Applied linguistics in the Middle East and North Africa : current practices and future directions / edited by Atta Gebril.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gebril, Atta, editor.

Series:

AILA applied linguistics series ; 15.

AILA Applied Linguistics series, 1875-1113 ; 15

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Applied linguistics--Arab countries.

Applied linguistics.

Languages in contact--Arab countries.

Languages in contact.

English language--Study and teaching--Arabic speakers.

English language.

Arabic language--Study and teaching--English speakers.

Arabic language.

Language and culture--Africa, North.

Language and culture.

Language and culture--Middle East.

Arab countries--Languages.

Arab countries.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (402 pages) : color illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamins Publishing Company, [2017]

Summary:

This volume offers a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of applied research efforts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This region has not received due attention in the literature and this publication provides a much-needed contribution to the existing body of knowledge. The editor recruited a number of renowned scholars who either work in the MENA countries or have experience doing research in this region to contribute to this project. The selection of chapters ensured representation of applied linguistics efforts in North Africa, the Levant, and the Gulf. The book looks into language research within social and educational MENA contexts. The final part of the book provides a forward-looking perspective about applied linguistics research and practices in the Middle East and North Africa. The book is primarily written for those interested in applied linguistics, particularly researchers, graduate students, and language professionals in the MNEA region.

Contents:

Intro

Applied Linguistics in the Middle East and North Africa

Editorial page

Title page

LCC data

Dedication page

Table of contents

Acknowledgment

Chapter 1. Applied linguistics research in the Middle East and North Africa: An overview

Introduction

Section I. Language in society

Section II. Language in education

Section III. Future directions

References

Chapter 2. When the president loses his voice, the people capture speech

When a president loses his presidential bodily hexis

A note on the data and presentation of data

When institutional paraphernalia and presidential accoutrements lose their magic

When the president shifts linguistic codes opportunistically

Tapestry of linguistic matrices, panoply of voices

Ben Ali's Fuṣḥā matrix

A thwarted linguistic coup

Did Ben Ali really speak Tunisian Arabic?

Conclusion

Chapter 3. Religion and identity in modern Egyptian public discourse

A different approach to data

First claim in public discourse: Linguistic variation is not dependent on religion

Data analysis

Amrīkā shīkā bīkā ('America: A Fake Dream') (1983)

Hammām fī Amstirdām ('Hammām in Amsterdam')(1999)

Ḥasan wa-Murquṣ ("Hassan and Mark')(2008)

Lā muʾākhzah ('Excuse my French')(2014)

Second claim of public discourse: Egyptians are religious but religious differences between Christians and Muslims are not salient

Neutral mention of God

Mention of local areas that reference religion

Relating religion to other social variables

Chapter 4. English between Egyptians: Power and ownership of the English language in Egypt

Literature review

Global English and Egypt

Ownership of English outside the inner circle.

Attitudes toward English and its speakers

Research methods and data analysis

Results

Attitudes toward English

English and relationships

Language ownership and linguistic identity

Discussion

Implications

Managing linguistic projection in and out of the classroom

Language flexibility in the classroom

Awareness of student "Linguaculture"

Limitations

Conclusions

Appendix. Final questionnaire

Section I. Biographical data

Chapter 5. The age of global English: Language use and identity construction in the United Arab Emirates

Language use in the UAE

Context of the study

Arabic as an identity marker

Arabic as an instrument of communication

The study

Research site and participants

Data collection and analysis

The questionnaire

The interviews

Validity and reliability

Findings

Perceptions and rationales of an Arab identity

Other markers of an Arab identity

Does speaking Arabic make one Arab?

Language use and identity

Overview of findings

Limitations of the study

Appendix A. Student survey

Section 1. Defining Arabness or Arab identity

Section 2. Use of language

Section 3. Language use &amp

identity construction

Section 4. My views on globalization

Chapter 6. The linguistic landscape of Cairo from the Rosetta Stone to the Ring Road billboards: Signs of their times

Egypt as site of a multilingual written landscape since antiquity

Introduction to linguistic landscape studies

Scope of the study

Features of Cairo's linguistic landscape

Cairo's multi-ethnic, multilingual legacy observable in the linguistic landscape

Contemporary multi-ethnic, multilingual neighborhoods: Maadi and Nasr City's 10th District

Maadi.

