” (Student A)

Talif and Noor (2009) found similar views expressed by their interviewees regarding the English language courses at
universities. Their interviewees felt that the courses exposed them to the different speaking tasks needed to be done at
the workplace. Their findings also indicate students’ desires to improve their speaking skills and build their confidence
which Robles (2012) reiterates as vital for educators to emphasise in their curriculum in order to improve the
employability of graduates.
4.2 Cost Benefits for Future Occupational Purposes
One of the challenges in today’s competitive work environment is to be able to communicate effectively with
colleagues and clients. The students perceived the significance of oral presentations and group discussions for effective
communication in their future professional surrounding. They believed that through collaborating with their group
members, they developed skills that would help them deal with situations and problems that they would encounter in the
workplace. All the students felt that they learnt important skills that would enhance their employability skills such as:
1. gathering, analysing, planning and presenting information efficiently and accurately for specific
audiences
2. thinking critically in solving problems
3. interacting in a professional setting and expressing opinions during discussions
The interviews revealed that the students were positive about the course and they thought that they were learning “how
to communicate in a formal way”. They pointed out that it taught them how to conduct themselves with their colleagues,
superiors, and in a work environment. In addition, they mentioned that the course prepared them for “the forum and
ALLS 6(6):187-194, 2015 191
group discussion” which they will encounter in the real workplace and they felt that they “become more organised and
coherent”, “are able to deliver information clearly and concisely” and “think critically”.
The students felt that participating in the activities and doing the assignments had a positive influence on the
development of their oral communication skills for future occupational purposes. Frequent presentations helped them to
be more organised and be more aware of the patterns of organisation according to the speech types. They had more
experience in gathering information, choosing their sources, and using graphics in presenting information to the
audience. They gained from the process of gathering information as they had to “read from various sources and select
points”. As commented by Student G:
“One of the main requirements at the workplace is to deal with people, whether they are my clients,
my superiors or colleagues. This course guides me in communicating with them effectively. This is an
important skill to maintain a good relationship with others and get jobs done quickly.”
Other comments made regarding the benefits of the course are:
“The course is useful as it gives me ideas on what to expect when I start working.” (Student B)

“I have learnt that every form of communication has a purpose and its delivery is important.”
(Student D)
Comments from the students showed that they considered the course beneficial as it helped them to “be more
confident in their presentations and prepare for the working world” as expressed in the following extracts:
“I felt less nervous after speaking a few times in front of the class.” (Student C)

“I have gained more confidence and I could gain my audience’s attention easily.” (Student E)

“I am now calmer when I express my ideas in front of the public.” (Student A)

The students agreed that they needed to develop their speaking and presentation skills for the workplace and that they
needed practice and assistance in developing their persuasive skills. They mentioned:
“I managed to improve my understanding of the persuasive speech after the presentations.”
(Student J)

“Now I realise that we have to use different words in order to persuade effectively.” (Student I)

“I also get to polish my communication skills to prepare myself for work.” (Student F)

The responses from the students indicate that they were aware of employers’ expectations in terms of communication
(Cappel, 2011; Gray, 2010; Kavanagh & Drennan, 2008). Similar views regarding the improvement of confidence level
were also expressed by the participants in other studies (Masmaliyeva, 2014; Hanafi Zaid & Kamarudin, 2011; Talif &
Noor, 2009)
4.3 Cost Benefits for Future Social Purposes
The students mentioned some positive aspects of the course in relation to future social purposes. Some of the students
mentioned that they liked the Oral Communication for Occupational and Social Purposes course because it helped them
improve their social communication skills. These skills included skills such as “how to approach people and how to
converse with them appropriately”, “how to handle or adapt to different audiences or situations” and “how to deal with
people of different ages, gender and social class” as mentioned in the following extracts:
“This course taught me to communicate effectively according to specific purposes.” (Student D)

“I will be able to present myself to the society better when all the knowledge I gained has been
applied.” (Student F)

“For the social purpose, I think that I can use what I learn to strengthen my relationship with others
such as by giving inspirational, motivational, and other speeches.” (Student A)
During the interview, Student H commented that she gained from the interactions in class:
“I can now work well in a team and be able to communicate effectively with course mates and
friends.”
ALLS 6(6):187-194, 2015 192
Other benefits mentioned are:
“This course is full of information and practical advice that I can use to improve my
interpersonal skills.” (Student J)

“I can now speak my mind in an organised way.” (Student C)

“I am not afraid anymore to talk in front of a huge crowd or an audience.” (Student I)

The responses indicate that the students believed that the oral communication skills in English would be useful for their
future social interaction as they become more confident in expressing their ideas and taking part in discussions. These
beliefs were also evident in other studies mentioned in the literature (e.g., Masmaliyeva, 2014; Hanafi Zaid &
Kamarudin, 2011; Talif & Noor, 2009).
4.4 Theoretical Applications for Future Occupational Purposes
Due to an increase in international interactions and business operations, good oral communication skill is important in
order to function effectively in the professional setting (Živković & Stojković, 2011). Equipping graduates with good
oral skills will help them in conducting and participating in future meetings, exchanging knowledge, and
communicating with future clients. This section examines students’ perceptions regarding the application of the theories
learnt for future occupational purposes.
In the majority of the responses, the students indicated that audience analysis, persuasion techniques, and group
communication in problem solving were important for future occupational purposes. The following extracts
demonstrate the perceived relevance of theories learnt in future work environment:
“I believe all the theories learnt are relevant and applicable for my future use. What I learnt about the
kinds of leadership in small groups will be important when I join a company.” (Student C)

“The theory of communication, group norms and basic communication principles can be applied
during presentations and when managing tasks in the workplace.” (Student E)

Based on the responses during the interviews, students perceived that they had developed their communication skills
using the techniques, theories and guidelines in the course. The practice they had during the course gave them the
opportunity to communicate their needs, ideas and opinions and helped them improve their organisational skills. They
felt that they learnt how to engage the audience and appeal to their emotions using the techniques of persuading. They
reported that they were more aware of “the use of different and correct words in order to persuade effectively”.
4.5 Theoretical Applications for Future Social Purposes
The students reported that the theories would be useful in helping them express their opinions better in social situations.
For example, the following extracts reflect the students’ views regarding the usefulness of the theories learnt.
“I can lead a group of friends if we are in a discussion.” (Student A)

“To a certain extent, the communication theories I have learnt help me blend in social groups.”
(Student H)

“I am able to share my ideas with others better after learning the theories.” (Student F)

All in all, the students had a very positive attitude towards the theories and guidelines taught in the course. They were
positive in their beliefs about the benefits and usefulness of the theories in future social interactions. They agreed that
the theories helped them to interact with others better.
4.6 Issues and Challenges Experienced during the Course
The students were asked to comment on the main challenges encountered by them when they were carrying out the oral
activities in the course. The challenges faced by the students were related to issues concerning the course content and
assignments. Generally, the students were of the opinion that the time for completing the assignments and the time
provided for practising their presentations were too limited. According to the students, the time constraint increased
their anxiety regarding public speaking. They suggested that the time for practising their presentations be lengthened.
The students mentioned that some of the difficulties they faced when participating in class discussions were having little
time to think of responses, asking appropriate questions and competing for turns in on-going discussions.
Based on the interviews, the main challenges faced by the students are lack of time, difficulties in finding the relevant
information, choosing and organising points while preparing for tutorials and assignments, and having to memorise
points for the presentations and group discussions. These challenges are mentioned in the following extracts:
“I couldn’t find the relevant information.” (Student B)
ALLS 6(6):187-194, 2015 193
“There was too little time.” (Student D)

These sentiments were also expressed by other students:

“My busy schedule made it hard for me to spend more time on preparing for tutorials.”
(Student F)

“There was too much information and this caused confusion.” (Student H)

The students also mentioned the difficulties they experienced with oral presentations, particularly with
expressing ideas in a spontaneous speech. However, they commented that they got less nervous when
delivering the speech and began to relax after a few practices. The students found the video assignment for the
persuasive speech challenging as they had difficulties finding the proper equipment, producing good quality
video, meeting the deadline and memorising points. Student C and Student I made the following comments:
“I did not have proper equipment to record my video.” (Student C)

“The quality of my video was poor because I used poor quality video recorder.” (Student I)