Nasr City, 10th District (Hay al Asher)

Emergence of romanized Arabic chat script (franco-arabe/arabizi) into public usage domains

Tokens of English used for aspirational and symbolic purposes on advertising billboards on major roadways (Ring Road and 90th Street in New Cairo)

Future lines of investigation

Chapter 7. The ongoing rivalry between English and French in Lebanon

Historical overview

Missionary language policies (before 1920)

French mandate language policies (1920-1943)

Lebanon language policies after independence (1943-1975)

The Civil War (1975-1990)

The TAIF accord and beyond

Domains of use of French and English

Media

Education

The future of French in Lebanon

French losing grounds to English

French not going to disappear anytime soon

Attitudes toward foreign languages

What happens to Arabic

Private schooling and social inequality

Arabic in education

Economics favors the foreign language

Section Ii. Language in education

Chapter 8. A Qatari case for authenticity in the investigation of reading abilities and strategies

Multilingual reading ability

Test-takers and multilingual reading tasks in Qatar

Designing a multilingual reading assessment

Instrument

Administration

Evaluation of instrument

Conclusions and implications

Acknowledgments

Appendix A

Reading strategy inventory items

Appendix B

Chapter 9. The development and validation of an Arabic language test in Saudi Arabia

Arabic L2 tests

Stapsol

Test objective

Theoretical framework

Specifications - components and weights

Item writing and review

Scoring

Research

Differentiating between different levels of proficiency.

The FW component

A Simplified Assessment Use Argument (AUA) - generalizability of tasks and relevance of research

Future directions: Formally linking STAPSOL to the CEFR

Summary and conclusions

Appendix. The STAPSOL free writing component scoring rubric

Chapter 10. A survey of English language proficiency requirements for admission to English-medium universities in Arabic-speaking countries

English language proficiency assessments in university admissions

English proficiency assessments outside English-speaking countries

Determining cut-off scores

Research questions

Method

Identification of EMUs

Sampling

Collection of information about English language proficiency requirements

Analysis

Results and discussion

Appendix. Distribution of universities in the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East and Africa using English as a medium of instruction

Chapter 11. Student teachers' computer-mediated narratives-in-interaction: Sharing notions of culture, teaching and language acquisition

Research on student teacher narratives

Computer-mediated communication and teacher mentoring and support

Methods

Findings and discussion

Narratives on language learning and instruction

Narratives on pragmatics and cultural issues

Chapter 12. Arabic language teacher education

Current status of Arabic language teachers

Student results on standardized Arabic literacy tests

Arabic language teacher education programs

Quality of pre-Service teachers entering the program

Quality of teacher education curriculum used

Field experiences

New teachers' induction.

Continuous professional development for in-service teachers

Future needs and plans

Chapter 13. Corpora and the study of Arabic vocabulary

Data

Word frequency

Clusters

Synonymy

Polysemy

Semantic prosody

Implications for teaching Arabic as a foreign language

Section III. Future directions of applied linguistics in the MENA countries

Chapter 14. Whither Arabic?: From possible worlds to possible futures

Overview of Arabic now: Diversity vs. uniformity

Towards a framework for language diversity and futurology

Arabic language futurology

Defining Arabic: Past, present, future

Native and non-native views

Retrospective views: On the temporal dimension ("z axis")

Middle and mixed Arabic: The real vs. the ideal

Prevailing views: From the Temporal Axis to the Geographic

The sociocultural dimension: On the vertical (y-)axis

The education effect: Decreasing genomic variation in the macro-habitat (Arab world)

Al-fuṣḥa in the socio-cultural dimension (y-axis): Monumental time vs. real time

Discourse communities and regimes of identification

From possible worlds to possible futures: Prospective views

Summary

Chapter 15. A forward-looking conceptual framework for Arabic curriculum design and instructional methodology

The issue at hand

Paradigm shift in foreign language education

A conceptual framework

Elements of the framework

The ACTFL assessment criteria

SA curriculum structure

Proficiency-oriented curriculum

Points to consider

Educational infrastructure

Language policy

Appendix. A model of the standard-colloquial continuum

Chapter 16. Applied linguistics in the MENA countries: A research agenda

Introduction.

Language in the society: A research agenda.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

OCLC:

988581045