While students agreed that they needed to develop their speaking skills, most of the students felt challenged by the
amount of reading expected of them and that they needed more time to memorise the points for their presentations.
Some of the difficulties and challenges faced by students when preparing and giving presentations, and participating in
discussions can be found in similar studies (Al-Nouh et al., 2015; Radzuan & Kaur, 2011; Zulkurnain & Kaur, 2011;
Ramirez, 2010).
5. Conclusion
In summary, the findings show that the students perceived that they had developed their communication skills using the
theories, techniques, and guidelines in the course. Among the benefits of presentations identified is the development of
skills demanded by employers such as gathering, analysing, planning, organising and presenting knowledge efficiently
and accurately for specific audiences (Masmaliyeva, 2014; Živković, 2014; Hanafi Zaid & Kamarudin, 2011; Talif &
Noor, 2009).
Despite the positive aspects of the course, students did have lack of confidence in giving presentations and problems
with applying the theories learnt. A few of the students expressed boredom due to long lectures. They complained
about having little time to read articles and having to spend a lot of time to prepare and memorise points for their
presentations. These were the common challenges mentioned during the interviews.
Good communication skills are required by graduates as they are expected to give presentations at their workplaces and
interact socially with clients and colleagues. These tasks are part of almost every professional environment as every
professional is involved in some aspects of communication such as communicating with other professionals at
meetings, seminars and conferences (Živković, 2014; Hanafi Zaid & Kamarudin, 2011; Gray, 2010; Talif & Noor,
2009; Kavanagh & Drennan, 2008).
This study contributes to a better understanding of the range of student experiences, the positive and negative aspects of
an oral communication course, and the challenges that students face in meeting the requirements of such a course. It
will also provide valuable information for designing an oral communication course that meets the needs of students and
potential employers.
This study was not without limitations. As an exploratory study, a small purposive sampling procedure was appropriate,
but this limits the generalization of the results. First, the reported study involved ten ESL students since it only involved
one public research university in Malaysia. Future research should attempt to replicate a bigger number of interview
participants which could be purposely selected from a number of other universities that might give a clearer picture
about the effectiveness of oral communication courses in different universities and also to identify the specific
employable skills that are lacking in graduates with regards to oral communication.
6. Recommendations
Universities should provide students with employability skills demanded by employers. Students need the opportunity
to develop and practise communication skills for professional development, personal and social efficacy that will
prepare them for their workplace environment. Teaching students to prepare effective oral presentations implies training
them to be critical and this improves the quality of thought. Thus, teaching the theories and guidelines of Oral
Communication for Social and Occupational Purposes at the university level needs to occupy a significant part of the
curriculum to produce graduates who are able to communicate professional knowledge to other professionals.
In designing an oral communication course:
1. Students should be provided with more opportunities to practise oral communication skills inside and
outside the classroom.
2. Students should be given more time to prepare and practise their presentations. It may be helpful to
ALLS 6(6):187-194, 2015 194
videotape the students' presentations so that students may be able to improve on their presentations and
view their progress.
3. Technical assistance and proper equipment should be provided if students are required to videotape their
presentations.
4. Students should be given more opportunities to participate in group discussions to encourage them to
interact with one another and express their opinions.
5. Students should be provided with clearer instructions and guidance on the application of theories.

References
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Oral Presentation as a Form of Assessment. International Journal of Higher Education, 4(1), p136.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v4n1p136
Cappel, J. J. (2001). Entry-level IS job skills: A survey of employers. The Journal of Computer Information Systems,
42(2), 76.
Gray, F. E. (2010). Specific oral communication skills desired in new accountancy graduates. Business communication
quarterly, 73(1), 40-67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1080569909356350
Hanafi Zaid, Y., & Kamarudin, H. (2011). Oral communication needs of Mechanical Engineering undergraduate
students in UTM: as perceived by the learners. UNSPECIFIED, 1-8.
Kadir, K. A., & Noor, W. S. W. M. (2014). Language Learning Strategies of Graduates for Future Employment–An
Overview. Research in Business and Management, 1(2), pp-1. http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/rbm.v1i2.5091
Kavanagh, M. H., & Drennan, L. (2008). What skills and attributes does an accounting graduate need? Evidence from
student perceptions and employer expectations. Accounting & Finance, 48(2), 279-300.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-629X.2007.00245.x
Luna, J. L. N. (2004). An English for Occupational Purposes Curriculum for ESL Culinary Arts Students. Master of
Arts in English, California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Malaysia Education Blueprint, (2015). Ministry of Education Malaysia. Retrieved from www.moe.gov.my, Putrajaya
Malaysia.
Masmaliyeva, A. P. D. L. (2014). Using Affective Effectively: Oral Presentations in EFL Classroom. Journal of
Language and Literature, 10, 145-154.
Mechraoui, I. S. A., Noor, Z. M., Ibrahim, E. H. E., Muhamad, A. J., & Malek, F. A. (2013). Stakeholders’ Perceptions
of an English for Occupational Purposes Course. World Applied Sciences Journal, 21, 73-87.
Mohamad Zasfirul Zainal Abidin, 2010. The Proficiency and Perceptions of English among Top Management Staff in
Malaysia. M.A., International 5(4): 306-321. Islamic University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
Radzuan, N. R. M., & Kaur, S. (2011). Technical oral presentations in English: Qualitative analysis of Malaysian
engineering undergraduates’ sources of anxiety. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 29, 1436-1445.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.383
Rajprasit, K., Pratoomrat, P., & Wang, T. (2015). Perceptions and Problems of English Language and Communication
Abilities: A Final Check on Thai Engineering Undergraduates. English Language Teaching, 8(3), p111.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v8n3p111
Ramírez, V. A. C. (2010) Students’ Perceptions about the Development of their Oral Skills in an English as a Foreign
Language Teacher Training Program. Unpublished Ph.D thesis. Universidad Tecnológica De Pereira, Columbia.
Robles, M. M. (2012). Executive perceptions of the top 10 soft skills needed in today’s workplace. Business
Communication Quarterly, 75(4), 453-465. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1080569912460400
Stapa, S. H., Maasum, T. N. R. T., Mustaffa, R., & Darus, S. (2008). Workplace written Literacy and its effect on the
curriculum. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 8(1), 23-33.
Talif, R., & Noor, R. (2009). Connecting language needs in the workplace to the learning of English at tertiary level.
Pertanika Journal of Social Science & Humanities, 17(2), 67-77.
Živković, S., & Stojković, N. (2011). Modernization of English as Foreign Language Studies in University Education.
University Education in Transition.
Živković, S. (2014). The importance of oral presentations for university students. Mediterranean Journal of Social
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Zulkurnain, N., & Kaur, S. (2014). Oral English Communication Difficulties and Coping Strategies of Diploma of
Hotel Management Students at UiTM. 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature®, 20(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/3L-
2014-2003-08.
 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

An Investigation into Undergraduates’ Errors in the use of the

Indefinite Article at Omar Al-Mukhtar University
Ahmed Gaibani
Department of English Language, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Omar Al-Mukhtar University, Libya
E-mail: dr.ahmed.Gaibani@gmail.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.195 Received: 08/08/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.195 Accepted: 12/10/2015

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the use of English articles as well the errors made by the students at Omar Al-
Mukhtar University. The research objectives consists of : To identify the types and sources of errors made by Libyan
EFL Undergraduates at Omar Al-Mukhtar University in the use of the indefinite article during their written
composition, To determine the major types of errors in which larger numbers of errors have been committed by the
students in their written composition. Based on previous studies, a qualitative method of data collection represented by
an essay-writing composition is implemented in this study. Moreover, they were asked to write essay writing
composition of the following topics "Discuss The Problems You Face In Learning English Language?" The results
provide of this study, reporting the information collected from Compositions and analyzed by using descriptive
statistical percentages in terms of errors numbers and percentages of errors occurrences under their major types, which
enabled the researchers to put these in an order of their occurrences. In other words, data were organized using
categories given to each of these errors. Regarding the length of compositions, a total of (2194) English words were
written by the students across their university levels. Freshmen wrote a total of (1193) words which represents (54.37%)
whereas sophomores wrote (1001) words which represents (40.62%). These research also suggest that there is a
significant and negative impact of the use of English Articles. Since majority of students agreed that the English
Articles are important, and we should look at the importance of English language as well as how students improve their
proficiency in English articles towards mastering the use of English language.
Keywords: Writing, English language, Articles, Morpheme, communication, Language Acquisition, Grammar
1. Introduction and Background
The English article system is said to be considered one of the most difficult structural elements for ESL/EFL learners,
especially for those whose mother tongues do not employ articles or article-like morphemes. The idea is strongly
emphasized by different researchers such as Master (2002) who attributes the difficulty of using the indefinite articles to
three facts: (a) Articles are among the most frequent function words in English (Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman,
1999), which make constant rule application difficult over an extended stretch of discourse; (b) normally, function
words are unstressed and thus, they are difficult for non-native speakers to recognize, which consequently affects the
available input in the spoken form; and (c) the article system has multiple functions onto a single morpheme, which
constitutes a considerable burden for the learners who often look for a one-to-one correspondence between form and
function, especially in the case of the early stages of language learning (Master, 2002). Although articles are generally
unstressed, they are considered as hardly crucial communication devices; this gives the reason why they are dropped in
telegraphic exchanges (Bataineh, 2005). Moreover, articles are said to be acquired at late stages of learning as it has
been pinpointed by Brown (1973) when he discovered that the acquisition of articles came number 9 in the acquisition
process of fourteen morphemes; after the acquisition of morphemes like prepositions in and on, regular plural and
possessive inflection –s, and before morphemes like the present progressive inflection -ing, regular and irregular third
person singular (e.g. cleans and has), regular and irregular past tense (cleaned and went) and contracted and un
contracted copula and auxiliary be (Brown, 1973). Accordingly, the difficulty of the acquisition as well as the use of
articles makes students commit article errors, and thus, this leads to plague the students' speech and writing.
Interestingly, in the case of Arab world, Arab students are facing many problems while they are speaking and writing
English as a foreign or a second language. Regarding the case of Libya, much research has been conduced to address
language problems, especially those in writing (Rababah, 2003; Zugoul, 1984; and Abdul Haq, 1982). For example, it
has been stated by Abdul Haq (1982:1) that "One of the linguistic areas in which students in the secondary cycle
commit errors is in the writing skill”. He adds "There are general outcries about the continuous deterioration of the
standards of English proficiency of students among school teachers, university instructors and all who are concerned
with English language teaching”. Within the same context, Libyan EFL students commit serious lexical errors while
communicating in English.
ALLS 6(6):195-200, 2015 196
1.1 Problem Statement
English article system represented by a, an, zero, and the, are from the functional structures that are quite difficult for
non-native English speaking learners, and even for those who are learning English as their first language. Additionally,
the definiteness errors are considered the most frequent problems that face EFL learners especially Arab learners as
their written communication (i.e. compositions) were heavily affected by these kinds of errors (Willcott, 1972).
Moreover, articles are believed to be a source of difficulty for learners (and teachers) of English as a second/foreign
language, especially for those whose native languages do not have articles or do have articles or article-like morphemes
but are used in different ways from those in English (Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman, 1999). Libya as one of the
countries in which English is taught as a foreign language, undergoes this difficulty through its EFL university students'
errors in the use of articles, clearly because the system of definiteness and indefiniteness in both languages Arabic and
English, is acquired differently. Based on, Bataineh (2005) and Zughoul (2002) Jordanian Learners, face a difficulty in
the use of English articles during their speeches and writings. It has been emphasized that Libyan students like other
EFL students the problem is greater when those students are exposed to write an essay or a paragraph, they commit
serious problems in the use of articles, especially the indefinite articles a, an, and zero article.
1.2. Research Objectives
1. To identify the types and sources of errors made by Libyan EFL Learners at Omar Al-Mukhtar University in the use
of the indefinite article during their written composition.
2. To determine the major types of errors in which larger numbers of errors have been committed by the students in
their written composition.
2. Literature Review
Much research has been conducted to address learners' misuse or errors in using articles in EFL/ ESL contexts in
general, and in the Arab world in particular. In this respect, Lyons (1999) claims that although the system of both
languages Arabic and English is, to some extent, similar in the use of articles (i.e. definite and indefinite articles), EFL
university students have many difficulties and committed errors in the use of definite and indefinite articles in their
written compositions. Lyons (1999) here shows how the system of both languages works with regard to articles, that is,
there are two types of articles in Arabic, the definite article which is marked by the prefix /al/ and the indefinite which is
always marked by the absence of the prefix /al/, whereas English on the other hand, has two types, the definite marked
by /the/ and the indefinite marked by a(n) ) and zero (Lyons, 1999). A plethora of research has been carried out
addressing the difficulties that EFL learners face while learning English as a foreign language as a result of the clash
found between two systems of languages their native languages (Source Language (SL)) and the target language,
henceforth English. In the case of the difficulties in articles, Master (1987) attributes such difficulties that our EFL
students suffer from to their native language. In other words, Master (1987) refers here that the major source of the
problem is the differences between languages in their article systems; such kinds of learners always use zero articles,
especially at the beginning stages. Moreover, the learners' background knowledge of the target language is said to play a
key role as a source of some linguistic problems in most EFL/ ESL contexts. Bataineh (2005) asserts that the more
limited background knowledge of English, the more serious problems the learner commits (Bataineh 2005). Besides, it
has been claimed that the first study which has addressed the acquisition of articles is Master's (1987) in which he
points out that articles are acquired differently based on their occurrence or non-occurrence in the learners' native
language. Additionally, some studies have addressed the precedence of article acquisition such as (Huebner, 1983;
Master, 1997; Parrish, 1987 and Thomas, 1989) in which it is suggested that the definite article the is acquired before
the indefinite article a, while other studies have found that the definite article is overused (Huebner, 1985; Parrish,
1987; Thomas, 1989; Chaudron and Parker, 1990).
Specifically, in the case of articles usage in EFL/ ESL contexts, there is an apparent need to be taught because they
carry meaning and using them erroneously usually causes confusion and misreading (Rinnert and Hansen, 1986 and
Wrase, 1982). Furthermore, in an interesting study by Rinnert and Hansen (1986) in which both researchers make one
thousand learners from different language backgrounds follow a systematic instructional approach in which a self-
developed material is used, it has been reported how observable the learners' improvement in articles usage and very
few textbooks taught in EFL/ ESL contexts present a systematic approach or adequate practice in order to affect
positively the learners' performance in the use of articles (Rinnert and Hansen (1986). What is being highlighted here
from Rinnert and Hansen's (1986) study is that EFL/ ESL teachers have to find other resources or self-developed
materials to teach articles rather than to rely only on the textbooks which to some extent do not present a thick or
intensive material in which the learners get involved to interact with the whole classroom to learn and master their
usage and thus overcome erroneous situations (i.e. compositions, speeches, etc).
In a study conducted by Zughoul (2002) on 25 US university Arab students from different Arab countries (Algeria 2,
Libya 5 ,Egypt 5,Jordan 3,suadi Arabia 7,Bahrain 1) who were attending an intensive English program in the University
of Texas, the findings indicate that the articles errors dominate the most frequent in noun phrases with (47.2%)
represents the omission of the indefinite articles a(n) from the noun phrase errors, and (44.6%) represents the omission
of a(n) in contexts where their use is obligatory. He ascribes these frustrated results to the differences in the definiteness
and indefiniteness systems in both languages Arabic and English, that is, Arabic has no equivalent to (a or an ) in
English and thus errors are said to occur (Zughoul, 2002). What has been emphasized here is the fact that although both
Arabic and English have the same definiteness and indefiniteness systems (i.e. the Arabic defined form is marked by
ALLS 6(6):195-200, 2015 197
/al/ which corresponds to /the/ in English, and the Arabic undefined form is marked by the absence of /the/ which
corresponds to the use of (/a/, /an/ and zero), indefiniteness in English is marked by lexical items such as /the/ and /a/
while it is marked in Arabic by affixes such as the prefix /al/ and the suffix –n, both to mark definiteness and
indefiniteness respectively (Lyons, 1999)
3. Methodology
A total of 15 Libyan EFL non-English majoring undergraduate students who are enrolled in the first semester of the
academic year 2013/2014, at Omar Al-Mukhtar University and whose ages were between 23-28, were selected as the
sample of this study. The subjects started their degree in 2011, 2012, respectively, which made them of two groups
freshmen (consisted of 9 students) and sophomores (consisted of 6 students) at the time of the research (see table 1).

Table 1. Distribution of the subjects according to their numbers and percentages

University Year Number Percentage
Freshmen 9 60%
Sophomores 6 40%

Additionally, the subjects were non-English majors and were taken from different schools: School of Education, Law,
Engineering, and Mathematics (see table 2). The students were non-English majors clearly because during their speech
and writing, they do not pay very much attention to the simple grammatical errors exemplified by the use of articles
rather they are focusing on communication.

Table 2. Distribution of students according to their university year and areas of specialty
Scho/Area of specialty Freshmen Sophomores Total Percentage
Education 2 1 3 20%
Law 1 2 3 20%
Engineering 4 2 6 40%
Mathematics 2 1 3 20%
Total 9 6 15 100%

3.1 Material and Procedures

A qualitative method of data collection represented by an essay-writing composition is implemented in this study.
Moreover, they were asked to write essay writing composition of the following topics "Discuss The Problems You Face
In Learning English Language?"
3.2 Data Analysis Technique
After the compositions have been collected, each one of them was read carefully by the researcher. Then, data from
each reading were interpreted, analyzed using descriptive statistical percentages in terms of errors numbers and
percentages of errors occurrences under their major types, which enabled the researchers to put these in an order of their
occurrences. In other words, data were organized using categories given to each of these errors. Regarding the length
of compositions, a total of (2194) English words were written by the students across their university levels. Freshmen
wrote a total of (1193) words which represents (54.37%) whereas sophomores wrote (1001) words which represents
(40.62%). (See tables3 and 4).

Table 3. total of written words based on University level and Student school
Number of written words per Uni/Year
Student's Total number of Percentage
First Second
Major words of all Errors
Stud. No words No. Stud No. words No.
Education 2 224 1 134 358 16.31%
Law 1 152 2 264 416 18.96%
Engineering
4 545 2 375 920 41.93%
Mathematics 2 272 1 228 500 22.78%
 ALLS 6(6):195-200, 2015 198
Table 4. total number of written words and percentages across students' university level
First-year Stud. number of words Second - year Stud. number of
Student's words

Major
Stud. 1 Stud. 2 Stud.3 Stud.4 Stud.1 Stud. 4 Total
Education 109 115 --- --- 134 --- 358
Law 152 --- --- --- 142 122 416
Engineering 161 89 123 172 174 201 920
Mathematics 154 118 --- --- 228 --- 500
Total 576 322 123 172 678 323 2194
(2194) First-year total (1193) Second-year total (1001) (45.62%)
(100%) (54.37%)

4. Findings and Discussion

This study addresses the research objectives to identify the types and sources of errors made by Libyan EFL Learners at
Omar Al-Mukhtar University in the use of the indefinite article during their written composition as well as to determine
the major types of errors in which larger numbers of errors have been committed by the students in their written
composition. Relating to the role played by the use of indefinite article in influencing students' writing ability 15
students were examined through writing compositions. The students in their 15 written essays have made many errors
grammatical or syntactic, but the researchers here have put much attention to the students' errors in the use of the
indefinite articles because they are addressed to conduct this study. Significantly, through the analysis of the students'
compositions, it has been found that the students made (112) article errors. Freshmen made (75) errors which represent
(66.96%), whereas sophomores made (37) errors which represent (33.03%) from the total errors respectively (See table
5).

Table 5. Numbers of errors and percentages according to students' university level

University Year Number of errors Percentage
Freshmen 75 66.96%
Sophomores 37 33.03%

Identifying the types of errors as it has been handled by Bataineh (2005), these errors were computed and classified in
terms of their errors numbers in nine categories across the students' university levels.

Table 6. Types of errors and their percentages across the university level

Errors Deletion Writing a Substituti Substitution Substit Use of Use of Use of Use of
Uni. Levels of the as part of on of the of the ution of indefini indefini indefinit indefin
indefinite following indefinite definite for a for an te with te with e with ite
article word for the the unmark marked uncoun. with Total
definite indefinite ed plurals nouns adjs.
plurals

Freshmen 23 2 9 16 1 8 7 7 2 75

Sophomores 11 0 4 8 0 6 2 6 0 37

4.1 Types of errors

With regard to the research questions what are the types and sources of errors made by Libyan EFL Learners at Omar
Al-Mukhtar University in the use of the indefinite article during their written composition. What are the major types of
errors in which larger numbers of errors have been committed by the students in their written composition? Results and
findings shows that article errors has negative significant impact on the total of the use of indefinite articles the findings
implies that students with lower skills or competence in English language are affected by committing errors in the use
ALLS 6(6):195-200, 2015 199
of English articles. The results of the current study suggest that non-English majoring undergraduate students at Omar
Al-Mukhtar University commit errors on the use of English articles.
The following section presents the analysis of data across the following types of errors:
4.1.1 Deletion of the indefinite article
As mentioned in table 6, the deletion category is found as the major type in which most students across the two
university levels commit large numbers of errors. In this category, both freshmen and sophomores made a total of (34)
errors which represent (30.35%) of the total number of errors distributed among them as (20.53%0) for freshmen with
(23) errors and (9.82%) for sophomores with (11) errors. Such deletion errors can be attributed to different sources from
which the effect of students' native language (i.e. negative language transfer from Arabic) is found as the major source.
4.1.2 Writing "a" is a part of the following word
This type of articles errors seems to be the easiest to explain because it is in this study may not be ascribed to either the
native or the target language. Rather it can be traced to transfer of training in the early acquisition processes. The errors
of this category are very few in numbers committed all by freshmen with 2 errors represent (1.78%) of the total errors.
In this case, the indefinite article a was written in an inseparable form from the word following it.
4.1.3 Substitution errors
In this category, three types of substitution are found to occur in this study, substitution of the indefinite articles a/an or
zero for the definite the, substitution of the definite the for the indefinite a/an or zero, and substitution of the indefinite
a for an. In the first kind of substitution, both groups of the students commit (13) errors (11.60%) in which they
substitute a/an or zero for the. Freshmen committed a large number of errors (9) which represents (69.23%) of the total
errors of this category, whereas sophomores committed (4) errors which represent (30.76%). These percentages indicate
that freshmen group committed the majority of errors of this category than that of sophomores who committed less
errors which may be as a result of their knowledge of target language. Additionally, the second kind of substitution
seems to be the most frequent of other kinds of substitutions as both groups of students scored high number of errors
(24) errors (21.42%) of the total (112). Freshmen scored (66.66%) of this kind of errors substitution with (16) errors,
whereas sophomores scored (33.33%) with (8) errors. Significantly, this kind of substitution is considered the second
largest category in which both group of students erroneously substituted the for a/an and zero with (24) errors. The last
kind of substitution (substitution of a for an) was the least in errors numbers, in which just one error is committed by
the freshmen group. This indicates that most students have a knowledge of the target language by which they can
differentiate between the usage of both indefinite articles a and an. In other words, this error may be due to a nonce
mistake or a slip of the pen.
4.1.4 The use of the indefinite articles with unmarked plurals
In this category, both groups of students made a nearly close number of errors (14) represents (12.5%) of the total
number of errors distributed among freshmen with (8) (57.14%) errors and sophomores with (6) (42.85%). The number
of errors made in this category seems to be closer in number indicating that both groups of students have a difficulty in
the usage of the indefinite articles with unmarked plurals
4.1.5 The use of the indefinite articles with marked plurals
Unfortunately, both groups of the students made errors in this category when they erroneously used the indefinite
articles a/an with those marked plural nouns making (9) errors representing (8.03%) of the total errors, but sophomores
in this category were less in committing such errors than freshmen who made the majority of errors with (7) errors
(77.77%) from the total errors of this category leaving (2) errors (22.22%) for students of the second group
(sophomores).
4. 1. 6. The use of indefinite articles with uncountable nouns
Also it seems obvious from the results in table 6 that both groups of students are close in terms of the errors committed
using the indefinite articles a/an with uncountable nouns. a total of (13) errors representing (11.60%) ) from the total
errors distributed among freshmen (7) errors with a percentage (53.84%) and sophomores (6) errors with a percentage
(46.15%), respectively. Like the previous errors, this category of errors may be caused by the learners application of
both strategies either overgeneralization or hypercorrection to be as major sources.
4. 1. 7 The use of the indefinite article with adjectives
The last category in which the indefinite articles are used with adjectives seem to have less importance due to the small
numbers of errors which are mostly committed by freshmen with two errors (1.78%) of the total number of errors
committed by both groups across the mentioned types of errors. No errors made by sophomores in this category which
indicates that they are aware of nouns and adjectives and that the definite articles cannot be used with adjectives alone
in English sentences. They show much knowledge of the use of the indefiniteness system in this category than
freshmen. This error could be made as a result of overgeneralization strategy. That is, at the time in which the learner
realizes that an adjective in a sentence sometimes serves as the head noun phrase, thus, he/she may commit errors in
using the definite articles with other adjectives by applying the overgeneralization strategy. In other words, the learner
in such a case extends this structure to use the indefinite articles with different adjectives.
ALLS 6(6):195-200, 2015 200
4.1.8 Order of errors
Based on the results obtained in table 6, the error types can be ordered in terms of the number of errors made by both
groups of students in each type. The deletion category was the first category in the order as it has the highest total of
numbers of errors (34) representing (30.35%) from the total number numbers of errors followed by Substitution of the
definite article for the indefinite category with (24) errors representing (21.42%). the use of indefinite article with
unmarked plurals came the third with (14) errors representing (12.5%) then both categories Substitution of the indefinite
article for the definite and the use of the indefinite article with uncountable nouns came together in the fourth stage with
(13) errors and with a percentage (11.60%) for each. In addition, the use of the indefinite article with marked plurals
came fifth with (9) errors with a percentage (8.03%). Both categories: writing "a" as a part of the following word and
the use of the indefinite article with adjectives, came sixth with (2) errors representing (1.78%) for each. Finally,
substitution of a for an came the last in order with a single error representing (.89%) of the total errors committed.
5. Conclusion
This study aimed at identifying the types or errors made by non-English majoring undergraduate students at Omar Al-
Mukhtar University The result obtained from the findings showed that the major sources of errors are the intra-language
(i.e. the learners' lack of knowledge about the target language), as well as the common learning processes such as
overgeneralization and simplification of the English article system. In addition, the effect of the learners' inter-language
system (i.e. native language transfer) was found minimal as because it was found to be responsible for only one type of
errors which ids the deletion of the indefinite article. Evidently, the current results suggested that student with weak
skills and who lacks competences in English language are more liable to make errors as compare to those who have
good skills and competence in English language.

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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Effectiveness of Oral Proficiency in English for Secondary

Schools (OPS-English) Programme in Improving English
Language Vocabulary among Secondary School Students
Manesha Kaur Rajendra Singh
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St. Patrick, Kulim, Kedah, Malaysia
E-mail: manesha_pretti@hotmail.com

Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh (Corresponding author)

School of Languages, Literacies and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia
E-mail: manjeet@usm.my

Lin Siew Eng

School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia
E-mail: selin@usm.my

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.201 Received: 09/08/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.201 Accepted: 15/10/2015

Abstract
Speaking is an important skill that needs to be mastered as it is the best way to communicate with other people in order
to deliver opinions and express ideas, but the fact is that secondary school students’ ability in speaking English is low in
Malaysia. It is caused by several factors such as lack of vocabulary, poor pronunciation, weak grammar and poor
fluency that hinders the mastery of English language. In this research, Oral Proficiency in English for Secondary
Schools (OPS-English) Programme was employed to improve students’ speaking skill by engaging them in vocabulary
based activities. The main objectives of this study are to investigate the effectiveness of OPS-English in improving the
students speaking skills and increasing their vocabulary count. This is an experimental pretest-posttest control group
design study which involved 70 students from a school located in one of the districts in Kedah, Malaysia. The duration
of the study was 8 weeks. The data collection was done using pre-test and post-test. The data from the pre-test and post-
test was analysed quantitatively using independent sample test. The findings of this study show that OPS-English can
improve students’ vocabulary. This is proven by experimental group’s students’ test score that showed improvement in
the post-test. OPS-English is a suitable programme that should be used to improve students’ vocabulary. The result of
this study provides useful insights for English language teachers in teaching speaking.
Keywords: OPS-English, speaking ability, secondary school students, vocabulary activities
1. Introduction
Vocabulary is an essential component of language teaching. According to Nation (2001), “vocabulary is not a goal in
itself, it is done to help learner listen, speak, read or write more effectively.” Without having sufficient vocabulary
corpus, students find it difficult to communicate in any language, irrespective of the communication skill used or
productive writing. Furthermore, in the context of speaking, more often learners always find difficulties in speaking
English due to lack of vocabularies. The crucial problems faced by the students make it hard for them to speak with
their limited vocabulary. Limited vocabulary has been a constant setback for students and continues to be a plaguing
problem worldwide and specifically in Malaysia as indicated by a number of local studies (Naginder, 2012; Norzanita
Othamn, 2009; Rosemala Ismail, 2008; Tengku Intan Suzila Tengku Sharif, Mohd Yusri Mohamad Noor & Harlina
Yunus, 2008; Zaira Abu Hassan Shaari, 2008). Therefore, this study would specifically like to determine if Oral
Proficiency in English for Secondary Schools Programme (OPS English), a developed series of lessons dedicated and
specific to teaching vocabulary can enhance speaking proficiency among Form One secondary school students in the
district of Kulim, Kedah.
1.1 Statement of Problem
Based on previous research by Naginder (2012) and Rosemala (2008), the English language proficiency of the Form
One students is low. The researchers’ findings indicate low grades and poor performance of the students in their English
language examination. One of the students’ language weaknesses that attributed to the poor performance in their
English language is their limited vocabulary knowledge. Thus, this weakness has led the students to face difficulties in
understanding and comprehending English language teaching and learning activities conducted in the classroom.
Secondly, the students were found to be actively passive or speechless when they have to speak in classroom. This is
attributed to the lack of the number of words that the students know to be successful in their oral communicative
ALLS 6(6):201-208, 2015 202
activities. This subsequently affects the confidence of the students and creates doubt in their ability to apply the known
words for communication purposes. Furthermore, the anxiety of mispronunciation or incorrect intonation instills fear
when speaking. Asgari and Mustapha (2011) also highlighted that one of the most crucial challenges that learners face
during the process of second language learning is learning vocabulary as insufficient vocabulary knowledge of the
learners leads to difficulties in second language learning. Therefore, this study will investigate the use of OPS-English
programme integrated with vocabulary activities to improve students’ English language speaking proficiency.
1.2 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the present study is to examine the effectiveness of vocabulary activities which are taken from OPS-
English text book in an English language classroom to improve Form One students’ speaking ability. The present study
attempts to explore the use of vocabulary through OPS-English programme in an English language classroom. This
study believes students will improve their speaking skills if students are subjected to a wide range of vocabulary.
1.3 Research Objectives
The present study addresses the following three research objectives.
1. To identify the English language speaking ability of control group students.
2. To identify the English language speaking ability of experimental group students.
3. To investigate the effectiveness of OPS-English programme in improving the English language speaking
ability of experimental group students.
1.4 Research Questions
The present study addresses the following research questions.
1. What is the pre-test and post-test score of the control group students?
2. What is the pre-test and post-test score of the experimental group students?
3. Does the use of OPS-English programme improve the English language speaking ability of experimental group
students?
1.5 Hypothesis of the Study
Null hypothesis (Ho): There is no significant difference between students who are taught by using OPS-English
programme to improve the English language speaking ability with students who are not taught by using OPS-English
programme to improve the English language speaking ability.
Alternative hypothesis (Ha): There is a significant difference between students who are taught by using OPS-English
programme to improve the English language speaking ability with students who are not taught by using OPS-English
programme to improve the English language speaking ability.
1.6 Conceptual Framwork

Effectiveness of OPS-English Programme in Improving Low English

Language Vocabulary among Secondary school students

Control Group Experimental

Group

Pre Test Intervention:

Teaching of
OPS-English
Programme
Pre Test

Non Intervention

Post Test

Analysis:
Pre-test and Post-test Scores
Independent sample test

Figure 1.1 Conceptual Framework

ALLS 6(6):201-208, 2015 203
Conceptual framework indicates there are two groups in this study which is control group and experimental group. Pre-
test will be given to both groups before OPS-English Programme intervention is introduced to experimental group.
Control group will be following the normal teaching without any additional vocabulary activities to improve their
speaking ability in the classroom. The experimental group will be taught using OPS-English Programme to improve
speaking ability. At the end of the intervention, the researcher gave a post-test to both groups. The results collected
were analysed using an independent sample test and comparison of pre-test and post-test scores of both groups.
1.7 Significance of the Study
This study will contribute significantly to the English language development of the Form One students. Furthermore,
the findings of the study will be able to assist English language teachers to improve or upgrade their vocabulary
teaching activities in improving the student’s English language speaking ability.
The aim of teaching English language for secondary schools in Malaysia is to enable students to use English language
to further their studies, for work purposes and to enable learners to access knowledge on the internet. Therefore, the
benefits for the students are that they will be able to communicate more effectively in the English classroom if they
acquire new and extended vocabulary as well as new and extended collocations. As a result, it will help students to
enhance their English language oral communication. Furthermore, this will also help to establish a network among
students both locally and overseas through social media that is dominated by English language as the medium of
communication as the students will have sufficient number of vocabulary for communicative purposes.
Secondly, the findings of this study could provide useful information for teachers teaching English in secondary schools
in Malaysia. The success of the application of vocabulary activities through OPS-English will provide insights to the
teachers to improve their teaching style. Indirectly, it will also contribute towards the professional and career
development of English language teachers.
2. Review of Related Literature
Speaking is the natural state of language, as all human beings are born to speak their native languages. Speaking refers
to “a process of oral language production” (Tarone, 2005, p.485), and speaking performance is defined as actual
instances of producing oral language in real time (adapted from McNamara, 1996, p. 54). Speaking is thus regarded as
a critical skill in learning a second or foreign language by most language learners, and their success in learning a
language is measured in terms of their accomplishment in oral communication (Nunan, 1998; Nunan, 2001).
Oxford Advanced Dictionary states that the definition of speaking is to express or communicate opinions, feelings,
and ideas by or as talking and it involves the activities in the part of the speaker as psychological (articulator) and
physical (acoustic) stage. According to Nazara (2011):"Speaking is a multifaceted construct" (p.30). Speaking is a
basic skill that language learners should master with the other language skills. It is defined as a complex process of
sending and receiving messages through the use of verbal expressions, but it also involves non-verbal symbols such as
gestures and facial expressions. However, today’s world states that the goal of teaching speaking should improve
students’ communication skills, because, only in that way, students can express themselves and learn how to follow the
social and cultural rules appropriate in each communicative circumstance (Susanti, 2007) , According to Susanti (2007),
the teaching of speaking has been developed by using repetition of drills and memorization as well use other techniques
such as video techniques that lead students’ to express their selves freely and use the language they are learning
without any shyness or fear to make mistakes.
In learning a second language and especially speaking, vocabulary plays an important role. Vocabulary is broadly
defined as knowledge of words and word meanings. Vocabulary is classified into four large types, which are
meaning/oral vocabulary, receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary and literate/written vocabulary. Meaning or oral
vocabulary refers to the combination of both listening and speaking vocabularies (Pikulski & Templeton 2004). It is
one element that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all together. In order to communicate
well in second language, students should learn an adequate number of words and should know how to use them
correctly in context. Children who possess limited vocabulary knowledge show more discrepancies in their vocabulary
acquisition over time as compared to their peers who have rich vocabulary knowledge (Biemiller & Slonim 2001).
Graves (2000, as cited in Taylor, 1990) defines vocabulary as the entire stock of words belonging to a branch of
knowledge or known by an individual. He also states that the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, which includes
words and expressions. According to Diamond and Gutlohn (2006), vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word
meanings. This is further supported by Stahl (2005) that vocabulary knowledge is knowledge. This knowledge of a
word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world. Vocabulary knowledge is not
something that can be fully mastered; it is something that expands and deepens over the course of a lifetime.
Hussin, Maarof and D’Cruz (2000) found that students, who became good test-takers, were not able to speak and write
competently when they graduated from high schools. Therefore, the application of drill-and-practice approach in their
study had some advantage in language teaching, as it helped the student to master English language gradually. In
another research by Nguyen and Khuat (2003) reported in their article, “The Effectiveness of Learning Vocabulary
through Games” found that even though students realize the importance of vocabulary when learning language, most
students learn vocabulary passively due to several factors. First, they consider the teacher’s explanation for meaning or
definition, pronunciation, spelling and grammatical functions boring as learners have nothing to do but to listen to their
teacher. Second, students only think of vocabulary learning as knowing the primary meaning of new words. Therefore,
they ignore all other functions of the words. Third, students usually only acquire new vocabulary through new words in
ALLS 6(6):201-208, 2015 204
their textbooks or when given by teachers during classroom lessons. For example, learners find many new words in a
text and then ask the teacher to explain the meanings and usage. Many students do not want to take risks in applying
what they have learnt. Students may recognize a word in a written or spoken form and think that they already “know the
word”, but they may not be able to use that word properly in different contexts or pronounce it correctly.
Another study by Ratnawati and Ismail (2003) based on their knowledge, gained through their experience as teacher
educators, and based on study that they had conducted on the teaching and learning of English found that Malaysian
rural school students lacked basic vocabulary in English to be able to respond to reading tests or tests of vocabulary.
The lack of exposure to English led many students to not being able to use the language beyond the word level.
Furthermore, Teresa’s (2005) study investigated the effectiveness of using authentic materials to teach vocabulary.
Teresa determined if students actually learned any vocabulary from the use of authentic materials for students would be
reduced to mere discourse of iconic gestures and symbols. Her case study among low English language proficiency
secondary student’s in Kedah identified limited vocabulary knowledge as the cause. This problem led the students to
face difficulty in understanding texts for reading. Therefore, the authentic material for teaching vocabulary used in the
study attributed to higher motivation and enhancement of students’ vocabulary. The students in her study were able to
comprehend written texts and use the language both inside and outside of the classroom. In addition, one of the many
predicaments faced by language learners at all levels is lack of lexical competence, resulting in lagging proficiency
levels and inability to relate to the four language skills (Naginder, 2013). Her research offers a tangible suggestion as to
how low language achievement can be overcome, that is, by becoming autonomous vocabulary learners and provides
further benefits that can be derived from autonomous vocabulary learning behaviour.
4. Methodology
The research design used in this study is quantitative research. This study uses experimental design which is the Pre-test
- Post-test Control Group Design. This research design uses experimental design because the researcher wants to
compare the speaking ability of the students in the control group and experimental group. Control group will not receive
any treatment using OPS-English. The researcher wants to investigate the effectiveness of OPS-English programme in
improving the English language speaking ability and increasing their vocabulary count of experimental group students.
This study utilised a purposive sampling method. Purposive sampling, also known
as judgmental, selective or subjective sampling, is a type of non-probability sampling technique. Purposive sampling
was used as the school has only two Form One class comprising 70 students. Therefore, both classes’ students took part
in the study. Random assignment was employed to designate one class as the treatment group and another class as the
control group. Data was collected using pre-test and post-test. Data collected were in the form of scores based on the
speaking assessment scale Independent Sample Test is used to see if there is a significant difference between the means
of two groups which is experimental and control group.
4.1 Research Design
The research design used in this study is quantitative research. Arikunto (2006: 12) states “Quantitative research is a
kind of research which requires the use of numbers, ranging from data collection, data interpretation and the appearance
of the results”. This study uses experimental design which is The Pretest-Post test Control Group Design. This design
involves at least two groups both which are formed by random assignment; both groups are administered a pre-test of
the dependent variable. One group receives a new or unusual, treatment, and both groups are post tested. Post test scores
are compared to determine the effectiveness of the treatment.(Gay, 2011) The control group will not receive any
treatment where else the experimental group will be receiving treatment in the form of OPS-English Programme
intervention involving the use of vocabulary activities to improve students’ speaking ability. This research design uses
experimental design because the researcher wants to compare the speaking ability of the students in the control group
and experimental group. Control group will not receive any treatment using OPS-English. The researcher wants to
investigate the effectiveness of OPS-English programme in improving the English language speaking ability of
experimental group students.

The two group pre-test and post-test design can be represented as:
Experimental
O1 X O2 Control O1 O2

Note: O1 : pre-test O1 : Pre test

X : treatment O2 : Post test
O2 : post test

4.2 Sampling
This study utilised a purposive sampling method. Purposive sampling, also known
as judgmental, selective or subjective sampling, is a type of non-probability sampling technique. Non-probability
sampling focuses on sampling techniques where the units that are investigated are based on the judgement of the
researcher. The main goal of purposive sampling is to focus on particular characteristics of a population that are of
interest, which will best enable to answer research questions (Creswell, 1998). The researcher uses purposive sampling
because OPS-English programme is an intervention programme that is specifically designed for Form One students.
ALLS 6(6):201-208, 2015 205
4.3 Participants
The respondents are a group of Form One students aged 13 from a school which is located in Kedah. The number of
students who took part in this study is 70 (N = 70). The school is located in the district of Kulim, Kedah. Based on
data obtained from the school authority, it was found that majority of the students in this school come from a poor
background. In addition, they have very little interest to learn the English language. In the control group and treatment
group there are 2 students each who are not able to read a single word in English.
The teachers, Madam Y and Madam M, who conducted the treatment are from the same school as the researcher.
Madam Y taught the experimental group while Madam M taught the control group. Madam M who is a Guru
Cemerlang and also the head of the English Panel in the school has been teaching for more than 30 years. Madam Y has
also been teaching for more than 30 years. This indicates, both of the teachers are very experienced English teachers.
4.4 Instruments
This section discusses the instruments used to collect data for this study. The instruments used in this study comprise of
a pre-test and post-test and a text book given by the Ministry of Education on OPS-English. To collect data for this
study the instruments used are a series of 10 lesson plans (5 lesson plans for the experimental group and 5 lesson plans
for the control group) and also a speaking scale. The activities are taken from the OPS-English text book which is
provided by the Ministry Of Education. The activities are designed to ensure that opportunities are given to all students
to use the English language for oral communication in a fun way. These activities are written based in the integrated
listening and speaking skills. There are ten units in the text book. The strategies deployed are all task based activities
which can be used by the teachers to involve students in communicating in the English language classroom.
4.4 Speaking Assessment Scale
Speaking assessment is an important part in this study. The speaking assessment scale was created by the Ministry Of
Education based on the contexts and functions listed in the Course of Study (Ministry of Education). Furthermore, the
speaking assessment scale is used in Malaysian Education System for Form One students in Malaysia (Appendix 11).
The Speaking scale assesses students’ ability to take part in social interaction to express ideas, opinions and thoughts.
Assessment criteria for spoken interaction are like personal response, fluency, language accuracy and pronunciation.
The term assessment refers to more than tests and grades. Actually, Haley and Austin (2004: 117) state that “[it]
involves development of materials, processes, activities and criteria to be used as tool for determining how well and
how much learning is taking place.” Similarly, Lindsay and knight (2006) state that: Assessment is the process of
analyzing and measuring knowledge and ability, in this case, the learner’s knowledge of the language and ability to
communicate (p.121).
4.4 Pre-Test and Post-test
The pre-test and post-test are the primary instruments. The rational of pre-test and post-test instrument is to compare
respondents, treatment group speaking ability before and after the treatment. The study aims to prove that OPS English
is capable to enhance students speaking ability. Pre-test and post-test will consists of 5 questions. (Appendix 12) Time
allocated for pre-test and post-test for each student is 10 minutes.
Pre-test and post-test have been validated by three experienced English Language teacher. The pre-test and post-test are
considered suitable to be used in this research study. The validity and reliability of the questions is maintained as the
pre-test and post-test is formed. In terms of reliability, the consistency of measurement is maintained in the pre-test and
post-test. The two sets of test are identical in every way except for the content of the questions. The five questions
measure the same variable, the same of difficulty level and scoring. A test is considered reliable if you give the same
test or match students on two different occasions, the test should yield the same result (Brown, 2004: 20).
The content of the pre-test and post-test are taken from the OPS- -English text book. All the questions for pre-test and
post-test are based from the OPS English guidelines. Students are familiar with the questions given. The content of the
questions will be related to students. This will be much easier for students to answer.
The pre-test was given to 70 respondents. There are 35 respondents in the treatment group and 35 respondents in control
group. In the first week that is before the OPS English is introduced to the students, pre-test was given for respondents
in control group and treatment group. The post test was given to 70 respondents in control group and treatment group in
week 7.
5. Results
An independent sample t-test was conducted to compare the pre-test scores between the control group and experimental
group. There is no significant difference in the scores of pre-test for control group (Mean=3.23, Standard
deviation=1.610) and for experimental group (Mean=3.26, Standard deviation=1.482) conditions; t (68) = -.077, p=
.939. This shows that there is no different in pre-test scores between control group and experimental group.
An independent-samples t-test was also conducted to compare the post test scores between control group and
experimental group. There is a significant difference in the scores of post-test for control group (Mean= 3.83, Standard
deviation =1.992) and for experimental group (Mean=9.60, Standard deviation = 2.746) conditions; t (68) = -10.064, p=
.000. It can be concluded that there is a significant difference between students who were taught by using OPS-English
with students who were not taught by using OPS-English. The experimental group has higher mean (9.6) which shows
the OPS-English programme is an effective intervention to improve students’ speaking ability.
Researchers conclude that there is a significant statistical difference in the pre-test and post-test scores. So, the OPS-
English programme’s intervention is effective in improving students’ speaking ability.
 ALLS 6(6):201-208, 2015 206
Table 1. Independent sample test for pre test
Levene's Test t-test for Equality of Means
for Equality of
Variances
F Sig. t df Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence
tailed) Difference Difference Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Equal variances assumed .569 .453 -.077 68 .939 -.029 .370 -.767 .710
Pre-test
Equal variances not assumed -.077 67.537 .939 -.029 .370 -.767 .710

Table 2. independent sample test for post test

Levene's Test for t-test for Equality of Means
Equality of
Variances
F Sig. t df Sig. (2- Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence
tailed) Difference Difference Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Equal 4.488 .038 - 68 .000 -5.771 .573 -6.916 -4.627
variances 10.064
assumed
Post_test
Equal - 62.029 .000 -5.771 .573 -6.918 -4.625
variances not 10.064
assumed

6. Discussion
Based on the findings of this research it can be asserted that OPS-English learning is essential because it creates
situation based activities that provide students opportunities to discuss and prepare their oral presentations with the
assistance of a wide range of vocabulary. Besides that, OPS-English activities allow continuous drilling to be conducted
on the students’ pronunciation as they are listening and pronouncing.
OPS-English has been advocated to enhance the aural and oral skills of Malaysian students. Typically, OPS-English is a
very interesting programme that can be implemented to improve speaking ability. Students have a lot of opportunity to
practice speaking and have active involvement in the English classroom. OPS-English programme intervention also
allowed students to practise collaborative team work value in completing their oral group work assignment.
Teaching speaking skill through OPS-English can be enjoyable experience for both, teacher and student. In fact,
students can improve their speaking ability after being taught by using the activities in the OPS-English programme. It
can be seen by students’ achievement in post test scores. Students’ speaking ability improved as well as their motivation
in speaking and they were interested to speak through OPS-English in the classroom. Results of the research show that
the students improve their speaking ability.
OPS-English learning helps regenerate students by providing a structured environment for sharing some of the
responsibilities to learn. Through working together to learn, students learn more, have more fun and develop many other
skills such as learning how to work with one another. Through the findings of this study, it is clear that students can
improve speaking skills ability through the intervention of OPS-English.
7. Recommendations
In order to improve students speaking ability, there are some suggestions that need to be considered. Teaching speaking
using OPS-English in the classroom can motivate students to practice speaking more, and it improves student’s
speaking ability. Students are encouraged to speak in English when they are exposed to the intervention through OPS-
English. Students will try to speak English in the classroom. At this point of time teachers should encourage students
and motivate students by correcting their mistakes and giving students the support to speak in English. Ops-English has
a positive impact for students to develop confidence to communicate in English language classroom. The researcher
suggests teachers use this technique because it encourages students to speak in speaking class.
During this research, the researcher discovered new insights, challenges and possible solutions to the problems
experienced by the teacher in the English classroom. Firstly, students have a deficit in second language vocabulary and
teachers have a limited time for direct instruction. In this regard, it is important for teachers to develop creative methods
to expose students to vocabulary in many ways that develop and reinforce word meaning throughout the school day.
This can be done by using OPS-English vocabulary based activities in the classroom to build students vocabulary
knowledge.
ALLS 6(6):201-208, 2015 207
Teaching of OPS-English activities can be carried out throughout the year. The researcher believes the duration of six
months given is too short to finish all the 10 units in the text book. Completing OPS-English activities within six
months puts tremendous pressure on the teachers as well. Teachers should be given longer time to teach OPS-English.
Thus, teachers will not tend to rush to finish the syllabus. Teachers and students will have more flexible time if OPS-
English is spread out throughout the schooling year. Teachers would not feel pressured to finish all the units in the text
book. Therefore, the researcher believes teaching OPS-English can be done throughout the year in secondary schools
which are in lower band.
8. Conclusion
The findings of this study indicated that teaching OPS-English learning has positive impact on students’ speaking
ability. On the whole, teaching speaking using OPS English in the English language classroom is good and a very useful
method which help students to improve speaking ability. Teaching OPS-English to enhance students’ speaking ability
creates a friendly and active atmosphere through group discussions. It can also be observed that group work lend
support to the weaker learns by the good ones. Students get motivated to talk and present in the friendly classroom
environment. The researcher believes application of OPS-English programme in the English language classroom is an
effective intervention to improve students’ speaking ability.

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 Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
Vol. 6 No. 6; December 2015
Flourishing Creativity & Literacy
Australian International Academic Centre, Australia

Book Review: Backhaus, Peter (2007): Linguistic Landscapes:

A Comparative Study of Urban Multilingualism in Tokyo.
Clevedon: Multilingual Matters; 158 Pages
ISBN 9781853599460
Omar Alomoush
English Department, Tafila Technical University, Jordan
Email: alomoushomar@yahoo.com

Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.209 Received: 10/08/2015

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.6p.209 Accepted: 15/10/2015

Backhaus examines urban multilingualism in the linguistic landscape of Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. In this
monograph, the linguistic landscape is seen as a sub-discipline of sociolinguistics. The significance of this monograph
to linguistic landscape research is that it represents the first comprehensive approach tackling multilingualism in the
linguistic landscape and overcoming a range of methodological problems facing former studies. In this sense,
Backhaus’s approach in data collection and analysis may help linguistic landscapers and researchers to undertake
research in multilingualism in the linguistic landscape. The current work comprises acknowledgements, a foreword by
Bernard Spolsky, six chapters, an appendix, references, and an index. While the first three chapters represent an
introduction and theoretical background, the fourth chapter in turn paves the way for the application of an empirical
study in Tokyo’s linguistic landscape, applied in chapter five.
That chapter one discusses the examination of written language in the public space of metropolises is the bulk of
Backhaus’s work. In this respect, the author (p.1) refers to previous studies such as Halliday (1972), who considers the
city not only a place of talk, but also a place of writing and reading. At the same time, this work focuses on ‘urban
language contact in the written medium: the languages of the signs’. Backhaus (p.1) holds:
Every urban environment is a myriad of written messages on public display: office and shop signs, billboards, and
neon advertisements, traffic signs, topographic information and area maps, emergency guidance and political poster
campaigns, stone inscriptions, and enigmatic graffiti discourse.
The author maintains that these messages contribute to the making of the linguistic landscape of any given place.
In chapter two, Semiotic Background and Terminology, Backhaus gives an introduction to the main features of language
use on signs, arguing that the examination of multilingualism on signs in the public space differs from other modes of
communication in written and spoken contexts. In addition, the writer discusses different definitions and interpretations
of the term linguistic landscape and senses and types of the term ‘sign’. After Itagi and Singh (2002), the author (p.10)
draws a distinction between the noun ‘linguistic landscape’ and the gerund ‘linguistic landscaping’. While the former
refers to ‘the planning and implementation of actions pertaining to language on signs’, the latter relates to ‘the result of
these actions’. Throughout his monograph, Backhaus maintains a distinction between these two terms as cited above.
As maintained by Backhaus (p.12), only the paper introduced by Landry and Bourhis (1997) established this field of
study as a coherent discipline, even though several previous studies employed linguistic landscape research. This is
mainly apparent in Backhaus’s expansion upon the definition of survey items suggested by Landry and Bourhis (1997).
In chapter three, Previous Approaches to the Linguistic Landscape: An Overview, Backhaus gives a comprehensive
overview of previous linguistic landscape studies conducted in different urban settings, including Brussels (Tulp, 1978),
Montreal (Monnier, 1989), Paris and Dakar (Calvet, 1990,1994), and Lira, a town in Uganda (Reh, 2004). In light of
these studies, the author notices that the language policy of the state does not indicate which code(s) prevail(s) in the
public space, whose language(s) is /are mainly manifested in language practices on nonofficial signs.. The author also
discusses the methodological issues followed in the above studies to arrive at a congruent methodological framework
aiming at examining multilingualism from a sociolinguistic point of view.
In the light of the methodology followed in the abovementioned studies, Chapter four outlines the main concerns that
envelope the sociolinguistics of the linguistic landscape. Interestingly, the chapter aims to bridge the gap between
theory and practice by introducing three research questions aiming at directing the current work. These research
parameters include linguistic landscape by whom, for whom, and the general language situation. To accomplish this
study, the writer applies both qualitative and quantitative procedures while gathering and analysing data. According to
the writer, this chapter attempts to find a coding scheme suitable for carrying out a sociolinguistic study in the linguistic
landscape and devoid of methodological problems.
In chapter five, the author (p.64) introduces a frame for studying the linguistic landscape and applies a fine-grained
coding scheme to a corpus of signs. According to Backhaus, a sound data collection procedure requires two conditions:
the determination of the geographical limits of the survey area and the unit of analysis. Backhaus investigated the
ALLS 6(6):209-210, 2015 210
linguistic landscape of 29 survey areas of the Yamanote Line, a circular railway line connecting a number of major city
centres in Tokyo. These stations represent a multi-layered picture of the city centre in the sense that they include very
busy and less crowded districts. The boundaries of each survey area were specified as consisting of an area located
between the traffic lights of two consecutive intersections , wherein the poles of traffic lights represent the end of any
given survey area. The survey items were also thoroughly defined (p.66):
A sign was considered to be any piece of written text within a spatially definable frame. The underlining definition
is physical, not semantic. It is rather broad, including anything from the small handwritten sticker attached to a
lamp-post to huge commercial billboards outside a department store. Items such as push and pull stickers at entrance
doors, lettered foot mats, or botanic explanation plates on trees were considered signs, too.
In analysing data collected, the first step is to categorise countable items into monolingual and multilingual signs.
Backhaus has excluded monolingual Japanese signs from data collected because he wants to examine urban
multilingualism in Tokyo. A sign will be considered multilingual if it contains two languages or more, say Japanese and
English (p.67). Backhaus presents a congruent methodology to study the linguistic landscape by introducing research
parameters and analytical categories. These research questions include ‘linguistic landscaping by whom?, linguistic
landscaping for whom?, and linguistic landscape quo vadis?’. These guiding questions are analysed according to nine
criteria: languages contained, combinations, top-down and bottom-up forces, geographic distribution, code preference,
part writing, visibility, idiosyncrasies, and layering (p.65).
In chapter six, the writer closes his book by summarising the findings of the Tokyo sample, which are guided by the
questions cited above. It reveals that nonofficial agencies are almost the main responsible for the majority of
multilingual signs in the linguistic landscape of Tokyo, whereas official forces participate in the construction of
multilingualism on signs by less than 30 per cent. The presence of complete and partial translations and transliterations
on signs is very useful for the readers from the foreign and Japanese populations. It was noticed that English is
generally confined to slogans, titles, and business names, while Japanese relates to more specific information. The
general linguistic situation reveals the impact of language interference from Japanese into English, which is apparent in
the number of linguistic idiosyncrasies noticed in the linguistic landscape. In comparing the older and newer versions of
signs, there is a noticeable preference toward the use of foreign languages at the expense of Japanese, which shows
signs of multilingualism in Tokyo’s linguistic landscape. However, Japanese will be the predominant language at least
in the near future.
As pointed out throughout, Backhaus presents a congruent methodological approach, which has added new dimensions
to the existing field of linguistic landscape. More specifically, Backhaus identifies three guiding research questions:
Linguistic Landscape by whom? Linguistic landscape for whom? Linguistic landscape quo vadis?. At the same time,
his definition of the unit of analysis as described above contributed greatly to linguistic landscape research. Although
Backhaus relies on former studies, Backhaus has created analytical categories neglected by previous studies, especially
linguistic idiosyncrasies, and uses his own terminology, particularly ‘part writing’ with its main types adopted from the
field of musicology: homophonic, mixed, polyphonic, monophonic signs. The same notions with the exception of
monophonic signs have been implemented by Reh (2004), but the terminological designations are different. I wonder
why Backhaus uses the term ‘polyphonic signs’, which might be replaced by code mixing or switching in that it may be
mainly subdivided into intra-sentential code-switches and inter-sentential code-switches. This work also counts on the
observations made by Scollon and Scollon (2003), especially those on code prominence and layering. For example,
code preference as an analytical category in Backhaus’ quantitative study relies on placement and size in case that there
is a conflict, font size outweighs order. As far as my current project is concerned, the relevance of this work comes
from the methodological considerations provided, which will help to expand upon Backhaus’ paradigm to apply in the
linguistic landscape of urban Jordan. In other words, we will adapt and build upon this methodological framework to
devise a coding scheme suitable for the linguistic landscape of Jordanian cities.

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